[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 20 (Wednesday, February 1, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H1012-H1013]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 440, LAND CONVEYANCE IN BUTTE 
                               COUNTY, CA

  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules I 
call up House Resolution 53 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                               H. Res. 53

       Resolved, That at any time after the adoption of this 
     resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 1(b) of rule 
     XXIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the 
     Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of 
     the bill (H.R. 440) to provide for the conveyance of lands to 
     certain individuals in Butte County, California. The first 
     reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. General debate 
     shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour 
     equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking 
     minority member of the Committee on Resources. After general 
     debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the 
     five-minute rule. Each section shall be considered as read. 
     At the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment 
     the Committee shall rise and report the bill to the House 
     with such amendments as may have been adopted. The previous 
     question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and 
     amendments thereto to final passage without intervening 
     motion except one motion to recommit.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Upton). The gentleman from Georgia [Mr. 
Linder] is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the 
customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from California [Mr. Beilenson], 
pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  [[Page H1013]] During consideration of this resolution, all time 
yielded is for the purpose of debate only.
  Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 53 is an open rule providing for the 
consideration of H.R. 440, legislation to resolve title disputes 
between Plumas National Forest and landowners in Butte County, CA.
  This rule provides for 1 hour of general debate divided equally 
between the chairman and ranking minority member of the Resources 
Committee, after which any Member will have the opportunity to offer an 
amendment to the bill under the 5-minute rule. Finally, the rule 
provides one motion to recommit.
  Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 53 allows for the consideration of H.R. 
440, legislation designed to resolve longstanding boundary issues along 
the Plumas National Forest. Due to inaccurate boundary surveys, a 
number of landowners have about 30 acres of land in dispute. This bill 
will permit the Secretary of Agriculture to convey all right, title, 
and interest of the United States regarding the affected land back to 
the owners.
  The gentleman from California [Mr. Herger] has crafted a piece of 
legislation that will effectively clear up the title disputes between 
the Plumas National Forest and the landowners. His legislation was 
approved without amendment in the Committee on Resources, and I expect 
that it will easily pass the House as well.
  I am pleased this bill will be considered under an open rule. In the 
103d Congress, those of us in the minority had ample opportunity to 
express our distress about the number of months that passed between 
bills with open rules. As we complete 2 weeks of discussion on H.R. 5 
under an open rule, I am now pleased to continue the practice of full 
deliberation in this Chamber by calling up another open rule today.
  Let me respond to those who have argued that this legislation could 
have simply been considered under suspension of the rules. The 
suspension of the rules is an effective tool, but it is a legislative 
shortcut which requires the House to suspend its customary procedures 
and does not allow for amendments to be offered on the House floor.
  Until the 94th Congress, motions to suspend were only in order on the 
first and third Monday of each month. As we all know, subsequent 
changes now allow motions to suspend on every single Monday and 
Tuesday. I worry that the abuse of this process gives the impression 
that the legislation in question has not undergone complete and open 
deliberation in the House.
  While I admit that the suspension of the rules is an effective 
procedure to expedite legislation, I believe that the process of open 
rules and open debate will better restore the faith of the American 
people in this House. Therefore, the new majority of this House will 
remain steadfast in its efforts to transform the way Congress carries 
out its business and make every effort to engender open debate for all 
Members on the House floor.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 440 was favorably reported out of the Committee on 
Resources by voice vote, as was the rule by the Rules Committee. I urge 
my colleagues to support this rule, and continue the spirit of openness 
and internal reform that has returned free and deliberative debate to 
its traditional role in this Chamber.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BEILENSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume, and I thank the gentleman from Georgia for yielding the 
customary 30 minutes of debate time to me.
  Mr. Speaker, my colleague, Mr. Linder, has outlined very well the 
terms of the resolution. This is an open rule. I support the rule and 
urge my colleagues to do the same. Unfortunately, except for the 
unfunded mandates legislation the major pieces of legislation that have 
been considered on the House floor this year have had restricted rules. 
We would encourage the majority party to be as conscientious about 
providing open rules for the important pieces of legislation that we 
will have before us, I am sure, especially over the next couple of 
months.

                              {time}  1630

  In any event, Mr. Speaker, should there be any concerns at all about 
H.R. 440, which provides for the conveyance of about 30 acres of land 
in Butte County, CA, the rule does give ample opportunity for those 
concerns to be addressed. The bill is identical to a bill we passed 
last year by a voice vote under suspension of the rules.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, if I may, I would like to take this opportunity 
to commend the new chairman of the Committee on Resources, the 
gentleman from Alaska [Mr. Young], and the new chairman of the 
Subcommittee on National Parks, the gentleman from Utah [Mr. Hansen], 
for building on the good work of the last Congress in bringing this, 
and several other public lands bills, to the floor as expeditiously as 
possible.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no requests for time, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, we, too, have no further requests for time. 
I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question 
on the resolution.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________