[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 110 (Friday, July 30, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H6723-H6725]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 1501, JUVENILE JUSTICE REFORM ACT OF 
                                  1999

  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the 
Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 1501) to amend the Omnibus Crime Control 
and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to provide grants to ensure increased 
accountability for juvenile offenders; to amend the Juvenile Justice 
and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to provide quality prevention 
programs and accountability programs relating to juvenile delinquency, 
and for other purposes, with a Senate amendment thereto, disagree to 
the Senate amendment, and agree to the conference asked by the Senate.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.


               Motion to Instruct Offered by Mr. Conyers

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct conferees.
  The Clerk read as follows:
       Mr. Conyers moves that the managers on the part of the 
     House at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two 
     Houses on the Senate amendment to the bill, H.R. 1501, be 
     instructed to insist that--
       (1) the committee of conference recommend a conference 
     substitute which--
       (A) includes a requirement that background checks be 
     conducted on all firearms sales at gun shows so as to 
     effectively preclude criminals and other prohibited 
     purchasers (e.g. murderers, rapists, child molesters, 
     fugitives from justice, illegal aliens, stalkers, and 
     batterers) from obtaining firearms from non-licensed persons 
     and federally licensed firearms dealers at gun shows;
       (B) does not include any measure that would weaken the 
     effectiveness of background checks currently conducted on 
     individuals seeking to purchase a firearm from a federally 
     licensed firearms dealer;
       (C) does not include any measure that would otherwise 
     weaken or eliminate any other provision of Federal firearms 
     law or regulation; and
       (D) includes provisions which would authorize funding for 
     school resource officers and school violence prevention 
     programs, including school counselors;
       (2) all meetings of the committee of conference--
       (A) be open to the public and to the print and electronic 
     media;
       (B) be held in venues selected to maximize the capacity for 
     attendance of the public and the media; and
       (C) be held during reasonable hours;
       (3) the committee of conference allow sufficient 
     opportunity for all members of the committee of conference to 
     offer and debate amendments at all meetings of the committee 
     of conference; and
       (4) the committee of conference recommend a conference 
     substitute before Congress adjourns for the August recess so 
     that Congress can pass reasonable gun safety measures before 
     children return to school.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) 
will be recognized for 30 minutes, and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Hyde) will be recognized for 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers).
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

[[Page H6724]]

  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. CONYERS. I yield to the gentleman from Illinois.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I want to say to the gentleman from Michigan 
(Mr. Conyers) that I have no objection to the instructions proposed by 
the gentleman from Michigan and we will accept them.
  I just have one caveat, and that is putting time constraints on this 
may make it more difficult to resolve. We will do our best. It would be 
in an ideal world that we could finish this next week.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I say to the chairman, 
it is not binding, that we are going to do our best to accomplish that.
  Mr. Speaker, as disappointed as I have been about the senseless 
delays that have prevented this Congress from sending to the 
President's desk reasonable and moderate gun safety measures, I am 
pleased that we are finally ready to appoint conferees.

