[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 73 (Wednesday, May 19, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H3302-H3303]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1654, NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND 
             SPACE ADMINISTRATION AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 1999

  Mr. REYNOLDS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I 
call up House Resolution 174 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 174

       Resolved, That at any time after the adoption of this 
     resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule 
     XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the 
     Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of 
     the bill (H.R. 1654) to authorize appropriations for the 
     National Aeronautics and Space Administration for fiscal 
     years 2000, 2001, and 2002, and for other purposes. The first 
     reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. Points of order 
     against consideration of the bill for failure to comply with 
     clause 4(a) of rule XIII are waived. General debate shall be 
     confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally 
     divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority 
     member of the Committee on Science. After general debate the 
     bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute 
     rule. It shall be in order to consider as an original bill 
     for the purpose of amendment under the five-minute rule the 
     amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the 
     Committee on Science now printed in the bill. The committee 
     amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be considered 
     as read. Points of order against the amendment for failure to 
     comply with clause 7 of rule XVI are waived. During 
     consideration of the bill for amendment, the chairman of the 
     Committee of the Whole may accord priority in recognition on 
     the basis of whether the Member offering an amendment has 
     caused it to be printed in the portion of the Congressional 
     Record designated for that purpose in clause 8 of rule XVIII. 
     Amendments so printed shall be considered as read. The 
     chairman of the Committee of the Whole may: (1) postpone 
     until a time during further consideration in the Committee of 
     the Whole a request for a recorded vote on any amendment; and 
     (2) reduce to five minutes the minimum time for electronic 
     voting on any postponed question that follows another 
     electronic vote without intervening business, provided that 
     the minimum time for electronic voting on the first in any 
     series of questions shall be 15 minutes. At the conclusion of 
     consideration of the bill for amendment the Committee shall 
     rise and report the bill to the House with such amendments as 
     may have been adopted. Any Member may demand a separate vote 
     in the House on any amendment adopted in the Committee of the 
     Whole to the bill or to the committee amendment in the nature 
     of a substitute. The previous question shall be considered as 
     ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage 
     without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with 
     or without instructions.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New York (Mr. Reynolds) 
is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. REYNOLDS. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the 
customary 30 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts 
(Mr. Moakley), the ranking member of the Committee on Rules, 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, House Resolution 174 is an open rule providing for the 
consideration of H.R. 1654, the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration Authorization Act of 1999.
  The purpose of this legislation is to authorize appropriations for 
fiscal years 2000, 2001 and 2002 for the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration and for other purposes.
  The rule provides for one hour of general debate, equally divided and 
controlled by the chairman and the ranking minority member of the 
Committee on Science. The rule waives points of orders against 
consideration of the bill for failure to comply with clause 4(a) of 
rule XIII, requiring a three-day layover of the committee report.
  Additionally, the rule provides that the amendment in the nature of a 
substitute recommended by the Committee on Science now printed in the 
bill be considered as an original bill for the purpose of amendment. 
The rule provides that the committee amendment in the nature of a 
substitute shall be open for amendment at any point. The rule further 
waives points of order against the amendment in the nature of a 
substitute for failure to comply with clause 7 of rule XVI, prohibiting 
nongermane amendments.
  The Chair is authorized by the rule to grant priority and recognition 
to Members who have preprinted their amendments in the Congressional 
Record prior to their consideration.
  The rule allows for the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole to 
postpone votes during consideration of the bill and to reduce voting 
time to 5 minutes on a postponed question if the vote follows a 15-
minute vote.
  Finally, the rule provides for one motion to recommit, with or 
without instructions.
  Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 174 is a fair and open rule for 
consideration of H.R. 1654, the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration Authorization Act. It is my understanding that some 
Members may wish to offer germane amendments to this bill, and under 
this open rule, they will have every opportunity to do so.
  Mr. Speaker, this seems an appropriate week for us to consider this 
rule and its underlying bill, H.R. 1654. Across our Nation, Americans 
from every age group and every walk of life have shown our Nation's 
continuing fascination with the mysteries of space. Last night as the 
clock struck 12 o'clock, thousands upon thousands of people took part 
in an unprecedented phenomena across these United States, lining up to 
see the sequel to the 22-year-old movie, Star Wars. But our country's 
fascination with space and space exploration is rooted as much in 
science as it is in science fiction.
  Long before anyone heard of George Lucas or Darth Vader, Americans 
were fixated on the small screen in their living rooms to bear witness 
to Alan Sheppard's first manned Mercury space flight and Neil 
Armstrong's first steps on the room. And, baby boomers and generation-
Xers alike shared in two historic flights, John Glenn's first orbit of 
the Earth aboard Friendship VII in 1962, and his return to space 36 
years later aboard the Shuttle Discovery.
  This rule and its underlying bill will allow NASA and America's space 
program to move forward with a multinational space station.
  In addition to our Nation's contribution, 15 other countries have 
invested $5 billion in the International Space Station program, and 
continued U.S. support will show the world our commitment to the 
international science projects. Further, the ISS means over 75,000 
American jobs. With this space station, with moving our space program 
forward, young Americans will continue to be attracted to fields and 
job markets like science and engineering, areas that are key to making 
American industry more competitive across the globe.

