[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 97 (Wednesday, July 17, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H4847-H4859]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT,
2003
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 483 and rule
XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House
on the State of the Union for the further consideration of the bill,
H.R. 5093.
{time} 1852
In the Committee of the Whole
Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the
Whole House on the State of the Union for the further consideration of
the bill (H.R. 5093) making appropriations for the Department of the
Interior and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30,
2003, and, for other purposes, with Mr. Simpson in the chair.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The CHAIRMAN. When the Committee of the Whole rose earlier today, a
request for a recorded vote on amendment No. 1 by the gentleman from
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) had been postponed, and the bill was open from
page 126, line 15 through page 135, line 13.
Sequential Votes Postponed In Committee Of The Whole
The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, proceedings will
now resume on those amendments on which further proceedings were
postponed in the following order:
Amendment No. 16 by Mr. Tancredo of Colorado;
Amendment No. 2 by Mrs. Capps of California;
Amendment No. 1 by Mr. Blumenauer of Oregon.
The Chair will reduce to 5 minutes the time for any electronic vote
after the first vote in this series.
Amendment No. 16 Offered by Mr. Tancredo
The CHAIRMAN. The pending business is the demand for a recorded vote
on amendment No. 16 offered by the gentleman from Colorado (Mr.
Tancredo) on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the
noes prevailed by voice vote.
The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
The Clerk redesignated the amendment.
Recorded Vote
The CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 123,
noes 300, not voting 11, as follows:
[Roll No. 314]
AYES--123
Aderholt
Akin
Armey
Bachus
Barr
Bartlett
Barton
Bilirakis
Blunt
Boehner
Boozman
Brady (TX)
Bryant
Burton
Buyer
Callahan
Cannon
Cantor
Chabot
Chambliss
Coble
Combest
Cooksey
Cox
Crane
Cubin
Culberson
Cunningham
Davis, Jo Ann
Deal
DeLay
DeMint
Diaz-Balart
Doolittle
Dreier
Duncan
Emerson
Everett
Flake
Forbes
Goode
Goodlatte
Graves
Green (WI)
Gutknecht
Hall (TX)
Hansen
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Hayworth
Hefley
Herger
Hilleary
Hostettler
Hulshof
Hunter
Hyde
Istook
Jenkins
Johnson, Sam
Jones (NC)
Keller
Kennedy (MN)
Kerns
King (NY)
Kingston
Lewis (KY)
Linder
Lucas (KY)
Manzullo
McCrery
McInnis
Miller, Gary
Miller, Jeff
Myrick
Ney
Norwood
Osborne
Otter
Paul
Pence
Petri
Pickering
Pitts
Pombo
Putnam
Radanovich
Rehberg
Riley
Rohrabacher
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Ryun (KS)
Schaffer
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Sherwood
Shimkus
Shows
Shuster
Skelton
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Souder
Stearns
Stump
Sullivan
Tancredo
Tauzin
Taylor (MS)
Taylor (NC)
Thornberry
Tiahrt
Toomey
Vitter
Watkins (OK)
Weldon (FL)
Weller
Wicker
Wilson (NM)
Wilson (SC)
Young (AK)
NOES--300
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Allen
Andrews
Baca
Baird
Baker
Baldacci
Baldwin
Ballenger
Barcia
Barrett
Bass
Becerra
Bentsen
Bereuter
Berkley
Berman
Berry
Biggert
Bishop
Blumenauer
Boehlert
Bonilla
Bono
Borski
Boswell
Boucher
Boyd
Brady (PA)
Brown (FL)
Brown (OH)
Brown (SC)
Burr
Calvert
Camp
Capito
Capps
Capuano
Cardin
Carson (IN)
Carson (OK)
Castle
Clay
Clayton
Clement
Clyburn
Collins
Condit
Conyers
Costello
Coyne
Cramer
Crenshaw
Crowley
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis (FL)
Davis (IL)
Davis, Tom
DeFazio
DeGette
Delahunt
DeLauro
Deutsch
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Dooley
Doyle
Dunn
Edwards
Ehlers
Ehrlich
Engel
English
Eshoo
Etheridge
Evans
Farr
Fattah
Ferguson
Filner
Fletcher
Foley
Ford
Fossella
Frank
Frelinghuysen
Frost
Gallegly
Ganske
Gekas
Gephardt
Gibbons
Gilchrest
Gillmor
Gilman
Gonzalez
Gordon
Goss
Graham
Granger
Green (TX)
Greenwood
Grucci
Gutierrez
Hall (OH)
Harman
Hart
Hastings (FL)
Hill
Hilliard
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hobson
Hoeffel
Hoekstra
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hooley
Horn
Houghton
Hoyer
Inslee
Isakson
Israel
Issa
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
John
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, E. B.
Jones (OH)
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kelly
Kennedy (RI)
Kildee
Kilpatrick
Kind (WI)
Kirk
Kleczka
Knollenberg
Kolbe
Kucinich
LaHood
Lampson
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Latham
LaTourette
Leach
Lee
Levin
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (GA)
LoBiondo
Lofgren
Lowey
Lucas (OK)
Luther
Lynch
Maloney (CT)
Maloney (NY)
Markey
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy (MO)
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McIntyre
McKeon
McKinney
McNulty
Meehan
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Menendez
Mica
Millender-McDonald
Miller, Dan
Miller, George
Mink
Mollohan
Moore
Moran (KS)
Moran (VA)
Morella
Murtha
Napolitano
Neal
Nethercutt
Northup
Nussle
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Ortiz
Ose
Owens
Oxley
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Payne
Pelosi
Peterson (MN)
Peterson (PA)
Phelps
Platts
Pomeroy
Portman
Price (NC)
Pryce (OH)
Quinn
Rahall
Ramstad
Rangel
Regula
Reyes
Reynolds
Rivers
Rodriguez
Roemer
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Ros-Lehtinen
Ross
Rothman
Roukema
Roybal-Allard
Rush
Sabo
Sanchez
Sanders
Sandlin
Sawyer
Saxton
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schrock
Scott
Serrano
Shaw
Shays
Sherman
Simmons
Simpson
Skeen
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Snyder
Solis
Spratt
Stark
Stenholm
[[Page H4848]]
Strickland
Stupak
Sununu
Sweeney
Tanner
Tauscher
Terry
Thomas
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Thune
Thurman
Tiberi
Tierney
Towns
Turner
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Upton
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walden
Walsh
Wamp
Waters
Watson (CA)
Watt (NC)
Watts (OK)
Waxman
Weiner
Weldon (PA)
Wexler
Whitfield
Wolf
Woolsey
Wu
Wynn
Young (FL)
NOT VOTING--11
Blagojevich
Bonior
Johnson (CT)
LaFalce
Lantos
Lipinski
Mascara
McHugh
Nadler
Smith (MI)
Traficant
{time} 1910
So the amendment was rejected.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
Announcement by the Chairman
The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, the Chair announces
that he will reduce to a minimum of 5 minutes the period of time within
which a vote by electronic device will be taken on each amendment on
which the Chair has postponed further proceedings.
