[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 103 (Thursday, June 22, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H6210-H6213]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   COMMITTEES AND SUBCOMMITTEES TO SIT FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK 
                        DURING THE 5-MINUTE RULE

  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I offer a privileged motion and ask for its 
immediate consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gillmor). The Clerk will report the 
motion.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Pursuant to clause 2i of rule 11 Mr. Armey moves that all 
     committees and subcommittees of the House be permitted to sit 
     for the remainder of the week while the House is meeting in 
     the Committee of the Whole House under the 5-minute rule.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Texas [Mr. Armey] is 
recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I will not take my whole hour.
  Mr. Speaker, let me just say, this is a routine matter. It is a 
fairly normal thing we have been doing here in order to enable our 
committees to work while the House proceeds with business. Of course, 
we do this in all due consideration to all our Members, but also, of 
course, in due consideration of the fact that the people's work must be 
done.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time, with the exception 
that I will yield 15 minutes to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Doggett] 
for the purpose of debate only.
  Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to 
me, and would like to be heard in opposition to this motion.
  Normally, Mr. Speaker, it would be my feeling that this House should 
proceed in all due speed to attend to matters, certainly on the 
Committee on Science on which I serve. However, yesterday we had an 
incredible display of arrogance in that committee. It is not the first 
time that it has happened, unfortunately.
  That is that after the bell had rung for Members of the Committee on 
Science to come to the floor of this house and cast their vote on 
behalf of the over half a million people that each of those Members 
represent, after that bell had rung, the chairman of the committee 
attempted to force the committee to vote in committee at the same time, 
several blocks away from where they were being asked to vote on the 
floor of this House.
  The effect of that action is to deny that half a million Americans 
the opportunity to cast their vote either in the committee or on the 
floor, since even the Committee on Science, as advanced as its outlook 
might be, has not [[Page H 6211]] figured out a way to have Members of 
Congress sit in two places at the same time.
  Therefore, Mr. Speaker, with this having happened on a prior 
occasion, I began talking about this in the Committee on Science in 
hopes that there would be an opportunity to simply have the common 
decency and the common courtesy to postpone the vote until immediately 
after the vote here, because several members of the Committee on 
Science, Democratic members, had already left, realizing how really 
critical this vote was on the floor of the House concerning, 
ironically, the Office of Technology Assessment, a matter that relates 
directly to the jurisdiction of our committee.
  Those members left. They included the distinguished gentlewoman from 
Michigan, Lynn Rivers. Ms. Rivers, as she told the House yesterday, has 
never missed a vote on the floor of this House. She has never missed a 
vote in any of the committees on which she served until yesterday. The 
only reason that she missed that vote was the vote was forced while she 
was trying to cast her vote on the floor of the House, the vote was 
forced in the Committee on Science.
  Mr. Speaker, I talked for 5 minutes, asking for the opportunity to 
simply delay the vote until such time as all our Members could return, 
and that opportunity, that common courtesy, was rejected. It is for 
that reason that I oppose this motion, because I think that the House 
needs to make a statement that we will not place any Member of this 
House, Democratic or Republican, in the position, the dilemma, of 
deciding shall I vote on the floor for my constituents, shall I vote on 
the committee to which my expertise is called?
  Mr. Speaker, none of this would have been necessary yesterday. None 
of this rush to justice would have occurred had it not been, as several 
Members have pointed out this morning, for the fact that some of our 
Republican colleagues just could not move fast enough to get to that 
big bucks fundraiser up in New York City, where all of the corporate 
elite was gathered to shower down benefits on them. There is nothing 
wrong with having a fundraiser. They do go on all the time on both 
sides. It is the only way this place seems to be able to operate.
  However, what is wrong is when democracy is trampled in the process, 
and people are cut off and denied their right to vote, be it on the 
floor or in an important committee of this House like the Committee on 
Science.
  Mr. VOLKMER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. DOGGETT. I yield to the gentleman from Missouri.
  Mr. VOLKMER. Mr. Speaker, I think we all recognize that immediately 
following the disposition of this motion by the floor leader, that we 
are going to be back on the legislative branch appropriation bill. The 
very first vote is going to be, again, on OTA. At least that is being 
corrected.
  However, then we are going to follow with other votes about 10, 11 
minutes apart. We are going to have other amendments and they each have 
about 10 minutes to them. Those are very important amendments. Those on 
the Committee on Science are going to have to stay over there and not 
listen to the debate.
  Mr. DOGGETT. They are over there right now meeting. That is the 
problem. They cannot be in two places at once.
  Mr. VOLKMER. If the gentleman will yield further, they do not know 
what is going on, Mr. Chairman. They have to run over here and try to 
make this vote. If the chairman does like he did yesterday and calls 
for votes, we are back in the same pickle all over again.
  Would it not be better for the Committee on Science just to say no, 
we will not finish up today, we will come back in next week and we will 
finish up, at a time when it is not going to interfere with Members 
trying to do two things at one time?
  Mr. DOGGETT. Perhaps at a time when simple common courtesy and 
decency and collegiality could prevail, instead of pomposity and 
arrogance, which is what we have had too much of.
  Mr. VOLKMER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I might point out what happened yesterday 
as it relates to what occurred here on the floor. I know the gentleman 
is interested in the total inconsistency, because when we did rush over 
here, literally in a gallop from way over at the Rayburn building, to 
try to be two places at once, we found, or I did, in response to a 
parliamentary inquiry, that a phone call had been made, and that the 
vote had been extended far beyond 17 minutes, but that was the vote 
immediately before the one that was cut off a few seconds shy, and 1 
million Americans' right to vote shy, of being able to be cast here.
  Mr. VOLKMER. If the gentleman will continue to yield, Mr. Speaker, if 
the gentleman and other Members of the minority had been informed by 
the chairman of the Committee on Science that that phone call was being 
made, and that there would be sufficient time for the gentleman to 
respond to the rollcall vote over here, he would not have had to run 
over here right away

