[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 10 (Thursday, January 25, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H842-H853]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
WAIVING REQUIREMENT OF CLAUSE 4(b) OF RULE XI WITH RESPECT TO SAME DAY
CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN RESOLUTIONS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON RULES
Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I
call up House Resolution 342 and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 342
Resolved, That the requirement of clause 4(b) of rule XI
for a two-thirds vote to consider a report from the Committee
on Rules on the same day it is presented to the House is
waived with respect to any resolution reported from that
committee before March 16, 1996, and providing for
consideration or disposition of any of the following
measures:
(1) A bill making general appropriations for the fiscal
year ending September 30, 1996, any amendment thereto, any
conference report thereon, or any amendment reported in
disagreement from a conference thereon.
(2) A bill or joint resolution that includes provisions
making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year
1996, any amendment thereto, any conference report thereon,
or any amendment reported in disagreement from a conference
thereon.
(3) A bill or joint resolution that includes provisions
increasing or waiving (for a temporary period or otherwise)
the public debt limit under section 3101(b) of title 31,
United States Code, any amendment thereto, any conference
report thereon, or any amendment reported in disagreement
from a conference thereon.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Taylor of North Carolina). The gentleman
from Colorado [Mr. McInnis] is recognized for 1 hour.
Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the
customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Moakley],
pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During the
consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose
of debate only.
Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 342 is a simple resolution. The
proposed rule merely waives the requirement of clause 4(b) of rule XI
for a two-thirds vote to consider a report from the Committee on Rules
on the same day it is presented to the House for resolutions reported
from the committee before March 16, 1996, under certain circumstances.
This narrow waiver will only apply to special rules providing for the
consideration or disposition of measures, amendments, conference
reports, or items in disagreement from a conference that: make general
appropriations for fiscal year 1996; include provisions making
continuing appropriations, that includes provisions increasing or
waiving the public debt limit.
Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 342 is straightforward, and it was
reported by the Committee on Rules with unanimous voice vote. The
committee recognizes the need for expedited procedures to bring these
legislative measures forward as soon as possible. I urge my colleagues
to support House Resolution 342.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
(Mr. MOAKLEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks and include extraneous material.)
Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, today's rule marks not the first but the
second time my Republican colleagues have waived the two-thirds
requirement for
[[Page H843]]
same day consideration of bills this session and this session just
started.
Mr. Speaker, it's looking an awful lot like my Republican colleagues
are having trouble running the Congress.
Today we are one-third of the way into the fiscal year and the
Government is barely running--when it is it's doing so by the skin of
its teeth, thanks only to a series of hastily passed continuing
resolutions.
For those who may have forgotten why the Government keeps shutting
down for those who may not realize why all these continuing resolutions
are necessary in the first place.
It's because the Republican Congress has failed to fulfill its most
basic responsibility.
The responsibility to pass 13 appropriations bills by October 1.
Those appropriations bills are probably the most important job
Congress has and despite an unprecedented amount of wasted time and
paper last year this Republican Congress has accomplished less than any
Congress since World War II.
Mr. Speaker, October 1 was 116 days ago--what's the hold up?
I certainly hope this rule will prove to be the magic bullet. I
certainly hope this rule the second time around will give my Republican
colleagues what they need to get this Congress working and this
Government running, for good.
Mr. Speaker, I recognize the need to act quickly on these long
overdue bills.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I think what is an important issue to remember here is
that this decision on this budget is the most important economic
decision of this generation. Not only is it the most important decision
of this generation; it is the most important economic decision this
generation is going to make for the next generation.
So, I find it a little interesting that my colleague and my friend
over on the other side of the aisle sits there and talks about the time
it has taken to change the last 24 years of deficit spending; 24 years,
by the way, which were under Democratic control.
It is time that people in American have a balanced budget. It is time
the people in America can expect this Congress to step forward, and if
it takes some time to reverse 24 years of mismanagement of this budget,
the American people can expect us to step forward with some solid
decisions.
Mr. Speaker, I am a little surprised by my colleague on the other
side who stands up and says that perhaps it is a badge of courage, or a
badge of accomplishment, if we pass a lot of legislation. I do not
think we need more laws in this country. I think we have a lot of laws
in this country. The IRS has 72,000 regulations. We need more laws to
tell the American people that we are doing a good job in Washington,
DC?
I think what the American people are saying is, why not take a look
at what we have got on the books? Is it working?
This is the first time since the days of the Great Society that a
Congress has had enought guts to stand up and say, hey, what happened
to individual responsibility? Should this program be questioned? Is it
accountable? Those kinds of questions ought to take priority over
passing a bunch of laws.
If we are going to measure the accomplishments of the U.S. Congress
by a score board on how many laws we pass, geez, talk about
inefficiency, that is not what we are going to do over on this side of
the aisle. If we are going to pass a law, it is going to mean
something, and we have passed legislation here that meant something.
But, Mr. Speaker, you know what is good? We have stopped legislation
that is bad legislation.
Why not talk about what we have stopped in these Chambers that was
bad legislation? I think that, first of all, it is kind of a diversion
from the rule. This rule came out of the Committee on Rules on a
unanimous decision. There wasn't this kind of discussion in the
Committee on Rules last night. But I guess it did offer an opportunity
on the House floor to try and take one more shot at discrediting what
the Republicans are trying to do.
But I think the biggest credit for the Republicans is taking a look
at 24 years of deficit spending, a Government right now that spends $30
million an hour and adds that to its debt every hour of the day. Some
$30 million more going out than coming in, that is what we ought to
take at look at.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from New York [Mr. Solomon].
Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, well, I just want to commend my good friend
from Colorado for his statements.
Mr. Speaker, I heard the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Moakley],
my good friend, question the leadership of the Republican Party and in
being able to run this place. Let me just remind him and everyone else,
``It's the spending, stupid.'' This is what got us into this mess.
Mr. Speaker, all we have to do is look at what is happening to
America today. This country is going down the tubes because of the
irresponsible spending habits of this U.S. Congress. And let us not go
blame it on Presidents in our past; let us blame it on this Congress,
particularly this House of Representatives which controls the
pursestrings. They are responsible. They are the ones that have driven
this deficit to a point where we are now drowning in a sea of red ink
that threatens the very future of our country, especially for our
children and our grandchildren.
Mr. Speaker, $5 trillion in debt? When we look at the pie that makes
up the Federal budget, that huge pie of $1.5 trillion, and when we
consider that $250 billion of that hunk of the pie goes to pay just the
debt service, that means the interest that is due on the debt that is
accumulated over these years, $250 billion. Do the American people
realize how much money that is? It is almost as much money as we spend
on the national defense budget of this country.
We hear the other side of the aisle railing about how much money we
spend on national defense. Imagine, we spend as much on the interest
payments each year as we spend on national defense.
We are kind of fortunate right now because interest rates are low and
inflation rates are low. But what happens when we continue on this kind
of spending spree? Interest rates rise and inflation rises like it did
back in the 1970's when inflation was running rampant at about 13
percent and interest rates, the prime interest rates that small
businessmen had to borrow money at from banks, was running at 22
percent. A small businessman had to pay about 2 percent over that; I
know because I was one, 24 percent interest.
What would happen if interest rates go back up and inflation goes
back up? That hunk of the pie would be about $400 billion. That means
an additional $150 billion in interest payments. And where do we think
that comes from? It comes out of those funds that might be available to
help those people that are truly needy.
Mr. Speaker, I was shocked back at the beginning of last year when
the President gave us a budget and projected spending for the next 5
years. He projected an increase in the deficit of over a trillion
dollars, over $1 trillion. Mr. Speaker, can you imagine that? We can
talk about all of the programs that we have, but the only way we are
ever going to get these deficits under control is by curtailing
spending, either the growth of it or actually cutting programs.
I was very proud at the beginning of last year to introduce a budget,
along with 16 of my colleagues, that actually balanced the budget in 5
years, not 7 years. And it did so by making the cuts in the early
years, in years 1 and 2, not in years 4, 5, 6, or 7. That is how we are
going to balance this budget. That is what we are going to stick to.
Make no exception about it, no matter what happens, we are not going
to veer off this course. There are those of us in this Congress that
are going to stick to this. We are going to force this Congress to vote
on every single one of these issues to finally put this House back in
order financially, and we can count on that.
So, Mr. Speaker, I just want to say to the gentleman, he may not like
the way this Congress is being run, but it is going to be run that way;
as long as the Republican majority is in control in this House, there
is going to be no more deficit spending.
Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, they will not be calling that economic index Standard
and
[[Page H844]]
Poors; if we keep going like we are going, it will be just poor.
Mr. Speaker, I submit the following material for the Record:
FLOOR PROCEDURE IN THE 104TH CONGRESS; COMPILED BY THE RULES COMMITTEE DEMOCRATS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Process used for floor Amendments in
Bill No. Title Resolution No. consideration order
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
H.R. 1*........................ Compliance........ H. Res. 6 Closed................ None.
H. Res. 6...................... Opening Day Rules H. Res. 5 Closed; contained a None.
Package. closed rule on H.R. 1
within the closed
rule.
H.R. 5*........................ Unfunded Mandates. H. Res. 38 Restrictive; Motion N/A.
adopted over
Democratic objection
in the Committee of
the Whole to limit
debate on section 4;
Pre-printing gets
preference.
H.J. Res. 2*................... Balanced Budget... H. Res. 44 Restrictive; only 2R; 4D.
certain substitutes.
H. Res. 43..................... Committee Hearings H. Res. 43 (OJ) Restrictive; N/A.
Scheduling. considered in House
no amendments.
H.R. 2*........................ Line Item Veto.... H. Res. 55 Open; Pre-printing N/A.
gets preference.
H.R. 665*...................... Victim Restitution H. Res. 61 Open; Pre-printing N/A.
Act of 1995. gets preference.
H.R. 666*...................... Exclusionary Rule H. Res. 60 Open; Pre-printing N/A.
