[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 44 (Thursday, March 9, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H2913]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




ANNOUNCEMENT BY CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEE ON RULES REGARDING CONSIDERATION 
       OF AMENDMENTS TO H.R. 1158, MAKING EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL 
 APPROPRIATIONS AND RESCISSIONS, AND TO H.R. 1159, MAKING SUPPLEMENTAL 
                     APPROPRIATIONS AND RESCISSIONS

  (Mr. SOLOMON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, the Rules Committee is planning to meet on 
next Tuesday, March 14, to grant a rule which may limit the kind of 
amendments which may be offered to H.R. 1158, making emergency 
supplemental appropriations and rescissions and to H.R. 1159, making 
supplemental appropriations and rescissions.
  The rule will, subject to the approval of the Rules Committee, 
include a provision requiring that amendments not increase the net 
level of budget authority in the bill. This means that if there is a 
proposal to add budget authority, it must be offset by other cuts in 
budget authority. And rescissions would be treated in a similar manner. 
If an amendment proposes to eliminate a rescission, it would need to 
include offsetting cuts.
  The rule may further provide that the bill will be read for amendment 
by chapter, which means that any addition to a particular chapter of 
the bill would have to be offset by increasing rescissions in the same 
chapter.
  New rescissions affecting programs other than those in the bill would 
constitute legislation on an appropriation and violate the standing 
rules of the House.
  Subject to the approval of the Rules Committee this rule will include 
a provision requiring amendments to be preprinted in the amendment 
section of the Congressional Record. Amendments should be submitted for 
printing no later than Monday, March 13, 1995.
  Amendments to be preprinted should be signed by the Member, and 
submitted at the Speaker's table.
  The bill may be considered for amendment under the 5-minute rule, 
with a possible overall time limitation on the amending process.
  Members should use the Office of Legislative Counsel to ensure that 
their amendments are properly drafted and should check with the Office 
of the Parliamentarian to be certain their amendments comply with the 
rules of the House. It is not necessary to submit amendments to the 
Rules Committee or to testify.

                              {time}  1215

  That is certainly optional.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. SOLOMON. I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. According to our latest information, the House is not in 
session Monday; is that so?
  Mr. SOLOMON. In order to give Members a fair opportunity to prefile 
their amendments on this very important issue dealing with rescissions, 
the House is going to be in session pro forma on Monday, which means 
Members would have that opportunity to prefile their amendments so that 
they would appear in Tuesday's Record. That is very important.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. Does the gentleman mean Members are going to come in 
here to sit for 5 minutes in order that they can file an amendment?
  Mr. SOLOMON. No, I think that Members can submit their amendments, 
they can prefile them like we always do on Monday. You sign your name 
to it, your staff then drops them in the hopper for you.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. How long will we be in session in the pro forma session?
  Mr. SOLOMON. That depends.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. It does not depend on us, how long we would be in 
session.
  Mr. SOLOMON. It depends on how many 1-minutes there might be and how 
many special orders.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. With no votes, the gentleman from New York [Mr. Solomon] 
is going to tell me we are going to go through an extensive pro forma 
session?
  Mr. SOLOMON. Under unanimous-consent requests, filing of amendments 
would be in order up until 5 p.m. and that is the normal procedure of 
the House. We would have no objection to that.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. Yes, but that request has not been made.
  Mr. SOLOMON. No, we intend to make it.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. When?
  Mr. SOLOMON. So Members could be assured that they would have until 5 
p.m. to file their amendments Monday. Again, this is in lieu of making 
them file their amendments by Friday at 5. This gives Members and their 
staffs the entire weekend and all day Monday.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. So it is giving us our day off to come back here and 
file amendments. Is that what the gentleman is giving us?
  Mr. SOLOMON. If the gentleman will let me interrupt him, I will make 
the unanimous-consent request right now.

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