                              {time}  1145

  You were not told that, were you?
  Mr. DOGGETT. We heard nothing of it. It would have allowed those 
Members like the gentlewoman from Michigan [Ms. Rivers] to keep her 
100-percent voting record for the people of Michigan.
  Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. DOGGETT. I yield to the gentlewoman from Colorado.
  Mrs. SCHROEDER. I really thank the gentleman from Texas for his 
leadership on this. I know in Judiciary, we were confronted with 
exactly the same thing the day before. That after the second bell I 
left to come here to vote because I thought the 15-minute thing was 
legit and I guess my mother emphasized promptness too much. I left, I 
came over here, went back and found out that they had a rollcall and so 
I had not been able to participate in the rollcall in Judiciary.
  Look, during the first 100 days, I think our side cooperated when we 
had this 15-ring circus going on. But at this point when you have got 
committees that are doing markups and hearings and meanwhile having 
issues on the floor that the committee is also interested in at the 
same time, I would think what we are really saying is we are just 
running around here voting and people do not have any time to really 
focus on these tough issues. I think the people expect a little more of 
us. They expect us to work later than 3:30 in the afternoon and in the 
middle of the week, knock off to go to New York City and whatever.
  I think the gentleman is making an excellent point and I would hope 
that everybody could get some idea of
 what the rules are. Are we going to have committee votes after the 
second bell? Are we going to have them after the third bell? Are we 
going to be able to hold the thing open down here if that is happening? 
Who has the clout to do it? Is it only people on that side of the 
aisle? People on this side do not have that clout? These are serious 
issues.

