[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 22 (Friday, February 3, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H1160-H1161]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


         ANNOUNCEMENT ON AMENDMENT PROCESS FOR THE CRIME BILLS

  (Mr. SOLOMON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, I wish to announce to Members that the 
Rules Committee will meet next Monday, February 6, at 2 p.m. to 
consider rules for the first two of the six crime bills ordered 
reported by the Judiciary Committee.
  The first two bills are: H.R. 665, Victim Restitution Act, and H.R. 
666, Exclusionary Rule Reform Act.
  The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee has requested that each 
of these bills be considered under an open rule. He has further 
requested that the rule include a provision giving priority in 
recognition to Members who have caused their amendments to be printed 
in the amendment section of the Congressional Record prior to their 
consideration.
  There is a strong possibility that the Rules Committee will report 
the rules requested, and Members may want to avail themselves of the 
option of pre-filing amendments in order to gain priority in 
recognition, though there is no requirement that they do so. Members 
will still be recognized whether their amendments are in the Record or 
not.
  Later in the week it is anticipated that the Judiciary Committee will 
be coming to the Rules Committee with four additional crime bills. They 
are: H.R. 668, Criminal Alien Deportation Improvements Act; H.R. 667, 
Violent Criminal Incarceration Act; H.R. 729, Effective Death Penalty 
Act, and H.R. 728, Local Government Law Enforcement Block Grants Act.
  Of these, the Criminal Alien Deportation Improvements Act may also be 
considered under an open rule with an option to gain priority in 
recognition by pre-printing amendments in the Congressional Record.
  The remaining three bills may be considered for amendment under the 
5-minute rule, with a possible overall time limitation on the amending 
process. There would also be the option to gain priority in recognition 
by pre-printing amendments in the Congressional Record.
  If Members choose to avail themselves of the pre-printing option, 
amendments should be titled, ``Submitted for printing under clause 6 of 
Rule XXIII,'' signed by the Member, and submitted at the Speaker's 
table.
  Members should use the Office of the Legislative Counsel to ensure 
that their amendments are properly drafted.
  The amendments must still be consistent with House rules. It is not 
necessary to submit amendments to the Rules Committee or to testify.
  Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to put Members on notice as to what sort 
of amending process they might expect on the six crime bills.

                             TENTATIVE SCHEDULING OF CRIME BILLS IN RULES COMMITTEE                             
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                Judiciary      Deadline         Filing        Rules     Rule on 
                     Bill                         files      announcement      deadline       meets      floor  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
H.R. 665, Victim restitution.................          2-2  NA (open)       NA                 2-6        2-7   
H.R. 666, Exclusionary rule reform...........          2-2  NA (open)       NA                 2-6        2-7   
H.R. 668, Criminal alien deportation.........          2-6  NA (open)       NA                 2-8        2-9   
H.R. 667, Violent criminal incarceration               2-6  ..............  Noon, 2-7          2-8        2-9   
 (prisons).                                                                                                     
H.R. 729, Effective death penalty............          2-7  ..............  Noon, 2-8          2-9       2-10   
H.R. 728, Block grants.......................          2-8  ..............  Noon, 2-9         2-10       2-13   
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  For the purpose of drafting amendments, the text to be amended will 
be available at the Judiciary Committee Office, 2138 Rayburn House 
Office Building, for the following bills on the following dates:
  H.R. 667, February 6.
  H.R. 729, February 7.
  H.R. 728, February 8.
  Mr. VOLKMER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. SOLOMON. I yield briefly to my friend, the gentleman from 
Missouri.
  Mr. VOLKMER. Mr. Speaker, under the three bills that we are talking 
about that would have a time limit, those are habeas corpus, and what 
are the three again?
  Mr. SOLOMON. They are the Violent Criminal Incarceration Act, the 
Effective Death Penalty Act, and the Block Grants Act for Local 
Government Law Enforcement.
  Mr. VOLKMER. Habeas corpus, the prison construction, and what was the 
third one?
  Mr. SOLOMON. It is the block grants bill.
  Mr. VOLKMER. The block grant. That is on the crime prevention 
program.
  Mr. SOLOMON. Let me just explain. The first three bills will more 
than likely be considered under totally open rules, and that is the way 
it should be. The only exceptions to open rules would be in the next 
three. In other words, we may have to shut down debate to be out of 
here by April 8 so Members can have the 3 weeks back home for Easter 
and the district work period. That is terribly important.

                              {time}  1010

  And there is a possibility we might take the last three bills and 
limit debate to one full day. That could mean 12 hours from 10 a.m. to 
10 p.m. on each of those last three. Hopefully we might not even have 
to do that. If we can just move along with these six crime bills, we 
will have gotten them out of the way so that we can stay on schedule 
for our Easter break.
  Mr. VOLKMER. Will the gentleman be able to determine whether or not 
that even would be necessary somewhat by a number of amendments that 
may be prefiled?
  Mr. SOLOMON. Could very well be. We are going to consult with the 
minority on all of these bills.
  Mr. VOLKMER. All right. And the other thing, in other words, I would 
urge Members, like you have, for people to put them in the Record, and 
also to contact the Committee on Rules to give you a better idea of 
where you have to go.
  Mr. SOLOMON. That is correct. And that can be very helpful to 
Members. I would point out that one Member on your side of the aisle 
prefiled an amendment for another bill. It turned out that it was a 
flawed amendment. The Parliamentarians caught it. The Member was able 
to correct it, and it benefited him. It would benefit all Members to 
prefile their amendments, although there is no requirement for that.
  Mr. VOLKMER. Could I ask you one additional question?
  Mr. SOLOMON. All right. We have to get on with it.
  Mr. VOLKMER. I understand that. But I think this is very important.
  You are saying that you are talking about an overall time limit on 
the total bill, not on any one amendment. Therefore, if there are, let 
us say, you do do that on one bill, let us take the habeas corpus bill, 
and let us say there are still 50 or 60 amendments that are offered, 
that means that at the end we would still have to vote on those 
amendments even though there may not be any debate time left?
  Mr. SOLOMON. Not necessarily. If there were an overall time 
limitation on the amendment process, in other 
[[Page H1161]] words, the consideration of amendments might cease at a 
particular time. Let's say there is 1 hour on the rule, 1 hour on the 
general debate, and 6 hours on the amendment process.
  With another 4 hours of walking time--voting time--we could consume 
altogether up to 12 hours on the clock. At the end of the 6-hour debate 
period for amendments, not counting the time consumed in voting, no 
further amendments could be considered at that point. It would benefit 
Members if they have significant amendments to decide which of those 
are truly significant and lay them out so that Members can be to heard 
on those amendments. That would be fair to your side.
  Mr. VOLKMER. I thank the gentleman.
  

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