[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 85 (Thursday, June 25, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H5302-H5303]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION FOR ADJOURNMENT
OF HOUSE AND SENATE FOR INDEPENDENCE DAY DISTRICT WORK PERIOD
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on
Rules, I call up House Resolution 491 and ask for its immediate
consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 491
Resolved, That upon the adoption of this resolution it
shall be in order, any rule of the House to the contrary
notwithstanding, to consider a concurrent resolution
providing for adjournment of the House and Senate for the
Independence Day district work period.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Emerson). The gentleman from Florida
(Mr. Diaz-Balart) is recognized for 1 hour.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Madam Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield
the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms.
Slaughter). During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded
is for the purpose of debate only.
Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Armey), distinguished majority leader.
Mr. ARMEY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the
time.
Madam Speaker, we are about to take up a resolution for adjournment
for the Independence Day work period. It will be a good period of time
for all of us to go home, be in touch with our constituents in our
districts, something we need to do, something we enjoy doing.
While we are home, Madam Speaker, undoubtedly we are going to
encounter so many constituents who are going to again express their
commitment to and their concern for the education of their children.
This is a major, major concern of the American people. The American
people celebrate their good schools, and they worry about the schools
that are not performing on behalf of the children.
The American people take the education of their children very, very
seriously. Where they can, when they have the resources, they couple,
along with their wish that America have the best schools in the world
for their children, their own personal commitment to put their own
child in the best school possible. Every parent wants this, rich and
poor alike.
Madam Speaker, just a few weeks ago we passed on to the President of
the United States a bill that would have provided scholarship
opportunities for the parents of poor children so that those children
might be moved from a school that was failing them to a school in which
the child could succeed. The President vetoed that.
Despite the fact that it was new money additional funding, the
President vetoed that because he thought somehow that might be
destructive to the public schools, without ever realizing that when the
public schools are accountable to the parents, the public schools do
better. When the parents have a right and an ability to move their
children to a better school, the children are better off and the
schools are better off.
Today, Madam Speaker, we will enroll a bill before we go home on this
district recess period that makes available again the opportunity for
choice to parents, further enhanced by tax-deductible savings accounts
for those parents who can afford it so that they might be able to save
their own money, in addition to the taxes they pay for schools, save
their own money and have the opportunity to move their child to a
better school.
Once again, the President says he is going to veto this because he
says it is unfair to the poor children.
Well, no, Mr. President, you were unfair to the poor children when
you vetoed the earlier bill. Are you going to couple that now to be
unfair to the children whose parents work, save, sacrifice and wish
only that little bit of edge that could come in tax-free savings
accounts for their children's education because, once again, Mr.
President, your complaint is it hurts the public schools?
This is no deduction in funds available for the public schools. It is
only a modest increase in freedom and resources to living parents who
know themselves to be the child's first, most dedicated teacher, to use
their own resources to move the child to the best school possible.
It is time, I believe, for all of this government, the House, the
Senate, and the White House to respond to the needs of the parents of
America. Give each parent, rich or poor, able to save or not, the
opportunity to do what each parent wants most deeply in their heart to
do: provide the best possible opportunity for their child.
Do not veto that bill, Mr. President. Sign it. Show that you care for
the parents who care for their children.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time a I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, House Resolution 491 provides for consideration in the
House of a concurrent resolution providing for the adjournment of the
House and Senate for the Independence Day work period.
All points of order are waived against the resolution and its
consideration.
Madam Speaker, obviously this has been a very busy year in the House.
We have spent a significant number of hours on the floor debating
issues ranging from higher education priorities to transportation
needs, from the self-determination of the people of Puerto Rico to
financial services modernization.
The House will have passed five appropriations bills by the time we
leave for our Fourth of July district work period later today, and we
will hopefully pass the other appropriations bills soon after returning
from the break.
While adjournment resolutions are usually privileged, a rule is
needed in order to waive a point of order that could be raised against
the Fourth of July district work period resolution on the grounds that
it would violate section 309 of the Budget Act which prohibits the
House from adjourning for more than 3 days in July unless the House has
completed action on all appropriations bills.
Independence Day is a time to be back in our districts, not only
celebrating the birth of this great Nation but meeting with and
listening to what our constituents have to say about the issues that
are important to them. I personally, as I am sure most Members of this
House, have numerous meetings with constituent groups scheduled in the
next days.
The Congress has very important spending decisions to make with
limited funds, and time spent in our districts listening to the
priorities of our constituents will be very worthwhile.
Therefore, Madam Speaker, I feel it appropriate that we in the House
return to our districts for the Independence Day work period to reflect
together with our constituents on the principles that founded this
Nation and also to consult with them and think out loud with them on
the issues that confront us in the weeks ahead.
I would urge adoption of this resolution, 491.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
(Ms. SLAUGHTER asked and was given permission to revise and extend
her remarks.)
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida for
yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Madam Speaker, H. Res. 491 waives all points of order against the
consideration of the resolution providing for
[[Page H5303]]
the adjournment of the House and Senate for the Independence Day
district work period.