Reform Act of gets preference.
1995.
H.R. 667*...................... Violent Criminal H. Res. 63 Restrictive; 10 hr. N/A.
Incarceration Act Time Cap on
of 1995. amendments.
H.R. 668*...................... The Criminal Alien H. Res. 69 Open; Pre-printing N/A.
Deportation gets preference;
Improvement Act. Contains self-
executing provision.
H.R. 728*...................... Local Government H. Res. 79 Restrictive; 10 hr. N/A.
Law Enforcement Time Cap on
Block Grants. amendments; Pre-
printing gets
preference.
H.R. 7*........................ National Security H. Res. 83 Restrictive; 10 hr. N/A.
Revitalization Time Cap on
Act. amendments; Pre-
printing gets
preference.
H.R. 729*...................... Death Penalty/ N/A Restrictive; brought N/A.
Habeas. up under UC with a 6
hr. time cap on
amendments.
S. 2........................... Senate Compliance. N/A Closed; Put on None.
Suspension Calendar
over Democratic
objection.
H.R. 831....................... To Permanently H. Res. 88 Restrictive; makes in 1D.
Extend the Health order only the
Insurance Gibbons amendment;
Deduction for the Waives all points of
Self-Employed. order; Contains self-
executing provision.
H.R. 830*...................... The Paperwork H. Res. 91 Open.................. N/A.
Reduction Act.
H.R. 889....................... Emergency H. Res. 92 Restrictive; makes in 1D.
Supplemental/ order only the Obey
Rescinding substitute.
Certain Budget
Authority.
H.R. 450*...................... Regulatory H. Res. 93 Restrictive; 10 hr. N/A.
Moratorium. Time Cap on
amendments; Pre-
printing gets
preference.
H.R. 1022*..................... Risk Assessment... H. Res. 96 Restrictive; 10 hr. N/A.
Time Cap on
amendments.
H.R. 926*...................... Regulatory H. Res. 100 Open.................. N/A.
Flexibility.
H.R. 925*...................... Private Property H. Res. 101 Restrictive; 12 hr. 1D.
Protection Act. time cap on
amendments; Requires
Members to pre-print
their amendments in
the Record prior to
the bill's
consideration for
amendment, waives
germaneness and
budget act points of
order as well as
points of order
concerning
appropriating on a
legislative bill
against the committee
substitute used as
base text.
H.R. 1058*..................... Securities H. Res. 105 Restrictive; 8 hr. 1D.
Litigation Reform time cap on
Act. amendments; Pre-
printing gets
preference; Makes in
order the Wyden
amendment and waives
germaneness against
it.
H.R. 988*...................... The Attorney H. Res. 104 Restrictive; 7 hr. N/A.
Accountability time cap on
Act of 1995. amendments; Pre-
printing gets
preference.
H.R. 956*...................... Product Liability H. Res. 109 Restrictive; makes in 8D; 7R.
and Legal Reform order only 15 germane
Act. amendments and denies
64 germane amendments
from being considered.
H.R. 1158...................... Making Emergency H. Res. 115 Restrictive; Combines N/A.
Supplemental emergency H.R. 1158 &
Appropriations nonemergency 1159 and
and Rescissions. strikes the abortion
provision; makes in
order only pre-
printed amendments
that include offsets
within the same
chapter (deeper cuts
in programs already
cut); waives points
of order against
three amendments;
waives cl 2 of rule
XXI against the bill,
cl 2, XXI and cl 7 of
rule XVI against the
substitute; waives cl
2(e) od rule XXI
against the
amendments in the
Record; 10 hr time
cap on amendments. 30
minutes debate on
each amendment.
H.J. Res. 73*.................. Term Limits....... H. Res. 116 Restrictive; Makes in 1D; 3R
order only 4
amendments considered
under a ``Queen of
the Hill'' procedure
and denies 21 germane
amendments from being
considered.
H.R. 4*........................ Welfare Reform.... H. Res. 119 Restrictive; Makes in 5D; 26R.
order only 31
perfecting amendments
and two substitutes;
Denies 130 germane
amendments from being
considered; The
substitutes are to be
considered under a
``Queen of the Hill''
procedure; All points
of order are waived
against the
amendments.
H.R. 1271*..................... Family Privacy Act H. Res. 125 Open.................. N/A.
H.R. 660*...................... Housing for Older H. Res. 126 Open.................. N/A.
Persons Act.
H.R. 1215*..................... The Contract With H. Res. 129 Restrictive; Self 1D.
America Tax Executes language
Relief Act of that makes tax cuts
1995. contingent on the
adoption of a
balanced budget plan
and strikes section
3006. Makes in order
only one substitute.
Waives all points of
order against the
bill, substitute made
in order as original
text and Gephardt
substitute.
H.R. 483....................... Medicare Select H. Res. 130 Restrictive; waives cl 1D.
Extension. 2(1)(6) of rule XI
against the bill;
makes H.R. 1391 in
order as original
text; makes in order
only the Dingell
substitute; allows
Commerce Committee to
file a report on the
bill at any time.
H.R. 655....................... Hydrogen Future H. Res. 136 Open.................. N/A.
Act.
H.R. 1361...................... Coast Guard H. Res. 139 Open; waives sections N/A.
Authorization. 302(f) and 308(a) of
the Congressional
Budget Act against
the bill's
consideration and the
committee substitute;
waives cl 5(a) of
rule XXI against the
committee substitute.
H.R. 961....................... Clean Water Act... H. Res. 140 Open; pre-printing N/A.
gets preference;
waives sections
302(f) and 602(b) of
the Budget Act
against the bill's
consideration; waives
cl 7 of rule XVI, cl
5(a) of rule XXI and
section 302(f) of the
Budget Act against
the committee
substitute. Makes in
order Shuster
substitute as first
order of business.
H.R. 535....................... Corning National H. Res. 144 Open.................. N/A.
Fish Hatchery
Conveyance Act.
H.R. 584....................... Conveyance of the H. Res. 145 Open.................. N/A.
Fairport National
Fish Hatchery to
the State of Iowa.
H.R. 614....................... Conveyance of the H. Res. 146 Open.................. N/A.
New London
National Fish
Hatchery
Production
Facility.
H. Con. Res. 67................ Budget Resolution. H. Res. 149 Restrictive; Makes in 3D; 1R.
order 4 substitutes
under regular order;
Gephardt, Neumann/
Solomon, Payne/Owens,
President's Budget if
printed in Record on
5/17/95; waives all
points of order
against substitutes
and concurrent
resolution; suspends
application of Rule
XLIX with respect to
the resolution; self-
executes Agriculture
language.
H.R. 1561...................... American Overseas H. Res. 155 Restrictive; Requires N/A.
Interests Act of amendments to be
1995. printed in the Record
prior to their
consideration; 10 hr.
time cap; waives cl
2(1)(6) of rule XI
against the bill's
consideration; Also
waives sections
302(f), 303(a),
308(a) and 402(a)
against the bill's
consideration and the
committee amendment
in order as original
text; waives cl 5(a)
of rule XXI against
the amendment;
amendment
consideration is
closed at 2:30 p.m.
on May 25, 1995. Self-
executes provision
which removes section
2210 from the bill.
This was done at the
request of the Budget
Committee.
H.R. 1530...................... National Defense H. Res. 164 Restrictive; Makes in 36R; 18D; 2
Authorization Act order only the Bipartisan.
FY 1996. amendments printed in
the report; waives
all points of order
against the bill,
substitute and
amendments printed in
the report. Gives the
Chairman en bloc
authority. Self-
executes a provision
which strikes section
807 of the bill;
provides for an
additional 30 min. of
debate on Nunn-Lugar
section; Allows Mr.
Clinger to offer a
modification of his
amendment with the
concurrence of Ms.
Collins.
H.R. 1817...................... Military H. Res. 167 Open; waives cl. 2 and N/A.
Construction cl. 6 of rule XXI
Appropriations; against the bill; 1
FY 1996. hr. general debate;
Uses House passed
budget numbers as
threshold for
spending amounts
pending passage of
Budget.
H.R. 1854...................... Legislative Branch H. Res. 169 Restrictive; Makes in 5R; 4D; 2
Appropriations. order only 11 Bipartisan.
amendments; waives
sections 302(f) and
308(a) of the Budget
Act against the bill
and cl. 2 and cl. 6
of rule XXI against
the bill. All points
of order are waived
against the
amendments.
H.R. 1868...................... Foreign Operations H. Res. 170 Open; waives cl. 2, N/A.
Appropriations. cl. 5(b), and cl. 6
of rule XXI against
the bill; makes in
order the Gilman
amendments as first
order of business;
waives all points of
order against the
amendments; if
adopted they will be
considered as
original text; waives
cl. 2 of rule XXI
against the
amendments printed in
the report. Pre-
printing gets
priority (Hall)
(Menendez) (Goss)
(Smith, NJ).
H.R. 1905...................... Energy & Water H. Res. 171 Open; waives cl. 2 and N/A.
Appropriations. cl. 6 of rule XXI
against the bill;
makes in order the
Shuster amendment as
the first order of
business; waives all
points of order
against the
amendment; if adopted
it will be considered
as original text. Pre-
printing gets
priority.
H.J. Res. 79................... Constitutional H. Res. 173 Closed; provides one N/A.
Amendment to hour of general
Permit Congress debate and one motion
and States to to recommit with or
Prohibit the without instructions;
Physical if there are
Desecration of instructions, the MO
the American Flag. is debatable for 1 hr.
H.R. 1944...................... Recissions Bill... H. Res. 175 Restrictive; Provides N/A.
for consideration of
the bill in the
House; Permits the
Chairman of the
Appropriations
Committee to offer
one amendment which
is unamendable;
waives all points of
order against the
amendment.
H.R. 1868 (2nd rule)........... Foreign Operations H. Res. 177 Restrictive; Provides N/A.