  Mr. DOGGETT. They are serious issues, because democracy has to work 
both ways. It has to be the same rule for Democrats and Republicans and 
people of no party affiliation. I certainly do not object to their need 
to rush off to a fundraiser in Manhattan with the tobacco lobbyists and 
the other big corporate interests, buy why is it that the people's 
workday had to be cut short in the middle of the afternoon? The folks I 
represent down in Texas do not usually get off at 3 or 4 in the 
afternoon to head off to some big bucks party. They have to stay and 
put in at least their full 8 hours of labor. Had these folks been 
willing to put in their full 8 hours of labor and then catch their 
corporate jet to New York and enjoy the chance to be wined and dined 
with the big corporate lobbyists, then we would not have had this 
problem. We could well have permitted people to vote in due order in 
the Committee on Science and to vote here on the floor of the House 
without rancor, without any kind of interruption or disruption such as 
we have had, and we would be much further along on the people's 
business today had these nasty incidents, one here on the floor of the 
House, one in the Committee on Science, totally uncalled for, totally 
unnecessary, had those no occurred.
  Mrs. SCHROEDER. If the gentleman will yield further, I think the 
gentleman is making an excellent point. That what we are talking about 
is by trying to compact the day into just a [[Page H 6212]] few hours 
so it is convenient for jet-setters, or fat cats, so they don't have to 
be kept waiting and whatever is wrong. You do your business first and 
then you do the other thing. We understand that.
  If people say, ``Well, we don't want to work late that night,'' that 
may be one thing. But 3:30 in the afternoon is not really late. I think 
that most people would be very surprised by that. But I think basically 
what Members want to know is what are the rules around here? How many 
times can we have votes? How late are they going to be? Are we going to 
have to start choosing between where our vote is recorded? And it is 
not our vote. It is the vote of the people we represent. I think that 
is the thing we have to keep focusing on. People expect their voice to 
be heard here and Members are now being forced to choose between where 
they are going to cast their vote since we do not really quite know 
what the new rules are. I thank the gentleman for pointing this out.
  I hope people vote ``no.'' I think we have got to get a little more 
in order here.
  Mr. DOGGETT. I think there is no doubt about the outcome of this vote 
on my objection than any of the other votes that we have had this time. 
But I would commend to the majority leader the leadership of a member 
of the majority of the subcommittee on which I serve on the Committee 
on Science, the distinguished gentleman from New Mexico [Mr. Schiff], 
because we went through a subcommittee hearing on some of the same 
legislation being considered in the Committee on Science. It was 
without disruption, it was without ill feeling, even though we disagree 
on some of the substance as much as with any member of the full 
committee. That is the way that the committees and the subcommittees of 
this Congress need to be operated.
  The people did not ask for us to come here and get engaged in some 
kind of partisan tussle. They simply wanted a full exchange of ideas 
where every Member is accorded the dignity of a vote, to represent 
their constituents.
  I would ask the distinguished majority leader, whatever the outcome, 
perhaps the predetermined outcome of this vote, to simply work with us 
to see that this does not happen again, to see that Members are not 
forced to a choice between representing their constituents within a 
committee and representing them on the floor of the House. That is what 
all this is about, so that there can be informed representation, fair 
representation. We ask for no special privilege on the Democratic side, 
only the opportunity to represent our constituents and hopefully work 
toward a bipartisan answer to some of the problems that this country 
faces.
  I know that there will be times when the crush of campaign duties may 
draw people away. But let that not be at the expense of the normal 
workday. There is no reason why this body cannot work until at least 5. 
There will be plenty of time to fly off in the corporate jets and deal 
with the contributors that I know are so vital to the Republican Party. 
They can do that and still conduct the people's business in a fair and 
proper way.
  I think that yesterday democracy was trampled twice, once on the 
floor of this House, once in the Committee on Science. Let us see in 
today's action that in addition to revotes, that we actually have a 
commitment to reform.
  When I came here in Congress for the first day in January of this 
year, I have to admit that I was not all that happy about finding 
myself in the minority. But I will also admit that I was quite happy to 
see Republican colleagues saying they were going to shake this place 
up. I think business as usual needed to be shaken up in this place. If 
I have any disagreement with them now, it is not that they shake too 
much but that they did not shake enough. When things like this happen, 
it suggests we are right back to business as usual.
  It is not enough to say, ``Well, that's the way somebody else did it 
10 or 20 years ago.'' These are supposed to be revolutionaries, 
committed to revolutionary change in this House. It is nothing but 
revolting to see what happened yesterday. We do need revolutionary 
change in this House, and I think that assuring that every Member gets 
to cast their vote fully and fairly in committee and on the floor of 
the Congress is absolutely vital to that reform.
  If we can combine with that opportunity some affirmative and 
immediate action, if we could have as much of a rush to true campaign 
finance reform, as much of a rush to a gift ban and free trips and this 
kind of thing, to changing our rules to deal with that as there was a 
rush to justice yesterday to get to that fund-raiser up in Manhattan, 
we would begin to reform this system so that people had not only their 
full 100-percent right to vote on the floor of this House and in the 
Committee on Science but so that our citizens were dealt with fully and 
fairly, so that the ties that seem to bind too many Members of this 
body to the lobby, the gifts, the freebies, the free trips, so that 
those would be ended, as my colleague the gentleman from Texas [Mr. 
Bryant] has been trying to do with a true gift ban limitation in our 
rules but which we cannot get up for a vote on the floor of this House. 
Maybe we could have done that after 4:00 yesterday. Likewise, so that 
we could move forward as there appeared to be some bipartisan support 
for moving forward earlier in the week but it seems to have vanished 
away, to do something about campaign finance reform.
  That gets to the heart of real reform, to genuinely shaking this body 
up and giving the American people the kind of reform that they need to 
have a Congress that is responsible first and foremost to the people 
that are struggling to climb up that economic ladder instead of tilting 
all of the benefit to those who are sitting comfortably on top. That is 
what this is about.
  I object and ask for a ``no'' vote on this attempt of the Committee 
on Science to continue to operate under the same old procedures. I ask 
that we assure democracy and fair play for our constituents as well as 
our Members and hopefully put some genuine meaning in the term 
``reform.''
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I 
have just a few more comments before I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Texas for his 
remarks. I am sure we would all agree they were very entertaining.
  I should say, Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Texas has clearly 
demonstrated, I think, to the satisfaction of this entire body that he 
does moral outrage very well. But I must admit, he is far more 
entertaining when he does wide-eyed innocence, and I should hope that I 
will not have to experience the performance again in the future.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the 
previous question on the motion.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Texas [Mr. Armey].
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the noes appeared to have it.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Evidently a quorum is not present.
  This is a 17-minute vote.
  The Sergeant at Arms will notify absent Members.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 232, 
nays 187, not voting 15, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 409]