                              {time}  0915

  On August 16, in just a few weeks, the children who attended 
Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, will be returning to 
school. It has been over 3 months since the tragedy in Columbine 
occurred. But because of the delaying tactics by the National Rifle 
Association and its allies, we have only 1 week to settle the gun 
safety issues before we adjourn for the summer recess.
  We should not delay longer. How can we do nothing when 13 children 
are killed as a result of gun violence in this Nation every single day?
  Nine people were shot to death in Atlanta, Georgia, yesterday, and 12 
were wounded. We do not know all the facts, but this was clearly a 
disturbed man who should not own a gun. We need a comprehensive system 
of background checks to keep this kind of person from buying a gun. We 
need to plug the loopholes.
  We still have time to make this back-to-school season free from 
worries about gun violence for our Nation's children and their parents.
  Kids should not have unsupervised access to guns. Teachers and 
parents should know that their children are carrying books, pencils and 
paper in their backpacks, not guns.
  No dangerous criminal should be allowed to buy a gun at a gun show.
  That is all that we are asking for.
  My motion to instruct conferees is simple:
  Number one, it says that a conference report should include measures 
that prevent criminals from getting guns at gun shows. A murderer, 
rapist or batterer should not be able to buy a gun at a gun show. It 
should not matter whether a murderer tries to buy the gun from a 
licensed or an unlicensed dealer. The murderer should not get the gun. 
This is common sense.
  Number two, it says that a conference report should not weaken 
current gun laws. After the tragedies in Littleton, Colorado, and 
Conyers, Georgia, American parents cried out for measures that do more 
to protect their kids from gun violence. How can we as a Congress do 
less?
  Number three, it says that a conference report should provide more 
school resource officers and counselors for our schools. We need to 
prevent gun violence in schools before it happens. We need to give 
teachers, school administrators, and parents the tools they need to 
make schools safer.
  Number four, it says that we need to have a fair and open conference. 
This House should be ashamed that so much of the House debate on gun 
safety took place in the dead of night while American families were 
sleeping and unaware that new loopholes that would give more criminals 
access to guns were being written. The NRA and its allies should not be 
allowed to hide any longer.
  Mr. Speaker, the young people are going back to school. It is time 
for this Congress to get back to work and pass modest and reasonable 
gun safety legislation. With nearly 5,000 of our children being killed 
by gun violence this year, we certainly cannot afford to put this 
legislation on hold any longer.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. HYDE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion to instruct 
conferees. The gentleman from Michigan's motion makes several points 
that I know we all agree with, and hence we need no instruction to do. 
But I am concerned that the motion would also, or might also constrain 
the work of the conferees in such a way that might well be 
counterproductive.
  The first instruction in the motion is that conferees craft the 
conference report in such a way that no criminal will be able to buy a 
gun, at a gun show or anywhere else. I know of no dispute on this 
point.
  The second instruction in the motion is that the conferees not weaken 
any existing gun laws. I can assure you this side intends for that to 
happen. In fact, a cursory review of H.R. 1501 as passed by the House 
shows that the intent of this body is to strengthen the laws that 
punish the illegal possession and use of a gun. We do not need to be 
instructed to avoid doing the opposite.
  The third point raised by the motion, to ensure that the conference 
report addresses the issue of school resource officers, is one that can 
be raised at conference certainly, and I am not aware of any 
controversy on this point that requires a vote of the full House at 
this time. I am certain we can address it at the conference itself 
satisfactorily.
  Mr. Speaker, if this motion instructed us to do only that which we 
intend to do anyway, it would be superfluous and not needed. But I am 
troubled by one aspect of it, and, that is, the time constraints. We 
all want to move with expedition. There have been inordinate delays in 
getting this to this point. But we all know the reasons for that. This 
is a very contentious and volatile issue and there are diverse 
interests tugging and pulling us in different directions. And so I 
expect this to be a difficult but certainly not impossible conference. 
But I am fully hopeful that we can emerge with a conference report that 
can command the support of the majority of this House and a majority of 
the other body.
  I also note that next week is going to involve a number of important 
measures that will be brought to the floor of this House and that of 
the other body, all seeking to be reconciled and resolved before the 
August recess. The interruptions that votes on these measures would 
cause to a conference, were one to be held, might be enough to prevent 
us from finishing within a week. Simply put, next week is not the 
wisest deadline for the work of this conference to be completed. But we 
are going to try. We are going to give it our very best effort.
  And so I support the motion to instruct conferees, and I ask my 
colleagues to support it. I give you in return my assurance that I 
intend to complete the work of the conference as quickly and as 
effectively as possible, while still doing all the work expected of us, 
in as thoughtful and thorough a manner as possible.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). Without objection, the previous 
question is ordered on the motion to instruct.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to instruct 
offered by the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers).
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. 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. Evidently a quorum is not present.
  The Sergeant at Arms will notify absent Members.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 305, 
nays 84, not voting 44, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 354]