Appropriations. for further
consideration of the
bill; makes in order
only the four
amendments printed in
the rules report (20
min. each). Waives
all points of order
against the
amendments; Prohibits
intervening motions
in the Committee of
the Whole; Provides
for an automatic rise
and report following
the disposition of
the amendments.
H.R. 1977 *Rule Defeated*...... Interior H. Res. 185 Open; waives sections N/A.
Appropriations. 302(f) and 308(a) of
the Budget Act and cl
2 and cl 6 of rule
XXI; provides that
the bill be read by
title; waives all
points of order
against the Tauzin
amendment; self-
executes Budget
Committee amendment;
waives cl 2(e) of
rule XXI against
amendments to the
bill; Pre-printing
gets priority.
[[Page H845]]
H.R. 1977...................... Interior H.Res. 187 Open; waives sections N/A.
Appropriations. 302(f), 306 and
308(a) of the Budget
Act; waives clauses 2
and 6 of rule XXI
against provisions in
the bill; waives all
points of order
against the Tauzin
amendment; provides
that the bill be read
by title; self-
executes Budget
Committee amendment
and makes NEA funding
subject to House
passed authorization;
waives cl 2(e) of
rule XXI against the
amendments to the
bill; Pre-printing
gets priority.
H.R. 1976...................... Agriculture H. Res. 188 Open; waives clauses 2 N/A.
Appropriations. and 6 of rule XXI
against provisions in
the bill; provides
that the bill be read
by title; Makes Skeen
amendment first order
of business, if
adopted the amendment
will be considered as
base text (10 min.);
Pre-printing gets
priority.
H.R. 1977 (3rd rule)........... Interior H. Res. 189 Restrictive; provides N/A.
Appropriations. for the further
consideration of the
bill; allows only
amendments pre-
printed before July
14th to be
considered; limits
motions to rise.
H.R. 2020...................... Treasury Postal H. Res. 190 Open; waives cl. 2 and N/A.
Appropriations. cl. 6 of rule XXI
against provisions in
the bill; provides
the bill be read by
title; Pre-printing
gets priority.
H.J. Res. 96................... Disapproving MFN H. Res. 193 Restrictive; provides N/A.
for China. for consideration in
the House of H.R.
2058 (90 min.) And
H.J. Res. 96 (1 hr).
Waives certain
provisions of the
Trade Act.
H.R. 2002...................... Transportation H. Res. 194 Open; waives cl. 3 0f N/A.
Appropriations. rule XIII and section
401 (a) of the CBA
against consideration
of the bill; waives
cl. 6 and cl. 2 of
rule XXI against
provisions in the
bill; Makes in order
the Clinger/Solomon
amendment waives all
points of order
against the amendment
(Line Item Veto);
provides the bill be
read by title; Pre-
printing gets
priority. *RULE
AMENDED*.
H.R. 70........................ Exports of Alaskan H. Res. 197 Open; Makes in order N/A.
North Slope Oil. the Resources
Committee amendment
in the nature of a
substitute as
original text; Pre-
printing gets
priority; Provides a
Senate hook-up with
S. 395.
H.R. 2076...................... Commerce, Justice H. Res. 198 Open; waives cl. 2 and N/A.
Appropriations. cl. 6 of rule XXI
against provisions in
the bill; Pre-
printing gets
priority; provides
the bill be read by
title..
H.R. 2099...................... VA/HUD H. Res. 201 Open; waives cl. 2 and N/A.
Appropriations. cl. 6 of rule XXI
against provisions in
the bill; Provides
that the amendment in
part 1 of the report
is the first
business, if adopted
it will be considered
as base text (30
min.); waives all
points of order
against the Klug and
Davis amendments; Pre-
printing gets
priority; Provides
that the bill be read
by title.
S. 21.......................... Termination of H. Res. 204 Restrictive; 3 hours ID.
U.S. Arms Embargo of general debate;
on Bosnia. Makes in order an
amendment to be
offered by the
Minority Leader or a
designee (1 hr); If
motion to recommit
has instructions it
can only be offered
by the Minority
Leader or a designee.
H.R. 2126...................... Defense H. Res. 205 Open; waives cl. N/A.
Appropriations. 2(l)(6) of rule XI
and section 306 of
the Congressional
Budget Act against
consideration of the
bill; waives cl. 2
and cl. 6 of rule XXI
against provisions in
the bill; self-
executes a strike of
sections 8021 and
8024 of the bill as
requested by the
Budget Committee; Pre-
printing gets
priority; Provides
the bill be read by
title.
H.R. 1555...................... Communications Act H. Res. 207 Restrictive; waives 2R/3D/3 Bi-
of 1995. sec. 302(f) of the partisan.
Budget Act against
consideration of the
bill; Makes in order
the Commerce
Committee amendment
as original text and
waives sec. 302(f) of
the Budget Act and
cl. 5(a) of rule XXI
against the
amendment; Makes in
order the Bliely
amendment (30 min.)
as the first order of
business, if adopted
it will be original
text; makes in order
only the amendments
printed in the report
and waives all points
of order against the
amendments; provides
a Senate hook-up with
S. 652.
H.R. 2127...................... Labor/HHS H. Res. 208 Open; Provides that N/A
Appropriations the first order of
Act. business will be the
managers amendments
(10 min.), if adopted
they will be
considered as base
text; waives cl. 2
and cl. 6 of rule XXI
against provisions in
the bill; waives all
points of order
against certain
amendments printed in
the report; Pre-
printing gets
priority; Provides
the bill be read by
title.
H.R. 1594...................... Economically H. Res. 215 Open; 2 hr of gen. N/A
Targeted debate. makes in
Investments. order the committee
substitute as
original text.
H.R. 1655...................... Intelligence H. Res. 216 Restrictive; waives N/A
Authorization. sections 302(f),
308(a) and 401(b) of
the Budget Act. Makes
in order the
committee substitute
as modified by Govt.
Reform amend
(striking sec. 505)
and an amendment
striking title VII.
Cl 7 of rule XVI and
cl 5(a) of rule XXI
are waived against
the substitute.
Sections 302(f) and
401(b) of the CBA are
also waived against
the substitute.
Amendments must also
be pre-printed in the
Congressional record.
H.R. 1162...................... Deficit Reduction H. Res. 218 Open; waives cl 7 of N/A
Lock Box. rule XVI against the
committee substitute
made in order as
original text; Pre-
printing gets
priority.
H.R. 1670...................... Federal H. Res. 219 Open; waives sections N/A
Acquisition 302(f) and 308(a) of
Reform Act of the Budget Act
1995. against consideration
of the bill; bill
will be read by
title; waives cl 5(a)
of rule XXI and
section 302(f) of the
Budget Act against
the committee
substitute. Pre-
printing gets
priority.
H.R. 1617...................... To Consolidate and H. Res. 222 Open; waives section N/A
Reform Workforce 302(f) and 401(b) of
Development and the Budget Act
Literacy Programs against the
Act (CAREERS). substitute made in
order as original
text (H.R. 2332), cl.
5(a) of rule XXI is
also waived against
the substitute.
provides for
consideration of the
managers amendment
(10 min.) If adopted,
it is considered as
base text.
H.R. 2274...................... National Highway H. Res. 224 Open; waives section N/A
System 302(f) of the Budget
Designation Act Act against
of 1995. consideration of the
bill; Makes H.R. 2349
in order as original
text; waives section
302(f) of the Budget
Act against the
substitute; provides
for the consideration
of a managers
amendment (10 min.)
If adopted, it is
considered as base
text; Pre-printing
gets priority.
H.R. 927....................... Cuban Liberty and H. Res. 225 Restrictive; waives cl 2R/2D
Democratic 2(L)(2)(B) of rule XI
Solidarity Act of against consideration
1995. of the bill; makes in
order H.R. 2347 as
base text; waives cl
7 of rule XVI against
the substitute; Makes
Hamilton amendment
the first amendment
to be considered (1
hr). Makes in order
only amendments
printed in the report.
H.R. 743....................... The Teamwork for H. Res. 226 Open; waives cl N/A
Employees and 2(l)(2)(b) of rule XI
managers Act of against consideration
1995. of the bill; makes in
order the committee
amendment as original
text; Pre-printing
get priority.
H.R. 1170...................... 3-Judge Court for H. Res. 227 Open; makes in order a N/A
Certain committee amendment
Injunctions. as original text; Pre-
printing gets
priority.
H.R. 1601...................... International H. Res. 228 Open; makes in order a N/A
Space Station committee amendment
Authorization Act as original text; pre-
of 1995. printing gets
priority.
H.J. Res. 108.................. Making Continuing H. Res. 230 Closed; Provides for ..............
Appropriations the immediate
for FY 1996. consideration of the
CR; one motion to
recommit which may
have instructions
only if offered by
the Minority Leader
or a designee.
H.R. 2405...................... Omnibus Civilian H. Res. 234 Open; self-executes a N/A
Science provision striking
Authorization Act section 304(b)(3) of
of 1995. the bill (Commerce
Committee request);
Pre-printing gets
priority.
H.R. 2259...................... To Disapprove H. Res. 237 Restrictive; waives cl 1D
Certain 2(l)(2)(B) of rule XI
Sentencing against the bill's
Guideline consideration; makes
Amendments. in order the text of
the Senate bill S.
1254 as original
text; Makes in order
only a Conyers
substitute; provides
a senate hook-up
after adoption.
H.R. 2425...................... Medicare H. Res. 238 Restrictive; waives 1D
Preservation Act. all points of order
against the bill's
consideration; makes
in order the text of
H.R. 2485 as original
text; waives all
points of order
against H.R. 2485;
makes in order only
an amendment offered
by the Minority
Leader or a designee;
waives all points of
order against the
amendment; waives cl
5 of rule
XXI (\3/5\
requirement on votes
raising taxes).
H.R. 2492...................... Legislative Branch H. Res. 239 Restrictive; provides N/A
Appropriations for consideration of
Bill. the bill in the House.
