[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 56 (Thursday, May 7, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H2979-H2982]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM

  (Mr. BONIOR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, I take this time for the purpose of 
inquiring about the schedule for the rest of the week and the schedule 
for the following week.
  Let me just pose the question, are we waiting for one of the leaders 
to come out to the floor?
  Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, will the minority whip yield for a 
question?
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield to my friend from Texas.
  Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I have been here for the purposes of 
hoping to hear in the schedule for next week that we were going to have 
campaign finance reform up, since that was sort of agreed to here when 
we had a discharge petition that was pulled down, and we had the 
indication that we were going to have this bill up. I had hoped to be 
over here to hear that colloquy between you and the majority. I guess 
they are not here.
  Mr. BONIOR. I am still hoping that they will come. That was one of my 
main concerns on the schedule for next week.
  Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield to the gentleman from 
Florida.
  Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I have just been informed, obviously we did 
not have a rollcall, and the leaders have been off campus, and we will 
be publishing next week's schedule in the Record.
  Mr. BONIOR. Does the gentleman from Florida know if campaign finance 
will be brought up next week?
  Mr. FOLEY. That is all I know. That is all the information I have at 
this time.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, I really have tried to be very reasonable 
about these discussions this year. I am a little concerned here. 
Forgive me for getting into this issue, but we have had so many 
miscommunications, delays, and, if you will pardon me, broken promises 
on this that I am disturbed by this.
  There was a handshake by the President and the Speaker that we would 
have campaign finance reform. Nothing happened for a long period of 
time. Then, in March, we had this procedure that really locked out a 
lot of the issues that people wanted to talk about on this floor, 
especially the Meehan-Shays proposal and other very good proposals.
  Then we had a discharge petition, and it looked like it was going to 
get discharged. There were some comments made that we are going to have 
a vote on this in May, and now we hear reports that we are not going to 
vote in May. We are going to vote after May when we come back from the 
May recess.
  It is very, very disturbing, and I would like some answers. I would 
like to hear from the Republican leadership what is going on and why 
these broken promises continue, Mr. Speaker
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to my friend, the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. 
Baesler) and my other friend from Texas on this issue because it is 
something we need an answer on.
  Mr. BAESLER. Mr. Speaker, as we all know, the leadership, the 
Speaker, made a commitment that we are going to vote on this issue in 
May. We are hearing rumors now that we are not going to vote in May and 
maybe vote after Memorial Day.
  We also are hearing rumors that maybe Shays-Meehan may not be proper. 
That was also a commitment made by the Speaker and the leadership to 
encourage those Republicans and others to withdraw the names from the 
discharge petition.
  It is our position, those of us who originated the petition, those of 
us who signed, if we do not have an answer on this within the next day 
or two, we are

[[Page H2980]]

going to try and reinitiate the petition because we feel like we are 
getting the runaround.
  Somebody said a while ago in this chamber we are going to trust to 
verify. That is what we said. So far, we have trusted, but it had not 
been verified by the leadership.
  Now to avoid the discussion today, I think this is the height of 
arrogance. That is what got us here in the first place is arrogance.
  We would like to know what is going to be debated. We don't have but 
2 or 3 more weeks in May. I think we all, not only the membership, but 
the public as a whole are entitled to know whether or not the 
commitment is going to be maintained by the Speaker or whether, once 
again, they are going to run from this issue which obviously they are 
afraid of.

