[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 137 (Monday, October 6, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H8383-H8385]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    WAIVING POINTS OF ORDER AGAINST CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2160, 
   AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1998

  Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the 
Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 232 and ask for its 
immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 232

       Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be 
     in order to consider the conference report to accompany the 
     bill (H.R. 2160) making appropriations for Agriculture, Rural 
     Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related 
     Agencies programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 
     1998, and for other purposes. All points of order against the 
     conference report and against its consideration are waived.
       Sec. 2. Upon adoption of this resolution the House shall be 
     considered to have adopted the concurrent resolution 
     specified in section 3.
       Sec. 3. The text of the concurrent resolution described in 
     section 2 is as follows:
       ``Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That in the enrollment of H.R. 2160 the Clerk of 
     the House shall, in title IV, in the item relating to 
     `Domestic Food Programs--Food Stamp Program', strike the 
     period and insert the following: `: Provided further, That 
     none of the funds made available under this heading shall be 
     used for studies and evaluations.'.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Washington [Mr. Hastings] 
is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate 
only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the distinguished gentleman 
from Ohio (Mr. Hall), pending which I yield myself such time as I may 
consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is 
for the purpose of debate only.
  (Mr. HASTINGS of Washington asked and was given permission to revise 
and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 232 
provides for the consideration of the conference report to accompany 
H.R. 2160, a bill making appropriations for Agriculture, Rural 
Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies for 
fiscal year 1998, and for other purposes.
  The rule waives all points of order against the conference report and 
its consideration, and upon its adoption the House shall be considered 
to have adopted the text of the following concurrent resolution: 
``Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring, that 
in the enrollment of H.R. 2160 the Clerk of the House shall, in title 
IV, in the item relating to `Domestic Food Programs--Food Stamp 
Program', strike the period and insert the following: `; provided 
further, That none of the funds made available under this heading shall 
be used for studies and evaluations,'.''. This amendment, I understand, 
has been agreed to.

[[Page H8384]]

  Mr. Speaker, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural 
Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies of the 
Committee on Appropriations, the distinguished gentleman from New 
Mexico [Mr. Skeen], and the ranking minority member, the gentlewoman 
from Ohio [Ms. Kaptur], are to be commended for their leadership on the 
House-Senate conference committee. They have brought to the House floor 
a conference report which largely reflects the priorities agreed upon 
earlier this year when the House passed H.R. 2160 by a vote of 395 to 
14.
  Mr. Speaker, this conference report appropriates $49.6 billion in new 
fiscal year 1998 budget authority for agriculture programs, which is 
$103 million more than the House-passed bill but $3.6 billion less than 
was appropriated in fiscal year 1997. When scorekeeping adjustments are 
taken into account, the bill provides $35.8 billion for mandatory 
programs, which is about 80 percent of the total appropriated, and 
$13.8 billion for discretionary programs.
  This conference report cuts food stamps by $2.5 billion from last 
year. It increases funding for the supplemental nutrition program for 
women, infants and children by $118 million over fiscal year 1997. It 
cuts funding for the Commodity Credit Corporation, maintains level 
funding for the Federal Crop Insurance and increases funding for both 
the Agriculture Research Service and the Cooperative State Research, 
Education and Extension Service.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, this rule also self-executes 
one minor technical correction which was inadvertently omitted from the 
conference report itself. Once again, I commend the House conferees on 
their work on this important agreement and urge my colleagues to 
support both the rule and the accompanying conference report.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume. I want to thank my colleague from Washington [Mr. Hastings] 
for yielding me the time.
  As he explained, this resolution is a rule waiving all points of 
order against the conference report to accompany H.R. 2160, which is a 
bill making appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development and Food 
and Drug Administration programs for fiscal 1998. The rule also self-
executes an amendment to correct a technical problem.
  On September 15, the Department of Agriculture released new 
statistics revealing that 11 million people in the United States 
experienced moderate or severe hunger, including more than 4 million 
children. In a Nation as rich as ours, this is unacceptable. Private 
charities cannot do the job alone.
  This bill funds critical food and nutrition programs that are 
essential to ensuring a minimal safety net. The programs protect 
children, the elderly and other vulnerable populations from facing the 
harsh realities of hunger.
  I am pleased that the conference agreement provides a slight increase 
above the original House level for child nutrition programs. These 
programs are important to maintain the health of the next generation of 
Americans. I am also pleased to see a small increase in funding over 
the House position for overseas food assistance programs. These 
programs save lives and show America's commitment to reducing hunger 
worldwide.
  I commend the chairman and ranking minority member of the 
Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug 
Administration, and Related Agencies for their work on this bill. Mr. 
Speaker, this rule was approved by the Committee on Rules on a voice 
vote. I urge adoption of the rule and of the conference report.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from North Carolina [Mr. Burr].
  Mr. BURR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the rule, even though some have 
signed off on this crazy agreement. This rule waives all points of 
order. Earlier this year as the Committee on Appropriations moved this 
bill through this House, one section was struck. It was a section that 
dealt with reauthorizing the fees that pharmaceutical companies pay to 
have the approval process expedited for their drugs that are currently 
under the approval process at FDA. It was struck because in fact it is 
not the authority of the appropriators to authorize and extend that. 
Today we are faced with a rule that waves the point of order, does not 
allow us to strike from this conference report an issue that is clearly 
the responsibility of the Committee on Commerce.
  What are we in fact here to talk about? We are here on the brink of 
the ability to for once help patients in America, because user fees are 
great if in fact we have a process at FDA that works. For the first 
time since I have been here, the Food and Drug Administration was 
willing and has sat down and talked about real reform and real 
modernization at the approval process, real reforms that mean quality 
of care and better health for Americans.
  In fact, with the passage of this, with this point of order not 
having an opportunity to be raised, we put that in question. We put in 
question, can we actually get modernization of the Food and Drug 
Administration? Will the Bonnie Skylers of the world, who wait for 
noninvasive glucose monitors so she will not have to prick her finger 4 
times a day at 4 years old to check her blood sugar, will she still 
have to do it with this? Probably so. Because we are so close but we 
have allowed this to step in the way. I urge my colleagues in this 
House to defeat this rule. Let us send it back to the Committee on 
Rules. Let us do the work in a manner that we are supposed to.
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. 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 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. BURR of North Carolina. 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 367, 
nays 34, not voting 32, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 490]