                               YEAS--305

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Allen
     Andrews
     Baird
     Baker
     Baldacci
     Baldwin
     Ballenger
     Barcia
     Barrett (NE)
     Barrett (WI)
     Bateman
     Becerra
     Bentsen
     Bereuter
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bilbray

[[Page H6725]]


     Bishop
     Bliley
     Blumenauer
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonior
     Bono
     Borski
     Boswell
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Brown (OH)
     Bryant
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Canady
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardin
     Carson
     Castle
     Chambliss
     Clay
     Clayton
     Clement
     Clyburn
     Combest
     Condit
     Conyers
     Cook
     Cooksey
     Costello
     Coyne
     Cramer
     Crowley
     Cunningham
     Danner
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (VA)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     DeMint
     Diaz-Balart
     Dickey
     Dingell
     Dixon
     Doggett
     Dooley
     Doyle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Edwards
     Ehrlich
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Ewing
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Foley
     Forbes
     Ford
     Fossella
     Franks (NJ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Frost
     Ganske
     Gejdenson
     Gephardt
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gilman
     Gonzalez
     Goodling
     Gordon
     Goss
     Granger
     Green (TX)
     Green (WI)
     Greenwood
     Gutknecht
     Hastings (FL)
     Hastings (WA)
     Hefley
     Herger
     Hill (IN)
     Hilliard
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hobson
     Hoeffel
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Holt
     Hooley
     Horn
     Houghton
     Hoyer
     Hyde
     Inslee
     Isakson
     Istook
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     John
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones (OH)
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kasich
     Kelly
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind (WI)
     King (NY)
     Klink
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     Kucinich
     Kuykendall
     LaFalce
     LaHood
     Lampson
     Larson
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lazio
     Leach
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (GA)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Maloney (CT)
     Maloney (NY)
     Martinez
     Mascara
     Matsui
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McGovern
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McKeon
     McKinney
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Menendez
     Metcalf
     Mica
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (FL)
     Miller, Gary
     Miller, George
     Minge
     Mink
     Moakley
     Moore
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Morella
     Myrick
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Nethercutt
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nussle
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ose
     Oxley
     Packard
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pease
     Pelosi
     Peterson (MN)
     Petri
     Phelps
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Portman
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Rangel
     Regula
     Reyes
     Reynolds
     Rivers
     Rodriguez
     Roemer
     Rogan
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Rothman
     Roukema
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Rush
     Ryan (WI)
     Sabo
     Sanchez
     Sanders
     Sandlin
     Sawyer
     Saxton
     Schakowsky
     Scott
     Sensenbrenner
     Serrano
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherman
     Sherwood
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Skeen
     Slaughter
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Spratt
     Stabenow
     Stenholm
     Strickland
     Stupak
     Sweeney
     Tancredo
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Terry
     Thomas
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Thurman
     Toomey
     Traficant
     Turner
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Velazquez
     Vento
     Visclosky
     Walden
     Walsh
     Watt (NC)
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Wexler
     Weygand
     Wilson
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn
     Young (FL)

                                NAYS--84

     Aderholt
     Archer
     Armey
     Bachus
     Barr
     Bartlett
     Bass
     Bilirakis
     Bonilla
     Boucher
     Brady (TX)
     Callahan
     Cannon
     Chabot
     Chenoweth
     Coble
     Coburn
     Collins
     Deal
     DeLay
     Doolittle
     Emerson
     Everett
     Fletcher
     Gibbons
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Graham
     Hall (TX)
     Hansen
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Hill (MT)
     Hilleary
     Hostettler
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Jenkins
     Jones (NC)
     Kingston
     Largent
     Lewis (KY)
     Lucas (KY)
     Lucas (OK)
     McIntosh
     McIntyre
     Mollohan
     Murtha
     Ney
     Paul
     Pickering
     Pickett
     Pitts
     Pombo
     Rahall
     Riley
     Rogers
     Ryun (KS)
     Salmon
     Sanford
     Scarborough
     Schaffer
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shimkus
     Shows
     Sisisky
     Souder
     Spence
     Stump
     Sununu
     Talent
     Taylor (MS)
     Taylor (NC)
     Thornberry
     Thune
     Tiahrt
     Vitter
     Wamp
     Watkins
     Watts (OK)
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wise