Announcement No. 2 Offered by Mrs. Capps
The CHAIRMAN. The pending business is the demand for a recorded vote
on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from California (Mrs.
Capps) on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the
noes prevailed by voice vote.
The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
The Clerk redesignated the amendment.
Recorded Vote
The CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The CHAIRMAN. This will be a 5-minute vote.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 252,
noes 172, not voting 10, as follows:
[Roll No. 315]
AYES--252
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Allen
Andrews
Baca
Baird
Baldacci
Baldwin
Barcia
Barrett
Bartlett
Becerra
Berkley
Berman
Bilirakis
Bishop
Blumenauer
Boehlert
Bono
Borski
Boswell
Boucher
Boyd
Brady (PA)
Brown (FL)
Brown (OH)
Burr
Calvert
Capito
Capps
Capuano
Cardin
Carson (IN)
Clay
Clayton
Clement
Clyburn
Condit
Conyers
Costello
Cox
Coyne
Cramer
Crowley
Cummings
Cunningham
Davis (CA)
Davis (FL)
Davis (IL)
Davis, Tom
DeFazio
DeGette
Delahunt
DeLauro
Deutsch
Diaz-Balart
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Dooley
Doyle
Dreier
Dunn
Ehlers
Ehrlich
Engel
English
Eshoo
Etheridge
Evans
Farr
Fattah
Ferguson
Filner
Ford
Fossella
Frank
Frelinghuysen
Frost
Gallegly
Ganske
Gephardt
Gilchrest
Gilman
Gonzalez
Gordon
Goss
Green (WI)
Greenwood
Gutierrez
Hall (OH)
Harman
Hastings (FL)
Hill
Hilliard
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hoeffel
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hooley
Horn
Houghton
Hoyer
Hunter
Inslee
Israel
Issa
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
Johnson (CT)
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, E. B.
Jones (NC)
Jones (OH)
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kelly
Kennedy (MN)
Kennedy (RI)
Kildee
Kilpatrick
Kind (WI)
Kirk
Kleczka
Kucinich
LaFalce
LaHood
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Leach
Lee
Levin
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (GA)
LoBiondo
Lofgren
Lowey
Luther
Lynch
Maloney (CT)
Maloney (NY)
Markey
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy (MO)
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McIntyre
McKinney
McNulty
Meehan
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Menendez
Millender-McDonald
Miller, George
Miller, Jeff
Mink
Moore
Moran (VA)
Morella
Murtha
Myrick
Napolitano
Neal
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Ose
Owens
Oxley
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Paul
Payne
Pelosi
Peterson (MN)
Petri
Phelps
Platts
Pomeroy
Portman
Price (NC)
Quinn
Rahall
Ramstad
Rangel
Rivers
Roemer
Ros-Lehtinen
Rothman
Roukema
Roybal-Allard
Rush
Ryan (WI)
Sabo
Sanchez
Sanders
Sawyer
Saxton
Schakowsky
Schiff
Scott
Sensenbrenner
Serrano
Shaw
Shays
Sherman
Simmons
Skelton
Slaughter
Smith (NJ)
Smith (WA)
Snyder
Solis
Spratt
Stark
Stearns
Strickland
Stupak
Sununu
Sweeney
Tauscher
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Thurman
Tierney
Towns
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walsh
Waters
Watson (CA)
Watt (NC)
Waxman
Weiner
Weldon (FL)
Weldon (PA)
Wexler
Woolsey
Wu
Wynn
Young (FL)
NOES--172
Aderholt
Akin
Armey
Bachus
Baker
Ballenger
Barr
Barton
Bass
Bentsen
Berry
Biggert
Blunt
Boehner
Bonilla
Boozman
Brady (TX)
Brown (SC)
Bryant
Burton
Buyer
Callahan
Camp
Cannon
Cantor
Carson (OK)
Castle
Chabot
Chambliss
Coble
Collins
Combest
Cooksey
Crane
Crenshaw
Cubin
Culberson
Davis, Jo Ann
Deal
DeLay
DeMint
Doolittle
Duncan
Edwards
Emerson
Everett
Flake
Fletcher
Foley
Forbes
Gekas
Gibbons
Gillmor
Goode
Goodlatte
Graham
Granger
Graves
Green (TX)
Grucci
Gutknecht
Hall (TX)
Hansen
Hart
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Hayworth
Hefley
Herger
Hilleary
Hobson
Hoekstra
Hostettler
Hulshof
Hyde
Isakson
Istook
Jenkins
John
Johnson, Sam
Keller
Kerns
King (NY)
Kingston
Knollenberg
Kolbe
Lampson
Latham
LaTourette
Lewis (KY)
Linder
Lucas (KY)
Lucas (OK)
Manzullo
McCrery
McInnis
McKeon
Mica
Miller, Dan
Miller, Gary
Mollohan
Moran (KS)
Nethercutt
Ney
Northup
Norwood
Nussle
Ortiz
Osborne
Otter
Pence
Peterson (PA)
Pickering
Pitts
Pombo
Pryce (OH)
Putnam
Radanovich
Regula
Rehberg
Reyes
Reynolds
Riley
Rodriguez
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Ross
Royce
Ryun (KS)
Sandlin
Schrock
Sessions
Shadegg
Sherwood
Shimkus
Shows
Shuster
Simpson
Skeen
Smith (MI)
Smith (TX)
Souder
Stenholm
Stump
Sullivan
Tancredo
Tanner
Tauzin
Taylor (MS)
Taylor (NC)
Terry
Thomas
Thornberry
Thune
Tiahrt
Tiberi
Toomey
Turner
Upton
Vitter
Walden
Wamp
Watkins (OK)
Watts (OK)
Weller
Whitfield
Wicker
Wilson (NM)
Wilson (SC)
Wolf
Young (AK)
NOT VOTING--10
Bereuter
Blagojevich
Bonior
Lantos
Lipinski
Mascara
McHugh
Nadler
Schaffer
Traficant
{time} 1919
Mr. ROGERS of Michigan changed his vote from ``aye'' to ``no.''
Mr. CRAMER changed his vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
So the amendment was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
Amendment No. 1 Offered by Mr. Blumenauer
The CHAIRMAN. The pending business is the demand for a recorded vote
on the amendment No. 1 offered by the gentleman from Oregon (Mr.
Blumenauer) on which further proceedings were postponed and on which
the noes prevailed by voice vote.
The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
The Clerk redesignated the amendment.
Recorded Vote
The CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The CHAIRMAN. This will be a 5-minute vote.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 201,
noes 223, not voting 10, as follows:
[Roll No. 316]
AYES--201
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Allen
Andrews
Baca
Baird
Baldacci
Baldwin
Barrett
Becerra
Bentsen
Berkley
Berman
Biggert
Blumenauer
Boehlert
Borski
Boucher
Brady (PA)
Brown (FL)
Brown (OH)
Capps
Capuano
Cardin
Carson (IN)
Carson (OK)
Clay
Clayton
Clement
Clyburn
Condit
Conyers
Coyne
Cramer
Crowley
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis (FL)
Davis (IL)
DeFazio
DeGette
Delahunt
DeLauro
Deutsch
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Ehlers
Ehrlich
Engel
Eshoo
Evans
Farr
Fattah
Ferguson
Filner
Ford
Frank
Frelinghuysen
Frost
Gephardt
Gilman
Gonzalez
Gordon
Green (TX)
Greenwood
Gutierrez
Hall (OH)
Harman
Hastings (FL)
Hilliard
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hoeffel
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hoyer
Inslee
Israel
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
Johnson (CT)
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, E. B.
