[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 157 (Sunday, November 9, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H10575-H10577]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN RESOLUTIONS IN PREPARATION FOR
THE ADJOURNMENT OF THE FIRST SESSION SINE DIE.
Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, by the direction of the Committee on
Rules, I call up House Resolution 311 and ask for its immediate
consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 311
Resolved, That upon the adoption of this resolution it
shall be in order to consider in the House a joint resolution
waiving certain enrollment requirements with respect to
certain specified bills of the One Hundred Fifth Congress.
The joint resolution shall be considered as read for
amendment. The previous question shall be considered as
ordered on the joint resolution to final passage without
intervening motion except: (1) One hour of debate equally
divided and controlled by the majority leader and the
minority leader or their designees; and (2) one motion to
commit.
Sec. 2. Upon the adoption of this resolution it shall be in
order to consider in the House a joint resolution appointing
the day for the convening of the second session of the One
Hundred Fifth Congress. The joint resolution shall be
considered as read for amendment. The previous question shall
be considered as ordered on the joint resolution to final
passage without intervening motion except: (1) One hour of
debate equally divided and controlled by the majority leader
and the minority leader or their designees; and (2) one
motion to commit.
Sec. 3. The Speaker, the majority leader, and the minority
leader may accept resignations and make appointments to
commissions, boards, and committees following the adjournment
of the first session sine die as authorized by law or by the
House.
Sec. 4. A resolution providing that a committee of two
Members of the House be appointed to wait upon the President
of the United States and inform him that the House of
Representatives has completed its business of the session and
is ready to adjourn, unless the President has some other
communication to make to them, is hereby adopted.
Sec. 5. A concurrent resolution providing that the two
Houses of Congress assemble in the Hall of the House of
Representatives on Tuesday, January 27, 1998, at 9 p.m., for
the purpose of receiving such communication as the President
of the United States shall be pleased to make to them is
hereby adopted.
Sec. 6. House Resolution 306 is laid on the table.
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The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pease). The gentlewoman from Ohio [Ms.
Pryce] is recognized for 1 hour.
Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I
yield the customary 30 minutes to my friend, the gentlewoman from New
York [Ms. Slaughter], 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. Speaker, on Friday night, with little debate, the Committee on
Rules reported House Resolution 311 by voice vote. This rule provides
for the consideration and adoption of resolutions in preparation for
the adjournment of the first session of the 105th Congress sine die.
The rule includes a laundry list of items that the House must take care
of in preparation for the end of the year, when it is time for us to
leave Washington and go home to our families and constituents.
For example, the rule makes in order a joint resolution that would
waive certain enrollment requirements with respect to specified bills,
so that after legislation is passed, it can be sent to the President
for his signature without delay.
Further, the rule provides for consideration of a joint resolution
that specifies the day when the 105th Congress will reconvene for a
second session. Each of these resolutions will be debatable for 1 hour,
equally divided between the majority and minority leaders, and will be
subject to a motion to commit.
Further, with the adoption of this rule, a resolution to provide for
the appointment of two Members of the House to inform the President
that the House is ready to adjourn, unless he has some other
communication to make to the House, will be adopted. Other housekeeping
items this rule provides for will allow the Speaker, majority leader,
and minority leader to accept resignations and make appointments to
commissions, boards, and committees following adjournment.
This rule also disposes of H. Res. 306, which the House has no need
to consider.
Finally, this rule looks forward to the time when we will return to
Congress next year, refreshed and renewed, ready to work, by setting
the date for the President's State of the Union on Tuesday, January 27,
1998, at 9 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, as we plan for adjournment, it is worthwhile to reflect
on the accomplishments of the first session of the 105th Congress. And
we have a lot to be proud of. Perhaps most notably, the 105th Congress
passed legislation to provide tax relief for the first time in 16
years. Through your efforts, we have given 41 million children a tax
credit, we have slashed the capital gains tax to promote economic
growth, and we have reined in the death tax to provide relief to
family-owned farms and businesses.
At the same time, we reached our goal of enacting a balanced budget
that will eliminate the deficit by slowing the growth of government
spending and creating a small, more effective Federal Government.
Through that same legislation, we saved the Medicare program from
bankruptcy, extending its life for at least 10 years, so that today's
seniors and future generations will have the affordable, quality health
care they so strongly deserve.
And that is not all. This House has passed legislation to move
children from foster care to permanent homes. We passed legislation to
give workers the flexibility of opting for time off rather than
overtime pay, and we passed housing reforms to help low-income
families.
In recent days, we have started down the path to overhauling our
onerous tax system by passing legislation to reform and restructure the
IRS. And the education reform measures we have adopted will give hope
to children eager to learn and the promise of choice to parents who
want the best for their kids.
Mr. Speaker, we have worked hard, and it shows. Now it is time to
wrap up our work, go home to our families and constituents, and renew
ourselves for the legislative challenges that lie ahead. Adoption of
this rule will take us one step closer to the completion of a very
productive first session, and I urge its swift adoption.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
(Ms. Slaughter asked and was given permission to revise and extend
her remarks.)