                             NOT VOTING--44

     Barton
     Blagojevich
     Brown (FL)
     Burr
     Burton
     Cox
     Crane
     Cubin
     Cummings
     Davis (FL)
     Deutsch
     Dicks
     Ehlers
     Engel
     English
     Fowler
     Frank (MA)
     Gallegly
     Gekas
     Gutierrez
     Hall (OH)
     Hutchinson
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson, Sam
     Kleczka
     Lantos
     Luther
     Manzullo
     Markey
     McCrery
     McDermott
     Nadler
     Ortiz
     Owens
     Peterson (PA)
     Skelton
     Stark
     Stearns
     Tauzin
     Tierney
     Towns
     Waters
     Weller
     Young (AK)

                              {time}  0954

  Messrs. COBURN, COLLINS, STUMP, HAYES, PICKERING, PICKETT, HILLEARY, 
WHITFIELD, BACHUS, WAMP, CALLAHAN, ROGERS, HALL of Texas, TAYLOR of 
Mississippi, HULSHOF, McINTYRE, PITTS, SISISKY, WISE, RAHALL, 
BILIRAKIS, DEAL of Georgia, SPENCE, COBLE, RYUN of Kansas, SUNUNU, 
ARCHER, ARMEY, MOLLOHAN, TALENT, DeLAY, SOUDER, MURTHA, GRAHAM, and 
BARTLETT of Maryland changed their vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
  Mr. ROEMER changed his vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
  So the motion to instruct was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
  Stated for:
  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 354, I was inadvertently 
detained. Had I been present, I would have voted, ``yea.''
  Mr. WELLER. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 354, I was inadvertently 
detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''
  Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from the Chamber 
today during rollcall vote No. 354. Had I been present I would have 
voted ``yea.''
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). Without objection, the Chair 
appoints the following conferees:
  From the Committee on the Judiciary, for consideration of the House 
bill and the Senate amendment, and modifications committed to 
conference: Messrs. Hyde, McCollum, Gekas, Coble, Smith of Texas, 
Canady of Florida, Barr of Georgia, Conyers, Frank of Massachusetts, 
Scott, Berman and Ms. Lofgren.
  Provided, that Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas is appointed in lieu of Mr. 
Frank of Massachusetts for consideration of sections 741, 1501, 1505, 
1534-35, and titles V, VI, and IX of the Senate amendment.
  Provided, that Mr. Meehan is appointed in lieu of Mr. Berman for 
consideration of sections 741, 1501, 1505, 1534-35, and titles V, VI, 
and IX of the Senate amendment.
  From the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for consideration 
of the House bill, and the Senate amendment (except sections 741, 1501, 
1505, 1534-35, and titles V, VI and IX), and modifications committed to 
conference: Messrs. Goodling, Petri, Castle, Greenwood, DeMint, Clay, 
Kildee, and Mrs. McCarthy of New York.
  From the Committee on Commerce, for consideration of sections 1365 
and 1401-03 of the House bill, and sections 1504, 1515, and 1523 of the 
Senate amendment, and modifications committed to conference: Mr. Bliley 
and Mr. Dingell.
  Provided, that Mr. Bilirakis is appointed for consideration of 
section 1365 of the House bill and section 1523 of the Senate 
amendment.
  Provided, that Mr. Tauzin is appointed for consideration of sections 
1401-03 of the House bill and sections 1504 and 1515 of the Senate 
amendment.
  There was no objection.

                          ____________________