[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 60 (Tuesday, May 16, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H3068-H3069]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[[Page H3068]]
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 4425, MILITARY CONSTRUCTION
APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2001
Mr. REYNOLDS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I
call up House Resolution 502 and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 502
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. 4425) making appropriations for military
construction, family housing, and base realignment and
closure for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year
ending September 30, 2001, 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(c) 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 Appropriations. After general
debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the
five-minute rule. Points of order against provisions in the
bill for failure to comply with clause 2 of rule XXI 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 amendments the
Committee shall rise and report the bill to the House with
such amendments as may have been adopted. 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.
Sec. 2. For purposes of enforcement of the Congressional
Budget Act of 1974 in the House, the appropriate levels of
total new budget authority and total budget outlays for
fiscal years 2000 through 2005 prescribed by House Concurrent
Resolution 290 pursuant to section 301(a)(1) of the Act shall
be those reflected in the table entitled ``Conference Report
Fiscal Year 2001 Budget Resolution Total Spending and
Revenues'' on page 49 of House Report 106-577.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New York (Mr. Reynolds)
is recognized for 1 hour.
Mr. REYNOLDS. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield
the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hall), 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. REYNOLDS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks, and include extraneous material.)
Mr. REYNOLDS. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Committee on Rules met and
granted an open rule for H.R. 4425, the Military Construction
Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2001. The rule provides for 1 hour
of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and
the ranking member of the Committee on Appropriations.
The rule waives clause 2 of House rule XXI prohibiting unauthorized
or legislative provisions in a general appropriations bill against
provisions in the bill. The rule also waives clause 4(c) of rule XIII
requiring the 3-day availability of printed hearings on a general
appropriations bill against consideration of the bill.
Additionally, the rule provides that the bill shall be open to
amendment by paragraph and authorizes the Chair to accord priority in
recognition to Members who have preprinted their amendments in the
Congressional Record.
The rule further allows 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 it follows a 15-minute
vote.
The rule provides that for the purposes of enforcement of the
Congressional Budget Act, the appropriate levels of new budget
authority and total budget outlays shall be those reflected in the
table entitled ``Conference Report Fiscal Year 2001 Budget Resolution
Total Spending and Revenues'' in House Report 106-577.
Finally, the rule provides for one motion to recommit, with or
without instructions.
Mr. Speaker, as Thomas Jefferson warned, eternal vigilance is the
price of liberty. Part of this Nation's vigilance is ensuring America's
military readiness, for as Ronald Reagan said during an address at West
Point, a successful Army is one that because of its strength, ability
and dedication will not be called upon to fight, for no one will dare
provoke it.
Too often, we take for granted the security and peace of mind that
comes with living in the greatest, freest Nation in the world. But we
cannot take for granted the dedicated men and women who serve in the
United States military.
The Military Construction Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2001
recognizes the dedication and commitment of our troops by providing for
their most basic needs: improved military facilities, including housing
and medical facilities.
Last year, this Congress began to meet its responsibility to our
troops and the recruitment and retention of military personnel by
increasing military pay. This legislation will continue that effort by
ensuring an adequate and appropriate quality of life.
The quality of housing for service members and their families is an
important incentive, attracting and retaining dedicated individuals to
military service. Today's poor state of military housing for these men
and women clearly serves as a disincentive to reenlistment.
This bill provides an overall increase for military construction,
which includes $43 million for child development centers, $141 million
for hospital and medical facilities, and $26 million for environmental
compliance. The bill also provides $859 million for new family housing
units and for improvements to existing units.
Additionally, I am pleased the committee included $4.1 million for
the Niagara Falls International Airport upgrade overrun and runway. The
Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station is home to the 914th Air Reserve
(Airlift) Wing and the 109th Air National Guard (Refueling) Wing.
Upgrading the runway and constructing the necessary overrun will enable
Niagara based fueling aircraft to participate in the ``Air Bridge''
missions which resupply operations in Europe and the Near East as well
as serve as a third Northeast Tanker Task Force Location for ``surge''
contingency missions.
{time} 1200
Mr. Speaker, we must honor the most basic commitments we have made to
the men and women of our Armed Services; we must ensure a reasonable
quality of life to recruit and retain the best and the brightest to
America's fighting forces; and most important, we must do all in our
power to ensure a strong, able, dedicated American military, so that
this Nation will be ever vigilant, ever prepared.