H.R. 2491...................... 7 Year Balanced H. Res. 245 Restrictive; makes in 1D
H. Con. Res. 109............... Budget order H.R. 2517 as
Reconciliation original text; waives
Social Security all pints of order
Earnings Test against the bill;
Reform. Makes in order only
H.R. 2530 as an
amendment only if
offered by the
Minority Leader or a
designee; waives all
points of order
against the
amendment; waives cl
5 of rule
XXI (\3/5\
requirement on votes
raising taxes).
H.R. 1833...................... Partial Birth H. Res. 251 Closed................ N/A
Abortion Ban Act
of 1995.
H.R. 2546...................... D.C. H. Res. 252 Restrictive; waives N/A
Appropriations FY all points of order
1996. against the bill's
consideration; Makes
in order the Walsh
amendment as the
first order of
business (10 min.);
if adopted it is
considered as base
text; waives cl 2 and
6 of rule XXI against
the bill; makes in
order the Bonilla,
Gunderson and
Hostettler amendments
(30 min.); waives all
points of order
against the
amendments; debate on
any further
amendments is limited
to 30 min. each.
H.J. Res. 115.................. Further Continuing H. Res. 257 Closed; Provides for N/A
Appropriations the immediate
for FY 1996. consideration of the
CR; one motion to
recommit which may
have instructions
only if offered by
the Minority Leader
or a designee.
H.R. 2586...................... Temporary Increase H. Res. 258 Restrictive; Provides 5R
in the Statutory for the immediate
Debt Limit. consideration of the
CR; one motion to
recommit which may
have instructions
only if offered by
the Minority Leader
or a designee; self-
executes 4 amendments
in the rule; Solomon,
Medicare Coverage of
Certain Anti-Cancer
Drug Treatments,
Habeas Corpus Reform,
Chrysler (MI); makes
in order the Walker
amend (40 min.) on
regulatory reform.
H.R. 2539...................... ICC Termination... H. Res. 259 Open; waives section ..............
302(f) and section
308(a).
H.J. Res. 115.................. Further Continuing H. Res. 261 Closed; provides for N/A
Appropriations the immediate
for FY 1996. consideration of a
motion by the
Majority Leader or
his designees to
dispose of the Senate
amendments (1hr).
H.R. 2586...................... Temporary Increase H. Res. 262 Closed; provides for N/A
in the Statutory the immediate
Limit on the consideration of a
Public Debt. motion by the
Majority Leader or
his designees to
dispose of the Senate
amendments (1hr).
H. Res. 250.................... House Gift Rule H. Res. 268 Closed; provides for 2R
Reform. consideration of the
bill in the House; 30
min. of debate; makes
in order the Burton
amendment and the
Gingrich en bloc
amendment (30 min.
each); waives all
points of order
against the
amendments; Gingrich
is only in order if
Burton fails or is
not offered.
H.R. 2564...................... Lobbying H. Res. 269 Open; waives cl. N/A
Disclosure Act of 2(l)(6) of rule XI
1995. against the bill's
consideration; waives
all points of order
against the Istook
and McIntosh
amendments.
[[Page H846]]
H.R. 2606...................... Prohibition on H. Res. 273 Restrictive; waives N/A
Funds for Bosnia all points of order
Deployment. against the bill's
consideration;
provides one motion
to amend if offered
by the Minority
Leader or designee (1
hr non-amendable);
motion to recommit
which may have
instructions only if
offered by Minority
Leader or his
designee; if Minority
Leader motion is not
offered debate time
will be extended by 1
hr.
H.R. 1788...................... Amtrak Reform and H. Res. 289 Open; waives all N/A
Privatization Act points of order
of 1995. against the bill's
consideration; makes
in order the
Transportation
substitute modified
by the amend in the
report; Bill read by
title; waives all
points of order
against the
substitute; makes in
order a managers
amend as the first
order of business, if
adopted it is
considered base text
(10 min.); waives all
points of order
against the
amendment; Pre-
printing gets
priority.
H.R. 1350...................... Maritime Security H. Res. 287 Open; makes in order N/A
Act of 1995. the committee
substitute as
original text; makes
in order a managers
amendment which if
adopted is considered
as original text (20
min.) unamendable;
pre-printing gets
priority.
H.R. 2621...................... To Protect Federal H. Res. 293 Closed; provides for N/A
Trust Funds. the adoption of the
Ways & Means
amendment printed in
the report. 1 hr. of
general debate.
H.R. 1745...................... Utah Public Lands H. Res. 303 Open; waives cl N/A
Management Act of 2(l)(6) of rule XI
1995. and sections 302(f)
and 311(a) of the
Budget Act against
the bill's
consideration. Makes
in order the
Resources substitute
as base text and
waives cl 7 of rule
XVI and sections
302(f) and 308(a) of
the Budget Act; makes
in order a managers'
amend as the first
order of business, if
adopted it is
considered base text
(10 min).
H. Res. 304.................... Providing for N/A Closed; makes in order 1D; 2R
Debate and three resolutions;
Consideration of H.R. 2770 (Dornan),
Three Measures H. Res. 302 (Buyer),
Relating to U.S. and H. Res. 306
Troop Deployments (Gephardt); 1 hour of
in Bosnia. debate on each.
H. Res. 309.................... Revised Budget H. Res. 309 Closed; provides 2 N/A
Resolution. hours of general
debate in the House.
H.R. 558....................... Texas Low-Level H. Res. 313 Open; pre-printing N/A
Radioactive Waste gets priority.
Disposal Compact
Consent Act.
H.R. 2677...................... The National Parks H. Res. 323 Closed; consideration N/A
and National in the House; self-
Wildlife Refuge executes Young
Systems Freedom amendment.
Act of 1995.
PROCEDURE IN THE 104TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION
H.R. 1643...................... To authorize the H. Res. 334 Closed; provides to N/A
extension of take the bill from
nondiscriminatory the Speaker's table
treatment (MFN) with the Senate
to the products amendment, and
of Bulgaria. consider in the House
the motion printed in
the Rules Committee
report; 1 hr. of
general debate;
previous question is
considered as ordered.
H.J. Res. 134.................. Making continuing H. Res. 336 Closed; provides to N/A
H. Con. Res. 131............... appropriations/ take from the
establishing Speaker's table H.J.
procedures making Res. 134 with the
the transmission Senate amendment and
of the continuing concur with the
resolution H.J. Senate amendment with
Res. 134. an amendment (H. Con.
Res. 131) which is
self-executed in the
rule. The rule
provides further that
the bill shall not be
sent back to the
Senate until the
Senate agrees to the
provisions of H. Con.
Res. 131.
H.R. 1358...................... Conveyance of H. Res. 338 Closed; provides to N/A
National Marine take the bill from
Fisheries Service the Speaker's table
Laboratory at with the Senate
Gloucester, amendment, and
Massachusetts. consider in the House
the motion printed in
the Rules Committee
report; 1 hr. of
general debate;
previous question is
considered as ordered.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Contract Bills, 67% restrictive; 33% open. ** All legislation 1st Session, 56% restrictive; 44% open. ***
Legislation 2d Session. 100% restrictive; 0% open. **** All legislation 104th Congress 59% restrictive; 41%
open. ***** Restrictive rules are those which limit the number of amendments which can be offered, and include
so-called modified open and modified closed rules as well as completely closed rules and rules providing for
consideration in the House as opposed to the Committee of the Whole. This definition of restrictive rule is
taken from the Republican chart of resolutions reported from the Rules Committee in the 103d Congress. ******
Not included in this chart are three bills which should have been placed on the Suspension Calendar. H.R. 101,
H.R. 400, H.R. 440.
Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I do not disagree with many of the things
that my colleagues on the other side have said but there is still no
excuse why all of the appropriation bills have not been finished on
time.
We can do this without regard to the budget. We have done it when we
were in the majority. And there is no reason that they could not have
done it; and that is the reason we are here today in this capacity.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to my friend and colleague, the
gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Frank].
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I was surprised to hear the
gentleman from New York [Mr. Solomon] say that there will be no more
deficit spending with the Republicans in control. I had understood the
Republican budget to accept the reality of the fact that there will be
deficit spending for the next 6 years.
The 7-year budget means that the deficit ends in the seventh year,
but for the first 6 years of the Republican budget there is a deficit.
So, to say that there will be no more deficit spending is to assume
that we will go into a coma for 6 years and then come out in the
seventh.
Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from New York did have a tougher budget.
It is true. It was a very tough budget. That is why I believe a
majority of the Republicans voted against it.
But the key here is procedural and not substantive. I gather this is
the first time the House has been asked, not at the end of the session
when we are trying to clean things up, but at the very outset of a
session to change the rules substantially to diminish the chance to
discuss publicly major legislation.
Mr. Speaker, this is doing away with the two-thirds vote. For a group
that came in boasting about how open and democratic they were going to
be, this is an extraordinary diminution of our ability as a legislative
body to discuss things.
{time} 1045
And the reason for it is simple. I want to be very clear. I am not
impugning the motives of my colleagues in this regard. I would not do
it even if the rules allowed me, in this one case at least. I do not
think they came intending to diminish openness and fairness. I do not
think it was part of their explicit program to do so. But they have a
problem. The problem is their own incompetence. They have been unable
to do the business of the public sufficiently well to stick to
openness. And authoritarianism is the result of incompetence.
We will not have a chance fully to debate these issues because they
are so disorganized, so unable to cope with their own internal
divisions, apparently surprised, one of the things I have heard is
Members on the other side have said, it is not our fault, there is
something called the U.S. Senate, they have said. In the U.S. Senate
they have something called the filibuster, and that has interfered with
us.
Some of us, a year or two ago, were urging that in our rules of
reform we deal with Senate filibuster. We said we did not like it.
Universally the Republicans said, no, you cannot do that. That is a bad
idea. So they were the great defenders of the Senate filibuster when we
last talked about rules reform. When some of us talked about trying to
curtail the filibuster through the mechanism of rules reform, the joint
rules, Republicans said that was a terrible idea. Now they are
apparently shocked to find on it that this filibuster causes some
problems.
