[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 44 (Tuesday, April 15, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H1467-H1471]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  SENSE OF HOUSE ON FAMILY TAX RELIEF

  Mr. ARCHER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution (H. Res. 109) expressing the sense of the House of 
Representatives that American families deserve tax relief.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 109

       Whereas American families currently pay too much of their 
     hard-earned money in taxes;
       Whereas every American will work for at least 120 days in 
     1997 to pay his or her share of taxes;
       Whereas Americans should be allowed to keep more of their 
     money to invest in their childrens' futures, purchase homes, 
     or start businesses; and
       Whereas the American family will be strengthened by 
     providing tax relief: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives urges that the 
     Congress and the President work together to enact permanent 
     tax relief for our Nation's families.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Texas [Mr. Archer] and the gentleman from California [Mr. Matsui] each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Archer].


                             General Leave

  Mr. ARCHER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous matter on House Resolution 109.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ARCHER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to yield the balance 
of my time to be managed by the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Pitts] 
and I further ask unanimous consent that he be able to further yield 
blocks of time.

[[Page H1468]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of House 
Resolution 109, a resolution calling upon the Congress and the 
President to work together to give American families much-needed tax 
relief.
  As all Americans are painfully aware, today is the dreaded tax day. 
As I speak, families across America are rushing to deliver their latest 
payment to Uncle Sam. Americans will work into the month of May just to 
pay these taxes. Post offices will stay open late tonight to 
accommodate millions of hard-working Americans, Americans who need all 
the time they can get to understand the complicated and cumbersome IRS 
Code.

                              {time}  1300

  Whether a person fills out the EZ, the EITC, or the capital gains tax 
return or any of the other of 480 different forms that we have in this 
country, the struggle to pay taxes is a burden on everyone. The 
paperwork required by the IRS is staggering. In fact, the IRS sends out 
enough paper every year to circle the Earth 28 times. Many folks labor 
just to figure out how they are going to come up with the money they 
need to pay off the Federal Government for 1 more year.
  Mr. Speaker, American families are simply paying too much to the 
Federal Government; 45 years ago families paid only 5 percent of their 
income in Federal taxes. Not anymore. In 1990 the Federal tax burdens 
averaged about 24 percent. When combined with other taxes today, 
families lose nearly 40 percent of their income to the Government.
  As this chart shows, American families pay more into Government 
coffers then they spend on their family's food, clothing, 
transportation, and housing combined. As we can see, the total tax load 
for the average American family is $21,883 compared to a total of 
$19,605 for basic necessities and $8,600 for housing, $5,200 for food, 
$3,600 for transportation, $2,100 for clothing.
  On this difficult day they can tell what permanent tax relief would 
provide. It would provide them with additional money to spend on their 
kids' education, it could go into an account for a child's college 
tuition, it could be invested for a family's future, and it could be 
used to buy a home or start a small family business. In fact the 
American family's ability to use their own money wisely is limited only 
by the government's confiscation of it.
  We must begin today to take steps this session toward letting the 
American creativity thrive by letting Americans keep what they earn. 
House Resolution 109 is the starting point. It will begin the much 
needed bipartisan discussion on not if, but how to provide tax breaks 
for the American family.
  Surely everyone in this room must agree that the American family 
needs permanent tax relief, not just temporary relief. House Resolution 
109 places us on this common ground.
  Let us start asking the tough question of how we get America's 
families a tax break. I support a repeal of the Federal estate tax, a 
$500 per child tax credit, capital gains tax relief, but there are 
other methods of providing American families the relief they deserve, 
and we should start that dialog.
  I urge every Member of this House to deliver good news to American 
