[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 66 (Thursday, May 21, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H3634]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ANNOUNCEMENT OF PROCEDURES AND DEADLINE FOR PRINTING OF AMENDMENTS ON 
                 BUDGET RESOLUTION FOR FISCAL YEAR 1999

  (Mr. SOLOMON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, the Committee on Rules is planning to meet 
the week of June 1 to grant a rule which will limit the amendment 
process for consideration of the budget resolution for fiscal year 
1999. The Committee on the Budget ordered the budget resolution 
reported last night and is expected to file its committee report 
sometime over the next few days.
  Any Member wishing to offer an amendment should submit 55 copies and 
a brief explanation of the amendment by 2 o'clock on Tuesday, June 2, 
to the Committee on Rules in Room 312 of the Capitol.
  As has been the common practice in recent years, the Committee on 
Rules strongly suggests that the Members wishing to offer amendments, 
that they offer those amendments as complete substitute amendments that 
keep the Federal budget in balance. I do not intend to put out a rule 
that is going to put on the floor a budget that is not in balance.
  Members should also use the Office of Legislative Counsel and the 
Congressional Budget Office to ensure that their amendments are 
properly drafted and scored and should check with the Office of the 
Parliamentarian to be certain their amendments comply with the rules of 
the House.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. SOLOMON. I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that we are not 
going to have any votes until Wednesday at 5, and there will be very 
few Members back in the Chamber Tuesday. Could the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Solomon) make that at 2 o'clock Wednesday instead of 2 
o'clock Tuesday, because we do have an extra day, then?
  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman makes a point, but it is 
going to be difficult to make sure that the full Members of the House 
and the media and the public are going to be able to see those 
substitutes.
  As the gentleman knows, because there is a Memorial Day recess and 
work period back home, there are no scheduled votes until 5 o'clock on 
Wednesday. It is just imperative that the gentleman and I, and the 
gentleman is the ranking member of that committee, that the gentleman 
and I be able to see those amendments for at least 24 hours.
  Let me make a concession and move it up to, instead of 2 o'clock, to 
5 o'clock on Tuesday. Our staffers are going to be here working all 
during next week.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman will yield further, as 
the gentleman well knows, most of the Members will not be back until 
Wednesday, because it is the Memorial Day weekend and they have other 
things in their district. So I would hope that just one more day would 
not make much difference as far as the media goes, or the gentleman's 
ability to look over the amendments, or my ability to look over the 
amendments. I think it would be fairer to those who will be spending 
all the time back in their districts.
  Mr. SOLOMON. As the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Moakley) knows, 
when the gentleman was the chairman of the committee and I was the 
ranking member, I used to complain that we were not given enough notice 
to be able to look at what we were going to act on.
  It is imperative that we put out the rule on Wednesday because of the 
timeliness of the budget, as the gentleman knows. It is important that 
the gentleman and I and our committee act on it Wednesday night, and to 
give them that extra day, the gentleman and I would not even have a 
chance to look through these voluminous budgets. So I am just doing 
what the gentleman has done in the past.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. If the gentleman will continue to yield, Mr. Speaker, it 
is just as recent as few days ago he has given us amendments 10 minutes 
before we are going to vote on them. If we have the capacity to digest 
them in that short period of time, I am sure the gentleman would have 
the same opportunity.
  Mr. SOLOMON. The gentleman knows that the gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Jerry Solomon) has pledged to be more fair than the Democrats ever 
were to us, and I have lived up to that for 4 years now. We are going 
to continue to do that.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. Is the gentleman saying that the Committee on Rules is 
going to meet on Wednesday to discuss the budget amendments?
  Mr. SOLOMON. Yes. That is right.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. We are going to meet on Wednesday?
  Mr. SOLOMON. Yes, sir. We have to.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. In that case, I withdraw my request.
  Mr. SOLOMON. The gentleman now understands why he should have at 
least 24 hours to be prepared.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. I am sorry, I thought we were not going to meet on this 
until Thursday. But if we are going to meet on it Wednesday, then we 
should do that.
  Mr. SOLOMON. We have to meet on Wednesday because the bill has to be 
on the floor on Thursday, and it is the most important legislation to 
come before the body.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. I understand. I thought the gentleman was not going to 
take it up until Thursday.
  Mr. SOLOMON. The gentleman has always been so understanding, and he 
has not changed a bit.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. Sometimes.
  Mr. SOLOMON. I thank the gentleman.

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