But the Republicans control the Senate and the Republicans control
the House. And under Republican control, we have compiled the worst
record in simply doing our job that I can remember. The appropriations
bills were not passed. They were passed in November and December. They
were all supposed to be passed by October 1.
So how do they deal with this problem? They come in today with a
resolution that substantially diminishes the ability of the American
public to look at these things and hear them debated because they
abolish the rule that says you cannot do them all in the same day.
Part of the problem may be this and we have seen this from the
Republican side. The Republican leadership comes up with a proposal and
the Republican membership immediately attacks it. It may be that what
we are being given here is an effort not to throttle the Democrats, not
to keep the press out, but it may be that the Republican leadership has
finally figured out that they cannot give their own membership time to
read these things. Maybe they figure that Republican freshmen, being
new to this place, will not be able to figure it out in a day. It will
take them 2 days and they will have had it passed already. Because what
they are saying is they should be able to bring up major legislation
involving their failure to do appropriations bills and pass it the same
day, not have that 1-day waiting period when it goes in the press, when
it can be talked about on
[[Page H847]]
television, when the public has a chance to react. That is what we are
talking about.
What we are talking about now is the ability of, apparently, the
Republican leadership to bring up legislation dealing with the
appropriations and get it passed the same day, lest it be talked about.
I have to say, since we are the minority, unanimously we do not have
the votes to stop them from doing what they are doing. What they are
afraid of are their own Members. What they are afraid of is the kind
of, oh, we cannot do this.
The problem is that there is a gap; there is a gap between the views
of many of the Republican Members and reality. And their fear is that
the Republican leadership, now that they have learned that shutting
down the Government is disruptive and unpopular and in fact fiscally
quite irresponsible, since it adds to Government costs, the Republican
leadership does not want again to have a Government shutdown. But they
have a problem, because they have difficulty in getting the votes on
their own side and with their own colleagues to pass legislation that
keeps the Government working.
One way they have decided that they can minimize that difficulty is
to reduce the possibility for public input, to reduce the chance for
discussion, to speed this up. And that is why we have an extraordinary
motion today from the advocates of procedural fairness and openness,
substantially to diminish the time which the U.S. House of
Representatives will have to discuss the expenditure of billions of
dollars.
I regret very much that they have not been competent enough and
sufficiently organized within themselves to deal with the difficult
task of governing. But I do not think that democracy ought to be the
victim of that incompetence.
Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
When I stand here and listen to the gentleman from Massachusetts, I
would kindly remind my colleague that there has been more discussion
and more debate about a balanced budget in these Chambers in 1 day than
they have had in the last 24 years on the Democratic side of the aisle.
We are serious about this situation.
We have determined there are more people riding the wagon than there
are pulling the wagon. It is about time we get some people helping
contribute to this. The gentleman talks about management as if the last
24 or 26 years of deficit is good management. He talks about competency
as if this Congress is held out by the American people as being
economically competent.
Go out and ask the American citizens, would they let the U.S.
Congress run their checkbook? Go out across this country and say to
somebody, If you got a gift of $100 million and you wanted to donate
$10 million to the needy people of this country, would you send that
check to Washington, DC, for distribution? Of course, they would not do
that.
The other point that should be brought up here is part of the delay
in this process is there are Members on their side of the aisle who are
devoting their resources and their energy not into helping us find a
solution for this budget deficit but in making sure we are not the ones
that find the solution.
We want them to join the team. The time has come for economic
reality. The President of this country stood up here and said the era
of big Government, which was supported by that side of the aisle for
the years that it had control, it is over. Power needs to shift back to
the States; power needs to go back to the individuals. We have moved
the President, but I am not sure we have moved many on your side of the
aisle.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 8 minutes to the gentleman from
Maryland [Mr. Hoyer].
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to
me.
Mr. Speaker, first of all, what are we considering? We are
considering, as both gentlemen from Massachusetts have already pointed
out, a rule which allows for 1 day of consideration of matters, which
means that neither Members nor the public will have an opportunity to
review that which is being proposed.
I do not know whether the gentleman representing the majority on the
Committee on Rules knows, but perhaps he can inform me at the end of
this debate whether or not this kind of rule has ever been proposed
prior to June 30 of any legislative year in the history of the
Congress.
Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. HOYER. I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts.
Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman from the other side does
not know, I will tell him, no, it has never been proposed before June
30.
Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for his comment.
Why do I ask that question? I ask that question because, when the
Republicans were in the minority, they used to rail regularly about the
arbitrariness of the Committee on Rules controlled by the Democratic
Party. That pushed them to the position that they could not reflect or
debate on issues confronting the Congress.
So what do we see? We see for some reason an incredible motivation to
get out of town. This is January. We are beginning the session, the
second session of the 104th Congress, the historic 104th Congress, as
our Speaker, a historian himself, tells us regularly.
So how do we begin this Congress? With one of the most arbitrary
rules that we have. Is there precedent for such rules? Yes, there is.
Did we utilize them? Yes, we did. When did we utilize them? At the end
of sessions, either because we were going on summer break in August or
we were going out of session in October or November or December so that
we could accelerate the process at the end of sessions. But now we have
a rule that says, at the very beginning, in the first instance, before
we really do any substantive business, we are going to have a rule that
says we will not take the time.
Apparently, we are going to go on 30 days break, as I understand it.
We are not in control, and I am not sure about that, but that is what I
understand. What is the reason for this rule? I cannot figure it out.
Let me say in addition, my friend said something about management.
That is an interesting concept over the last 40 years as to how long
the Republicans have been in management. Under the Constitution of the
United States, article II of the Constitution of the United States,
article II of the Constitution gives executive authority, that is
management authority, to the President of the United States. The
Presidency of the United States in the last 17 or 15 years has been in
the hands of Republicans 12 out of those 15 years. In fact, we hear the
Republicans railing about how the President will not cooperate. That is
why they cannot do their agenda.
To some degree, they are correct. But my, my, my, I never hear the
Republicans say why Ronald Reagan or George Bush did not stop the
irresponsibility of which they accuse the Democratic Congress. I never
hear them say that for 6 of those 12 years there was a Republican
leadership in U.S. Senate.
My colleagues, the fact of the matter is, we do have a serious
problem. It is a budget deficit on a regular basis that this country
nor its children can afford. That is why this Member of the Congress
has voted three times to pass a constitutional amendment to require a
balanced budget. That is why this Member of Congress right here voted
for a budget which cut deficits faster and further than the Republican
alternative and is, frankly, in my opinion, the budget that we ought to
pass. I think the President would sign. And it would reduce deficits
further and faster than the Republican alternative.
My colleagues, this martial law rule is proposed because we need to
come to grips with this year's fiscal policies, which we have not yet
adopted. The fiscal policies in my opinion of the Republican leadership
during the past year are worthy of careful consideration by the
American public and then deserving of the American public's contempt.
The Republican shutdown of Government and the Gingrich premeditated
tactics of forcing America to default prospectively on its debts, both,
my colleagues, are arguably historically the most irresponsible fiscal
policies proposed by any leadership of the House of Representatives in
its history.
We ought to have a rule on this floor which says that we will pass a
clean
[[Page H848]]
debt limit extension. Secretary Donald Reagan wrote me a letter and
said that is what we ought to do, not on this one but when the
Republicans had the Presidency. Secretary of the Treasury Jim Baker
asked me to do the same. Secretary Brady asked me to do the same.
All three of those Secretaries of the Treasury said it would be the
height of irresponsibility not to accommodate past policies and pay
America's bills. Moody's has just yesterday made an observation that
they may change the cost of borrowing in America by changing our
rating. If they do that, every homeowner, every person who goes into
the Hecht Co. in this area or Woodward and Lothrop or K-Mart and uses a
credit card will pay more.
{time} 1100
Every foreign government will up its price of money to the U.S.
taxpayer. The fact of the matter is I do not know of a responsible
financial person that I have talked to in my district or in this
country that thinks that putting the American Government into default
is anything other than insanity. Yet, it was a proposed policy by
Speaker Gingrich earlier this year. That is why I called it a
premeditated policy of placing America at risk of defaulting on its
debts.
Mr. Speaker, this rule is not inherently evil. It is a rule that will
accommodate action. I understand that. I do not allege that it is, in
and of itself, a rule that is particularly pernicious. But its timing
is historic because we never found the need to do this before, in my
opinion, in the history of the House of Representatives, because we
were always prepared in January, February, March, April, and May to
consider matters in a timely fashion. It was only at the end that we
needed to accelerate.
Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States said we ought to come
together. We ought to jettison confrontation and adopt cooperation and
put this country on a sound fiscal footing, make a commitment that we
are not going to shut down government, not just for Federal employees,
but for Americans who rely on government on a daily basis, that they
will not be at risk, and that we ought to commit ourselves to quickly
passing a clean debt limit extension, so we can tell all the world
America, America can be relied on.
Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the gentleman that just spoke is an eloquent speaker,
and not exactly on point, but he is an eloquent speaker. I guess the
gentleman brings up that we finished talking about the word management.
Now let us talk about the word participation. The gentleman acts as if
there was no opportunity to participate last night. The Committee on
Rules had an open meeting.
By the way, the meetings under the Republican management of this
Congress have been open, sunshine. They are open to the press. By the
way, we do not have proxy voting anymore. Under the old management
team, the Democratic management team, you could go home to your
district and you could have a proxy vote cast on your behalf. You did
not even have to be at a committee hearing.
What did we do? We said, ``Wait a minute, we are going to change the
management around here. We expect you to be at your meetings. If you
are going to cast a vote, you are expected to be there and cast a vote
in person.'' The gentleman does not bring up the point that last night
his colleagues on the Democratic side of the aisle did not carry this
kind of debate in the Committee on Rules. In fact, they voted for this
rule. In fact, they voted for it unanimously. We did not even do a
rollcall vote on it. We did a voice vote on it. I think it is important
to remember those kinds of things.