Jones (OH)
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kelly
Kennedy (MN)
Kennedy (RI)
Kildee
Kilpatrick
Kind (WI)
Kirk
Kleczka
[[Page H4849]]
Kucinich
LaFalce
Lampson
Langevin
Larson (CT)
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
LoBiondo
Lofgren
Lowey
Luther
Lynch
Maloney (CT)
Maloney (NY)
Markey
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy (MO)
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McKinney
McNulty
Meehan
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Menendez
Millender-McDonald
Miller, George
Mink
Moore
Moran (VA)
Morella
Napolitano
Neal
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Ortiz
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Payne
Pelosi
Platts
Price (NC)
Rahall
Ramstad
Rangel
Reyes
Rivers
Rodriguez
Roemer
Rothman
Roukema
Roybal-Allard
Rush
Sabo
Sanchez
Sanders
Sandlin
Sawyer
Saxton
Schakowsky
Schiff
Scott
Serrano
Shays
Sherman
Simmons
Skelton
Slaughter
Smith (NJ)
Smith (WA)
Snyder
Solis
Spratt
Stark
Strickland
Stupak
Tauscher
Taylor (MS)
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Thurman
Tierney
Towns
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Velazquez
Waters
Watson (CA)
Watt (NC)
Waxman
Weiner
Weldon (PA)
Wexler
Woolsey
Wu
Wynn
NOES--223
Aderholt
Akin
Armey
Bachus
Baker
Ballenger
Barcia
Barr
Bartlett
Barton
Bass
Berry
Bilirakis
Bishop
Blunt
Boehner
Bonilla
Bono
Boozman
Boswell
Boyd
Brady (TX)
Brown (SC)
Bryant
Burr
Burton
Buyer
Callahan
Calvert
Camp
Cannon
Cantor
Capito
Castle
Chabot
Chambliss
Coble
Collins
Combest
Cooksey
Costello
Cox
Crane
Crenshaw
Cubin
Culberson
Cunningham
Davis, Jo Ann
Davis, Tom
Deal
DeLay
DeMint
Diaz-Balart
Dooley
Doolittle
Dreier
Duncan
Dunn
Edwards
Emerson
English
Etheridge
Everett
Flake
Fletcher
Foley
Forbes
Fossella
Gallegly
Ganske
Gekas
Gibbons
Gilchrest
Gillmor
Goode
Goodlatte
Goss
Graham
Granger
Graves
Green (WI)
Grucci
Gutknecht
Hall (TX)
Hansen
Hart
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Hayworth
Hefley
Herger
Hill
Hilleary
Hobson
Hoekstra
Hooley
Horn
Hostettler
Houghton
Hulshof
Hunter
Hyde
Isakson
Issa
Jenkins
John
Johnson, Sam
Jones (NC)
Keller
Kerns
King (NY)
Kingston
Knollenberg
Kolbe
LaHood
Larsen (WA)
Latham
LaTourette
Leach
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (KY)
Linder
Lucas (KY)
Lucas (OK)
Manzullo
McCrery
McInnis
McIntyre
McKeon
Mica
Miller, Dan
Miller, Gary
Miller, Jeff
Mollohan
Moran (KS)
Murtha
Myrick
Nethercutt
Ney
Northup
Norwood
Nussle
Osborne
Ose
Otter
Oxley
Paul
Pence
Peterson (MN)
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Phelps
Pickering
Pitts
Pombo
Pomeroy
Portman
Pryce (OH)
Putnam
Quinn
Radanovich
Regula
Rehberg
Reynolds
Riley
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Ros-Lehtinen
Ross
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Ryun (KS)
Schaffer
Schrock
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Shaw
Sherwood
Shimkus
Shows
Shuster
Simpson
Skeen
Smith (MI)
Smith (TX)
Souder
Stearns
Stenholm
Stump
Sullivan
Sununu
Sweeney
Tancredo
Tanner
Tauzin
Taylor (NC)
Terry
Thomas
Thornberry
Thune
Tiahrt
Tiberi
Toomey
Turner
Upton
Visclosky
Vitter
Walden
Walsh
Wamp
Watkins (OK)
Watts (OK)
Weldon (FL)
Weller
Whitfield
Wicker
Wilson (NM)
Wilson (SC)
Wolf
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
NOT VOTING--10
Bereuter
Blagojevich
Bonior
Istook
Lantos
Lipinski
Mascara
McHugh
Nadler
Traficant
{time} 1927
Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut changed her vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
So the amendment was rejected.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
Amendment Offered by Mr. Shadegg
Mr. SHADEGG. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
The Clerk read as follows:
Amendment offered by Mr. Shadegg:
At the end of the bill, before the short title, insert the
following new section:
Sec. . The Regional Forester for a National Forest System
Region may exempt a specific project involving the removal of
trees with a diameter of 12 inches or less on land owned or
managed by the Forest Service in that Region from the
applicability of the citizen suit authority contained in
section 11(g) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16
U.S.C. 1540(g)) if the Regional Forester finds (and certifies
these findings to the Chief of the Forest Service and
Congress) that, on the basis of the best scientific
information available, (1) a wildfire in the area of the
project is likely to cause extreme harm to the forest
ecosystem and destroy human life and dwellings and (2) the
project is necessary to prevent these occurrences.
{time} 1930
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of
order.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman reserves a point of order.
Mr. SHADEGG. Mr. Chairman, this amendment is designed to address a
problem with the Endangered Species Act and the fires that are raging
across the West at the present time. Right now citizens' suits are
being brought to prevent the clearing of these forests by thinning out
the dead wood and thinning out the smaller trees. As a result of the
fact that we are not doing this removal of smaller trees, we are
encouraging crown fires which destroy entire areas.
In my State of Arizona, we have just had a fire that has destroyed
500,000 areas. If you look at areas that have been treated, it appears
as though the fire never even went through those areas. If you look at
areas where they were not treated, there has been absolute, total
devastation. This simply says that a regional forest ranger could make
a determination that a wildfire in the area of the project to thin out
the fire load was likely to cause extreme harm to the forest ecosystem
and destroy human life and dwellings and that the project was necessary
to prevent these occurrences. Once that finding had been made and had
been certified to the United States Congress, then the thinning could
occur without there being a citizen lawsuit to block the thinning from
occurring.
Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Utah to discuss the issue
as well.
Mr. HANSEN. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Chairman, let me point out as the chairman of the Committee on
Resources, one of the biggest problems we have in America and the West
at this particular time is called fuel load. Fuel load is when we have
dead trees and we have all kinds of trash and no one is allowing
prescription, to go in and take these out on prescribed fires. We have
case after case all over America where forests are burning to the
ground. Last year I went with staff and we went to about four Western
States. You have got fuel load up to your armpits. All you need is one
strike of lightning and you have got a fire. Never have we had fires
like this. Last year I asked all of the forest supervisors, are we
going to have more fires? They said, ``Count on it. You'll never have
as many fires as you have.''
