[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 84 (Tuesday, June 28, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 28, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
  WAIVING CERTAIN POINTS OF ORDER AGAINST AND DURING CONSIDERATION OF 
   H.R. 4624, DEPARTMENTS OF VETERANS AFFAIRS AND HOUSING AND URBAN 
     DEVELOPMENT, AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1995

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I 
call up House Resolution 465 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 465

       Resolved, That during consideration of the bill (H.R. 4624) 
     making appropriations for the Departments of Veterans Affairs 
     and Housing and Urban Development, and for sundry independent 
     agencies, boards, commissions, corporations, and offices for 
     the fiscal year ending September 30, 1995, and for other 
     purposes, all points of order against provisions in the bill 
     for failure to comply with clause 2 or 6 of rule XXI are 
     waived. The amendment numbered 1 in the report of the 
     Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution may be 
     offered only by a Member designated in the report, may amend 
     portions of the bill not yet read for amendment, shall be 
     considered as read, shall be debatable for two hours equally 
     divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, 
     shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject 
     to a demand for division of the question in the House or in 
     the Committee of the Whole. Points of order against the 
     amendments printed in the report of the Committee on Rules 
     for failure to comply with clause 2 of rule XXI are waived.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from New York [Ms. 
Slaughter] is recognized for 1 hour.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, during consideration of this resolution, 
all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. I yield the 
customary 30 minutes, for the purpose of debate only, to the gentleman 
from Florida [Mr. Goss], and pending that, I yield myself such time as 
I may consume.
  (Ms. SLAUGHTER asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
her remarks.)
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 465 is an open rule 
providing for the consideration of H.R. 4624, making appropriations for 
the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development 
and for sundry independent agencies, boards, commissions, corporations 
and officers for fiscal year 1995.
  Since general appropriations bills are privileged, the legislation 
will be considered under the normal legislative process for 
consideration of appropriations bills. The time devoted to general 
debate will be determined by an unanimous consent request. The bill 
will be open to amendment under the 5 minute rule. Any amendment which 
does not violate the rules of the House or is printed in the Rules 
Committee report will be in order.
  The rule waives points of order under clause 2 and clause 6 of Rule 
XXI against all provisions of the bill. Clause 2 of Rule XXI prohibits 
unauthorized appropriations or legislative provisions in general 
appropriations bills. The Appropriations Subcommittee has requested 
this waiver because many housing, environmental, space, science, and 
emergency management programs covered by the bill lack authorizations. 
Clause 6 of Rule XXI prohibits reappropriating unexpended balances of 
appropriations in general appropriations bills.
  The rule provides for Representative Roemer to offer en bloc 
amendments on the space stations. The en block amendments, printed in 
the report to accompany the rule, shall be considered as read when 
offered, shall be debatable for 2 hours equally divided and controlled 
by the proponent and an opponent, are not subject to a demand for a 
division of the question, and may amend portions of the bill not yet 
read for amendment.
  Finally, the rule waives clause 2 of Rule XXI, 
prohibiting unauthorized appropriations or legislative provisions in a 
general appropriations bill, against the amendments printed in the 
report.

  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4624 provides $70.4 billion in discretionary 
spending and $20.1 billion in mandatory spending in fiscal year 1995 
for the activities of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing 
and Urban Development and nineteen independent agencies and offices 
including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the 
Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Deposit Insurance 
Corporation, and the National Science Foundation. This open rule will 
allow full and fair debate on the provisions of this important bill.
  I ask my colleagues to support the rule so that we may proceed with 
consideration of the merits of this legislation.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. GOSS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I am told that back in the good old days, it 
was a rare occasion when the House had to adopt a rule to provide for 
the consideration of an appropriations bill. The authorizing committees 
did their job, the appropriators did their job, and the full House did 
its job--all within the structure established by the rules of the 
House.
  Now it is a rare occasion for an appropriation bill to be considered 
by the House without first adopting a rule. Why? Because almost every 
appropriation bill contains legislative provisions and/or provides 
unauthorized appropriations. And as my colleague from New York, Ms. 
Slaughter, has explained, this bill is no exception.
  When we asked for a list of those provisions which were not 
authorized in this VA-HUD appropriations bill, we, instead, received a 
list of those programs which were authorized because the list of 
unauthorized appropriations was too long. In fact, somewhere in the 
neighborhood of 95 percent of this bill is unauthorized. Part of that, 
of course, is the hearings on Whitewater RTC issues.
  I certainly don't want to point the finger of blame, but I do want to 
make the point that this trend reinforces the urgent need for 
congressional reform legislation--which is hanging out there in limbo. 
We need to get the House back on the right track so that we can perform 
our legislative functions in a responsible, deliberative manner.
  Still, I am pleased that we are considering this and most of this 
year's appropriations bills under an open amendment process. And I 
understand the rationale for allowing waivers for the amendment to be 
offered by Chairman Stokes and for the amendment to be offered by Mr. 
Roemer and Mr. Zimmer dealing with funding for the space station. Of 
course, I should note that I am opposed to the Roemer/Zimmer amendment, 
which proposes to cut the space station for fiscal reasons but actually 
saves no money, because it allows the funds to be reallocated to other 
programs. I do, however, see the need to have this debate on the House 
floor and let Members work their will. In granting the necessary 
waivers for these amendments, the Rules Committee merely afforded the 
same privilege to members seeking to offer amendments that was granted 
to the committee in developing its bill. That's certainly fair. Mr. 
Speaker, I do understand the difficulties the appropriators faced in 
crafting this bill, and clearly there are not enough resources to go 
around. But I remain greatly concerned about the prioritization of 
veterans funds--with projects of great need apparently losing out to 
those of lesser immediate need but perhaps of more political merit. I 
am especially troubled by the sometimes not-so-subtle pressure that's 
being brought on Members with serious veterans needs--as Members are 
told that all veterans projects are tied up in passage of the 
President's health care bill. In my opinion, the needs of people who 
risked their lives for our country should not be held hostage to a 
political struggle. Mr. Speaker, I will not oppose this rule.

                              {time}  2240

  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time and yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and 
I move the previous question on the resolution.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Moran). The question is on the 
resolution.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid upon the table.

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