                              {time}  1530

  Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BONIOR. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. DOGGETT. The gentleman may be aware that the Speaker has answered 
this question.
  Back on April 22, Congress Daily reported that Speaker Gingrich 
himself told Congress Daily that we would have a fair and open debate 
on campaign finance not just during May, not just before the Memorial 
Day recess, but by May 15. By my calendar, that is next Friday.
  We have the tentative schedule that the Republican leadership has put 
out for next week and there is not any reference to campaign finance 
reform on it and, apparently, they are afraid to come out here and tell 
the American people that.
  I wonder if the gentleman has been advised anything to the contrary? 
I thought they had broken all the promises there were to break on 
campaign finance reform, but they have found yet another promise to 
break with the Speaker having promised and said in print that it will 
be done by May 15, next Friday. They have misrepresented to the 
American people. They do not have any intention to do it and do not 
have the courage to come out here and tell the American people that.
  Mr. BONIOR. I am hopeful we can get an answer from the Speaker, from 
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey) or the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
DeLay) or someone on the other side of the aisle as to what the 
disposition will be on this important issue. I am waiting, and when 
they come I will be delighted to hear their answers.
  But the gentleman is absolutely right; this was the promise made, and 
we will wait to see if it is going to be broken or not. I am still 
hopeful that they will bring it up before we leave.
  Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BONIOR. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. STENHOLM. I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. My colleague 
from Texas adequately pointed out that the tentative schedule for next 
week does not include the mention of campaign finance reform, and that 
is what brought me to the floor of the House to inquire.
  Timing could not possibly be a problem, because here it is 3:30 on 
Thursday afternoon. We have adjourned for the week. There will be no 
votes tomorrow, on Friday, no votes on Monday, and no votes on the next 
Friday. There was a promise made. And back where I come from, your word 
is your bond and a handshake is as good as a contract.
  This is very disturbing, particularly since we were at the verge of 
having a discharge petition that would have discharged a very fair 
rule; that would have allowed all ideas. And I think it is incredibly 
important that when we do eventually get to campaign finance reform, 
and hopefully next week, that we will allow a clean up-and-down vote on 
the freshman bill and a clean up-and-down-vote on the Shays-Meehan 
bill, and then allow any Members of this body that have any 
constructive ideas of what should be included in campaign finance 
reform to be included.
  That is what we worked awfully hard to do, and there was bipartisan 
support for that. There were promises made if they would just remove 
their names from the discharge petition, that we would get just exactly 
what we were asking for. And now these rumors that are circulating are 
very, very disturbing to many of us who, again, believe that our word 
is our bond.
  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BONIOR. I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin.
  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, I thank the minority whip for yielding to me. 
I, too, have a question with regard to the schedule as relates to 
campaign finance reform. I am one of the freshman Members that 
participated in the bipartisan task force for the better part of a year 
and a half now, and it is going to be our base bill that is brought up 
eventually. But we are hearing these rumors as well that the guarantee, 
the promise that was made just a couple of short weeks ago, may be 
backed off from recently.
  We have the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Allen), who is one of the co-
chairs of the bipartisan task force in attendance as well, and we were 
just wondering, because promises have been made in the past, agreements 
have been reached in regards to having a fair, open, and honest debate 
on campaign finance reform on this floor, handshakes have been given, 
and we are wondering whether or not this agreement that was reached 
just a couple of weeks ago is just another empty handshake in regards 
to one of the more important issues that we should be dealing with and 
debating honestly and fairly on the floor of the House of 
Representatives.
  I am wondering if my friend from across the aisle has some 
information that can clarify some of the concerns that we have right 
now based on the rumors that we are hearing that this finance reform 
bill may not come up this month and might possibly come up during the 
month of June.
  We would like to have some information so that we have a way of 
preparing for this very important debate, a debate that I think that 
the people across this country desperately want this institution to 
have.
  Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BONIOR. I yield to the gentleman from Florida.
  Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I can assure the gentleman there will be a 
fair and open debate on the question. There are negotiations ongoing. I 
think if the gentleman will give us some time, we will release the 
details of the scheduling for that particular matter.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, may I ask of my friend who the negotiations 
are with?
  Mr. FOLEY. If the gentleman will continue to yield, the Members that 
have the amendments to, apparently, the reference of the freshman bill.
  Mr. BONIOR. I am not familiar that our colleagues have been involved 
in these negotiations, nor am I familiar that the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Meehan) has been involved in these negotiations, nor 
am I familiar with the fact that the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Farr), or others who have legitimate concerns on this bill, have been 
involved. We are not involved in this. That is my problem.
  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BONIOR. I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin.
  Mr. KIND. Speaking again as a member of the freshman task force that 
has been working on this issue, I can certainly state for the record 
that we have not been party to any negotiations as far as a schedule, 
as far as the form in which the legislation will be brought up.
  It is my understanding that the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Allen), who 
is one of the cochairs of our task force, has not been privy to any 
discussions with the majority leadership on this important issue as 
well. So if negotiations are ongoing, we would certainly request to be 
included, since it is our bill that will be the base bill when this 
eventually does get taken up.
  Mr. BONIOR. We understand that we are in the minority and that the 
other side will make the call on this. They have the votes to do it. 
But I think just common courtesy dictates that those who have been 
deeply involved in this issue for a number of years, and who care very 
deeply about this, be a part of how we are going to manage this very 
complex difficult and very long debate, I hope, on this issue.
  We are just kind of left in the dark. We do not know what is 
happening. And I hope the other side can understand our concern, 
because we have had