families living in their districts, that they will fight for permanent 
tax relief in the coming months. I urge passage of House Resolution 
109.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, there is no one that could really oppose this 
resolution, and I thank the gentleman on tax day for bringing it up. 
Resolution 109 is one in which bipartisan support will occur. Basically 
it says expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the 
American family deserves tax relief, the American family currently pays 
too much of their hard-earned taxes whereas every American works 120 
days, in 1997, to pay for his or her share of taxes. We need to keep 
more money to invest in our children's future, purchase homes, or start 
a business. Now we are asking for tax relief that the President and 
Congress worked together on.
  I might just also point out, however, in this discussion that April 
15 is another day. Not only do over 100 million Americans pay their 
taxes by filing their tax returns, but also this Congress, this 
institution, has a responsibility as well, one that I think we will not 
talk too much about today; maybe on the floor of the House in this 
moment may be the only time we talk about it, but on April 15, 
according to the law, this is a law that was passed on July 12 signed 
by the President, President Nixon incidentally, on July 12, 1974. It 
says on or before April 15 of each year the Committee on the Budget of 
each House; that is the House and the Senate, shall report to the House 
the first concurrent resolution on the budget. It should do a 
comparison of revenues and expenditures and a comparison of the 
appropriate levels of the total budget outlays and total new budget 
authority. And so essentially what this law says; this is the law of 
the land, that on the 15th of April we have a budget resolution.
  Now we do not have a budget resolution. In fact this is the first 
time in 10 years, in 10 years, that we have not even had the Committee 
on the Budget come out with a budget resolution. I think it even goes 
further back than that, but I just wanted to take the last 10 years, 
since Democrats have been in control for 7 of those years, and 
Republicans in control 3 of those years. But in the last 10 years the 
Committee on the Budget has had a budget resolution out. This is the 
first time not only we do not have a bill on the floor, on the floor of 
the Senate, on the floor of the House, but the committees of the House 
and Senate have not come up with a budget resolution.
  The reason that is important, the reason that is important is because 
for the gentleman's wish, the maker of this resolution, those that will 
support it, for our wish to come true; that is for tax relief for the 
average American family, one has to have a budget resolution because we 
all agree, we have all agreed that by the year 2002 we want a balanced 
Federal budget. That is not a goal, that is a demand by both the House, 
the Senate, and the President. We want a balanced Federal budget.
  But in order to do that, one has to get the revenues of the 
Government, the expenditures of the Government and has to factor in our 
tax laws. And in order to come up with the tax provisions we have to 
figure out how we are going to balance the Federal budget.
  And so this resolution is great, it is wonderful, but the fact of the 
matter is it is like taking a gun and shooting blanks; and the 
gentleman talked about, well, let us start the debate as to how we are 
going to get tax relief. We have been debating this for quite some 
time. Why do we not just now have the Committee on the Budget of the 
House and the Senate come up with a resolution, bring it to the floor 
of the House so we can vote on it because that determines the 
priorities, that determines the priorities of each and every Member of 
this institution and each and every Member of the other body.
  Let me conclude by making one further observation. The gentleman said 
he wanted tax relief for middle-income families; that is a child 
credit. The gentleman says that he wants to eliminate the estate taxes. 
And the gentleman says he wants capital gains relief. I am assuming 
that means eliminating the capital gains tax.
  I add that all up, tax relief for children, if we want to do a $300 
per child credit or $500 per child credit. The estimate is that a 
revenue loss will occur of $109 billion over the next 6 years. If we 
want to eliminate the estate and gift tax, that is a loss of $136 
billion over 6 years, and if we eliminate the capital gains tax, that 
is a loss of $334 billion over 6 years; and that means essentially 
those three tax credits or tax deductions that the gentleman favors 
will result in a loss of $569 billion over the next 6 years.
  Now what we really should be talking about, we should show the 
courage, how are we going to come up with that kind of tax relief? Are 
we going to cut Social Security, are we going to cut Medicare, are we 
going to significantly

