[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 35 (Thursday, March 14, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H2304-H2305]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




APPOINTMENT OF CONFERREES ON H.R. 2854, AGRICULTURAL MARKET TRANSITION 
                                  ACT

  Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the 
Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 2854) to modify the operation of certain 
agricultural programs, with a Senate amendment thereto, disagree to the 
Senate amendment, and agree to the conference asked by the Senate.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Kansas?
  Mr. VOLKMER. Reserving the right to object, Mr. Speaker, and I do not 
plan to object, but I think we should alert the House that immediately 
after the Chair puts the motion, that the gentleman from Minnesota will 
be offering a motion to instruct the conferees, and we will have a very 
short debate on that.
  We will be having a vote on that, so I want to alert the Members. 
There should be a vote on this motion to instruct within the next 10 to 
15 minutes. That should be the last vote, as I understand it.
  Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Kansas?
  There was no objection.


        motion to instruct offered by mr. peterson of minnesota

  Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Mr. Peterson of Minnesota moves that the House conferees on 
     H.R. 2854, the Agricultural Market Transition Act, be 
     instructed to insist on the House language regarding program 
     extension of Conservation Reserve Program through the year 
     2002.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Peterson] 
and the gentleman from Kansas [Mr. Roberts] will each be recognized for 
30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Peterson].
  Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a very important issue that we dealt with in the 
committee, and also on the floor of the House. It has to do with the 
conservation reserve program, which has been a tremendous success in 
this country. We in this bill have come to a compromise between myself, 
the gentleman from New York [Mr. Boehlert], and the gentleman from 
Nebraska [Mr. Barrett]. There were some differences of opinion, but we 
did come together on what we think is the best language, and we want to 
make sure that the Senate understands that the House has the best 
language in this area.
  What we do, Mr. Speaker, is we cap the program at 36.4 million acres, 
we repeal the fiscal 1996 appropriation bill prohibition against new 
enrollments. We do provide for an early out option that has been sought 
by some people. What we do is we limit it to land that has been in the 
program for 5 years, that has to have an erodability index of less than 
15, and then it will allow these people to opt out of the program with 
60 days' notice.
  There is another provision in here that was sought by some which 
would say that the conservation reserve contracts cannot exceed the 
average market rank for comparable land in that particular area.
  Mr. Speaker, there have been some that have tried to put additional 
criteria and restrictions on this program that we are concerned are 
going to undermine the success and viability of this program. We just 
had a 13th sign-up around this country, in my district, because of some 
of the restrictions that some have tried to put on this. Hardly and 
land in my district qualified.
  What we are trying to do here is to make sure we keep the program 
like it has been for the last 10 years, keep the criteria the same. 
What we have here is a straight, clean, reauthorization for 7 more 
years, along the lines of the way we set the program up in the first 
place.
  We would encourage everyone's support, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Minnesota, not only 
for his motion to instruct, but for his leadership in regard to the 
continuation of an outstanding program, the conservation reserve 
program. The gentleman has essentially described the House position, 
and the gentleman has very eloquently stated the positive aspects of 
this program. I want all Members to understand that every member of the 
Committee on Agriculture is supportive of his motion to instruct.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of 
my time, and I move the previous question on the motion to instruct.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to instruct 
offered by the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Peterson].
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. VOLKMER. 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 412, 
nays 0, not voting 19, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 67]

                               YEAS--412

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Allard
     Andrews
     Archer
     Armey
     Bachus
     Baesler
     Baker (CA)
     Baker (LA)
     Baldacci
     Ballenger
     Barcia
     Barr
     Barrett (NE)
     Barrett (WI)
     Bartlett
     Barton
     Bass
     Bateman
     Becerra
     Beilenson
     Bentsen
     Bereuter
     Bevill
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop
     Bliley
     Blute
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonior
     Bono
     Borski
     Boucher
     Brewster
     Browder
     Brown (CA)
     Brown (FL)
     Brown (OH)
     Brownback
     Bryant (TN)
     Bryant (TX)
     Bunn
     Bunning
     Burr
     Burton
     Buyer
     Callahan
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Canady
     Cardin
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chambliss
     Chenoweth

[[Page H2305]]