Why is this? It is because we cannot go in and we cannot seem to find
a position that we can clear it out like we have since 1905. In one
committee we had one of the large environmental groups there. She said,
``We don't believe in this. We shouldn't do it that way. It's not
nature's way.''
I think this amendment is an excellent amendment. Somebody has got to
wake up, be honest, and have guts enough to look some of these guys in
the face and say, we have to clean the forests or we are going to burn
the West down, and we are well on the way to doing it.
Mr. SHADEGG. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Washington
(Mr. Nethercutt).
Mr. NETHERCUTT. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the gentleman's
amendment and in opposition to the point of order.
The gentleman's amendment allows the management of the forest by
thinning and protection of life and health of the forest by local
control, that is, the Forest Service regional forester. I think it is a
commonsense amendment, I cannot imagine anybody would be against it,
and so I support the gentleman's amendment.
Mr. SHADEGG. Mr. Chairman, it seems to me this is, in fact, a
commonsense amendment. It does not say that you can never bring such a
lawsuit. It is limited to certain circumstances where they are cutting
small diameter trees, trees of less than 12 inches. It would not allow
commercial logging. It simply allows a reasonable thinning of the
forest to stop the kind of devastating crown fires that have destroyed
Arizona recently and have stricken California and Colorado and
[[Page H4850]]
many other States. It is, I believe, an absolute essential requirement
that we allow this thinning to occur so that we do not burn our forests
down. When you look at the language of the amendment, which requires a
rather extreme certification that the wildfire is likely to cause
extreme harm to the forest ecosystem, destroy human life and dwellings,
and that the project is necessary to prevent these occurrences, I
believe it is a very, very reasonable amendment. It is designed to
protect our forests and strike a balance, because this would not block
a citizen lawsuit if they wanted to thin larger trees. It would not
block a citizen lawsuit under other circumstances where these
certifications were not made. It is a middle ground that I think makes
a great deal of sense.
I would urge that the point of order be withdrawn so that the Members
can at least look at this policy. Our forests are burning to the
ground. We lost over 460 homes of people that live in those forests in
Arizona in the absence of being able to strike a reasonable policy, and
I think this does. This requires a certification. It requires that the
certification be that there be extreme harm and that it is going to
destroy human life and dwellings and that the thinning project is
necessary. In Arizona, the environmental groups have agreed that they
support thinning so long as it does not go to large-diameter, old-
growth trees. Indeed they have rushed to say we are willing to support
this kind of policy as long as it is limited.
I was urged not to put a diameter limit in this because I was told,
look, if you put a diameter limit in it, we may need to cut some larger
trees. I said, no, I want a bright line so that those who oppose
allowing timber harvesting to go forward under this policy will not be
able to see this as a ruse. It is not a ruse. It is a genuine effort by
us to strike a reasoned policy that will allow thinning to go forward
without extended legal battles where the thinning is not a commercial
logging effort but is, rather, necessary to save the forest and to
prevent these kind of crown fires.
The evidence is absolutely clear that these crown fires take off and
occur only when there is the underlying load, fuel load, which has not
been removed. In the strongest possible terms, it seems to me that this
is a reasonable compromise which I would urge upon this Congress and
upon our colleagues that they withdraw the point of order.
Point of Order
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I insist upon my point
of order. I make a point of order against the amendment because it
proposes to change existing law and imposes new duties and constitutes
legislation on an appropriation bill and therefore violates clause 2 of
rule XXI. The rule states, in pertinent part, ``No amendment to a
general appropriation bill shall be in order if changing existing
law.'' The amendment imposes additional duties.
Therefore, I ask for a ruling of the Chair.
The CHAIRMAN. Are there other Members who wish to be heard on the
point of order?
Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Chairman, I ask to speak on the point.
I just want to say I have read this amendment and listened to a lot
of testimony over the past several years about the need to do this sort
of thing in our forests. When you look at the common sense of
preserving the life of the forest, the ecosystem and helping save human
lives and dwellings, this is a reasonable, commonsense approach. I
would ask my friend from California to reconsider the point of order
simply because I do think this is something in the interest of forest
management that our agencies need. I regret that the gentleman from
Arizona did not have it in the committee because I think that we would
certainly try to work with you on the committee. But I hope the
gentleman will withdraw the point of order because I think this is
common sense, and I am an Easterner, but I have lots of forests, tree
farms, as we would call them in my district, and forest management is
part of the responsibility and it is a great, I would say, intercourse
between man and nature and great involvement.
I think this is a good amendment. I hope that we can keep it in the
bill and that the gentleman would withdraw his point.
Mr. DICKS. Mr. Chairman, I hate to do this, but we are supposed to be
talking about the point of order, not the substance of the amendment. I
would hope that the gentlemen would restrict their discussion to the
point of order.
The CHAIRMAN. Are there other Members who wish to be heard on the
point of order?
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Chairman, I would hope the gentleman from California
would withdraw the point of order. I think it is substantive when you
talk about these particular areas. We have a situation out there, and
we had the BLM director.
Mr. DICKS. Mr. Chairman, I have to raise a point of order here. The
gentleman is not discussing the point of order. You have to have some
way to talk about the rules of the House. He is not addressing the
point of order.
The CHAIRMAN. Members are reminded to confine their remarks to the
point of order.
The gentleman may proceed.
Mr. HANSEN. Parliamentary inquiry. Would you define ``point of
order'' for us?
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman will proceed on the point of order. The
point of order is whether the amendment legislates on an appropriation
bill.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I ask for a ruling on
my point of order.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Utah may proceed.
Mr. HANSEN. I will say that we legislate on appropriations on a very
regular basis around here. I think that my good friend from Washington
is making something out of nothing, but that is his privilege to do
that. But I would just like to say this.
Mr. DICKS. The gentleman is willing to exercise his points of order
when he needs them.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Washington is not recognized.
Mr. HANSEN. You have a situation with the BLM and the gentleman from
Washington (Mr. Dicks) got up, he talked about show us a place where
you can save money yesterday, he was talking of one, and here is one
that comes out. The new director of BLM stands up and says, ``I'm
spending close to 50 percent of my money on litigation.''
Mr. DICKS. Mr. Chairman, I insist that the gentleman speak on the
point of order and not talk about irrelevancies.
The CHAIRMAN. If there is no further debate on the point of order,
the Chair is prepared to rule.
The amendment proposes to convey new authority to the Executive and,
as such, constitutes legislation in violation of clause 2(c) of rule
XXI. The point of order is sustained.
Amendment Offered by Ms. Norton
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
The Clerk read as follows:
Amendment offered by Ms. Norton:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. ____. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used for the planning, design, or construction of
improvements to Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White
House without the advance approval of the Committees on
Appropriations.
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Chairman, I believe this is a noncontroversial
amendment. It is language identical to the language included in six
previous appropriations bills. It makes sure that Pennsylvania Avenue,
for 200 years America's Main Street, does not become a park without
Congress having some say in it, that it would not be an administrative
matter that the Park Service should simply be allowed to go ahead and
do.