[[Page H1469]]

reduce the CPI; that is, almost eliminate the cost-of-living 
adjustment? These are the issues we should be discussing. That is what 
we are being paid here for. That is what the American public sent us 
last November to make a decision on, not really to pass resolutions 
that no one opposes.
  The real debate in America should be about priorities. It should be 
about what we stand for, what our values are, what we want to do with 
our country in the next 10, 20 years. And tax relief should be a 
component of it, but also taking care of our children, taking care of 
educational needs, certainly taking care of senior citizens; that 
should all be part of the component, and the only way to do that is by 
having a budget.
  I would just like to see my colleagues find a way to have a budget 
resolution brought to the floor this week, if not this week next week, 
but I bet anything we will not have a budget resolution to the floor of 
the House even in the month, the entire month, of April; and the reason 
for it is because many Members do not want to make the tough decisions, 
the tough decisions on how to apportion tax relief and spending 
provisions and spending cuts.
  These are the decisions we should be making. We are not being paid to 
pass resolutions that have no meaning. We are being paid to make the 
tough decisions of America.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to myself.
  Mr. Speaker, my friend on the other side of the aisle has the gall to 
criticize Republicans for not having a balanced budget yet. I would 
like to ask them where is their balanced budget.
  The President knows how difficult it is to produce a balanced budget. 
In fact he could not do it. There are no tough decisions in President 
Clinton's proposal, and in fact he inflates the debt by $1.2 trillion 
by 2002. His spending cuts would not occur until he leaves office, his 
tax cuts are temporary. The Republican Congress has been trying to 
negotiate a real balanced budget, and we will do that.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Utah [Mr. Cook].
  Mr. COOK. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 
109 sponsored by my friend and colleague from Pennsylvania. Although 
Americans feel the sting of their tax burden each and every day, today, 
April 15, tax day, we realize just how much the Government takes from 
our hard-earned paychecks.
  As a taxpayer, I understand the frustration with Government taking so 
much of our hard-earned money. However, the real tragedy is how our 
complicated tax system is dragging down the American economy.
  Our tax system punishes those who work, save and invest, yet benefits 
the wealthy and special interests who have the legal and lobbying power 
to manipulate the tax code for their own self-interest.
  Meanwhile, the average American will spend more time working to pay 
taxes than working to pay for housing, food, and clothing combined. 
Congress must pass tax relief so Americans are able to keep more of 
what they earn and simplify the tax code to ensure fairness.
  Mr. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as the he may consume to 
the gentleman from California [Mr. Stark].
  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, it would be difficult today to suggest that 
American families in general do not deserve tax relief, and those who 
pay taxes, mostly the middle and lower income working people, certainly 
feel that it is a burden and they are going to feel it as they run 
around trying to find the money today to pay their taxes.
  It is a fact that our taxes are lower, our Federal income tax, than 
any other developed nation in the world. It is also a fact that it is 
probably more unfairly distributed, with the very wealthy in this 
country paying nowhere near their fair share of the burden of 
supporting this country, which goes, interestingly enough, 
disproportionately to benefit the rich, who pay the least.
  Now, if in fact there is some relief, perhaps what it ought to be is 
relief from the unfair structure which has allowed corporations to 
escape paying much, if any, tax, which has allowed the very rich in 
this country to escape from paying much, if any, tax, and the taxes go 
into a system which now leaves us with 10 million uninsured children, 
43 million uninsured Americans without health care insurance.
  We are the only developed nation in the world that treats our people 
in the health care system so poorly. Yet we have a low tax system, and 
it is disproportionately the low-income people who are uninsured and 
whose children are uninsured. So relief is in the eye of the beholder.
  While I think we will all be voting ``yes'' to provide tax relief to 
the Americans, I think the Americans watching our actions will have 
different reactions. Those who do not pay any tax and are very rich 
would like relief from the fear that we might make them do the right 
thing. Those who are very poor and do not have health insurance for 
their children or do not have a decent place to live or do not have the 
prospect of being able to send their children to college might hope 
that we will do the right thing and let the tax code be a vehicle for 
sharing some of the largesse in this Nation.
  So as we think about tax day, I hope we will think about the fairness 
of the code, how it could strengthen our country by allowing everyone 
in this country to share in its munificence and indeed support tax 
relief, but define it a bit more broadly and define it so that every 
American can participate and enjoy the bounties of this country.

                              {time}  1315

  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds.
  Mr. Speaker, the gentleman on the other side has stated that this is 
about tax relief for corporations. This resolution is about American 
families, not corporations. We could not do anything really more worthy 
on the day that we pay taxes in the people's House than to discuss tax 
relief for American families.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. 
Hulshof].
  Mr. HULSHOF. Mr. Speaker, for most Americans, the point of least 
favorable contact between them and Washington occurs today, in fact 
tonight, and probably up until the midnight deadline when Americans 
will be delivering their tax returns to the local Post Office. It is 
during this period of time that Americans are painfully reminded that 
they work too hard for Washington to take so much of their money away.
  The struggle to not only pay, but to file our taxes is a burden, and 
not only are our taxes too high, but our tax system is too complex.
  I am happy to serve with the two distinguished gentlemen from 
California on the Committee on Ways and Means. I am one of the few on 
the tax-writing committee that actually muddles through my tax forms 
every year without the benefit or assistance of accountants and tax 
lawyers. We have to do better than the current bureaucratic nightmare 
of 480 IRS tax forms and 17,000 pages of IRS laws and regulations.
  Mr. Speaker, I have a copy of the Gettysburg Address, 267 words in 
this document. The Declaration of Independence talked about the 
principle of no taxation without representation, 1,322 words in this 
document. And then we come, Mr. Speaker, to our Tax Code. Nearly 1 
million words in this Tax Code, not counting the forms that tell us how 
to deal with this very complex code.
  Although it is difficult to believe, I think the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania [Mr. Pitts] pointed out very accurately that a recent 
study shows that the average American family does pay more on taxes 
than they spend on food, clothing, and shelter combined.
  When we turn on a light, we pay a tax. If we pursue the American 
dream and we are able to own a home, we pay property tax. When we drive 
our child to school, we pay a gas tax. When we buy groceries at the 
market, we pay a sales tax. Perhaps the cruelest tax of all is that 
when we die and pass on our legacy to descendents, our family pays a 
death tax, and that of course not counting the payroll tax and income 
taxes that we are saddled with.
  It used to be that the largest investment that most families made was 
in their home. Now it is paying the tax bill. Back in the 1950's, taxes 
took just a fraction of our family incomes. Today, almost half of what 
we earn goes to the Government in some form or another, one-half. In 
too many families, one parent is working to put food