     Christensen
     Chrysler
     Clay
     Clayton
     Clement
     Clinger
     Clyburn
     Coble
     Coburn
     Coleman
     Collins (GA)
     Collins (MI)
     Combest
     Condit
     Conyers
     Cooley
     Costello
     Cox
     Coyne
     Cramer
     Crane
     Crapo
     Cremeans
     Cubin
     Cunningham
     Danner
     Davis
     Deal
     DeFazio
     DeLauro
     DeLay
     Dellums
     Deutsch
     Diaz-Balart
     Dickey
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Dixon
     Doggett
     Dooley
     Doolittle
     Dornan
     Doyle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Ehrlich
     Emerson
     Engel
     English
     Ensign
     Eshoo
     Evans
     Everett
     Ewing
     Farr
     Fattah
     Fawell
     Fazio
     Fields (LA)
     Fields (TX)
     Filner
     Flake
     Flanagan
     Foglietta
     Foley
     Forbes
     Ford
     Fowler
     Fox
     Frank (MA)
     Franks (CT)
     Frelinghuysen
     Frisa
     Frost
     Funderburk
     Furse
     Gallegly
     Ganske
     Gejdenson
     Gekas
     Gephardt
     Geren
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gilman
     Gonzalez
     Goodlatte
     Goodling
     Gordon
     Goss
     Graham
     Green
     Greenwood
     Gunderson
     Gutierrez
     Gutknecht
     Hall (TX)
     Hamilton
     Hancock
     Hansen
     Hastert
     Hastings (FL)
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Hefner
     Heineman
     Herger
     Hilleary
     Hilliard
     Hinchey
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Hoke
     Holden
     Horn
     Hostettler
     Houghton
     Hoyer
     Hunter
     Hutchinson
     Hyde
     Inglis
     Istook
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jacobs
     Jefferson
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (SD)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kasich
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MA)
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kennelly
     Kildee
     Kim
     King
     Kingston
     Kleczka
     Klink
     Klug
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     LaFalce
     LaHood
     Lantos
     Largent
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Laughlin
     Lazio
     Leach
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (GA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Lightfoot
     Lincoln
     Linder
     Lipinski
     Livingston
     LoBiondo
     Lofgren
     Longley
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Luther
     Maloney
     Manton
     Manzullo
     Markey
     Martinez
     Martini
     Mascara
     Matsui
     McCarthy
     McCollum
     McCrery
     McDade
     McDermott
     McHale
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McIntosh
     McKeon
     McKinney
     Meehan
     Meek
     Metcalf
     Meyers
     Mica
     Miller (CA)
     Miller (FL)
     Minge
     Mink
     Molinari
     Mollohan
     Montgomery
     Moran
     Morella
     Murtha
     Myers
     Myrick
     Nadler
     Neal
     Nethercutt
     Neumann
     Ney
     Norwood
     Nussle
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Orton
     Owens
     Oxley
     Packard
     Pallone
     Parker
     Pastor
     Paxon
     Payne (NJ)
     Payne (VA)
     Pelosi
     Peterson (FL)
     Peterson (MN)
     Petri
     Pickett
     Pombo
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Portman
     Poshard
     Pryce
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Rangel
     Reed
     Regula
     Richardson
     Riggs
     Rivers
     Roberts
     Roemer
     Rogers
     Rohrabacher
     Rose
     Roth
     Roukema
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Rush
     Sabo
     Salmon
     Sanders
     Sanford
     Sawyer
     Saxton
     Scarborough
     Schaefer
     Schiff
     Schroeder
     Schumer
     Scott
     Seastrand
     Sensenbrenner
     Serrano
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Shuster
     Sisisky
     Skaggs
     Skeen
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Solomon
     Souder
     Spence
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stearns
     Stenholm
     Stockman
     Studds
     Stump
     Stupak
     Talent
     Tanner
     Tate
     Tauzin
     Taylor (MS)
     Taylor (NC)
     Tejeda
     Thompson
     Thornberry
     Thornton
     Thurman
     Tiahrt
     Torkildsen
     Torres
     Torricelli
     Towns
     Traficant
     Upton
     Velazquez
     Vento
     Visclosky
     Volkmer
     Vucanovich
     Waldholtz
     Walker
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Ward
     Waters
     Watt (NC)
     Watts (OK)
     Waxman
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     White
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Williams
     Wilson
     Wise
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wynn
     Yates
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)
     Zeliff
     Zimmer

                             NOT VOTING--19

     Berman
     Chapman
     Collins (IL)
     de la Garza
     Durbin
     Franks (NJ)
     Hall (OH)
     Harman
     Hayes
     Johnston
     McNulty
     Menendez
     Moakley
     Moorhead
     Quillen
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Smith (MI)
     Stokes
     Thomas

                              {time}  1523

  Mrs. WALDHOLTZ changed her vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
  So the motion to instruct was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hobson). Without objection, the Chair 
appoints the following conferees: Messrs. Roberts, Emerson, Gunderson, 
Ewing, Barrett of Nebraska, Allard, Boehner, Pombo, de la Garza, Rose, 
Stenholm, Volkmer, Johnson of South Dakota, and Condit.
  There was no objection.

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