[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 163 (Wednesday, November 17, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H12116-H12118]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          FURTHER CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS, FISCAL YEAR 2000

  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call 
up House Resolution 381, and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 381

       Resolved, That upon the adoption of this resolution it 
     shall be in order without intervention of any point of order 
     to consider in the House the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 80) 
     making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year 
     2000, and for other purposes. The joint resolution shall be 
     considered as read for amendment. The previous question shall 
     be considered as ordered on the joint resolution to final 
     passage without intervening motion except: (1) one hour of 
     debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and 
     ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations; 
     and (2) one motion to recommit.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pease). The gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Goss) is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the 
customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Moakley), 
my friend, the distinguished ranking member; pending which I yield 
myself such time as I may consume. During consideration for this 
resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate on this 
subject only.
  Mr. Speaker, H.Res. 381 is a closed rule waiving all points of order 
against consideration of H.J.Res. 80, the continuing resolution that we 
have before us later today. The rule provides for 1 hour of debate, 
equally divided between the chairman and ranking member of the 
Committee on Appropriations. Finally, the rule provides for one motion 
to recommit.
  Mr. Speaker, Members will know that this is an appropriate and 
traditional rule for a consideration of a clean continuing resolution. 
Members who have any kind of memory at all will remember that we have 
done these kinds of things recently in the past.
  Given the complex negotiations that have been under way about the 
budget, and they have, indeed, been complicated by the fact that some 
of the principals are out of town for whatever reason, it is 
regrettable that, at a time that we are struggling so hard, that the 
President finds it necessary to be out of the country, and the minority 
leader finds it necessary to be out of the capital.
  But, nevertheless, Americans come to understand that continuing 
resolutions, which keep the government functioning at last year's 
levels, are a necessary tool to facilitate bringing closure to the 
budget debate which we normally have this time of year.
  In order to avoid a partial government shutdown, which we certainly 
want to do, we have proposed another straightforward extension in the 
deadline, and that is until tomorrow. We have made significant progress 
toward final agreement, but we must be certain that we do the right 
thing, not simply the most expedient to get out of town because the 
folks would like to go home.
  In this case, the right thing is very clearly to provide for 
important government programs without touching the reserves in the 
Social Security Trust Fund, not one dime. That has been the goal of our 
majority from the outset of this year's budget process; and while it 
has taken some time to convince some of our friends on the other side 
of the aisle and downtown that this fiscal discipline is, indeed, 
necessary, we now have everyone working from the same set of 
guidelines. We just have to keep reminding them of the guidelines.
  It has also taken some time to convince the White House that 
increasing taxes and using part of the surplus, as has been suggested 
by the White House, are not acceptable approaches to the majority on 
the Hill.
  I am hopeful that this brief extension will provide both ends of 
Pennsylvania with the requisite time to hammer out our final spending 
bills in a responsible way. In fact, I understand that the bills 
individually, the five that have been vetoed by the President, are 
virtually resolved.
  It is a no-nonsense CR that we are proposing here. I think it should 
be unanimously adopted. I am certainly urging a yes vote on the rule. I 
am not sure why we are having a rule instead of a unanimous consent; 
but for whatever reason, we are having a rule vote. I can think of no 
reason to vote against it. I urge a yes vote.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, 
and I thank the slender gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss), my good 
friend, for yielding me the customary half hour.
  Mr. Speaker, the end is finally in sight. Forty-eight hours after the 
start of the fiscal year, it looks as if the appropriation process is 
just about over.

[[Page H12117]]

 This continuing resolution will extend our Federal funding until 
tomorrow, which should be all the time that we need.
  My Republican colleagues sent President Clinton eight appropriation 
bills that he signed into law. The other five bills have been rolled 
into one omnibus bill, which should be finished sometime today. Once 
that bill is signed, Mr. Speaker, we no longer have to worry about the 
possibility of the Federal Government closing down, and Congress can 
get started on the next appropriation cycle.
  Mr. Speaker, the appropriators and the administrators have been 
working very hard to resolve a lot of outstanding issues, and I wish 
them well in their final negotiations. I urge my colleagues to support 
this continuing resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, we on the Committee on Rules are on virtually perpetual 
standby these days, and I would like to point out that there is a 
little confusion among Members this morning about whether it is a 1-day 
CR or a 2-day CR. Apparently there were some documents put out through 
the various organizations on either side that indicated that one of the 
options was a 2-day CR. This is not that CR. This is a 1-day CR. I want 
Members to be aware of that.
  Of course Members of the Committee on Rules, as I say, are definitely 
aware of it and prepared for yet another evening of comrade fellowship 
and good times in the Committee on Rules, doing valuable things, 
waiting for some inspiration to come forward to us.
  There is very definitely some feeling about trying to wrap this up, 
but I want to assure Members that the Committee on Rules is working 
toward that end. We well recognize the longer we stay here, the more 
opportunity there is for new initiatives to come forward at the last 
minute and divert us from our main task, which is to resolve the budget 
crunch.
  We are also aware that the longer we are here, the more good ideas 
people have for spending money at a time when we have already reached 
agreement on what those levels should be.
  So it is our very firm hope that this 24-hour CR will be enough. But 
if not, I think I am authorized to say by the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Dreier), chairman of the Committee on Rules, that the Committee on 
Rules will be prepared to meet, if necessary, again.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of our 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.
  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 381, 
I call up the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 80) making further continuing 
appropriations for the fiscal year 2000, and for other purposes, and 
ask for its immediate consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the joint resolution.
  The text of House Joint Resolution 80 is as follows:

