[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 143 (Thursday, September 14, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H8915]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 2126, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1996

  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker I ask unanimous consent to take 
from the Speaker's table the bill H.R. 2126, making appropriations for 
the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 
1996, and for other purposes, with a Senate amendment thereto, disagree 
to the Senate amendment, and agree to the conference asked by the 
Senate.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
            motion to instruct conferees offered by mr. obey

  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Mr. Obey moves that the managers on the part of the House 
     at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses 
     on the amendment of the Senate to the bill H.R. 2126 be 
     instructed to insist on Section 8075 of the House bill, 
     limiting the allowable cost charged to the government for 
     individual compensation to not more than $200,000 per year.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Obey] will 
be recognized for 30 minutes, and the gentleman from Florida [Mr. 
Young] will be recognized for 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Obey].
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, my motion to instruct is very simple. Last week the 
House adopted a motion which limited to $200,000 the amount that could 
be paid to any executive in any defense corporation from any contract 
which they had with the U.S. Government or any agency of the U.S. 
Government.
  In plain language, this simply says that any dollars that any defense 
contractor wants to provide by way of compensation to any of their 
executives above the salary paid to the President of the United States 
should be paid out of their profits and not out of contract receipts 
with the U.S. Government.
  If you take a look at the salaries of some of the CEO's of these 
corporations, you will see that, for instance, one of them was paid 
nearly $15 million in 1994. I do not really believe that, when we have 
the massive downsizing going on in the military, when we have the 
squeeze that we have not only in the military budget but on domestic 
budgets as well, I do not think we have any business encouraging the 
payment of those outlandish salaries. I do not see why anybody in this 
country ought to have to make more than the President of the United 
States.

                              {time}  1330

  Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption of this motion to instruct.
  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
might consume and simply say that, when the bill was before the House, 
we accepted the gentleman's amendment, and we accept his motion to 
instruct today, and, unless he has further speakers, I am prepared to 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. (Mr. Radanovich). Without objection, the 
previous question is ordered on the motion to instruct.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to instruct 
offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Obey].
  The motion to instruct was agreed to.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the Chair appoints the 
following conferees: Messrs. Young of Florida, McDade, Livingston, 
Lewis of California, Skeen, Hobson, Bonilla, Nethercutt, Neumann, 
Murtha, Dicks, Wilson, Hefner, Sabo, and Obey.

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