[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 53 (Tuesday, April 23, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H3696-H3698]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H3696]]
AUTHORIZING USE OF CAPITOL GROUNDS FOR WASHINGTON FOR JESUS 1996 PRAYER 
                                 RALLY

  Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to 
the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 166) authorizing the use of the 
Capitol Grounds for Washington for Jesus 1996 prayer rally.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 166

       Whereas One Nation Under God, Inc. has sponsored two 
     previous prayer rallies entitled Washington for Jesus in the 
     city of Washington and plans a third such event over a two-
     day period on April 29 and 30, 1996;
       Whereas public assembly for giving thanks and praying for 
     the United States is a tradition in this Nation dating from 
     before the Nation's founding and commemorated each year by a 
     national Thanksgiving holiday; and
       Whereas the Washington for Jesus prayer rally provides for 
     the peaceable assembly and public expression of peoples of 
     all faiths to pray and give thanks for the United States: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring),

     SECTION. 1. USE OF CAPITOL GROUNDS FOR WASHINGTON FOR JESUS 
                   1996 PRAYER RALLY.

       (a) In General.--One Nation Under God, Inc. (in this 
     resolution referred to as the ``sponsor'') shall be permitted 
     to sponsor a public event (in this resolution referred to as 
     the ``event'') over a two-day period on April 29 and 30, 1996 
     (plus one day before and one day after the event to fully 
     accommodate for setup, takedown, and cleanup).
       (b) Terms and Conditions.--The event shall be free of any 
     admission charge to the public and arranged so as not to 
     interfere with the needs of Congress, subject to conditions 
     to be prescribed by the Architect of the Capitol and the 
     Capitol Police Board. The sponsor shall assume full 
     responsibility for all expenses and liabilities incident to 
     all activities associated with the event.
       (c) Structures and Equipment.--For the purposes of this 
     resolution, the sponsor is authorized to erect upon the 
     Capitol Grounds such stage, sound amplification devices, and 
     related structures and equipment as may be required to 
     conduct the event, subject to approval of the Architect of 
     the Capitol.
       (d) Additional Arrangements.--The Architect of the Capitol 
     and the Capitol Police Board are authorized to make any such 
     additional arrangements as may be necessary to carry out the 
     event consistent with good order, public health, safety, and 
     protection of the Capitol and the Capitol Grounds.

     SEC. 2. SPONSORSHIP OR ENDORSEMENT.

       Nothing contained in this resolution shall be construed as 
     an endorsement of the sponsor or the event (or any related 
     activities or expressions, religious or otherwise). The 
     sponsor shall not represent either directly or indirectly 
     that this resolution or any activity carried out under this 
     resolution in any way constitutes approval or endorsement by 
     the United States Government, or any of its agencies, of any 
     activity or expression, religious or otherwise, of the 
     sponsor or the event.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Maryland [Mr. Gilchrest] and the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. 
Oberstar] will each be recognized for 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Gilchrest].
  Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Concurrent Resolution 166; a 
resolution to authorize the use of the Capitol Grounds for the 1996 
prayer rally.
  The first rally took place in 1980 and drew approximately 750,000 
people. The second one in 1988 was somewhat smaller at approximately 
500,000 people.
  Both of these rallies took place on the Mall and were conducted under 
permits issued by the National Park Service.
  The Capitol Police Board has notified the organization that because 
of the extent of the event, Congressional authorization this time is 
necessary.
  On April 18, 1996, Congressman Stockman introduced House Concurrent 
Resolution 166 which would authorize the use of Capitol Grounds for the 
1996 prayer rally. Pursuant to the resolution the sponsor, would be 
authorized to sponsor an event on the Capitol Grounds on April 29, and 
April 30. This would include 1 day before and 1 day after the event for 
set up, take down, and clean up.
  The event would be conducted without any admission charge to the 
public and would be arranged so as not to interfere with congressional 
activities. It would be subject to the conditions prescribed by the 
Architect of the Capitol and the Capitol Police Board.
  The resolution would require the sponsor to assume full 
responsibility for the expenses and liabilities associated with the 
event. The resolution would also authorize the sponsor to erect stage, 
and sound amplification devices, and related structures and equipment 
required to conduct the rally, subject to the approval of the Architect 
of the Capitol.
  The Architect of the Capitol and the Capitol Police Board would be 
authorized to make any additional arrangements necessary to carry out 
the event in order to protect order, public health, safety, and 
property.
  Finally, the resolution states that the resolution does not either 
directly or indirectly, endorse the sponsor or any related activities 
or expressions, religious or otherwise. Further, the sponsor may not 
represent that the resolution or any activity carried out under it 
constitutes endorsement by the U.S. Government or any of its agencies.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I support the concept underlying this resolution, the 
principle that any group, including religious organizations, should 
have the same rights to use the Capitol grounds to express their views 
as other organizations.
  I do not have a problem with the basic purpose of the resolution 
under consideration. But I do have very serious concerns about process, 
about lack of process, and that is the reason that I objected, or said 
I would object, to the proposal to bring up this resolution under 
unanimous consent procedures.
  We are facing today what we faced when the proposal was made for 
unanimous consent procedure as another example of the leadership in 
this body steamrolling hastily drafted legislation through the House 
without an opportunity for the legislation to be reviewed either by the 
committee of jurisdiction or by the House itself. This has been the 
rule, not the exception. I went back and checked. Of the 16 bills 
considered under rules this year, 11, or 72 percent, have been brought 
to the floor without any committee reporting them; 72 percent of bills 
brought under a rule were brought to the floor without a committee 
having considered them, and that includes the crime bill, two 
continuing resolutions, and the constitutional amendment on taxation.
  Mr. Speaker, the same pattern of bypassing the normal legislative 
process is evident in unanimous consent requests. According to the 
House Information Resources, which I asked to review this matter, of 
the 25 measures brought to the House under unanimous consent during 
this Congress, 21, 84 percent, were not reported by the committee of 
jurisdiction. In fact, 16 of the 21 had no committee action at all.
  Now, this is not, and I am not talking about a matter of committee 
jurisdiction, I am not talking about a matter of turf. I am talking 
about a matter that goes to the very essence of a deliberative body. 
There ought to be free, fair, and open discussion of the matters that 
come before the House. The committee is the filtering process, the 
filtering organization where issues of state are aired and discussed 
and given opportunity for people to ask questions, to find out who is 
behind the legislation, what its purpose is, who are its sponsors.
  We had no advance notice in this committee, the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure, which has jurisdiction over this 
matter, about this issue. None of the sponsors of the organization came 
before our committee, nor to me individually, nor do I know whether 
they came, nor does it matter whether they came, to see the leadership 
on the committee. The point is we have had before our committee matters 
in which other organizations have wanted to use the Capitol grounds for 
their purposes, had the Soap Box Derby, we had the Olympic Torch 
organization.