It has been offered every year in the past by the distinguished
former chair of this subcommittee, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr.
Regula). I understand it has been cleared with the present chair, the
gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Skeen), and with ranking members of the
full committee and of the subcommittee on our side. I want to make
clear that it has no security impact. All during the time this
amendment has been in force, all 6 years, the White House has proceeded
to on Pennsylvania Avenue put up the appropriate security. If you go
there now, they have the same contraption that goes up and down that we
have to come into the Senate and House side of the House.
While I am on the floor, I want to explain why I did not offer an
amendment
[[Page H4851]]
on the payment of rent by Wilson Center at the Ronald Reagan Building
to the Federal building fund. I have been assured of discussions going
on now to accomplish what my amendment seeks, so I will hold it in
abeyance for the time being.
This is a noncontroversial amendment. I simply ask that we reinsert
the amendment that has previously been in the appropriation for the
last 6 years.
Mr. SKEEN. Mr. Chairman, we accept the gentlewoman's amendment.
The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).
The amendment was agreed to.
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
We just recently were talking about this issue of fuel load which is
a very sensitive issue to those of us in the West. We are seeing the
West burn up. It is a very important thing. I remember yesterday when
some people were talking about the idea of show us where you can save
money. The new director of BLM is a lady by the name of Kathleen Clark.
Kathleen Clark is a very bright lady. She was head of the natural
resources department in the State of Utah. She has had all kinds of
experience. We had her before the committee of which I chair of Natural
Resources. She made an interesting statement. She said that she spends
almost 50 percent of her budget fighting lawsuits put in by extreme
environmental people. That was very interesting to us.
Then we turned and asked the question also to Dale Bosworth, the new
chief of the Forest Service. His is not that high, but it is pretty
high. We are sitting here worried about the lands of America. What are
we going to do to take care of this thing? How are we going to clean
this forest? How are we going to get rid of this fuel load? So all this
money we are putting up, we are turning around and paying it to
attorneys. Around here, attorneys' retirement plans are a pretty big
deal, it seems like. I have never seen such a waste of money,
especially when they get on this rule 28. Win, lose or draw, they get
paid 350 bucks an hour. I think that is really excessive. If we are
going to take care of the forests, if we are going to take care of the
public lands, if we are going to take care of these areas, somebody in
Judiciary, this committee and others have got to have courage enough to
start reining these people in. We can hardly go out spending all of
this money that these CATs yesterday were talking about taking out.
Look how much you could put into taking care of the forest if you did
not do it this way. The judges, in effect, have taken over the public
lands of America. Hardly qualified in my mind as I read many of their
decisions to come up and explain what they feel is right in public
lands.
I wish I had an hour, and on a special order I may do this, talking
about some of the dumbest decisions I have ever read in my life where
these people are telling us how to run the public lands of America.
{time} 1945
The reclamation, the BLM, the forest service and services as this.
Mr. DICKS. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. HANSEN. I yield to the gentleman from Washington.
Mr. DICKS. Mr. Chairman, this just jumps out at me that if the
gentleman has been reading these decisions and we do not like the
current law, which is what the judges are interpreting, the gentleman
from Utah was in a wonderful position as chairman of the committee to
try and do something about it, to clarify the law, or to make it
clearer on some of these points.
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate those comments. Believe me, if
the gentleman has watched what we have done in the committee, he would
know that we have tried very diligently to do it, and we would sure
like the gentleman's support.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the
last word.
I want to take a moment to thank the gentleman from California (Mr.
Dicks) and the gentleman from New Mexico (Chairman Skeen) for securing
funding for the Urban Park and Recreation Funding Program, known as
UPAR, and for increasing the allocation for National Parks operation.
Since its inception in 1979, UPAR has provided over 1,400 grants to
42 States, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia for the
revitalization of our urban and suburban parks and sports facilities
and recreational facilities for young people throughout this country.
The President has zeroed out the UPAR program, and I am thankful to
the gentleman from New Mexico (Chairman Skeen) and the ranking member,
the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Dicks), for restoring this funding
for this critically important urban and suburban program.
This is a program that is sponsored by many, many parts of the
private sector, from the sporting good manufacturers, pro sports and
national league baseball, the NBA, the NFL, the Women's National
Basketball Association and so many others who have participated with
this in this effort to revitalize these recreational opportunities in
our cities and in our suburbs.
I also want to thank them, as I mentioned, for restoring and
increasing of funds for the Park Service operations. Over 83 Members
wrote to the committee asking for an increase in this, and they were
able to secure an additional $118 million for Park Service operations,
which are so vital to the operations of the Park Service and to
continue to present the kind of experience that the American citizens
and people from around the world expect when they visit these massive,
world-famous national parks in our system.
I also want to take a moment just to recognize the gentleman from New
Mexico (Chairman Skeen), whom I have had the pleasure of serving with
in Congress for these many years, and who I have found to be one of the
really fun people in the Congress of the United States, who has been a
gentleman whenever we have had our disagreements. I have had the chance
to travel with him on the issues of trade and agriculture, between
Mexico and the United States, and enjoyed listening to him and the
information that he understood, given his long background of living on
the border, if you will, and understanding the relationships between
our two nations.
This is the final bill of his career; and I just want to thank him
for all of his kindness, for his generosity, for hearing me out; not
always granting my wishes, but at least hearing me out and being very
fair about it. I thank the gentleman, and I thank him for his
chairmanship of this committee and for his time served in Congress. It
has been a joy to serve with the gentleman.
Amendment Offered by Mr. Shadegg
Mr. SHADEGG. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
The Clerk read as follows:
Amendment offered by Mr. Shadegg:
At the end of the bill, preceding the short title, insert
the following:
Sec. . The amounts otherwise provided by this Act are
revised by reducing the amount made available for
``DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR--Bureau of Land Management--Land
Acquisition'' and by increasing the amount made available for
``DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR--Bureau of Land Management--
Wildland Fire Management'' by $36,000,000 and $23,089,000
respectively.
Mr. SKEEN. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that all debate on
this amendment and all amendments thereto be limited to 20 minutes to
be evenly divided.
The CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from
New Mexico?
Mr. DICKS. Mr. Chairman, reserving the right to object, does the
gentleman think we need that much time on this amendment?
Mr. SHADEGG. Mr. Chairman, I certainly would agree with the gentleman
from Washington that we will not need more, but we might need 20
minutes. I think it is a reasonable number.
Mr. DICKS. Mr. Chairman, continuing my reservation, could the
gentleman state how many other speakers there will be on this
amendment?
Mr. SHADEGG. I do not know.
Mr. DICKS. Mr. Chairman, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
The CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from
New Mexico?
There was no objection.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Shadegg) will control
10 minutes and the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Skeen) will control
10 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Shadegg).
[[Page H4852]]
Mr. SHADEGG. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
This is a straightforward amendment about prioritization. I have, as
I indicated last night in my remarks, the greatest admiration both for
the chairman of the overall committee and for the chairman of the
subcommittee. I have worked with him since I got here. I know that in
the process of drafting this bill they had to make many hard choices,
but I believe that one of them has been misallocated.