                               YEAS--367

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Allen
     Andrews
     Archer
     Armey
     Bachus
     Baker
     Barcia
     Barrett (NE)
     Barrett (WI)
     Bartlett
     Bass
     Bateman
     Bentsen
     Bereuter
     Berman
     Berry
     Bilirakis
     Bishop
     Blagojevich
     Bliley
     Blumenauer
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonior
     Bono
     Borski
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady
     Brown (CA)
     Brown (OH)
     Bryant
     Bunning
     Burton
     Buyer
     Callahan
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Canady
     Cannon
     Capps
     Cardin
     Carson
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chambliss
     Chenoweth
     Christensen
     Clay
     Clayton
     Clement
     Clyburn
     Collins
     Combest
     Cook
     Cooksey
     Cox
     Coyne
     Cramer
     Crane
     Crapo
     Cummings
     Cunningham
     Danner
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (VA)
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     DeLay
     Dellums
     Diaz-Balart
     Dickey
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doolittle
     Doyle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Ehrlich
     Emerson
     Engel
     English
     Ensign
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Everett
     Ewing
     Farr
     Fattah
     Fawell
     Fazio
     Filner
     Flake
     Foley
     Forbes
     Ford
     Fowler
     Fox
     Frank (MA)
     Franks (NJ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Frost
     Furse
     Gallegly
     Gejdenson
     Gekas
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Goodlatte
     Goodling
     Gordon
     Goss
     Granger
     Green
     Gutierrez
     Gutknecht
     Hall (OH)
     Hall (TX)
     Hamilton
     Hansen
     Harman
     Hastert
     Hastings (FL)
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayworth
     Hefner
     Herger
     Hill
     Hilleary
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Hooley
     Horn
     Hostettler
     Houghton
     Hoyer
     Hulshof
     Hutchinson
     Hyde
     Inglis
     Istook
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Jenkins
     John
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (WI)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Johnson, Sam
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kasich
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MA)
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kennelly
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kim
     Kind (WI)
     King (NY)

[[Page H8385]]