Madam Speaker, why do we need to waive points of order on this
adjournment resolution? Because the Congressional Budget Act, section
309, states, ``It shall not be in order in the House of Representatives
to consider any resolution providing for an adjournment period of more
than 3 calendar days during the month of July until the House of
Representatives has approved annual appropriations bills providing new
budget authority under the jurisdiction of all subcommittees on the
Committee on Appropriations for the fiscal year beginning on October 1
of such year.''
Unhappily, the House has not met this legal requirement. Even after
today's actions, we will have passed fewer than half of the 13
appropriations bills. This failure to meet our legal budget
appropriations timetable is one more in a series of missed deadlines.
Congress is required by the Budget Act to complete action on the budget
resolution by April 15, but the House did not pass its version of the
budget resolution until June 5. And the leadership has refused to
appoint conferees on the resolution; so who knows when or if a final
budget resolution will be adopted?
The Budget Act also requires the Committee on Appropriations to
report all annual appropriations bills by June 10. No appropriations
bills were reported by June 10 and, to date, only 6 have been reported.
By June 15, Congress is required by law to complete action on
reconciliation legislation. However, since we have no budget
resolution, we do not even know whether we will have a reconciliation
bill this year or not. So, Madam Speaker, the House has not met its
basic responsibility to consider the appropriations bills that fund the
Federal Government.
Is this because we have been diligently considering other urgent
business? No. Unfortunately, this session the House has passed very
little legislation that has a chance of being signed into law. Instead
we are voting on bumper sticker bills and the constitutional amendment
of the week.
The American public is asking us to address issues that affect their
lives. But the leadership refuses to move any legislation that might
benefit the public if it has the slightest chance of upsetting its
friends.
{time} 1030
We should be working on bills to protect patients' rights, like H.R.
306, which would ban genetic discrimination in health insurance. We
know Americans are profoundly concerned about the future of their
medical care. Last week a Pew Research Center study showed that 69
percent of Americans believe the debate over HMO regulation is very
important to the Nation, and 60 percent said it is very important to
them personally. But instead of acting on pending health care bills,
several supported by more than 200 bipartisan cosponsors, Congress
continues to blatantly ignore this mandate from the American people.
Similarly we should be addressing child care and after-school care
legislation, like the America After School Act. This program would
expand after-school programs so that young people would have a safe
place to go, with stimulating activities and tutoring when the school
day ends. This after-school care would decrease juvenile crime while
increasing student achievement, self-esteem and positive behavior.
Another pressing matter is genuine campaign finance reform. Instead
of a structured debate that allows Members to make rational choices,
leadership has imposed a procedure designed to debate reform to death.
Their unfair rules call for the consideration of one constitutional
amendment, 11 substitute bills, 258 non-germane amendments, and an
unlimited number of germane amendments. But so far we have only
considered one constitutional amendment, one substitute bill, and three
amendments. That leaves us with 10 bills, hundreds of nongermane
amendments, and an unknown number of germane amendments to deal with
and we are going on recess for nearly 3 weeks.
Federal campaigns are becoming little more than a money chase to pay
for increasingly expensive elections. In the most recent election
cycle, spending on Federal elections shattered all records, reaching an
estimated $1.6 billion. An all-time high of $500 million was spent on
just one type of advertising, broadcast television, and yet voter
turnout is at an all-time low. Fewer than half of all eligible
Americans exercise their right to vote. The American people are
discouraged by a system in which money seems more important than issues
and the interests of large contributors seem more important than the
concerns of working families. If Congress were serious about fixing our
broken political system, we would pass campaign finance reform before
going out of session for nearly 3 weeks.
Madam Speaker, I could go on about the unfinished agenda of the
House, but the bottom line is we have failed to meet our legal
responsibilities under the Budget Act, and we have failed to address
the issues our constituents have told us are important.
Madam Speaker, in light of the importance of our unfinished work, I
must oppose this rule providing for a nearly 3-week hiatus in the
legislative work of this Congress.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I am a firm believer that history is a very important
teacher. With regard to what was stated by my distinguished colleague
and friend on the Committee on Rules that we have not fulfilled the
requirements of the Budget Act in that all the appropriations bills
have not been passed, I myself stated that earlier, but I think it is
important to look at history, even recent history, when our friends on
the other side of the aisle controlled the majority in this House and
had the presidency, also, by a member of their party, which obviously
it is much easier when you do not have to negotiate every single
appropriations bill between the White House and the Congress in divided
government. Even then in the 103rd Congress, all the appropriations
bills were not passed before July 1. If we go back just a few years
before that, to the 101st Congress, for example, only one
appropriations bill had been passed before the July recess in the first
session and we will have passed five today. If we go back just a few
years before that, to the 97th Congress, no appropriations bills had
been passed by this House before the July recess. I think it is
important to point that out.
I think that it is also important to point out and to put in context
what we have done, that it is the 105th Congress, with a majority on
this side of the aisle, that has balanced the Federal budget for the
first time in 30 years, and that is, I think, an accomplishment that is
something that we can all in this House feel proud of.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Speaker, I have no requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Madam Speaker, accordingly, I would simply reiterate
that this is an important resolution, that it is appropriate that we be
able to think out loud and consult with our constituents in the next
days.
Madam 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.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam 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. Pursuant to clause 5 of rule I, further
proceedings on this resolution will be postponed until later today.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
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