I think it is important to take a look. I think the gentleman is
credible when he starts talking about his personal efforts at balancing
the budget. I think he is terrific in that area. But my big question
is, Why did his party not follow him? The party had 26 years since the
last time this country balanced their budget, and I do not know how
many years the gentleman has served over there. I know it is many, and
I know he has served with distinction. But my question that I would
like at some point to be answered is, Why did the gentleman not
convince his own party during the period of time that he served to
balance the budget? That is all we are trying to do.
Mr. Speaker, the gentleman brings up the point about the interest
rates. Do Members want to lower interest rates for the working Joe and
working Jane in this country? Then balance this budget. Quit spending
more money than you bring in.
There is not a family in America that gets to operate under these
fiscal rules. There is not a special district, there is not a city,
there is not a county, there is not a State in this country that gets
to operate under such crazy fiscal rules. Constantly, for a period of
24 years, you spend more than you bring in.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from New York [Mr. Solomon], chairman of the Committee on Rules.
Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, I just am really taken aback by my good
friend, the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Hoyer], when he says this rule
is not inherently evil. I thought this gentleman wanted this rule in
the worst way. I know that the Federal employees that I represent want
this rule in the worst way. A number of them on my way to work this
morning approached me and said ``We hope you can deal with this problem
today. Please do not furlough us again next week.''
That is exactly what this is meant to do. I understand that Speaker
Gingrich received a call from Air Force One, from the President, last
night where they talked about putting together this continuing
resolution that was going to continue the Government, keep it working,
and that is exactly what we are trying to do here today.
Mr. Speaker, someone, I guess the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Hoyer]
mentioned that this procedure had never been done before.
Mr. HOYER. Prior to June 30.
Mr. SOLOMON. We have a whole list of when it was done in the 103d
Congress. Let me just point out, here is a list of all of the vetoes
and the veto overrides of all of the Presidents since George
Washington.
I have to point out to the gentleman, because I was here during the
Reagan years, and all during those Reagan years when you had a very
philosophical President with an opposing party in this body of
Democrats opposing him, never once did Ronald Reagan fail to sit down
and negotiate these appropriation bills that keep the Government
functioning. There were several occasions when, for 1 day, we
overlapped; in other words, we did not quite make it, but there was no
prolonged argument.
Ronald Reagan knew that he had to govern. He recognized that this
House of Representatives had control of the pursestrings.
Unfortunately, he never accomplished what he wanted to accomplish,
because he could not do it with these Democrats in control of this
House.
Let me point out, right now most of the appropriation bills have been
enacted into law. There are four major ones that have not. There is one
that deals with the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of
Housing, the National Space Center, the Environmental Protection
Agency, and 47 other smaller agencies. We negotiated that with the
Senate. There was no holdup over in the other body. We sent that to the
President. The President vetoed it, because the cuts were too deep in
the Environmental Protection Agency, he said, and a couple of other
things.
We told him that there is an increase in medical care delivery
systems for veterans of about $400 million, and we will not negotiate
that, because that has to stay. But if you want to shift that spending
in the rest of that bill, you do what you want to do. We will reenact
the bill and send it to you. That whole portion of the Federal
Government will be working, without any question.
The Interior Department appropriations, which funds all the national
parks, the Department of Energy, Endowment for the Arts, Endowment for
the Humanities, so forth, he said that the cuts were too deep in that.
We told him, ``Change it any way you want to. We do not care where the
funding lies, but as long as you stay on the glide path to the balanced
budget.'' He never gave us any of his recommendations.
[[Page H849]]
Finally, the Commerce, Justice, State Department, that funds the
Department of Commerce, Department of State, Department of Justice, he
said the cuts were too deep there. Basically, he said, ``We cut
Commerce, technology, we cut international operations, we cut
peacekeeping activities and the Legal Services Corporation too much.''
So we told him, ``Change it any way you want to, as long as you stay in
the glide path, and all of those employees will go back to work
permanently through September 30, the end of this fiscal year.''
I would say to the gentleman, we have been doing everything we could
to cooperate, but when you stand here and say this rule is not
inherently evil but it is a bad rule, I am willing to put it up to a
vote, and let us let whoever wants to vote for it vote for it. But this
is a rule that is going to keep this Government functioning for the
next 6 weeks so we can try to work out these differences.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. SOLOMON. I yield briefly to the gentleman from Maryland, who
knows that I fight for his rights for his employees.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I want to say to the public, notwithstanding
the philosophical differences, the gentleman who chairs the Committee
on Rules, the gentleman from New York [Mr. Solomon], and I are good
friends, and we work closely together on a number of issues. I respect
him, and believe he respects me.
The gentleman raises a number of interesting points. First of all, I
do not believe I said this was a bad rule. I said the timing of this
rule was historic, and the reason being because we apparently are going
to go home, Mr. Speaker. Let me further say that, very frankly, the
reason you need this rule is not because there could not be a unanimous
consent resolution on our side which says we will keep Government
working past the 26th at the levels currently in force, by unanimous
consent. You would not need a rule for that.
Mr. McINNIS. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Speaker.
point of order
Mr. HOYER. Point of order, Mr. Speaker. I believe the gentleman
yielded to the gentleman from New York [Mr. Solomon] who yielded to me.
Mr. SOLOMON. Reclaiming my time, I would just continue to yield to
the gentleman from Maryland for 30 seconds, but I have to consider the
manager of the bill.
The Speaker pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Colorado [Mr. McInnis] who has reclaimed the time, and therefore would
be the one to yield the time. The gentleman from New York [Mr.
Solomon], if yielded to, may yield to the gentleman from Maryland for a
question.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Colorado [Mr. McInnis].
Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from
New York [Mr. Solomon].
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. SOLOMON. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman pointed out under Ronald Reagan
and George Bush what happened was, because we could not override the
President's veto any more than you can override President Clinton's
veto, and what happened from our perspective, I tell my friend, the
gentleman from New York, is that the Democratic Congress accommodated
President Reagan and President Bush on issues on which there was strong
feeling on this side, on which the President said he will not sign a
bill if it has, for instance, pregnancy termination rights, which was
one of the issues on which there was deep difference.
We accommodated the President. Why? Because we could not override the
veto, and there was no intent to shut down the Government. I understand
what the gentleman is saying. I understand the purpose of this rule,
and I understand that it if goes forward, perhaps we could have
movement.
Mr. SOLOMON. Vote for the rule. It is a good rule.
Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Massachusetts [Mr. Frank].
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, first I want to thank the
gentleman from New York for pointing out that Ronald Reagan signed
every appropriation bill, so the next time you hear people say this
terrible deficit happened purely because of the Democrats, quote the
gentleman from New York. Remind people that the gentleman from New York
said that Ronald Reagan and George Bush signed every appropriations
bill. No penny was spent during the Reagan and Bush administrations
that they did not sign. As my friend, the gentleman from Maryland,
points out, in some cases they wanted more spending. So every dollar in
the deficit that we have was with the joint participation of Reagan,
Bush, and the Congress. I appreciate the acknowledgment.
Second, he said we needed this rule to keep the Government open. In
the first place, a two-thirds vote would allow us to pass the CR today.
If you were not trying to be excessively controversial, you would not
need this rule. It is a two-thirds vote. So it is not that we need this
rule to pass it today, we need it to do it without a two-thirds vote.
Even more important is this point: Why are we at the point where we
need to bring up a complicated policy-oriented continuing resolution
and pass it the same day? It is because the other side has been too
incompetent.
They have been too incompetent to do it better than this. No; it is
not good management to bring it up and vote on it the same day. They
have created the crisis by shutting down the Government, by their own
internal ideological turmoil, and now they come to us and say ``We are
going to solve the crisis.'' They lurch from one self-created crisis to
another, and then, like the arsonist who sets the fire, take credit for
putting it out. It is a shambles of how to run the place.
Mr. Speaker, I will say, I admire one thing about the gentleman from
Colorado, Mr. McInnis. At no point has he defended this rule. He has
talked about balancing the budget, he has talked about everything else,
but in the last couple of conversations he has not defended the rule,
because what we have is one more self-created crisis that the
Republicans have tried to solve.
Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Texas, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have listened to
the debate. I am seldom up on a rule. But all of us can see through
this rule. We can say whatever we want to say about the rhetoric. All
of us understand each other. All of us, 100 percent of us, want to
balance the budget. There is no question about that. The question is
balancing the budget in two diverse ways.
For the most part, the people on the Democratic side of the aisle do
not want to balance the budget by cutting education, cutting all of
Medicaid, cutting all of Medicare, and making sure that people do not
have access to clean and safe water. We want considerations.
All of us know that when we start altering the rules of the House,
coming up with different rules to get by, it is to muffle those voices.
All of us know that the reason why the Government has been shut down is
because the attempt has been to pass these drastic, draconian cuts in
the continuing resolution. Let us not play games with each other. It is
time for us to give the American people a sensible solution, and we
cannot do it by forgetting that they exist.
{time} 1115
They exist and they need to be given attention. We just cannot
steamroll it through and think that we are taking care of the business
of the American people. The bulk of the people in this Nation, 80
percent of them, care about the education of their children for the
future.
We have all said we need better educated, better trained work forces.
How are we going to get them with all of the opportunities to cut, and
we know that that is what we are doing in a rule that simply passes all
of the philosophical types of draconian cuts in a continuing
resolution, knowing full well that we are going to blame the
Republicans, because that is where we sincerely feel it is going to be.
The Republicans are going to blame the
[[Page H850]]
Democrats in saying they do not want to balance the budget.
All of us want to balance the budget and all of us know that. It is
the way in which we want to balance it. I would say it is time for us
to stop playing games with the public and with ourselves.
Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I would be interested to know how the gentlewoman from Texas voted on
the balanced budget amendment, after she stands down here and talks
about how everybody supports a balanced budget.