[[Page H2981]]

promises broken on this, we believe promises broken on three separate 
occasions. And now, as the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett) pointed 
out, May 15 was going to be the date. We get a tentative schedule; 
nothing on here reflecting a decision to go forward and discuss this 
bill next week.
  And then, of course, rumors are floating around the Capitol this will 
not be voted on until June. First June, then July, and pretty soon we 
are into an election season and the American people do not have a 
visual or a record of how this Congress feels about changing a system 
that I think everybody on both sides of the aisle will agree is a 
system that is not good, it is not healthy for the country, it is a 
system that demeans our process, uses much of our time, and really 
takes cynicism to a low level in our country in terms of people's 
participation.
  So all we want is to be part of the discussion. And that is why I am 
concerned and disturbed this afternoon, at a reasonable hour, 3:30, 
that we cannot get a member of the leadership of the other side to come 
out and give us an answer as to where we are with this, when we will 
have a decision, when we will do it, and under what form we will do it.

  Under what form is very critical in terms of giving people the chance 
to express themselves. As the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) 
pointed out, I think accurately and fairly, what he and the gentleman 
from Kentucky (Mr. Baesler) and others did with the discharge petition 
was to lay out a very open and fair rule in which everyone had a chance 
to put his or her amendments forward and to have a full debate on this 
issue.
  But now we are hearing, well, we are not going to have that chance; 
that it is going to be narrowed and the Committee on Rules will craft 
it in such a way that we may not even get a clean shot on the Meehan-
Shays bill; or that the freshman bill may not actually have a chance to 
play itself out; or the ideas of the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Farr) or fellow individuals on the other side who have ideas will not 
be able to express their views; or there may be a poison pill with 
respect to labor and gag rule issues, that we have dispensed with, by 
the way, on another occasion here, injected into this debate, which 
will screw up the works and we will not be able to move forward on this 
important issue.
  Those are our concerns. I think they are legitimate. I do not think 
we are being petty or unfair in raising them this afternoon, and we 
would hope that we could get them addressed before the weekend.
  Mr. KIND. If the gentleman will continue to yield, I think the form 
and the timing of this important piece of legislation is very 
important.
  The feedback I am getting back home in western Wisconsin, in my 
district, are the people are engaged in this issue. They want us to 
take action on it. I think the indication of that occurred during the 
Easter recess, when all the Members went back to their home districts 
and got feedback from their constituents. And that is why there was a 
rush to sign the discharge petition in order to get a fair and honest 
debate on bipartisan campaign finance reform to the House floor.
  It is very evident that the American people want us to take action on 
it. They want to be engaged in this, and I think they deserve some 
answers as far as the timing and the form of this legislation as well. 
So if they want to weigh in on the issue, if they want to personally 
contact their representatives and let them know how they feel on the 
issue of getting the big money and the influence of money out of our 
political system, they will have that opportunity.
  Thus far, we are hearing nothing from the majority leadership who is 
in control of the schedule here. They are not communicating with the 
freshman group that has worked long and hard on this important piece of 
legislation. And I just hope that we will get included in this as soon 
as possible so that we have some clarification on where we are going 
with this legislation.
  Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BONIOR. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. DOGGETT. I would express the same concern as our colleague from 
Wisconsin. First, that the American people have a legitimate concern 
about the need to reform our whole tax collection system. I have been 
hearing a lot about that. But in order for that to be a fair process, 
we have to take the money out of the system that is corrupting the 
system that really stands in the way of our getting real legitimate tax 
reform.
  I want to bring to the gentleman's attention the fact that another 
member of the Republican leadership who was not willing to come out 
this afternoon has also spoken on this issue. ``House majority leader 