                              {time}  1715

  Mr. Speaker, we have had the stock car people that wanted to have a 
display on the Capitol grounds. Those were all aired, they were 
discussed, they were reviewed. We had questions, we raised those 
questions. Members' concerns were satisfied. That is the way the 
committee process should

[[Page H3697]]

work, an opportunity for all of us; not just us but through us, the 
public, who will be affected by the legislation, to understand what 
this legislation is, who is behind it and what is behind it.
  When we do not have that process, all of us suffer as a result. I 
have been very much a stickler for process, as members of the Committee 
on Transportation and Infrastructure know, for 20 years. This is not 
something new. However, this example of bypassing the committee process 
is unwarranted, unreasonable, and it is unnecessary. Frankly, I think 
it is an abuse visited upon the chairman of the subcommittee, a very 
fair, decent, scholarly, and thoughtful person. He did not have an 
opportunity to discuss this matter in committee, to exercise his 
jurisdiction.
  Now we find out, Mr. Speaker, just in the last couple of days, that 
it was known way back in February that this prayer rally would need a 
resolution of Congress to waive limitations imposed by Capitol Police 
regulations on use of the Capitol grounds. Why was the resolution not 
introduced at that time? I am not asking the gentleman, I am just 
raising the question. Why was the resolution not introduced then? If it 
had been, the leadership knew this was a problem. We could have 
followed the proper process of review, consideration, discussion, air 
the matter.
  Mr. Speaker, who is behind this? Who are the groups? Who are the 
religious organizations? Who are they that want to use these grounds, 
and for what purpose? We should have been informed right from the 
beginning, when there would have been time to ask questions and inform 
our Members, inform the public. Instead, nothing was done until a week 
before the event, and then late last week, a proposal to bring this 
resolution up by unanimous consent, and we had no knowledge of who is 
behind it and what it is all about.
  Mr. Speaker, I respect every person's right to pray in the way that 
they wish to pray, and I respect wanting to use a public event for that 
purpose. It is not my way, it is some other people's way, but that is 
fine, and I respect it.
  However, Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the chairman of the subcommittee: 
Will the rally be allowed to construct different structures than are 
permitted by the regulations?
  Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. OBERSTAR. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland.
  Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I respect the concerns of the gentleman 
from Minnesota [Mr. Oberstar] about the process, and I will try to 
address some of those concerns. To specifically answer his question, 
the rally will not be able to construct any structure that is not 
permitted under the regulations.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I would ask the gentleman: Will the rally 
or its members or its participants be permitted to sell goods on the 
Capitol grounds?
  Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I would say to the gentleman, no goods 
will be able to be sold whatsoever on the Capitol grounds.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Will fundraising for the organizations involved be 
permitted?
  Mr. GILCHREST. There will be no fundraising activities involved under 
this permit.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. I thank the gentleman, Mr. Speaker.
  Will the rally be permitted to claim that in any way Congress 
endorses the sponsoring organization or endorses the rally or its 
purposes?
  Mr. GILCREST. No. Mr. Speaker, as I said in my opening remarks, the 
rally will not be able to claim endorsement by the Congress for any of 
their activities.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his responses. 
Those are reassuring and very helpful.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Ohio [Mr. Traficant], the ranking member of the Subcommittee on 
Public Buildings and Economic Development of the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure.
  Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I have many of the same concerns that I 
guess have been voiced by the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Oberstar]. 
I have complete confidence in the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. 
Gilchrest]. I am sure many of these issues he has made decisions that 
are appropriate.
  Mr. Speaker, the only thing I would like to say is that, even though 
it is not a major event, there is a process that is involved. Once we 
start to deviate from that process, there could be things that could 
develop that may at some point come back to maybe embarrass the 
Congress. So I am not going to stand in apposition, and I have complete 
confidence that the gentleman from Maryland has probably reviewed this 
well, and I can at this particular point accept this.
  In the future, however, Mr. Speaker, I think the words of caution 
from the gentleman from Minnesota should be well taken, not just on 
this committee but on every committee. Once we start, no matter how we 
look at any particular issue, some certainly much more serious in 
nature and presenting more of a problem to the Congress than others, 
nevertheless, there sometimes could be things developed that set a 
precedent, and then people begin to talk about being treated 
differently.
  I am from the old school, and I think all people should be treated 
alike. That is one of the reasons why Vince Lombardi was loved so much. 
He treated everybody alike. Willie Davis said, ``He treated us all 
alike; like dogs, but all alike.'' I think the Congress must do that 
and ensure that we do that. We have a process. I think we should adhere 
to that process.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no opposition, I would say to the chairman of the 
subcommittee. I would like to echo, though, and associate myself with 
the remarks of the gentleman from Minnesota. I think it was wise 
counsel. I hope in the future we could adhere to that counsel. I think 
it makes a lot of sense.
  Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to address the issue that the gentleman 
from Ohio [Mr. Traficant] and the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. 
Oberstar] raised. I would like to extend my concurrence with the 
gentleman's sense of concern about the process not being followed.
  I would also like to extend an invitation to work with both of the 
gentlemen, starting right now, that the process for these kinds of 
resolutions not be superseded, so that we get the information in a 
timely fashion and the committee process can fully review some of these 
reservations and some of these activities.
  Mr. Speaker, this particular activity was brought to our attention 
very recently. This particular activity, this prayer rally, is going to 
happen, I believe, next Monday. So as a result of that, we have been 
asked to expedite this process. When we were asked to do that, we 
looked into a number of other activities that were very similar to this 
activity over the years.
  There have been numerous prayer rallies on the Capitol Grounds very 
similar to this particular activity that is occurring next Monday. The 
only difference is that this activity will go beyond 24 hours. As a 
result of that extension of time, it is necessary for the permit to go 
through the Congress, as opposed to the permit just going through the 
Capitol Police.