Furthermore, I should point out to the gentlewoman from Texas, with
all due respect, she had 26 years to balance the budget her way, 26
years to do something. The gentlewoman had the President of her party
last year; she had at least 2 years while I was here to balance this
budget.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman
yield?
Mr. McINNIS. I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, we might have had 26
years, but the budget was unbalanced during the Reagan-Bush years on
the backs of the same people we are victimizing now.
Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, if I may reclaim my time, I notice I did
not get an answer to my question which was, how did the gentlewoman
vote on the balanced budget amendment?
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, during that 12 years
when we went toward a downward spiral, the whole philosophy was
trickle-down. We are trying to reinvent that. It does not work. It did
not work then; it will not work now.
We cannot victimize and enslave all of the people of this Nation just
to say we are balancing the budget to give this tax break to the
wealthy. It will not work.
Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I assume that answer
means the gentlewoman voted ``no'' on the balanced budget.
Let me move on to the rule. The gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Hoyer]
stated that we have never before June 30 ever had the same day two-
thirds requirement waived, and my good friend, the gentleman from the
Committee on Rules stated another statement similar to that. But I felt
in order to be more credible up here I would use your statistics on has
this occurred before.
Waivers of the two-thirds vote requirement for same-day rules in the
103d Congress before June 30: House Resolution 61, Family Medical Leave
Act, February 3, 1993. House Resolution 111, emergency unemployment,
March 3, 1993. House Resolution 142, budget resolution, March 30, 1993.
House Resolution 150, supplemental appropriations, April 1, 1993. House
Resolution 153, supplemental appropriations April 21, 1993. I go on.
House Resolution 322. House Resolution 356. Emergency supplemental
appropriations. House Resolution 395.
The point that I am making here is that it is somewhat incredible for
Members I guess opposed to this rule, and I am not even sure they are
opposed to the rule, to show up at the microphone and say we are
setting history or a new precedent. This whole book, which is your
statistics, is full of the precedent.
Mr. Speaker, we need to have a management tool. I believe last night,
if I heard the gentleman correctly and I will yield to him so he has an
opportunity to correct me if I am wrong, but last night in the
Committee on Rules the gentleman said, we understand the need for
management. This went out of the Committee on Rules unanimously. There
were not these kind of eloquent speeches last night in the Committee on
Rules.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts.
Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, first of all, the bills that my friend
speaks of were single-purpose bills. This is a general bill that would
allow anything to happen. Those were specific reasons to waive the two-
thirds rule, but anything could be waived under this.
Yes, last night, we did not want to present an obstacle by raising
any ruckus in the Committee on Rules, but that does not mean that we
voted in favor of it; we just did not raise any opposition.
Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I should point out, Mr.
Speaker, that first of all to the gentleman from Massachusetts, the
waiver is very specific. He said it is not specific at all. It is very
specific.
Second of all, I guess the gentleman is going to sing in a different
tune now. I do not remember that when he said prior to June 30 he
specified it or restricted it to certain conditions or a single
subject. The fact is we had this rule for a purpose. The rule was not
just created last night in the Committee on Rules, it is there as a
management tool.
One of our responsibilities in the Committee on Rules is to manage
these bills primarily today so that we can keep the Government
operating, which is a concern of everybody in this Chamber.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I do not want to prolong the management tool. I mean, we can chop
down a cherry tree with an ax or we can knock it over with a bulldozer.
I think this is not a general-purpose, two-thirds waiver. Anything, any
budget, any bill could be taken up in the same day.
As I say, the matters that the gentleman from Colorado referred to
were specific instances in the two-thirds vote that was waived for that
specific instance.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman
from Colorado [Mrs. Schroeder].
Mrs. SCHROEDER. I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for yielding
me this time.
Mr. Speaker, I find this interesting because maybe somewhere on this
floor there is this bill that we are talking about, but I cannot find
it. My understanding is we now have this martial law rule for a bill
that is not here. So after we pass this, then I guess we are going to
go into recess while they are still writing it.
Someone told me that there have now been over 30 different versions
of this bill, and we have not seen it yet. Maybe that is
misinformation. But what we are doing is giving permission for them to
write anything they want, bring it here and then it is take it or leave
it, or shut the Government down again.
Mr. Speaker, I do not really care what George Washington did, nor do
my constituents today. They do not want a history lesson. They want to
know what we are going to do today, and they are a little tired of the
fact that we have wasted almost $2 billion of their money on this stop
and start of the Federal Government, and we are about to do it the
third time.
The gentleman from Colorado, I guess it was the gentleman from New
York, said Federal employees want this in the worst way. That is right.
They are in the worst way. It gets shut down tomorrow if we do not do
this. So we are being told as Members of the House, accept this bill
that we have not shown you yet, give us this rule to bring it up any
way we want, and then take it or leave it one more time. I do not think
that is the democratic process.
Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?
Mrs. SCHROEDER. I yield to the gentleman from California.
Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, the reason that this rule is
being put forth today is because obviously, I say to my colleague, the
reason you put the martial law issue, at some point you want to decide
you want to end the debate, you want to stifle debate and you do not
want to allow alternatives, you do not want to allow amendments. We
were here and we are here today because apparently at one time there
was just a high principle of 7 years, CBO-scored and a balanced budget.
Apparently that all evaporated sometime Tuesday night.
What we now find out is that 7 years is no longer important; CBO is
no longer important; a balanced budget is no longer important. The
authentic revolutionary who stood there the first day of the session in
the chair of the Speaker has now become an incrementalist. Because the
Speaker has now become an incrementalist, they now want to stifle the
debate. They were willing to throw people out of their jobs, at risk in
the Social Security system, at risk in the AFDC payment system. They
were going to put them all at risk because they were
[[Page H851]]
going to save this country with the 7-year CBO balanced budget. Today
they want to take it off the floor, they want to deny the President
$700 billion in savings that he has already agreed to. They do not want
to give us the alternative for $700 billion in savings.
What they want to do is patch up the system in the same old way of
business as usual. That is why they need martial law, because if they
do not have martial law, they have to accept amendments, they have to
accept debate, and they have to accept the discussion. But they brought
in their freshmen, they said there was nothing more important to the
country.
Well, they have just decided that apparently something else is more
important, and that is apparently the tax cut or patching up this
system and getting out of town for a month and not coming back. They
would rather get out of town than have a debate about whether or not we
should still go for the hundreds of billions of dollars in savings that
this administration has already agreed to. That is why they need
martial law. And they should be denied martial law.
As was pointed out, they have martial law for a bill that we have not
even written yet. That is not the democratic process, that is not an
open process, and that does not allow for comment. I thank the
gentleman for yielding to me.
Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I think the
gentleman from California hit it right on the head. That is exactly
what is happening here. We are asked to be able to bring this thing to
the floor because if we do not take it, by gosh, the Government shuts
down tomorrow, and guess what? We are going to be out of town, because
they are planning to go off again for another 3 weeks or whatever it
is. I think that is absolutely ridiculous.
What is really happening is, if we vote for this rule, what we are
voting for is the right for them to write anything they want in some
dark room somewhere. I happen to believe government is not a fungus, it
can thrive in sunshine, and then they can bring it out here and say you
either have to agree to what we wrote in the dark room with none of you
around, or we go down on the Government for the third time.
Let us be real clear. That is what it is about. It is not about how
many vetoes George Washington had or anything else. This is about the
fact that they are all over the lot over on that side.
Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?
Mrs. SCHROEDER. I yield to the gentleman from California.
Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, this is about the fact that
they have had the most massive meltdown in failure on their side after
putting people at risk in this country that now what they want is a
minimalist bill and get out of town. This is about just getting out of
town so that nobody will discover that they have dramatically changed
apparently the priorities of this Nation. They have gone from a
balanced budget to business as usual.
Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I thank the
gentleman for his statement, because I think that is absolutely right.
People are already out of this Chamber. I wish I knew, I wish I had the
bloodhounds to go find out where they are meeting and where we are now
having the rewrite of this bill or whatever it is. But if this rule
passes, then we are going to be faced with having a bill out here with
whatever they put in it. It is going to be one more manufactured
crisis. And do not forget, we are now in the fourth or fifth month of
this fiscal year without having our work done. That is unbelievable. I
think the American people are sick and tired of it.
I think that to constantly manufacture these crises is costing us a
tremendous amount of money. As I say, now they are saying almost $2
billion for these prior shutdowns, and then putting it here where we
either take it or leave it or one more time we go through this. We look
terrible in this country. I have never seen this done before.
Now, I must say, on the other hand, I am one of the people who is
retiring and I am sitting here in the front row thinking, why am I
giving this job up? This is great. You get great pay, you show up 3
days a month. This is fabulous. You do not have to make decisions on
anything. They do martial law, they go meet somewhere, they bring it
out here, you duck, you do not have any responsibility, but that is not
what the democratic process is about. It is not about giving people
permission to meet in dark rooms and do what they want.
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?
Mrs. SCHROEDER. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. DOGGETT. I would ask the gentlewoman, is the thrust of this rule
to give even more power to a Speaker who already has extraordinary
power?
Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, the gentleman from
Texas asks a very good question. I do not know where this meeting is
going on, and I do not know why we do not have the bill in front of us
that this rule affects.
Mr. DOGGETT. If the gentlewoman would yield further, this rule is for
a bill that we do not have.
Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, I would say in response to the
gentleman, we do not have it on our side. And I ask if anybody had it
over there. I do not see it on the table; nobody seems to be coming up
with it.
My understanding is that we are going to vote for this rule that will
allow whatever bill they are now writing. Whether it is in the
Speaker's office or someplace else to come up and be immediate law and,
once we vote on this rule, we will all go into recess for a while, do
special orders until they finally get it written. But I do not think
there are any Democrats in the room, I can tell you that. I do not know
who is in that room, I do not even know where the room is, but I know
we should be debating here in public those issues.
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, if the gentlewoman would continue to yield,
I heard the Speaker of the House, who will have extraordinary power,
announce last night on national television that his effort to dismantle
Medicare this year has failed and that he is giving up on it.
