Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 5882, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act. As chairman of the Committee on House Administration, which oversees many of the agencies affected by these appropriations, I am pleased we are continuing to uphold our pledge to reduce government spending, while providing the necessary security and support for each Member to fulfill their constitutional responsibilities.

Since taking control of the House, we've worked diligently to identify and eliminate wasteful spending and streamline and improve operations by using technology, thereby saving taxpayers millions. We've also worked to reduce spending on the production and printing of unnecessary publications, including an amendment offered by my colleague, Mr. Harper, to reduce the number of copies of the U.S. Code printed for the House.

With the support of the Appropriations Committee, we will further improve House technology through an advancement of programs utilized by the Law Revision Counsel and the Office of the Legislative Counsel that modernize and improve their capabilities.

Utilizing new technologies, we will continue to increase the accuracy and accessibility of legislative proposals and changes to the U.S. Code. As the people's House, it is imperative we continue to use technological innovations to foster transparency and provide our constituents with timely and accurate information.

I'd like to thank the appropriators for their support in providing the resources necessary to enhance and streamline House operations and reduce overall expenses. And later, when we have an amendment on the floor that once again tries to make us go backward in our effort to get rid of waste produced in this House, I will stand and oppose that.

We have had a successful program of converting waste to energy, one of the most innovative programs in the entire country. We've convinced the other side of the Capitol, the Senate, to join us. We have thousands of tons of waste now not going into landfills but being converted to clean energy, one of the best examples of a technology that the EPA says is one of the cleanest in the country. We ought to be thankful for that. We ought not to go backwards. We ought to understand.

And in doing that, we have also given best or better customer service to those who utilize the various restaurants on the campus here in the Capitol. Those are things that we ought to be proud of and not be shy about the successes that we have had.

So I'll still be here on the floor to talk about one of those amendments, as we did just a year ago.

[Time: 09:30]