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that the two of us are about
as popular as we can get this evening, holding this crowd. However, it
is necessary for us to do this or the business of the Republic cannot
go on; it is that important.
Mr. Speaker, for the most part, the rule provides for usual
housekeeping duties that are required to bring a session of Congress to
a close. I do not oppose those provisions, but I do believe that they
should only be brought up at the appropriate time, when we have
completed all of our vital pending business.
A major issue that needs to be addressed before we leave is campaign
finance reform. The 1997 elections merely enforce the obvious problems
with our campaign finance laws that we learned in the 1996 elections.
The use of massive amounts of soft money on supposed ``issue
advertising,'' which was intended and succeeded in affecting the
outcome of individual races; the failure of disclosure rules to
adequately inform the public, because of noncompliance and delayed
compliance with the current rules; the continued laundering of money
through supposed nonpartisan, nonprofit interest groups must stop.
House Members on both sides of the aisle know it is necessary,
because 187 Members of this Congress have taken the extraordinary step
of signing Discharge Petition 3 to force a full discussion of a variety
of proposals. The American public deserves better than
[[Page H10576]]
our current out-of-control system, and we need to work on reform now.
We all know the process will be difficult and contentious, but,
nevertheless, reform is essential to ensure that citizens and not money
decide who wins elections.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would like to comment on the last section of
the rule, which lays on the table H.R. 306. H.R. 306, as we all
remember, was the resolution that this House should have considered to
expedite procedures at the end of the session. It was similar to the
resolutions in previous Congresses.
Instead, this majority demonstrated its utter disregard for Members'
basic right to assert their constitutional prerogatives as
representatives elected by their constituents. For the first time in
the 218-year history of the House of Representatives, we voted last
Thursday to strip from Members the right to raise before the whole body
questions of privilege affecting the rights of the House collectively,
its safety, dignity, and integrity of its proceedings. And I am
saddened that this dangerous precedent was set.
I would like to say that I think we also need to say before the close
of this session of Congress that to drag on the question of the
gentlewoman from California [Ms. Sanchez] in District 46 of California,
to drag that on is the penultimate case of not being able to adjourn to
go home, to leave unfinished business.
I regret with all my heart that we are at that state. And I hope when
we come back next week we can remedy that problem.
Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman
from Maryland [Mr. Hoyer].
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, as everybody is as tired and interested in
going home as I am, it bears repeating that, and I did not know that
the gentlewoman from New York [Ms. Slaughter] was going to mention the
gentlewoman from California [Ms. Sanchez], but, as we leave, to repeat
that this is the longest pending case in history under the Federal
Contested Election Act, the longest in history.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. PRYCE of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Let me remind my colleagues who are focused so loud on campaign
finance reform that the House will have that debate when we return in
the spring. Currently, there is no consensus on what campaign finance
should look like, as was evidenced by hearings held in the Committee on
House Oversight.
Our hope is that by March or April, the House will find some
consensus on this issue so that meaningful campaign finance reform can
be passed and signed into law. I want to remind my colleagues who are
focusing on what we have not done of what we have accomplished in the
first session. And once again I will remind them.
We have passed legislation to provide for tax relief for the first
time in 16 years, a balanced budget that eliminates the deficit by
2002, adoption reforms for children in foster care, comp-time for
America's workers, housing reform for low-income families, education
reform for children eager to learn, and IRS reform for the taxpayers. I
have to say very proudly that much of this has been accomplished in a
bipartisan manner.
So, Mr. Speaker, we should be proud of these accomplishments and
recognize that while we see a break in the action here soon, this
resolution does not signify the end of the 105th. We will be back next
year to add to our good works.
Further, Mr. Speaker, this resolution, in and of itself, should not
be controversial. There were no objections heard in the Committee on
Rules. So I urge my colleagues to support the rule.
