[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 53 (Wednesday, March 22, 1995)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D393-D394]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page D393]]
                        House of Representatives


Chamber Action
Bills Introduced: Fifteen public bills, H.R. 1288-1302; and one private 
bill, H.R. 1303, were introduced.
  Pages H3571-72
Speaker Pro Tempore: Read a letter from the Speaker wherein he 
designates Representative Gillmor to act as Speaker pro tempore for 
today.
  Page H3419
Journal: By a recorded vote of 326 ayes to 88 noes, with 1 voting 
``present,'' Roll No. 254, the House approved the Journal of Tuesday, 
March 21.
  Pages H3419, H3435
Holocaust Memorial Council: The Speaker appointed the following Members 
to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council on the part of the 
House: Representatives Gilman, Regula, LaTourette, Lantos, and Yates.
  Page H3419
Committees To Sit: By a yea-and-nay vote of 227 yeas to 190 nays, Roll 
No. 253, the House agreed to the Armey motion that all Committees and 
their subcommittees be permitted to sit today and for the balance of 
the week during the proceedings of the House under the 5-minute rule.
  Pages H3426-35
Personal Responsibility Act: House continued consideration of H.R. 4, 
to restore the American family, reduce illegitimacy, control welfare 
spending and reduce welfare dependence; but came to no resolution 
thereon. Consideration of amendments will continue on Thursday, March 
23.
  Pages H3449-H3529
Agreed To:
  The Archer technical amendment (agreed to by a recorded vote of 228 
ayes to 203 nos, Roll No. 257);
Pages H3491-96, H3522
  The Archer en bloc amendment, as modified, that expresses the sense 
of the Congress regarding marriage as the foundation of a successful 
society and that out-of-wedlock births have negative consequences; 
strikes the provision in title I (Temporary Family Assistance Block 
Grants) requiring States to reduce out-of-wedlock births and replaces 
it with (1) a requirement to reduce out-of-wedlock pregnancies, (2) 
strikes the requirement that States provide education, counseling, and 
health services to male and female teenagers as a means of reducing 
such pregnancies, and (3) prohibits States from using block grant funds 
to provide health services; increases required work participation rates 
in title I for all families over the course of a fiscal year from 4 
percent to 10 percent in fiscal year 1996, from 4 percent to 15 percent 
in fiscal year 1997, from 8 percent to 20 percent in fiscal year 1998, 
from 12 percent to 25 percent in fiscal year 1999, and from 17 percent 
to 27 percent in fiscal year 2000; prohibits the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services from overruling the ability of States to determine 
in their definitions of child abuse and neglect what is proper health 
care for a child; expresses the sense of the Congress that States 
should establish expedited adoption procedures and allocate sufficient 
funds from their Child Protection Block Grant toward adoption and 
medical assistance to reduce the amount of time children must spend in 
foster care; requires family and school-based Nutrition Block Grants to 
be equitably distributed to members of the Armed Forces residing in a 
State; limits the Secretary of Agriculture's authority to request 
specific information concerning grants under his jurisdiction to what 
``can reasonably be required''; adds criminal forfeiture authority to 
the powers of the Department of Justice and Agriculture in prosecuting 
violators of the Food Stamp Act; clarifies the 10-year penalty for 
willfully misrepresenting residency in order to receive benefits in 
more than one State; strikes provisions in title VII (Child Support) 
that prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from granting 
exemptions to the following State law requirements: (1) procedures for 
establishing paternity, modification of orders, recording orders in the 
State registry, recording Social Security numbers, interstate 
enforcement, or expedited processing, (2) requires the Secretary to 
conclude that a network of local disbursement units costs less and 
takes less time than a centralized system in order to secure approval, 
(3) requires States to give employers one address to send child support 
withholding payments for centralized collection, and makes a number of 
technical corrections; and requires the Social Security number of the 
deceased appear on death certificates (agreed to by a recorded vote of 
249 ayes to 177 noes, Roll No. 258);
Pages H3496-H3509, H3522-23
  The Kleczka amendment that strikes provisions in the bill which would 
authorize States to use for non-welfare purposes Federal welfare moneys 
that accumulate in State emergency account funds;
Pages H3514-15
  The Bunn of Oregon amendment that allows unwed mothers to continue to 
receive assistance if certain conditions are met (agreed to by a 
recorded vote of 351 ayes to 81 noes, Roll No. 260);
Pages H3515-17, H3524
  The Smith of New Jersey amendment that allows families on welfare to 
receive additional benefits, limited to particular goods and services 
used in the [[Page D394]] care of a child to mothers under age 18 who 
are barred from receiving cash benefits for new children born while the 
family is on welfare, provided that the form of payment is by voucher 
(agreed to by a recorded vote of 352 ayes to 80 noes, Roll No. 261);
Pages H3517-22, H3524-25
  The Wyden amendment that insures that States give consideration to 
relatives when making foster care or adoption placements; and
Pages H3525-27
  The Woolsey technical amendment.
Page H3527
Rejected:
  The Kennedy motion to rise and report the bill back to the House 
(rejected by a recorded vote of 188 ayes to 242 noes, Roll No. 256); 
and
Pages H3499-H3500
  The Talent amendment that sought to increase the minimum number of 
hours that a recipient with children over the age of 5 has to work from 
20 hours to 30 hours a week in fiscal year 1996 (rejected by a recorded 
vote of 96 ayes to 337 noes, Roll No. 259).
Pages H3509-14, H3523-24
  H. Res. 119, the rule under which the bill is being considered for 
amendment, was agreed to earlier by a yea-and-nay vote of 217 yeas to 
211 nays, Roll No. 255.
Pages H3436-49
Quorum Calls--Votes: Two yea-and-nay votes and seven recorded votes 
developed during the proceedings of the House today and appear on pages 
H3434-35, H3435, H3448-49, H3499-H3500, H3522, H3522-23, H3523-24, 
H3524, and H3524-25. There were no quorum calls.
Adjournment: Met at 10:00 a.m. and adjourned at 12:00 a.m. on Thursday, 
March 23.