Mr. Speaker, this is a fair and open rule for consideration of the
fiscal year 2001 military construction appropriations bill. I urge my
colleagues to support the rule and the underlying bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.
This is an open rule. As my colleague from New York explained, the
rule provides for one hour of general debate, to be equally divided and
controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee
on Appropriations. Under this rule, germane amendments will be allowed
under the 5-minute rule, which is the normal amending process in the
House. Members on both sides of the aisle will have the opportunity to
offer amendments.
Mr. Speaker, this bill funds construction projects on military bases.
This includes homes for military families, hospitals, laboratories,
training facilities, barracks and other buildings that support the
missions of our armed forces. The bill also funds activities necessary
to carry out the last two rounds of base closings and realignments.
[[Page H3069]]
Our military requires modern facilities. New buildings can improve
productivity, reduce waste and improve morale. The money spent in this
bill is a long-term commitment to our defense capabilities.
This bill funds a new ramp to replace one used by the 445th Airlift
Wing on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which is partially in my
district and partially in the 7th District. The current ramp is costly
to maintain, and it is in such bad condition that it is a safety
hazard. Another project at Wright-Patterson is a laboratory building to
conduct environmental and toxics research.
I want to commend the chairman of the subcommittee, the gentleman
from Ohio (Mr. Hobson), for his great work, and the ranking minority
Member, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Olver), for their work in
crafting this bill and bringing it to the floor. The bill was approved
by the Committee on Appropriations on a voice vote. It has support on
both sides of the aisle. The rule is open, it was adopted by a voice
vote of the Committee on Rules, and I support the rule and bill and
urge its adoption.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr.
Blumenauer).
Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his courtesy
in yielding me time to discuss the bill today.
Mr. Speaker, I am planning on supporting the rule and the underlying
bill, but I am concerned that we are not taking full advantage of the
opportunity in the military construction arena. One of the greatest
threats to national security in this country and worldwide is the
disease, poverty, pollution, unrest and misery that is produced. We
have serious problems here at home that is part of the legacy of 60
years of war, amongst them some of our production facilities at
Hanford, Rocky Flats. We have chemical weapons, toxic waste and
unexploded ordinance.
One of the most powerful tools of government to lead is to lead by
example. I think one of the ways the government can do that is to
follow the rules and model the behavior that we want the rest of
society to follow. One of the biggest, richest and most visible
opportunities for the United States to lead by example in ways to
promote livable communities is dealing with the military.
The Department of Defense manages the world's largest dedicated
infrastructure. It covers 40,000 square miles, a physical plant worth
over $500 billion. The bill before us could give many opportunities.
One that we see in the Department of Defense is on-base housing
programs. The military housing privatization initiative that is being
continued is an example to allow funding. It allows the service to
partner with civilian developers to build and renovate family housing
on military installations, to convey housing units to private
companies, while retaining the land in Federal hands, to provide
military members with the same type of housing that the people that
they defend have the opportunity to live in, and create communities
that look, feel and work like those outside a military base. But,
unfortunately, we are losing an opportunity here for the Federal
Government to be a better partner with the local communities in which
they are situated.
I would hope that as we move forward with this through the
legislative process and in subsequent years, that we reverse the
presumption that we have a situation where the Department of Defense
plays by the local land use and planning rules of the local community.
For instance, we saw in 1999 the Army proposed to develop a 700,000
square foot private shopping center on Fort Hood that would have
severely affected the surrounding business community in Collin, Texas.
We have an opportunity here to avoid having the Federal Government
impose massive highway and infrastructure requirements on States and
communities without their being able to realize any offsetting tax
benefits.
I note that on the Senate side, in Section 8168 of the Defense
Appropriations Act, it permits the City of San Antonio to exercise
these responsibilities for the Brooks Air Force Base Demonstration
Efficiency Project.
This should not be the exception. This should be the rule. We should
be cooperating with local communities, we should be playing by their
planning and zoning rules, we should be leading by example.
I am pleased that the bill has many other positive things, a 72
percent increase in the cleaning up of the environmental problems
associated with base closings, but I hope that the committee will work
with us to make sure that the military is a better partner with local
communities to provide livability wherever our facilities are located.
Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I endorse the rule and the bill.
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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