Mr. Speaker, 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. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 257,
nays 159, not voting 17, as follows:
[Roll No. 628]
YEAS--257
Aderholt
Allen
Archer
Armey
Bachus
Baker
Ballenger
Barcia
Barr
Barrett (NE)
Barrett (WI)
Bartlett
Bass
Bateman
Bereuter
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Blagojevich
Bliley
Blunt
Boehlert
Boehner
Bonilla
Bono
Brady
Bryant
Bunning
Burr
Buyer
Callahan
Calvert
Camp
Campbell
Canady
Cannon
Castle
Chabot
Chambliss
Chenoweth
Christensen
Clement
Coble
Coburn
Collins
Combest
Cook
Cooksey
Cox
Cramer
Crane
Crapo
Cunningham
Danner
Davis (FL)
Davis (VA)
Deal
Delahunt
DeLay
Dellums
Diaz-Balart
Dickey
Dicks
Dixon
Doolittle
Dreier
Duncan
Dunn
Ehlers
Ehrlich
Emerson
English
Ensign
Everett
Ewing
Fawell
Foley
Forbes
Fossella
Fowler
Fox
Frank (MA)
Franks (NJ)
Frelinghuysen
Frost
Gallegly
Ganske
Gekas
Gibbons
Gilchrest
Gillmor
Gilman
Goodlatte
Gordon
Goss
Graham
Granger
Greenwood
Gutknecht
Hall (OH)
Hall (TX)
Hansen
Hastert
Hastings (WA)
Hayworth
Hefley
Herger
Hill
Hilleary
Hobson
Hoekstra
Horn
Hostettler
Houghton
Hulshof
Hunter
Hutchinson
Hyde
Inglis
Istook
Jackson (IL)
Jefferson
Jenkins
John
Johnson (CT)
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Kasich
Kelly
Kennedy (MA)
Kennelly
Kildee
Kim
King (NY)
Kingston
Knollenberg
Kolbe
LaHood
Lantos
Largent
Latham
LaTourette
Lazio
Leach
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (KY)
Linder
Lipinski
Livingston
LoBiondo
Lucas
Maloney (CT)
Manzullo
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McDade
McGovern
McHugh
McInnis
McIntosh
McIntyre
McKeon
McKinney
Metcalf
Mica
Miller (FL)
Minge
Moakley
Moran (KS)
Morella
Myrick
Nethercutt
Neumann
Ney
Northup
Norwood
Nussle
Oxley
Packard
Pappas
Parker
Pascrell
Pastor
Paul
Paxon
Pease
Pelosi
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Pickering
Pitts
Pombo
Pomeroy
Porter
Portman
Pryce (OH)
Quinn
Radanovich
Ramstad
Rangel
Redmond
Regula
Riggs
Rogan
Rogers
Rohrabacher
Ros-Lehtinen
Royce
Ryun
Sabo
Sanford
Sawyer
Saxton
Schaefer, Dan
Schaffer, Bob
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Shaw
Shimkus
Shuster
Skeen
Smith (MI)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Smith, Adam
Smith, Linda
Snowbarger
Solomon
Souder
Spence
Stabenow
Stearns
Stokes
Stump
Sununu
Talent
Tauzin
Taylor (NC)
Thomas
Thornberry
Thune
Tiahrt
Traficant
Upton
Walsh
Watkins
Watts (OK)
Weldon (FL)
Weldon (PA)
Weller
White
Whitfield
Wicker
Wolf
Wynn
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
NAYS--159
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Andrews
Baesler
Baldacci
Becerra
Bentsen
Berman
Berry
Bishop
Blumenauer
Bonior
Borski
Boswell
Boucher
Boyd
Brown (CA)
Brown (FL)
Brown (OH)
Cardin
Carson
Clay
Clayton
Clyburn
Condit
Conyers
Costello
Coyne
Cummings
Davis (IL)
DeFazio
DeGette
DeLauro
Deutsch
Doggett
Dooley
Doyle
Edwards
Engel
Eshoo
Etheridge
Evans
Farr
Fattah
Fazio
Filner
Ford
Furse
Gejdenson
Gephardt
Goode
Green
Gutierrez
Hamilton
Harman
Hastings (FL)
Hefner
Hilliard
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Holden
Hooley
Hoyer
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Johnson (WI)
Johnson, E. B.
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kennedy (RI)
Kilpatrick
Kind (WI)
Kleczka
Klink
Kucinich
LaFalce
Lampson
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lofgren
Lowey
Luther
Maloney (NY)
Manton
Markey
Mascara
Matsui
McCarthy (MO)
McHale
McNulty
Meehan
Meek
Menendez
Millender-McDonald
Miller (CA)
Mink
Mollohan
Moran (VA)
Nadler
Neal
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Ortiz
Owens
Pallone
Payne
Peterson (MN)
Pickett
Poshard
Price (NC)
Rahall
Reyes
Rivers
Rodriguez
Roemer
Rothman
Roukema
Roybal-Allard
Rush
Salmon
Sanchez
Sanders
Sandlin
Scarborough
Schumer
Scott
Serrano
Shays
Sherman
Sisisky
Skaggs
Skelton
Slaughter
Snyder
Spratt
Stark
Stenholm
Strickland
Stupak
Tanner
Tauscher
Taylor (MS)
Thompson
Thurman
Tierney
Torres
Towns
Turner
Velazquez
Vento
Visclosky
Wamp
Waters
Watt (NC)
Waxman
Wexler
Weygand
Wise
Woolsey
[[Page H10577]]
NOT VOTING--17
Barton
Burton
Cubin
Dingell
Flake
Foglietta
Gonzalez
Goodling
Klug
Martinez
McCrery
McDermott
Murtha
Riley
Schiff
Smith (OR)
Yates
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So the resolution was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
H. Res. 306 was laid on the table.
The SPEAKER. Pursuant to House Resolution 311, House Resolution 320
and House Concurrent Resolution 194 are adopted.
The text of House Resolution 320 is as follows:
H. Res. 320
Resolved, That a committee of two Members of the House be
appointed to wait upon the President of the United States and
inform him that the House of Representatives has completed
its business of the session and is ready to adjourn, unless
the President has some other communication to make to them.
The text of House Resolution 194 is as follows:
H. Con. Res. 194
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the two Houses of Congress assemble in the
Hall of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, January 27,
1998, at 9 p.m. for the purpose of receiving such
communication as the President of the United States shall be
pleased to make to them.
____________________