[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 86 (Tuesday, June 25, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H3886-H3888]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      NEW HAMPSHIRE-VERMONT INTERSTATE SCHOOL COMPACT CONSENT ACT

  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 3180) to consent to certain amendments to the New 
Hampshire-Vermont Interstate School Compact.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3180

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the 
     consent of Congress is given to the amendment to the New 
     Hampshire-Vermont Interstate School Compact which have been 
     agreed to by such

[[Page H3887]]

     States that is substantially as follows: Article VII D of 
     such compact is amended to read as follows:
       ``D. Authorization Proceedings.--An interstate district 
     shall authorize the incurring of debts to finance capital 
     projects by a majority vote of the district passed at an 
     annual or special district meeting. Such vote shall be taken 
     by secret ballot after full opportunity for debate, and any 
     such vote shall be subject to reconsideration and further 
     action by the district at the same meeting or at an adjourned 
     session thereof. As an alternative, an interstate district 
     may provide in its articles of agreement that such a vote be 
     conducted by Australian or official balloting under 
     procedures as set forth in the articles of agreement, and 
     that such vote be subject to any method of reconsideration, 
     if any, which the interstate district sets forth in the 
     articles of agreement.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) and the gentleman from North Carolina 
(Mr. Watt) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. 
Sensenbrenner).


                             General Leave

  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend 
their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3180.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Wisconsin?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3180 was introduced by the gentleman from New 
Hampshire (Mr. Bass) and the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) to 
amend the New Hampshire-Vermont Interstate School Compact originally 
approved by Congress in 1969. H.R. 3180 would enable participating 
interstate school districts to modify the manner in which local school 
bond issues are considered by the voters. Last year, residents of the 
Dresden interstate school district, which encompasses the cities of 
Hanover, New Hampshire, and Norwich, Vermont, voted to approve these 
changes. The legislatures of New Hampshire and Vermont subsequently 
ratified these amendments.
  Rather than imposing a State or Federal solution upon local school 
boards, H.R. 3180 maintains the primacy of local school authorities by 
permitting locally-elected officials to avail themselves of the 
modified balloting procedures contained in the bill only if they elect 
to do so.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this non-controversial but necessary 
measure.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WATT of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as 
I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3180, to consent to certain 
amendments to the New Hampshire-Vermont Interstate School Compact.
  H.R. 3180 was introduced by the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. 
Bass) and the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) to provide 
participating interstate school districts with the option of choosing 
all day so-called Australian balloting to occur to support school 
construction.

                              {time}  1445

  The proposed amendments make these decisions a matter of local 
prerogative and do not dictate a state-wide or Federal approach to 
resolving these questions.
  The New Hampshire-Vermont Compact was originally approved by Congress 
in 1969 to increase educational opportunities and promote 
administrative efficiency. Under the original compact, State and local 
financial support was channeled into two combined districts to reflect 
State and local contributions; but because Vermont gave more monetary 
support than New Hampshire, uneven funding allocations emerged. In 
1978, Congress consented to a number of clarifying amendments to the 
original compact to ensure that participating school districts would 
receive support commensurate with their contributions.
  The substance of H.R. 3180 was initiated by residents of the Dresden 
School District, seeking to amend the compact to allow all-day voting 
procedures when voting on whether to incur debt. Presently voting on 
whether to incur debt is conducted under a town hall meeting format, 
which permits voting only at the conclusion of the meeting. The 
residents contend that the Australian all-day voting is superior over 
the town hall meeting format in at least two respects. First, the all-
day format is consistent with the way the district conducts its annual 
district meetings; and, second, and probably more important, the all-
day method would allow more voters to weigh in on critical bond issues.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill was reported favorably without amendment from 
the Committee on the Judiciary, and I urge Members to support this 
noncontroversial legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume 
to the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Bass), who is the author of 
the bill.
  Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman of the 
committee and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt) for their 
having brought this bill to the floor in a timely fashion, and I 
appreciate their comments which are right on the mark.
  This is the kind of issue that would be resolved probably in a matter 
of days in any school district anywhere in the country. As has been 
mentioned, the problem is that this particular school district crosses 
State lines. So, as a result, there is a special procedure whereby they 
can change their bylaws, and that is the procedure we are undertaking 
today.
  Both the Vermont side of the school district and the New Hampshire 
side want to have this different so-called ``Australian ballot system'' 
in place, which allows the polls, so to speak, to be open during the 
entire period of the school district meeting or a whole day versus just 
having a period of voting at the end of the meeting when most people 
have left. Because it requires the approval of both legislatures of the 
States, which has occurred, and the approval of Congress, because it is 
an interstate compact, that is why we are here today.
  Eighty-eight percent of the district voters supported this rule 
change. It is supported by the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), 
and I urge the House to vote affirmatively on this important measure, 
which needs to be sent to the Senate as soon as possible.
  Mr. WATT of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he 
may consume to the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Sanders).
  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina 
(Mr. Watt) for yielding me the time. I apologize for being late. I will 
be very brief.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3180, the New Hampshire-
Vermont Interstate School Compact Consent. This bill will permit the 
residents of the Dresden School District, which includes Norwich, 
Vermont, and Hanover, New Hampshire, to implement a change in the 
procedure used to approve bond initiatives.
  The Dresden School District, with the approval of the legislatures of 
Vermont and New Hampshire, wants to be able to implement all-day secret 
balloting when appropriate instead of the town meeting system, which is 
the only approved method currently. Given that the communities involved 
and the respective States have approved this initiative, we in the 
Congress should grant our approval.
  I thank the chairman and ranking member for moving this bill, and I 
urge its adoption.
  Mr. WATT of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, since the gentleman from Vermont did 
not get into dairy policy and upset the cows of the chairman of the 
Judiciary Committee and the speaker pro tempore unduly with his 
remarks, I will yield back the balance of my time as well.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gutknecht). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) that 
the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3180.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.

[[Page H3888]]

  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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