[[Page H1470]]

on the table, while the other is working to pay for the Washington 
bureaucracy, and Mr. Speaker, I believe this has to stop.
  I believe we need to demand relief from an unfair tax burden. That is 
why I support my colleague from Pennsylvania, [Mr. Pitts], in 
supporting the tax freedom resolution, which calls upon this body and 
the President to enact permanent tax relief for American families.
  Mr. Speaker, here in Washington many politicians forget that the 
taxes that we impose have to be paid by real people who struggle to pay 
their bills and to make ends meet. My friend from California talks 
about the revenue loss. Well, Washington's loss is American families' 
gain. It is my goal to end this tax trap. It is my goal to help 
Americans earn more of their money and keep more of what they earn so 
they can do more for themselves, for their families and for their 
communities.
  Mr. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Missouri has the copy of the code 
there, and I will not ask, because I do not want to get involved in a 
rhetorical debate, but I would only point out to him that this 
resolution does not change one word, it does not eliminate one page in 
that document. That is just what we are trying to bring up today. We 
are not trying to say people are not entitled to tax relief.
  We are all going to be voting for the prior bill that is antibrowsing 
legislation. I was the originator, along with the gentlewoman from 
Connecticut [Mrs. Johnson], last year on the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights, 
which gave significant protections to taxpayers, and we intend to do it 
again this year or 1998. So we want to make substantive changes and 
actually do some of the things the gentleman suggested. However, this 
resolution does not do anything to that big Tax Code there, nor does it 
reduce it one word nor one page.
  I might just finally conclude by making another observation. The 
reason I raised those numbers, $579 billion, was not to suggest that it 
should not go back to the American public. It is just that if we want 
to balance the budget, we have to come up with other spending cuts or 
revenue offsets in order to make up the difference, and then we have to 
ask ourselves, should it be Social Security? In other words, should we 
cut Social Security from seniors? Should we cut Medicare from senior 
citizens? Shall we cut Medicaid again and again and take money away 
from children? These are the issues we have to discuss.
  The reason we raise these numbers is not to create problems, but it 
is merely to point out that we have to make the tough decisions, and a 
paper like this does not do it. This is really a matter for a special 
order; it should not be part of a legislative process. I do not know 
why we even raise this issue today. As I said, no one is going to vote 
against it, because it is noncontroversial, it is kind of harmless.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, again the minority simply does not understand the intent 
of House Resolution 109. Since I have been a Member of the House of 
Representatives, the Democrats have not had an opportunity to go on 
record officially in a vote and support tax relief. We have had this 
debate going on for a couple of months. They have endorsed a budget 
that is out of balance, that has raised taxes, that would raise taxes, 
that would increase welfare spending.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution speaks in a clear, unequivocal voice: We 
will have tax relief this year. It will be permanent, not temporary. It 
will be part of our budget. It will be for the American family.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. 
Pickering].
  Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in support of this 
resolution for my family, which for most of my life operated a dairy 
farm.
  There is a Greek proverb which has special meaning to me. It says, 
``Milk the cow, but do not pull off the udder.'' On this day, April 15, 
which for most people is the day of infamy, they feel they have been 
pulled and stretched for too long, way too long.
  Let me give my colleagues two examples in my district of individuals 
and families that are affected by the current tax burden. Chester 
Thigpen, 85 years old. He has four children. On his first day of labor, 
in 1918, he earned 35 cents. From that first day of work he built up a 
tree farm, for which he is proud. He is the first African-American to 
earn the honor of Mississippi and the National Tree Farmer of the Year 
Award.
  He wants to leave that legacy, that farm, to his four children, but 
our Government wants to confiscate it. Now, is that fair? Is that not 
double taxation after a lifetime of earning and paying taxes? From his 
grave they will tax him. Is that not taxation without representation? 
We need to act now to provide reform so that families can leave their 
legacy and their small farms and businesses to their children.
  Another example: Bobby and June Pickle. They have two small children 
in Pearl, MS. After the birth of their first child, June Pickle wanted 
to stay home with her children, but they soon discovered that the tax 
bill was too high and that she must go back to work. Does she have the 
freedom to stay at home with her children? Is that fair?
  Mr. Speaker, we must act now to give families a tax credit, $500 per 
child, that can give people and families back some of the freedom that 
they have lost and some of their hard-earned wages.
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from 
New Jersey [Mr. Pappas].
  Mr. PAPPAS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend and colleague from 
Pennsylvania for the chance to speak on this very timely resolution.
  It is important that today, a day in which many Americans are rushing 
to finish the complex and burdensome tax forms of the IRS, that we, the 
105th Congress, reaffirm our commitment to provide the American people 
with tax relief.
  Is there a Member of Congress who can honestly say the people in his 
or her district do not think that they pay enough in taxes? I know that 
the people of central New Jersey tell me every week when I am home that 
they pay too much in taxes.
  Week in and week out, Members of this body introduce legislation that 
is aimed at improving the quality of life for the American people, but 
what could be more basic than tax relief? After all, it is not our 
money, it is their money. It is money that they could use to put toward 
their children's education, to buy dinner for their family, to buy a 
new car, to take a vacation. We are constantly discussing issues that 
are aimed at helping families, but the single greatest thing that they 
could possibly do is to let them keep more of what is rightfully 
theirs.
  Families in America are struggling. Mothers and fathers are sometimes 
working two jobs just to pay their tax bills. How can we expect 
American families, parents to spend more time together, more time with 
their kids to monitor what they are watching on TV or looking at what 
they are viewing on the Internet when they must work harder and longer 
just to pay the Federal Government. The time that is spent paying the 
tax bill and filling out the tax forms is time that could be better 
spent.
  In our country, virtually everything that we do, buy, produce, or 
interact with is taxed. Today, the average American family pays 19 
percent of its annual income in Federal taxes. It was just reported 
yesterday that Americans will work until May 9 of this year just to pay 
their taxes, and if we look at this chart, it very graphically points 
out over 4 months of the year is spent paying Uncle Sam. That means 
that people will spend more time on their taxes than they will for 
housing, food, and clothing combined.
  If we in this Congress on both sides of the aisle are really 
committed to improving the quality of lives of the people in our 
country, then let us pass meaningful tax relief and demonstrate that by 
supporting this resolution.
  Mr. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I might just point out again, this resolution is one we should all 
support, since it is really harmless. But it basically says that the 
House of Representatives should urge ourselves to work for permanent 
tax relief for the American public. I have no objections to