                               YEAS--232

     Allard
     Archer
     Armey
     Bachus
     Baker (CA)
     Baker (LA)
     Ballenger
     Barr
     Barrett (NE)
     Bartlett
     Barton
     Bass
     Bateman
     Bereuter
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bliley
     Blute
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bono
     Brownback
     Bryant (TN)
     Bunn
     Bunning
     Burr
     Burton
     Buyer
     Callahan
     Calvert
     Camp
     Canady
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chambliss
     Chenoweth
     Christensen
     Chrysler
     Clinger
     Coble
     Coburn
     Collins (GA)
     Combest
     Cooley
     Cox
     Crane
     Crapo
     Cremeans
     Cubin
     Cunningham
     Davis
     Deal
     DeLay
     Diaz-Balart
     Dickey
     Doolittle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Ehlers
     Ehrlich
     Emerson
     English
     Ensign
     Everett
     Ewing
     Fawell
     Fields (TX)
     Flanagan
     Foley
     Forbes
     Fowler
     Fox
     Franks (CT)
     Franks (NJ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Frisa
     Funderburk
     Gallegly
     Ganske
     Gekas
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gilman
     Goodlatte
     Goodling [[Page H 6213]] 
     Goss
     Graham
     Greenwood
     Gunderson
     Gutknecht
     Hancock
     Hansen
     Hastert
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Heineman
     Herger
     Hilleary
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Hoke
     Horn
     Hostettler
     Houghton
     Hunter
     Hutchinson
     Hyde
     Inglis
     Istook
     Jacobs
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Kasich
     Kelly
     Kim
     King
     Kingston
     Klug
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     LaHood
     Largent
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lazio
     Leach
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Lightfoot
     Linder
     Livingston
     LoBiondo
     Longley
     Lucas
     Manzullo
     Martini
     McCollum
     McCrery
     McDade
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McIntosh
     McKeon
     Metcalf
     Meyers
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Molinari
     Moorhead
     Morella
     Myers
     Myrick
     Nethercutt
     Neumann
     Ney
     Norwood
     Nussle
     Oxley
     Packard
     Parker
     Paxon
     Petri
     Pombo
     Porter
     Portman
     Pryce
     Quillen
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Riggs
     Roberts
     Rogers
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roth
     Roukema
     Royce
     Salmon
     Sanford
     Saxton
     Scarborough
     Schaefer
     Seastrand
     Sensenbrenner
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Shuster
     Skeen
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Solomon
     Souder
     Spence
     Spratt
     Stearns
     Stockman
     Stump
     Talent
     Tate
     Tauzin
     Taylor (NC)
     Thomas
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Torkildsen
     Traficant
     Upton
     Vucanovich
     Waldholtz
     Walker
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Watts (OK)
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wolf
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)
     Zeliff
     Zimmer

