[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 96 (Wednesday, June 26, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H6963-H6964]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 0100
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 3675, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATION ACT 1997
Ms. GREENE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on
Rules, I call up House Resolution 460 and ask for its immediate
consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 460
Resolved, That at any time after the adoption of this
resolution the Speaker, may, pursuant to clause 1(b) of rule
XXIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of
the bill (H.R. 3675) making appropriations for the Department
of Transportation and related agencies for the fiscal year
ending September 30, 1997, and for other purposes. The first
reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. Points of order
against consideration of the bill for failure to comply with
section 401(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 are
waived. General debate shall be confined to the bill and
shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by
the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on
Appropriations. After general debate the bill shall be
considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. Points
of order against provisions in the bill for failure to comply
with clause 2 or 6 of rule XXI are waived except as follows:
beginning with the colon on page 10, line 25, through
``program'' on page 11, line 3. Where points of order are
waived against part of a paragraph, points of order against a
provision in another part of such paragraph may be made only
against such provision and not against the entire paragraph.
The amendment printed in section 2 of this resolution shall
be considered as adopted in the House and in the Committee of
the Whole. During consideration of the bill for further
amendment, the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole may
accord priority in recognition on the basis of whether the
Member offering an amendment has caused it be printed in the
portion of the Congressional Record designated for that
purpose in clause 6 of rule XXIII. Amendments so printed
shall be considered as read. The Chairman of the Committee of
the Whole may postpone until a time during further
consideration in the Committee of the Whole a request for a
recorded vote on any amendment. The Chairman of the Committee
of the Whole may reduce to not less than five minutes the
time for voting by electronic device on any postponed
question that immediately follows another vote by electronic
device without intervening business, provided that the time
for voting by electronic device on the first in any series of
questions shall be not less than fifteen minutes. After the
reading of the final lines of the bill, a motion that the
Committee of the Whole rise and report the bill to the House
with such amendments as may have been adopted shall, if
offered by the majority leader or a designee, have precedence
over a motion to amend. At the conclusion of consideration of
the bill for amendment the Committee shall rise and report
the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been
adopted. The previous question shall be considered as ordered
on the bill and amendments thereto the final passage without
intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or
without instructions.
Sec. 2. The amendment considered as adopted in the House
and in the Committee of the Whole as follows:
Page 8, line 18, strike ``proceeds from the sale of''.
Page 8, line 20, strike ``credited as offsetting
collections to this account so as to result'' and insert in
lieu thereof ``disposed of in a manner resulting''.
Page 8, line 22, strike the comma after the figure and all
that follows through ``Act'' on page 9, line 1.
Page 11, line 18, strike ``$2,742,602,000'' and insert in
lieu thereof ``$1,642,500,000''.
Page 27, line 4, strike ``$400,000,000'' and insert in lieu
thereof ``$460,000,000''.
Page 48, line 12, strike the colon and all that follows
through ``funds'' on line 15.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). The gentlewoman from Utah [Ms.
Greene] is recognized for 1 hour.
Ms. GREENE of Utah. For purposes of debate only, Mr. Speaker, 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 consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for
purposes of debate only.
Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 460 is an open rule providing for
consideration of H.R. 3675, the fiscal year 1997 Transportation
appropriations bill. The rule provides for 1 hour of general debate,
equally divided between the chairman and the ranking member of the
Appropriations Committee.
The rule contains a technical waiver of section 401(a) of the Budget
Act, which prohibits consideration of legislation containing contract
authority not previously subject to appropriations, and two waivers of
rule XXI: clause 6, prohibiting reappropriations, and clause 2,
prohibiting unauthorized and legislative provisions, with the
exception, as requested by the authorizing committee, of a provision
relating to funding for a boating safety grant program.
In keeping with our commitment to ensure that the appropriations
bills comply with authorizations, the rule resolves certain concerns
expressed by the authorizing committee by providing that an amendment
printed in section 2 of the resolution is considered as adopted.
In order to better accommodate members' schedules, the rule allows
the chairman to postpone votes and reduce voting time to 5 minutes. The
rule also permits the majority leader to offer the privileged motion to
rise and report the bill back to the House at any time after the final
lines of the bill have been read. Finally, the rule provides for
priority consideration of amendments that have been pre-printed in the
Congressional Record, and provides for one motion to recommit, with or
without instructions.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out that this is the seventh
appropriations bill that we have considered this year, and that all
seven appropriations bills have been considered under open rules. Under
this open, deliberative process, we have given every member of the
House an opportunity to offer an amendment on any issue they feel
important.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to once again emphasize that this is an
open rule, providing for fair consideration of the important issues
contained in this bill. I urge my colleagues to support the rule.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleagues on the other side of the aisle
for this open rule. The Rules Committee acted appropriately in exposing
certain parts of this bill to points of order. In doing so, they
followed the long-standing tradition in the House of honoring the
authorizing committees' request to be able to raise points of order
against legislative language in spending bills. This rule will give
them that opportunity.
I also commend Mr. Wolf and Mr. Coleman for this bipartisan bill
they've put together which I fully support.
This bill allocates $12.5 billion for transportation programs across
the country which are very good investments in our country's
infrastructure.
Most importantly, Mr. Speaker, this bill emphasizes safety. It
allocates $4.9 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration to
continue the good work they do making sure our skies are safe. Thanks
to this bill, the FAA will be
[[Page H6964]]
able to hire 660 new employees entirely devoted to passenger safety.
Even though our planes are among the safest in the world, as last
month's tragedy in Florida showed us, we are still not as safe as we
should be.
Although I am disappointed that this bill doesn't provide any new
funding for the Northeast corridor, the most traveled passenger rail
route in the country, I understand that there is a balance from
previous appropriations to fund the continued construction of this
project.
I urge my colleagues to support this open rule and to support this
bill.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr.
Obey], the ranking member of the Committee on Appropriations.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I simply want to say I support this rule. It
is far preferable than the rule that we just considered. I would simply
observe that with respect to the previous rule, this country has walked
away from our values in dealing with trade. There is absolutely no
reason in my view for us to provide MFN treatment for a country that
produces goods through slave labor. I think it is a preposterous joke
that we should in any way give credence to the idea that a country with
a controlled economy is a fitting participant in free- or fair-trade
arrangements. By definition, they are not. I thank the gentleman for
his time.
Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. GREENE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time,
I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question
on the resolution.
The previous question was ordered.
The resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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