The bill currently provides $23 million less for the Bureau of Land
Management's budget for wildfire management than the current year
allows. We have reduced the amount of money to fight wildfires. At the
same time, we have increased the amount of money to acquire land to $49
million. I would suggest that this is a misprioritization of our
resources.
In an age when we have seen outrageous fires across the West, in my
State, as I mentioned a moment ago, we have lost half a million acres
to wildfire, we are seeing a situation where we are reducing the amount
of money to fight wildfires; but we are increasing the amount of money
to buy land. It seems to me clearly imprudent to follow that course of
conduct.
Now, the acquisition of land would mean that we are going to buy more
land in the western United States, because the BLM operates exclusively
in the western United States. What that means is that this $49 million
that is in the bill currently to acquire more land will be used to buy
even more Federal land.
I would suggest that that is a serious problem, that we do not need
to acquire more land; but most importantly, we certainly do not need to
acquire more Federal land in the eastern United States.
In my State of Arizona, there is no shortage of public land. The
Federal Government owns 29 percent of all of the land in the United
States, and 92 percent of that land is in the 12 Western States. In my
State of Arizona, 83 percent of Arizona's landmass is owned by one
level of the government or other, leaving only 17 percent of our land
in public ownership. There are only 32 States that have higher
percentages of public ownership than Arizona, and that is Alaska, which
is 90 percent public owned, and Nevada, which is 87 percent publicly
owned. I might add Utah is 79 percent publicly owned.
In contrast, the number of eastern States like Connecticut is only
four-tenths Federal. New York is 1.4 percent Federal. We do not need at
this moment in our history, with a war on and a battle over domestic
terrorism, to be acquiring more Federal land, but we particularly do
not need to do so at the expense of wildfire fighting. That should be
obvious to anyone who has read the papers in the last month.
It may be true that we need to acquire some land, and my amendment
does not take out all of the monies in this legislation to acquire
additional land. Some $13 million is left in this legislation to buy
more land. But it does say that we are going to transfer a portion of
that $49 million to buy more land, leaving $13 million there, a portion
of that $49 million to buy more land we are going to transfer over to
fight wildfires. I would suggest that it is absolutely irrational to
oppose this amendment.
Right now, again, I want to make this point, that there is an over-
$23 million cut in the current bill for wildfire fighting. That is
obviously an error. In this bill itself, there is a supplemental for
this year of $700 million to add for firefighting this year. If it was
not enough last year, and it clearly was not enough, and it was the
Dicks amendment which added $700 million for wildfire fighting this
year, how can it be rational to cut wildfire fighting next year by $23
million over the figure from this year, before we add the $700 million?
It simply does not make any sense.
Nobody can stand here today and say that there is a dramatically
smaller chance of wildfires next year. Nobody has that kind of crystal
ball. Indeed, what we are told, Arizona is in one of the worst droughts
in its history; the entire West is in one of the worst droughts in its
history. The entire West is burning up from heat. Temperatures are way
up in Washington, hotter than they are in my State of Arizona. And that
is part of a long-term drought.
It is very obvious to me that we are going to need money to fight
wildfires next year. I am simply saying that it does not make sense,
when we are having to add in this very piece of legislation $700
million additional dollars to fight wildfires in the current fiscal
year, that we would, at the same time, reduce the amount of money that
we are allocating to fight wildfires in the coming year. Who can
explain that? There is no reason to believe the drought is going to
end; there is no reason to believe that the cost of fighting fires is
going to go down. What we are doing is creating a situation where we
will have to be back here on this floor the next time a devastating
wildfire occurs finding more money for next year's budget because we
simply underfunded it.
With all due respect to the members of the committee, I think they
made a conscientious effort, but we ought to make priorities. It is
literally irrational to spend all of this money for additional
firefighting efforts this year, $700 million under the Dicks amendment,
and cut $23 million next year. I simply say we restore that by taking
that money from land acquisition.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SKEEN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Washington (Mr. Nethercutt).
Mr. NETHERCUTT. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me
this time.
I want to rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment, but praise
him for his concern about this. I have the same concerns and the same
philosophy about this issue.
What I want to emphasize in my remarks, however, is that the
subcommittee has led the way on the wildfire issue. For the forest
service the subcommittee provided $146 million more than the President
requested for wildfire. We added $5 million, over $5 million for the
readiness and program management, which is really the money to get out
there and fight these fires. We have $700 million additional in
emergency spending for wildfires and fighting those within the system
of the Interior Department, and we are at the President's budget
request of $160 million for fire suppression operations.
I think the gentleman makes some very good points; and I am going to
be real frank about it, because I come from the West, and I know we are
worried about additional acquisitions that are not then properly
accounted for within the system. In other words, proper management
falls behind.
I will say, with respect to the gentleman's offset and the reduction,
that if this land acquisition program reduction occurs, there will be a
disruption in some of the agreed upon acquisitions that Members of this
body, the House, and Members on both sides of the aisle, have looked at
and agreed upon as a sensible acquisition, not an insensible one.
So I think we, again, feel as though the subcommittee has balanced
this issue pretty carefully, and I really want to commend the gentleman
for his sensitivity about fire issues, especially from his State and
his concern in this amendment. Again, I reluctantly oppose it; but on
the other hand, I oppose it because there is a substantial amount of
money in the bill that the subcommittee looked at and the full
committee looked at and felt was appropriate at a level that meets the
needs of fire suppression.
Mr. SHADEGG. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. NETHERCUTT. I yield to the gentleman from Arizona.
Mr. SHADEGG. Mr. Chairman, my only question is, this does reduce the
amount of money for land acquisition, but it does not zero it out. I
mean, the intention of the amendment was to say let us leave some money
there and to recognize that we need to acquire some lands. There are
things that need to happen in a timely fashion. It seems to me
reasonable to delay some of those land acquisitions.
I guess I am asking, does the gentleman know what projects have to be
delayed, what acquisitions would have to be delayed, based on the
reduction contemplated in the legislation?
{time} 2000
Mr. NETHERCUTT. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Chairman, I do not know
[[Page H4853]]
which would be delayed. That is part of the problem that we have, that
there may be some agreed-upon acquisitions that the BLM and the Members
and others, and the administration and others, feel are sensible and
genuine. So that is part of the problem that we cannot identify them
exactly.
Mr. SHADEGG. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DICKS. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr.
Skeen) yield me time?
Mr. SKEEN. Yes. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
Washington (Mr. Dicks).
Mr. DICKS. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentleman from Arizona
mentioning the fact that our committee, when we looked at this in the
full committee, added $200 million for the BLM for this purpose as a
2002 supplemental.
I would like to see us in the supplemental, the one that is moving
now in conference committee, and the administration suggested that we
do that, add the $700 million in the 2002 conference so we will get the
money back faster for the agencies, because they desperately need this
money.
Mr. SHADEGG. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. DICKS. I yield to the gentleman from Arizona.
Mr. SHADEGG. Mr. Chairman, I certainly concur with the gentleman that
the place for firefighting money is in the supplemental, which could
become law literally next week.