What I do not understand is why he is walking away from a balanced
budget as well. He talks about some minimal down payment at a time we
ought to be bringing the whole budget deficit down without bringing
Medicare down with it. Is that not involved centrally, and the reason
they want to walk out of town rather than debate what this is all
really about?
Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I guess so. I am
very troubled by that. I am also very troubled by the fact that Moody's
came out and said they are close to making the bonds of this great
Nation almost the junk bond. Mr. Speaker, if we are going to play fast
and loose with the credit rating of this great Nation, which has never
been done before, and what they are doing is, they are meeting
somewhere we do not know. And we are supposed to give them authority to
do anything. We get out of town, and then who knows if the credit
rating sinks or falls? I do not know. I am very confused about that.
I do not know why the Speaker would say that on public television and
not be willing to come here and defend it.
{time} 1130
Mr. DOGGETT. They may well take us, in the month of February, right
to brink of fiscal disaster, to default on this Government's full faith
and credit. And when they get there to the cliff, if they mishandle
this whole issue of Government default the way they have mishandled the
governance in this House for the last year where they have accomplished
so little after expending so much time here on the floor of this House,
then we may actually fall into default.
Mrs. SCHROEDER. The gentleman is right. This is just one crisis after
another, all artificially manufactured.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Taylor of North Carolina). The time of
the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Moakley] has expired.
Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
For the gentleman from Texas, the gentleman from Texas who just
spoke, I want to assist the gentleman a little. We are not talking
about a rule on a bill. The gentleman's procedure, if he was following
procedure, we are discussing a rule on a rule. I just want to
[[Page H852]]
point that out to the gentleman from Texas.
The gentlewoman from Colorado, of course, stands up and talks about
the gentlewoman is leaving the U.S. Congress and that we get great pay
back here. I would also remind the gentlewoman we have great retirement
funds back here.
Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. McINNIS. No, the gentlewoman has had her time. All of you have
had your time. In fact, your time has expired.
To the gentleman from California, if the Republicans did nothing else
this year, just to hear the gentlewoman from Colorado and the gentleman
from California and the gentleman from Massachusetts talk about a
balanced budget is a victory for this country.
We have had lots of debate. We have had more debate in 1 day, and I
bet some days we have had more debate in 1 hour than the Democratic
Congress has had in 26 years. You have had an opportunity to do this.
We are trying to reverse that.
Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. McINNIS. The gentlewoman has had her opportunity with time. The
gentlewoman took several minutes up there. The gentlewoman's time has
expired. I ask that she allow me to continue with my time which I
intend to do.
There was some statement made about martial law. The gentleman from
California talked about martial law. I wonder if the gentleman from
California made those same kinds of allegations to the Democrats, the
distinguished Democrats who serve on the Rules Committee. I wonder what
their feeling would be if the gentleman from California went up to
these four Democratic Members who last night voted unanimously by voice
vote for this rule, went up and said, ``You just put in the Marshall
plan,'' or, ``You put in martial law.'' Of course, he is not going to
say that to them. What are they doing? It is rhetoric.
Mr. Speaker, this rule has been used on a regular basis, and I gave
citations, statistics to the Democrats. It is a management tool; it is
a rule on a rule. Now the gentlewoman brought up the issue, what about
the bill?
The bill is not here because right now negotiations are going on with
the administration, in good faith, to determine what the administration
can live with and what they cannot live with. Once we determine some
kind of an agreement, we will get it over here because we do not want
this Government to shut down.
It is a waste of our resources to go ahead today and slap a bill
together without consulting with the Democratic administration, sending
it over there and finding out the President is not going to approve it.
Come on. We need to work as a team, and that is what we are
encouraging. The Committee on Rules last night worked as a team. That
is why this came out as a unanimous vote. I think that all of us should
work unanimously to try to get our business done today so that we can
keep the Government open tomorrow.
Mrs. SCHROEDER. Could the gentleman from Colorado at least tell us
where they are meeting?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Colorado [Mr. McInnis]
will not yield.
Mr. McINNIS. Addressing the gentlewoman from Colorado once again, the
gentlewoman has had her time. The gentlewoman knows we are each
allotted an equal amount of time. You have consumed all of your time;
we now wish to continue with the allotted time we have.
Mr. Speaker, let me repeat another important part of the rule. We got
somewhat diverted on the balanced budget issues. We went the whole
spectrum, from there to whether this rule has been utilized. We covered
the spectrum of the balanced budget, we talked about retirement pay, we
talked about pay increases.
Let me refocus this issue back on the rule. It is a rule on rules,
and it says, in our rule, this narrow waiver will only apply to special
rules providing for the consideration or disposition of measures,
amendments, conference reports or items in disagreement from a
conference that makes general appropriations for fiscal year 1996,
include provisions for making continuing appropriations for fiscal year
1996, or any bill or joint resolution that includes provisions
increasing or waiving the public debt limit.
Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. McINNIS. I will not yield to the gentlewoman from Colorado.
What I think is important is that the Rules Committee is ably
represented from the Democratic side, at least during the period of
time that I have been able to serve on that committee. I can assure my
colleagues that at any time when I was present, I have attended almost
all of the meetings, at any time that I was present when members of the
Democratic side felt that a rule was somewhat unfair, was somewhat
nondemocratic, even had the slightest inkling of cutting the Democratic
side short, they opposed it and they debated and they were well within
their rights to do it, and I would say they did it, I think, very
profoundly.
Last night we did not have that. Last night, not one Democratic
member of that Committee on Rules stood up and made any of the kind of
statement that we heard from the gentleman from California or from
Maryland or Massachusetts or the gentlewoman from Colorado.
They understood last night, we need this as a management tool. They
understood we need to put the Government back to work. They understood
that it took teamwork. They understood that it was going to take
cooperation. That is why this rule passed with a unanimous vote and not
only did it pass with a unanimous vote, it passed with a voice vote.
What has happened today, what we have witnessed today, is some people
who--by the way, many of the people who spoke today did not take the
time last night to come to the Committee on Rules, to attend that
Committee on Rules and see what was said. Instead today they have tried
to divert from a procedure and try and get into peripheral arguments
dealing with everything from the Marshall plan to the history of pay of
the Congress, to how many days the U.S. Congress works.
This debate today is on a rule. This is a procedural debate. I would
encourage all of my colleagues to vote for this rule and to follow the
lead of the Committee on Rules.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time has expired.
Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, I move the previous question on the
resolution.
The previous question was ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the resolution.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. MOAKLEY. 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.
The Sergeant at Arms will notify absent Members.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 229,
nays 191, not voting 13, as follows:
[Roll No. 17]
YEAS--229
Allard
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
Campbell
Canady
Castle
Chabot
Chambliss
Christensen
Chrysler
Clinger
Coble
Coburn
Collins (GA)
Combest
Cooley
Cox
Crane
Crapo
Cremeans
Cubin
Cunningham
Davis
Deal
DeLay
Diaz-Balart
Dickey
Doolittle
Dornan
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
Goss
Graham
Greenwood
Gunderson
Gutknecht
Hancock
Hansen
Hastert
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Hayworth
Hefley
Heineman
Herger
Hilleary
Hobson
Hoekstra
Hoke
Horn
Hostettler
Houghton
Hunter
Hutchinson
Hyde
Inglis
Istook
Johnson (CT)
[[Page H853]]
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Kasich
Kelly
Kim
King
Kingston
Knollenberg
Kolbe
LaHood
Largent
Latham
LaTourette
Laughlin
Lazio
Leach
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (KY)
Lightfoot
Linder
Livingston
LoBiondo
Longley
Lucas
Manzullo
Martini
McCollum
McCrery
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
Schiff
Seastrand
Sensenbrenner
Shadegg
Shaw
Shays
Shuster
Skeen
Smith (MI)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Smith (WA)
Solomon
Souder
Spence
Stearns
Stockman
Stump
Talent
Tate
Tauzin
Taylor (NC)
Thomas
Thornberry
Tiahrt
Torkildsen
Upton
Vucanovich
Walker
Walsh
Wamp
Watts (OK)
Weldon (FL)
Weldon (PA)
Weller
White
Whitfield
Wicker
Wolf
Young (FL)
Zeliff
Zimmer
NAYS--191
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Andrews
Baesler
Baldacci
Barcia
Barrett (WI)
Becerra
Beilenson
Bentsen
Berman
Bevill
Bishop
Bonior
Borski
Boucher
Brewster
Browder
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
Harman
Hastings (FL)
Hefner
Hilliard
Hinchey
Holden
Hoyer
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jacobs
Johnson (SD)
Johnson, E. B.
Johnston
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kennedy (MA)
Kennedy (RI)
Kennelly
Kildee
Kleczka
Klink
LaFalce
Lantos
Levin
Lincoln
Lipinski
Lofgren
Lowey
Luther
Maloney
Manton
Markey
Martinez
Mascara
Matsui
McCarthy
McDermott
McHale
McKinney
McNulty
Meehan
Meek
Menendez
Mfume
Miller (CA)
Minge
Mink
Moakley
Mollohan
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
Richardson
Rivers
Roemer
Rose
Roybal-Allard
Rush
Sabo
Sanders
Sawyer
Schroeder
Schumer
Scott
Sisisky
Skaggs
Skelton
Slaughter
Spratt
Stark
Stenholm
Stokes
Studds
Stupak
Tanner
Taylor (MS)
Tejeda
Thompson
Thornton
Thurman
Torres
Torricelli
Towns
Traficant
Velazquez
Vento
Visclosky
Volkmer
Ward
Watt (NC)
Williams
Wilson
Wise
Woolsey
Wynn
Yates
NOT VOTING--13
Archer
Chapman
Chenoweth
Jefferson
Klug
Lewis (GA)
McDade
Serrano
Waldholtz
Waters
Waxman
Wyden
Young (AK)
{time} 1158
Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts changed his vote from ``yea'' to
``nay.''
So the resolution was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________