[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 39 (Thursday, March 22, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H1068-H1069]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 247, TORNADO SHELTERS ACT

  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, 
I call up House Resolution 93 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                               H. Res. 93

       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. 247) to amend the Housing and Community 
     Development Act of 1974 to authorize communities to use 
     community development block grant funds for construction of 
     tornado-safe shelters in manufactured home parks. The first 
     reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. 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 Financial Services. 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 
     printed in the Congressional Record and numbered 1 pursuant 
     to clause 8 of rule XVIII. That amendment in the nature of a 
     substitute shall be considered as read. 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. 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 amendment in the nature of a 
     substitute made in order as original text. The previous 
     question shall be considered as ordered on

[[Page H1069]]

     the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without 
     intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or 
     without instructions.

                              {time}  1030

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bass). The gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Diaz-Balart) is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. 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. DIAZ-BALART asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 93 is an open rule 
providing for the consideration of H.R. 247, the Tornado Shelters Act. 
The rule provides 1 hour of general debate, evenly divided and 
controlled by the chairman and the ranking minority member of the 
Committee on Financial Services.
  The rule provides that it shall be in order to consider as an 
original bill for the purpose of amendment the amendment in the nature 
of a substitute printed in the Congressional Record and numbered 1.
  The rule further provides that the amendment in the nature of a 
substitute shall be open for amendment at any point.
  Finally, the rule allows the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole 
to accord priority and recognition to Members who have preprinted their 
amendments in the Congressional Record, and provides one motion to 
recommit, with or without instructions.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 247 amends the Housing and Community Development 
Act of 1974 to authorize communities to use Community Development Block 
Grant funds for construction of tornado-safe shelters in manufactured 
home parks. As my colleagues may remember, a deadly tornado just before 
Christmas took the lives of a dozen people in Alabama and to help 
prevent similar tragedies, the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) 
introduced this legislation earlier this year.
  Tornadoes occur in many parts of the world, and these destructive 
forces of nature are found most frequently during the spring and summer 
months. With spring starting this week, I think that it is appropriate 
for the House at this time to be considering legislation that could 
help mitigate in the future further wind storms in areas that seem to 
be hardest hit.
  According to FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in an 
average year, 800 tornadoes are reported nationwide, resulting in 80 
deaths and over 1,500 injuries.
  Hurricanes and tornadoes both have in common very high winds and 
obviously associated damage. From Hurricane Andrew we in south Florida 
learned about the vulnerability of housing construction with roofs and 
windows and doors being particularly important areas to check for 
weaknesses.
  Mobile home parks are particularly susceptible to damage from high 
winds, even if precautions have been taken to tie down the units. I am 
hopeful that this important legislation, the Tornado Shelters Act, will 
help address these problems.
  Mr. Speaker, I think we all owe a debt of gratitude to the gentleman 
from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) for his leadership on this issue. I urge my 
colleagues to support both this open rule, as well as the underlying 
bill, Mr. Speaker; and I look forward to debate and passage of this 
important legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume. I want to thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart) 
for yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, this is an open rule. It will allow for the 
consideration of H.R. 247, which is called the Tornado Shelter Act. As 
my colleague from Florida has described, this rule will provide 1 hour 
of general debate to be equally divided and controlled by the chairman 
and ranking minority member of the Committee on Financial Services. The 
rule permits amendments under the 5-minute rule. This is the normal 
amending process in the House. All Members on both sides of the aisle 
will have an opportunity to offer germane amendments.
  Tornadoes represent the most furious side of nature. They cause 
enormous loss of life and destruction of property every year. 
Unfortunately, my own community of southwest Ohio has seen some of the 
worst tornadoes in recent years. In April of 1974, a devastating 
tornado killed 33 people in Xenia, Ohio, just outside my district; and 
the tornado destroyed a quarter of the homes in that city. The city was 
struck again by tornadoes in 1989 and 2000.
  According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, mobile homes 
are particularly vulnerable to a tornado's destructive power, because 
they can be overturned so easily by high winds; and I am sure there is 
close to a consensus among Members of the House that the Federal 
Government should provide assistance to those who are in the greatest 
danger from tornadoes. That is the thought behind this bill which would 
permit the Federal community development block grants to be used to 
construct or maintain tornado shelters in mobile home parks.
  Though the bill has worthy goals, I do object to the process used to 
bring this bill to the floor. It did not go through committee, there 
were no hearings, there was no committee report. There was minimum 
notice given to the Members that the bill would be considered, and I do 
not think that is good legislating. We have a process to help us 
understand legislation and its consequences. We have a process to 
ensure that Members on both sides of the aisle who have questions or 
concerns about the bill are treated fairly, and that process was not 
followed.
  During Committee on Rules consideration, the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) raised questions about the bill. I think this 
is a good bill; however, I would be a lot more confident in supporting 
it if I knew that it was fully examined through the committee process, 
and that questions like the ones asked by the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) had already been answered before the bill 
came to the House Floor.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. LaFalce).

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