                              {time}  1030

  I would like to commend the gentleman from Wisconsin (Chairman 
Sensenbrenner) and the ranking member, the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Brown) for their hard work on this legislation. I urge my 
colleagues to both support this open rule and the underlying bill.
  In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 174 is an open rule, and 
I urge its adoption.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this open rule providing for the 
consideration of H.R. 1654, which will authorize NASA for the next 
fiscal year.
  Although I support the bill, Mr. Speaker, I do not support waiving 
the requirement that committee reports lay over for 3 days. Even though 
this is a good bill, I think Members should have a chance to examine it 
before they have to vote on it. The Committee on Science report was not 
even given to the Democratic members of the Committee on Rules before 
our meeting yesterday to report this rule to the floor.
  Mr. Speaker, the House has not exactly been working at a breakneck 
pace over the last few weeks, so I really cannot understand why my 
Republican colleagues decided not to let us see this bill in advance.
  Lately this seems to be part of the pattern. Since this Congress 
began 5 months ago, 12 of the 34 rules we have considered have 
contained waivers of the 3-day layover requirement. That is one-third 
of all the rules in the 106th Congress waiving the 3-day layover 
requirement.
  And, the committee report that we received in the Committee on Rules 
did not even contain some of the things it

[[Page H3303]]

was supposed to contain. It was supposed to contain the Ramsayer and 
the proceedings of the full committee markup. Mr. Speaker, it did not. 
I am sure they are probably contained somewhere in the printed version 
of the report, but I still think they should have been given to the 
Committee on Rules before it began its deliberations.
  Mr. Speaker, nearly all of NASA reauthorizations are bipartisan, and 
that is the way they should be. Americans have always been pioneers, 
and NASA is agency of the pioneers. They expand our frontiers into 
space. They perform research in the heavens to benefit us here on 
Earth.
  Thirty years ago, NASA put Neal Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buz 
Aldrin on the moon. Three years ago NASA set up the Mars Pathfinder, 
which has expanded knowledge of our close neighbors and given us an 
idea of the possibilities of life off of Earth. This March NASA 
finishes a project mapping Mars.
  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has discovered new 
galaxies and planets in our solar system.
  NASA's Hubble Telescope gave us incredible color pictures of space. 
They discover new worlds, enrich our minds, and stir our spirits.
  Mr. Speaker, I am sure that NASA is partly to thank for the long, 
long lines referred to by my dear friend, the gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Reynolds) that are now currently outside the new Star Wars Phantom 
Menace.
  So I am disappointed that my Republican colleagues have decided to 
make it partisan. They singled out one particular project for 
elimination, one out of all the projects, Mr. Speaker. That project has 
been championed by Vice President Gore. Mr. Speaker, I can think of no 
reason for the elimination of this particular project except partisan 
politics.
  In the future, Mr. Speaker, I hope my Republican colleagues will 
allow us to see the bills before we actually vote on them. I urge my 
colleagues to support this open rule and to support this bill. NASA 
does provide the research for the future and the explanations for the 
past.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. REYNOLDS. 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 resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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