Armey indicated Tuesday that campaign finance reform legislation could 
be on the House floor before the end of this session.'' This is a 
Congress Daily article dated September 17, 1997.
  The credibility of the suggestion that there are private negotiations 
or that this is about to come up is tested by the fact that we have had 
these promises now ever since, I guess, the first day of the Republican 
revolution on January of 1995, that this issue would come up. And each 
of these promises each time either gets broken or changed.
  Is the whip advised as to whether, in anticipation, this last promise 
of action by May 15 was relied upon by public interest groups not 
affiliated with either the Democratic or the Republican Party, and 
whether or not Common Cause and literally dozens of religious and 
public interest groups came together in anticipation of our voting next 
week, by May 15, to present some type of bipartisan proposal for us to 
consider that would not advantage either party but might advantage the 
American people?
  Mr. BONIOR. Well, that was our hope, that we would be able to move in 
that direction, and I think that was the hope of those organizations.
  I think if anything is clear in this debate with respect to where 
those organizations are coming from, so to speak, it is that they are 
coming from a very nonpartisan approach to this. And they deserve, I 
think, the fairness of knowing just exactly what the next step is in 
this drama that we are playing out here on this very critical issue.
  And by not having an answer today, I think we do a disservice not 
only to ourselves and the American people but to the people who care 
the most about this issue and who have really staked out a good part of 
their social activism on reforming this very sad system that we have in 
our society.
  So the gentleman is absolutely right. If they know, they certainly 
have not told me. I think the only folks that know are the leadership 
on the other side, and they have refused to share these discussions 
with us, and it is disturbing.
  Let me yield one other time, the Chair has been generous with time, 
and then I will end this discussion.
  Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BONIOR. I yield to the gentleman from Maine.
  Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Speaker, I will be very brief. As one of the cochairs 
of the bipartisan freshman effort, the freshmen on both sides of the 
aisle have been working on this for a very long period of time, and the 
Democrats, in particular, have over 30 freshmen on this bill.
  What we are concerned about is the commitment made in the press 
release issued by the leadership on April 22, 1998, which said, 
``Campaign finance reform will be brought to the floor in May and fully 
debated under an open rule.'' One of our concerns about any delay, any 
slippage in that schedule, is that delay here means there is less time 
for the Senate to take up whatever we do if we are successful in 
passing reform here.
  That is why this is not just an academic issue. It is not just an 
issue that matters here in the House, but matters to the success or 
failure of campaign reform this year. I thank the gentleman for 
yielding.
  Mr. BONIOR. I thank my colleagues for their comments and I hope they 
will be noted by the majority.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce we have concluded 
legislative business for the week.
  The House will next meet on Monday, May 11, at 2:00 p.m. for a pro 
forma session. There will be no legislative business and no votes that 
day.
  On Tuesday, May 12, the House will meet at 12:30 p.m. for morning 
hour and at 2:00 p.m. for legislative business.

[[Page H2982]]

  On Tuesday, we will consider a number of bills under suspension of 
the rules, a list of which will be distributed to Members' offices. 
Members should note that we do not expect any recorded votes before 
5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12.
  On Wednesday, May 13, and Thursday, May 14, the House will meet at 
10:00 a.m. to consider the following legislation:
  H.R. 3494--The Child Protection and Sexual Predator Punishment Act of 
1998;
  H.R. 3534--The Mandates Information Act of 1998;
  H.R. 10--The Financial Services Competition Act of 1997; and
  H.R. 2431--The Freedom from Religious Persecution Act of 1998; and
  H.R. 512--The New Wildlife Refuge Reauthorization Act.
  Mr. Speaker, we hope to conclude legislative business for the week on 
Thursday, May 14. The House will not be in session on Friday, May 15.
  I would like to take this opportunity to note that we will have a lot 
of important legislation on our plate next week. It may be necessary to 
work late on Wednesday evening in order to ensure a reasonable getaway 
time on Thursday.

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