  In the future, however, Mr. Speaker, whenever an extension of time 
like this is necssary, I would like to work with the gentlemen, the 
gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Traficant] and the gentleman from Minnesota 
[Mr. Oberstar], to make sure the process is not superseded, that we go 
through the committee process, and all of the concerns the Members have 
raised here today would be fully aired in this process.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. 
Stockman].
  Mr. STOCKMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to 
me.
  Mr. Speaker, I just want to point out to the gentleman that from what 
I understand, the Capitol Police knew about the rally for 2 years, and 
the organizers were not notified until February. They got ahold of us 
soon thereafter. We were working on the legislation, so we expedited it 
as quickly as we were notified by the Capitol Police. But from our 
understanding, the Capitol Police knew about it for 2 years and they 
did not tell them they had this requirement until February.
  I agree with what some of what the Members said, in that we would try 
to obey the process. We will ask also, too, for the record, that the 
Capitol Police

[[Page H3698]]

set out policies in advance that are known to the organizers.
  Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope the rally is conducted in a way that will make 
all of us proud.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the remarks of the gentleman from Texas 
[Mr. Stockman]. I would simply observe that if it was known in 
February, in our committee we work on a very bipartisan, cooperative 
basis. Had our side known about this, and had the gentleman from 
Maryland [Mr. Gilchrest] been fully informed about it at the time, we 
could have long ago resolved this matter in an appropriate, proper 
fashion.
  I say this out of deep respect for the gentleman from Maryland, who 
is scholarly and thoughtful, professorial, deliberative in all his 
works, and for our full committee chair, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania [Mr. Shuster] who has endeavored mightily to be open and 
fair and inclusive in the spirit of our committee over all of its 
years. It is painful to see something like this happen, in derogation 
of the committee process.
  Again, to repeat, committees are supposed to be the filtering 
mechanism in this body, to provide information through us to the 
public, so people know and openly have an understanding of what we are 
about to do and what legislation we are about to enact, what access we 
are about to provide for this very precious Capitol Grounds.
  I am glad that we have had this discussion. It would have been better 
to have had it in committee. We could have brought the bill to the 
floor, I think, knowing what we know now, under that unanimous consent 
procedure that was proposed, but I appreciate the gentleman from 
Maryland's willingness to make the effort in the future. I think the 
leadership of the House needs to operate in the same way.
  In closing, I wish the sponsors of the rally a prayerful success.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and 
I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Upton). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Gilchrest] that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 
166.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution was 
agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________