Mr. DICKS. In a couple of days.
Mr. SHADEGG. In a couple of days, rather than leaving it in this
bill, which is not likely, at best, to become law before October. So I
join the gentleman.
Mr. DICKS. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Chairman, we are trying to do what
the gentleman is suggesting, what the gentleman has suggested, that we
need more money for firefighting. We do. The agencies are telling us
that they have to borrow money from other accounts in order to pay for
the firefighting; that they are going to be completely dislocated in
the last quarter of this year because they have not got the resources.
Once they give the money for firefighting, all kinds of other things
are going to stop within the BLM and the forest service.
The gentleman has a stake in that, and I do. Many in this House have
a stake in that. What I suggest to the gentleman, what I would suggest
to the gentleman, is let us try to work on that issue with both of our
leaderships on that committee to try to get the $700 million, it
actually needs to be a couple more hundred million than that right now,
into the supplemental.
What we do here in the land acquisition account is completely disrupt
the program that the President of the United States sent up. The
President asked for $44,686,000. The committee added a small amount of
money.
There is, on page 21 of the report of the gentleman from Washington,
the gentleman from Arizona, a list of the projects that will be
affected, and these are all projects that I think are very well thought
out. I notice there is one in Moses Lake, Washington, for example; one
for Lewis and Washington Historic Trail in Montana; the Lewis and Clark
National Historic Trail in Idaho.
These are well thought out and very important projects; so I would
urge the gentleman, he has made his point. We want to help him on the
firefighting deal, but do not go in and disrupt this other program and
slash the money that the President asked for. Yes, there are a few
congressional projects in here, but this is well thought out, well
balanced.
The majority staff works with all the Members on this. This is not
the place to take the money. What we should do, this should be
emergency money. We should not have to take it out of this account.
This should be emergency money.
Mr. SHADEGG. If the gentleman will continue to yield, Mr. Chairman,
certainly I agree with the gentleman that this should be emergency
money. I believe it belongs in the supplemental bill and not in this
bill.
But that $700 million goes to this current fiscal year. What we are
debating in my amendment is the funding for next fiscal year, where the
committee has reduced the amount of money for wildfire fighting by $23
million. That is what I am trying to restore.
I would point out, the gentleman points out there is a list on page
21 of the report that shows the projects that need to be purchased, or
that the committee has looked at purchasing; but no one of those
projects is above the amount of money that I have left in the bill for
land acquisition.
This simply would say that in the current circumstances, with the
unbelievable fires we are having in the West, with Colorado burning up
and Arizona burning up, that for next year, we go through and
reprioritize this list, delay the acquisition of some of that land.
Mr. DICKS. Mr. Chairman, I get the gentleman's point.
Mr. SHADEGG. And fight fires.
Mr. NETHERCUTT. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. DICKS. I yield to the gentleman from Washington.
Mr. NETHERCUTT. I thank the gentleman for pointing out the list on
page 21. As I look at it and see the Lewis and Clark National Historic
Trail, that affects numerous States from Missouri westward, and I think
that is a fair acquisition. I think it is necessary as we come up on
the bicentennial.
We have the Lower Salmon River Area in Idaho of critical
environmental concern. I think there has been some sensitivity about
that whole issue. I do not think this list is the one to knock out,
because it is agreed upon. They are necessary projects.
I would just point out, too, to my friends, the gentleman from
Washington and the gentleman from Arizona, the President is $150
million above the fire plan. We have that 150 extra in. We are right
where the President wants us to be in the budget request, so we are on
budget. We are on target. We are even over with respect to the critical
issues of fire suppression and fire assistance.
So, Mr. Chairman, I would urge that the amendment be defeated.
Mr. SHADEGG. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, I simply want to make the point that my colleague, the
gentleman from Washington, and I complimented the committee for its
effort to begin with, has pointed out some of these particular
projects: the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. I simply want to
make the point that project is only $1 million. The second project that
he cited is also only $1 million.
We have left, under my amendment, a substantial sum of money in the
bill so that we could go through and acquire much of this land in the
current year as planned; and even with that, if we restored $23
million, we will probably have to come back here and put more money
into wildfire fighting next year.
But I would simply say that it should be obvious to anyone, certainly
it is obvious to the people of Arizona, that the devastation of these
wildfires has not stopped and is not going to stop.
I would point out that my colleague on the opposite side of the aisle
just fought us, at least his side of the aisle did, and objected to an
effort by our side to allow a thinning of the forest, to allow us to
clean out the fuel wood load so we would not have the devastating crown
fires we now have.
Some of the Nation's best experts are in Arizona. Dr. Wally Covington
of NAU has said the only way we can save these forests is to clean out
the fire load, fuel load that is underneath them. Yet we just made an
effort to try to do that, and it was blocked on a point of order by the
other side.
If we cannot thin the forests, if we cannot take the advice of the
experts like Dr. Wally Covington to avoid these wildfires, then we had
better put the money behind fighting them. It is simply irrational, and
I hope my colleagues in this Congress are listening carefully, it is
simply irrational to add $700 million to firefighting this year and cut
$23 million from wildfire fighting next year. What we are doing is we
are putting the people who live in those forests at risk, and we are
putting the firefighters who need that funding at risk, and we are
putting the people who need these funds at risk.
Right now, we just heard my colleague, the gentleman from the other
side, say that, by gosh, we should not put these firefighting funds at
risk. It is desperate to get money into them. Well, if it is desperate
to get money
[[Page H4854]]
into them, it is irrational and I would say dangerous to take money out
of them; to undercut, underfund next year's firefighting effort by $23
million, when we know this is a long-term drought; when we know we are
not thinning the forest the way we need to. It simply makes no sense.
I have the greatest respect for the committee. I am simply saying we
should not be buying millions of dollars of additional land that we
cannot protect at the same time that we are bulldozing extra money into
the current year. If we need $700 million more this year, by gosh, it
is wrong to cut $23 million next year.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SKEEN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Washington (Mr. Nethercutt).
Mr. NETHERCUTT. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman for yielding time
to me.
Mr. Chairman, I think the point that is being missed here is that
this acquisition list for limited purposes, for conservation or
preservation, will be managed, will be managed against wildfire. I
think by doing that in this particular bill in this particular
acquisition, we are going to assure that the Lewis and Clark Trail does
not burn up. We are going to assure that, as acquisition comes, so does
management. This is not just land that is being bought for public
purposes. It is bought for purposes of a specific region, a specific
area that goes or carries along with it the obligation to manage it, to
protect it from wildfires.
So I would argue that it has a greater opportunity to be protected
from wildfire on these particular lands than if it were otherwise
acquired, or just left unacquired.
So I think we agree with the gentleman, and I think there is some
validity to the argument that we can protect this property from
wildfire by having it acquired.
Mr. SHADEGG. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
First of all, I want to thank the participants in this debate for its
collegial nature. I think we are debating very, very important issues.
I know for the people of Arizona, for the people of Colorado, for the
people of California, and indeed, for the people of the entire West,
Washington and New Mexico and all of these States, these are critically
important issues. I appreciate the debate.