[[Page H1471]]

urging ourselves to work for permanent tax relief for the American 
public.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas 
[Mr. DeLay], the distinguished majority leader.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution that 
expresses the sense of Congress that American families deserve tax 
relief, and I think it is very important to have such a resolution as 
this on this particular day.
  I want to congratulate my colleague, the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
[Mr. Pitts], for his efforts in bringing this resolution to the floor 
and highlighting an issue that is very near and dear to my heart.

                              {time}  1330

  And we are very fortunate to have a man like the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania, Mr. Joe Pitts, here in this House coming from a long 
history in Pennsylvania of doing what is right for working families in 
Pennsylvania. Now he is working on what to do right for American 
families.
  Today working families across this Nation are getting ready to pay 
their taxes after spending hours upon hours figuring out our 
complicated tax system. Many do this chore with the knowledge that 
taxes are an inevitable part of the process, like death.
  While taxes may be a necessary evil, the current tax system is a 
national disgrace. In fact, the Government takes more than 50 percent 
of the average working family's paycheck through costs of taxes and 
regulations.
  That means that 50 cents out of every hard-earned dollar that the 
American family makes today goes to the Government. No wonder it takes 
one parent to work for the Government while the other parent works for 
the family.
  It also means that a single parent must work twice as hard to support 
the Government and his or her children. Now, when mothers and fathers 
work more to support their government than they do to support their 
children, I say that this system has gone awry.
  We want to change the system to allow families to keep more of what 
they earn to support their children. Now, some say that it takes a 
village to raise a child, while I say that it takes a village idiot to 
raise taxes on working families.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to cut taxes for working families but we are 
running into opposition, and he resides at the other end of 
Pennsylvania Avenue. President Clinton talks a good game but his 
actions prove that he is against family tax relief.
  Last year he introduced other legislation that would have given 
working families immediate tax relief; and this year he wants to 
increase taxes, increase taxes by $80 billion to pay for more wasteful 
Washington spending. Are families not taxed enough already?
  So I just urge my colleagues to join with me and send the President a 
message, the American family deserves a tax break.
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Texas [Mr. Archer] that the House suspend the rules and 
agree to the resolution, House Resolution 109.
  The question was taken.
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 5 of rule I and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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