                              H.J. Res. 80

       Resolved by the Senate and House Representatives of the 
     United States of America in Congress assembled, That Public 
     Law 106-62 is further amended by striking ``November 17, 
     1999'' in section 106(c) and inserting in lieu thereof 
     ``November 18, 1999''. Public Law 106-46 is amended by 
     striking ``November 17, 1999'' and inserting in lieu thereof 
     ``November 18, 1999''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 381, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
(Mr. Murtha) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young).


                             General Leave

  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend 
their remarks on H.J. Res. 80, and that I may include tabular and 
extraneous material.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
might consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this a 1-day continuing resolution, which I do not think 
is going to be adequate because the negotiations on wrapping up our 
appropriations work are still somewhat delayed, although the Speaker of 
the House and the President did speak with each other late last night, 
and we are hopeful that we can come to a conclusion.
  The appropriations part of this negotiation has been completed for 
some time. The offsets, the pay-fors, are what are holding up the 
negotiations. We expect to have that completed today. We expect to file 
the bill in the House today, and we expect to consider the bill in the 
House today; and, hopefully, the other body will be able to expedite it 
as well.
  So maybe the 1-day extension may be enough, but probably not. But 
nevertheless, this is what we have before us today.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I notice we have flights going overseas all the time, 
and I know this will have to be flown to the President. I cannot 
imagine, from what the gentleman said, and what I have heard, that this 
negotiation is going to finish today.
  It is hard to argue with a 1-day extension. We have had a couple 
other extensions. But I keep worrying that, as we mislead Members to 
think we are going to be finished, why we just would not pass a little 
longer CR. We complain about people not being around, and we seem to be 
able to get along without them, whoever it is that is not available to 
us. Of course, I know the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) does not 
do that. I know that he understands how the system works and as I do, 
too.
  As a matter of fact, they suggested to me that we should ask for a 
vote. I am not sure I even know the procedure of how to ask for a vote 
because it has been so long since I have asked for a vote.
  But having said that, I know that we have to get our business done. I 
am hopeful negotiations will end today. I am not as optimistic as the 
chairman is. But I know that sometime this week or next week or 
Thanksgiving or Christmas time we will be done.
  As past history shows, sometimes we have delicate negotiations. I 
hope it is not an across-the-board cut. I worry so much. Because even 
the four-tenths of 1 percent cut would mean we would cut $500 million 
out of O&M. With the two units that are C4, I realize there is not a 
big threat out there to the Army right now, but it worries me that we 
are doing this kind of work when, as the chairman suggested in the 
first place, if we had passed an adequate budget resolution, we would 
have been all through with this thing early in the year. We would not 
have had to resort to the kind of gimmicks that have been so 
distasteful to those of us on the Committee on Appropriations.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of the 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to say to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Murtha) that, if he and I had been able to resolve this issue as we 
have been able to deal with the defense issues for many years, we would 
have concluded our business a long time ago.
  I would like to say this, that the Committee on Appropriations in the 
House has done a good job. We basically completed our part of the 
business in July. Then we had the negotiations with our counterparts in 
the Senate. I would like to compliment our counterparts in the Senate. 
Senator Stevens is a dynamic leader, a tough negotiator, and very 
knowledgeable. He does a really good job. And of course his partner 
there, Senator Byrd, is also very determined in what it is that he 
seeks to do.
  But the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) and I have always 
been able to get things resolved early on. We have not been able to do 
that on the wrap up appropriations work. But we are close to that 
conclusion now. I will say again the appropriators have done a good 
job. The appropriations part of this package is complete. The agreement 
will have some extraneous

[[Page H12118]]

material, some riders, and the offsets that are holding us up. But, we 
do plan to file that bill today.
  I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) for his 
comments.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1045

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pease). All time for debate has expired.
  The joint resolution is considered as having been read for amendment.
  Pursuant to House Resolution 381, the previous question is ordered.
  The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the joint 
resolution.
  The joint resolution was ordered to be engrossed and read a third 
time, and was read the third time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the joint 
resolution.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. MURTHA. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 403, 
nays 8, not voting 23, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 596]