     Kingston
     Kleczka
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     Kucinich
     LaFalce
     LaHood
     Lampson
     Lantos
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lazio
     Leach
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     Livingston
     LoBiondo
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Luther
     Maloney (CT)
     Manton
     Manzullo
     Markey
     Martinez
     Mascara
     Matsui
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McCrery
     McDade
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McIntosh
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Menendez
     Metcalf
     Mica
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (FL)
     Mink
     Moakley
     Mollohan
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Morella
     Murtha
     Myrick
     Nadler
     Neal
     Nethercutt
     Neumann
     Ney
     Northup
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Oxley
     Packard
     Pallone
     Pappas
     Parker
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Paul
     Paxon
     Payne
     Pease
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pickett
     Pitts
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Portman
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Rangel
     Redmond
     Regula
     Reyes
     Riggs
     Riley
     Rivers
     Rodriguez
     Roemer
     Rogan
     Rogers
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Rothman
     Roukema
     Roybal-Allard
     Rush
     Ryun
     Sabo
     Salmon
     Sanchez
     Sanders
     Sandlin
     Sanford
     Sawyer
     Saxton
     Schaefer, Dan
     Schaffer, Bob
     Scott
     Sensenbrenner
     Serrano
     Sessions
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherman
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Sisisky
     Skaggs
     Skeen
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith, Adam
     Smith, Linda
     Snowbarger
     Snyder
     Solomon
     Spence
     Spratt
     Stabenow
     Stark
     Stearns
     Stokes
     Strickland
     Stump
     Stupak
     Talent
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Tauzin
     Taylor (NC)
     Thomas
     Thompson
     Thornberry
     Thune
     Tiahrt
     Tierney
     Torres
     Towns
     Traficant
     Turner
     Upton
     Velazquez
     Vento
     Visclosky
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Waters
     Watkins
     Watt (NC)
     Watts (OK)
     Waxman
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Wexler
     White
     Wicker
     Wise
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wynn
     Yates
     Young (FL)

                                NAYS--34

     Baesler
     Ballenger
     Barton
     Burr
     Coble
     Condit
     Costello
     Deal
     DeFazio
     Deutsch
     Ganske
     Goode
     Graham
     Jones
     Klink
     Klug
     Largent
     McHale
     Miller (CA)
     Minge
     Norwood
     Nussle
     Peterson (MN)
     Poshard
     Rohrabacher
     Scarborough
     Shadegg
     Souder
     Stenholm
     Sununu
     Taylor (MS)
     Thurman
     Whitfield
     Young (AK)

                             NOT VOTING--32

     Baldacci
     Barr
     Becerra
     Bilbray
     Brown (FL)
     Coburn
     Conyers
     Cubin
     Dicks
     Dixon
     Dooley
     Foglietta
     Gephardt
     Gilman
     Gonzalez
     Greenwood
     Hefley
     Hilliard
     Hunter
     Lewis (CA)
     Maloney (NY)
     McKinney
     Meek
     Owens
     Pelosi
     Pombo
     Rahall
     Royce
     Schiff
     Schumer
     Smith (OR)
     Weygand

                              {time}  1733

  The Clerk announced the following pair:
  On this vote:

       Mr. Smith of Oregon for, with Mrs. Cubin against.

  Messrs. GRAHAM, DEUTSCH, BAESLER, NORWOOD, KLINK, and SHADEGG changed 
their vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
  Mr. SNOWBARGER changed his vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
  So the resolution was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid upon the table.


                          personal explanation

  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained in getting back 
from my district, and missed rollcall vote No. 490. But had I been 
present and voting, I would have voted ``yes'' on rollcall vote No. 
490, on the Rule House Resolution 232, calling up the Agriculture 
Appropriations Act Conference Agreement for FY 1998.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore [Mr. Shaw]. Pursuant to House Resolution 232, 
House Concurrent Resolution 167 is considered as adopted.
  The text of House Concurrent Resolution 167 is as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 167

       ``Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That in the enrollment of H.R. 2160 the Clerk of 
     the House shall, in title IV, in the item relating to 
     `Domestic Food Programs--Food Stamp Program', strike the 
     period and insert the following: `: Provided further, That 
     none of the funds made available under this heading shall be 
     used for studies and evaluations'.''

                          ____________________