                               NAYS--187

     Abercrombie
     Andrews
     Baesler
     Baldacci
     Barcia
     Barrett (WI)
     Becerra
     Beilenson
     Bentsen
     Berman
     Bevill
     Bishop
     Bonior
     Borski
     Boucher
     Brewster
     Brown (CA)
     Brown (FL)
     Brown (OH)
     Bryant (TX)
     Cardin
     Clay
     Clayton
     Clement
     Clyburn
     Coleman
     Collins (IL)
     Collins (MI)
     Condit
     Conyers
     Costello
     Coyne
     Cramer
     Danner
     de la Garza
     DeFazio
     DeLauro
     Dellums
     Deutsch
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Dixon
     Doggett
     Dooley
     Doyle
     Durbin
     Edwards
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Evans
     Farr
     Fattah
     Fazio
     Fields (LA)
     Filner
     Flake
     Foglietta
     Ford
     Frank (MA)
     Frost
     Furse
     Gejdenson
     Gephardt
     Geren
     Gibbons
     Gonzalez
     Gordon
     Green
     Gutierrez
     Hall (OH)
     Hall (TX)
     Hamilton
     Hastings (FL)
     Hayes
     Hefner
     Hilliard
     Hinchey
     Holden
     Hoyer
     Jackson-Lee
     Jefferson
     Johnson (SD)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Johnston
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kennelly
     Kildee
     Kleczka
     Klink
     LaFalce
     Lantos
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lincoln
     Lipinski
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Luther
     Maloney
     Manton
     Markey
     Martinez
     Mascara
     Matsui
     McCarthy
     McDermott
     McHale
     McKinney
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek
     Menendez
     Mfume
     Miller (CA)
     Mineta
     Minge
     Mink
     Montgomery
     Moran
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Neal
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Orton
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pastor
     Payne (NJ)
     Payne (VA)
     Pelosi
     Peterson (FL)
     Peterson (MN)
     Pickett
     Pomeroy
     Poshard
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reed
     Reynolds
     Richardson
     Rivers
     Roemer
     Rose
     Roybal-Allard
     Rush
     Sabo
     Sanders
     Sawyer
     Schroeder
     Scott
     Sisisky
     Skaggs
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Stark
     Stenholm
     Stokes
     Studds
     Stupak
     Tanner
     Taylor (MS)
     Tejeda
     Thompson
     Thornton
     Thurman
     Torricelli
     Towns
     Tucker
     Velazquez
     Vento
     Visclosky
     Volkmer
     Ward
     Watt (NC)
     Waxman
     Williams
     Wilson
     Wise
     Woolsey
     Wyden
     Wynn
     Yates

                             NOT VOTING--15

     Ackerman
     Browder
     Chapman
     Dornan
     Harman
     Kennedy (MA)
     Laughlin
     Moakley
     Mollohan
     Schiff
     Schumer
     Serrano
     Torres
     Waters
     White

                              {time}  1214

  Mr. METCALF changed his vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
  So the motion was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
  

                          ____________________