                               YEAS--403

     Aderholt
     Allen
     Andrews
     Archer
     Armey
     Bachus
     Baird
     Baker
     Baldacci
     Baldwin
     Ballenger
     Barcia
     Barr
     Barrett (NE)
     Barrett (WI)
     Bartlett
     Barton
     Bass
     Bateman
     Becerra
     Bentsen
     Bereuter
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop
     Blagojevich
     Bliley
     Blumenauer
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonior
     Bono
     Borski
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (FL)
     Brown (OH)
     Bryant
     Burr
     Burton
     Buyer
     Callahan
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Canady
     Cannon
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardin
     Carson
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chambliss
     Clayton
     Clement
     Clyburn
     Coble
     Coburn
     Collins
     Combest
     Condit
     Cook
     Cooksey
     Costello
     Cox
     Coyne
     Cramer
     Crane
     Crowley
     Cubin
     Cummings
     Cunningham
     Danner
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (VA)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     DeLay
     DeMint
     Deutsch
     Dickey
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Dooley
     Doolittle
     Doyle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Ehrlich
     Emerson
     English
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Everett
     Ewing
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Fletcher
     Foley
     Ford
     Fossella
     Fowler
     Frank (MA)
     Franks (NJ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Frost
     Gallegly
     Ganske
     Gejdenson
     Gekas
     Gephardt
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gilman
     Gonzalez
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Goodling
     Gordon
     Goss
     Graham
     Granger
     Green (TX)
     Green (WI)
     Greenwood
     Gutierrez
     Gutknecht
     Hall (OH)
     Hall (TX)
     Hansen
     Hastert
     Hastings (FL)
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Herger
     Hill (IN)
     Hill (MT)
     Hilleary
     Hilliard
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hobson
     Hoeffel
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Holt
     Hooley
     Horn
     Hostettler
     Houghton
     Hoyer
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Hutchinson
     Hyde
     Inslee
     Isakson
     Istook
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jenkins
     John
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones (NC)
     Jones (OH)
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kasich
     Kelly
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind (WI)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kleczka
     Klink
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     Kucinich
     Kuykendall
     LaFalce
     LaHood
     Lantos
     Larson
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lazio
     Leach
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (GA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Lucas (KY)
     Lucas (OK)
     Luther
     Maloney (CT)
     Maloney (NY)
     Manzullo
     Markey
     Martinez
     Mascara
     Matsui
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McCrery
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McIntosh
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McNulty
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Menendez
     Metcalf
     Mica
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (FL)
     Miller, Gary
     Miller, George
     Minge
     Mink
     Moakley
     Mollohan
     Moore
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Morella
     Murtha
     Myrick
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Nethercutt
     Ney
     Northup
     Nussle
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Ose
     Owens
     Oxley
     Packard
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pease
     Pelosi
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Phelps
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Pombo
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Portman
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Rangel
     Regula
     Reyes
     Reynolds
     Riley
     Rivers
     Rodriguez
     Roemer
     Rogan
     Rogers
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roukema
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Rush
     Ryan (WI)
     Ryun (KS)
     Sabo
     Sanchez
     Sanders
     Sandlin
     Sanford
     Sawyer
     Saxton
     Schaffer
     Schakowsky
     Scott
     Sensenbrenner
     Serrano
     Sessions
     Shays
     Sherman
     Sherwood
     Shimkus
     Shows
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Sisisky
     Skeen
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Souder
     Spratt
     Stabenow
     Stark
     Stearns
     Stenholm
     Strickland
     Stump
     Stupak
     Sununu
     Sweeney
     Talent
     Tancredo
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Tauzin
     Taylor (MS)
     Taylor (NC)
     Terry
     Thomas
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Thornberry
     Thune
     Thurman
     Tiahrt
     Tierney
     Toomey
     Traficant
     Turner
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Velazquez
     Vento
     Visclosky
     Vitter
     Walden
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Waters
     Watt (NC)
     Watts (OK)
     Weiner
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Wexler
     Weygand
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn
     Young (FL)

                                NAYS--8

     Chenoweth-Hage
     Deal
     Forbes
     Paul
     Salmon
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Watkins

                             NOT VOTING--23

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Clay
     Conyers
     Diaz-Balart
     Dixon
     Dunn
     Engel
     Jefferson
     Johnson, Sam
     Lampson
     Largent
     McKinney
     Meehan
     Norwood
     Pickett
     Rothman
     Scarborough
     Spence
     Towns
     Waxman
     Wise
     Young (AK)

                              {time}  1108

  Mr. LUTHER changed his voted from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
  So the joint resolution was passed.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
  Stated for:
  Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall vote number 596, that was the 
temporary continuing resolution, my vote was recorded incorrectly. I 
was present on the floor and I did vote ``yes,'' and as a matter of 
fact I checked the board to double-check to see that I was recorded and 
saw the green light next to my name. It has been brought to my 
attention that my vote was incorrectly recorded as voting ``no.''
  Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, earlier today when the House voted on 
House Joint Resolution 80, to extend the continuing resolution for 24 
hours, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have 
voted ``yes''.

                          ____________________