[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 167 (Thursday, October 26, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H10872]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY

  Mr. WARD. Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state it.
  Mr. WARD. Mr. Speaker, this bill contains an enormous tax increase. I 
need it explained to me why, when I made this same parliamentary 
inquiry on the budget resolution back when the budget resolution was 
before us, Speaker Gingrich told me I needed to learn the rules.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his parliamentary 
inquiry.
  Mr. WARD. My inquiry is, I have studied the rules and rule XXI 
applies to bills. This is a bill, and it is a tax increase. Why does 
rule XXI not apply to this bill?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will state that the House, by 
adopting House Resolution 245, has waived that requirement of the rule. 
Therefore, the Chair's response at this point would be purely 
hypothetical, and the Chair cannot respond further at this point.
  Mr. WARD. But the House resolution to which you refer is the rule 
that the Republican Committee on Rules has brought forth for this bill. 
So as I understand it, what you are saying is that Speaker Gingrich 
says that you can change the rules on rule XXI when it suits your 
purposes, when you want to raise taxes?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. That is a statement by the gentleman and not 
a parliamentary inquiry.
  Mr. WARD. I thank the Speaker.

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