My colleague, the gentleman from Washington, I paid a compliment to
earlier. I think the committee struggled with these issues. I would
simply argue that when this committee draft was put together, I do not
know that we appreciated the dimension of this year's problems. I know
this report was prepared very, very recently; and I know that the fire
in Arizona literally was contained just a matter of a week or so ago.
With regard to the point my colleague just made with regard to we can
protect the land we are acquiring, yes, I would certainly agree, we can
protect the lands we are acquiring. But candidly, we cannot protect it
by reducing the amount of money for wildfire fighting for the coming
year by $23 million. It is simply irrational to say that we can protect
it next year for $23 million less, but we need $700 million more this
year.
I think for the people across America who understand this issue,
certainly for my constituents in the West, they have to say, I would
rather we acquired a little bit less, just acquire a little bit less,
still go ahead and acquire the Lewis and Clark Trail, and I am just
finishing the book on Lewis and Clark, ``Undaunted Courage,'' so I
certainly think we ought to protect those lands. But we can slow down
the acquisition of more Federal land this year in this economic
climate, just slow it down, not bring it to a stop, and put a little of
that money back into wildfire fighting, so we knew that money was there
when we needed it.
It simply makes no sense, and it literally cannot be justified, given
the fires; and I know the Colorado fires recently broke out. They are a
recent development. The committee may not have thought through those. I
know the California fires are relatively recent. I know the Arizona
fires that have been devastating to my State and to 460 families who
lost their homes, and to half a million acres of Arizona that is burned
up and gone, I know those people would want to know that the money is
not just there, the $700 million in the current year, but is going to
be there next year. Because no one, again, I challenge my colleagues,
either of my colleagues from Washington or anybody else on this floor,
can say to me that they can establish that next year is going to be a
less severe fire season than this year.
If it is not going to be, and they cannot prove it is going to be, we
cannot plus it up by $700 million this year and pull it down by $23
million in the next year. We will be back at this issue. We should not
do it this way. We ought to put the $23 million back in.
Mr. SKEEN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from
Washington (Mr. Dicks).
Mr. DICKS. Mr. Chairman, we have it. We have it.
Mr. Chairman, I would just say to the gentleman that I understand his
concern. He has made a very valid point about the importance of proper
funding, which this administration has refused to fund. Mitch Daniels
should pull his head out of the sand and smell the smoke, okay? That is
what happened: the West is burning. I quoted that from the gentleman
from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), and he got it from Archie.
The bottom line here is we will try to take care of this in the
conference between the House and Senate. I urge our colleagues not to
destroy this other program which we need in order to do it. We have
heard them, and we will help them in the conference. I think they ought
to withdraw the amendment.
Mr. SKEEN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from
Georgia (Mr. Kingston).
Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding time
to me.
Mr. Chairman, sometimes in this body we get to an issue that we want
to flip a coin on and say, heads or tails, because we are genuinely
confused. Sometimes that coin actually lands on the edge.
I have to say to my friend, the gentleman from Arizona, as I listened
to his arguments, as I know my own philosophy on Federal land
acquisition, the coin lands on a clear message that he has. I am going
to support the Shadegg amendment. I believe he has proven the case. I
think this is a worthwhile amendment with sincere reasons.
Should it fail, I will commit, as will the gentleman from Washington
(Mr. Dicks), that we are going to try to work this out in conference.
Should it pass, I will try to protect it in conference. I think the
gentleman has a good amendment, and he has raised some excellent
points.
The CHAIRMAN. All time for debate has expired.
The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from
Arizona (Mr. Shadegg).
The question was taken; and the Chairman announced that the noes
appeared to have it.
Mr. SHADEGG. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings
on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Shadegg)
will be postponed.
{time} 2015
Mr. DICKS. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
Mr. Chairman, I have two amendments which I am not yet offering to
insert two new sections related to the Everglades restoration effort.
These sections are structured slightly differently but are functionally
identical to the language included by the committee when it reported
the bill to the House.
The first amendment would add a provision to require the Secretary of
Interior to be a full partner in the interagency RECOVER team which
oversees the hundreds of individual projects which make up the $8
billion Everglades restoration effort. My amendment is consistent with
the long-held position of the Committee on Appropriations that if this
project is to achieve true environmental restoration, the Secretary of
Interior must be an equal partner with the Army Corps of Engineers and
the Florida Water Management District.
The second amendment provides statutory authority necessary to
resolve
[[Page H4855]]
pending litigation against the Army Corps of Engineers and its
implementation regarding the so-called Modified Water Deliveries
Project, the heart of the restoration effort. This language is
supported by Governor Jeb Bush, the Secretary of Interior, the Army
Corps of Engineers and several prominent environmental organizations.
This project, which involves acquisition within the 8.5 square mile
area, has been controversial. However, after a lengthy public hearing
process and supplemental EIS, a final decision was made in 2000 by the
Army Corps of Engineers to adopt a compromise measure, alternative 6D.
This action was supported by the Florida Water Management District and
the Secretary of the Interior.
Alternative 6D was also formally adopted by the Congress in the WRDA
2000 Act. But notwithstanding this agreement, the file actions have
been tied up in court and the language inserted by the committee and
reinserted by amendment is absolutely necessary if Everglades renewal
and water development in South Florida are to be successful.
It really upsets me to read today again in the Washington Post, there
is a very good picture of the chairman of the Committee on Natural
Resources, that because of maybe less than two or three dozen homes, we
are standing in the way of this entire Florida restoration effort. And
I will tell you, the gentleman from Washington is getting fed up. We
are supposed to send them something like $8 billion in Federal money to
fund this project. And if we cannot get them to at least have the
courage to deal with this issue and to start this project moving
forward, I think the committee has to seriously reconsider funding for
the Florida project.
And what is happening here is that Members of the Florida delegation
are quietly behind the scenes going to the chairman of the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure, the chairman of the Committee on
Natural Resources because politically they cannot stand up here and
offer the amendment themselves. In order to get, in order to protect a
handful of people in their district, they are subverting the whole
process of moving forward with this project.
This is an important project. This may be the most important
environmental restoration effort ever attempted. And if we cannot do
this thing, if we cannot do mod 6, if we cannot make this initial
start, then how are we ever going to move this project forward?
Amendment Offered by Mr. Dicks
Mr. DICKS. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
The Clerk read as follows:
Amendment offered by Mr. Dicks:
At the end of the bill, before the short title on page 135,
insert the following new section:
Sec. . Of the amounts provided under the heading
``National Park Service, land acquisition and state
assistance'', $20,000,000 may be for Federal grants,
including Federal administrative expenses, to the State of
Florida for the acquisition of lands or waters, or interests
therein, within the Everglades watershed (consisting of the
lands and waters within the boundaries of the South Florida
Water Management District, Florida Bay and the Florida Keys,
including the areas known as the Frog Pond, the Rocky Glades
and the Eight and One-Half Square Mile Area) under terms and
conditions deemed necessary by the Secretary to improve and
restore the hydrological function of the Everglades
watershed: Provided further, That funds provided under this
heading for assistance to the State of Florida to acquire
lands within the Everglades watershed are contingent upon new
marching non-federal funds by the State, or are matched by
the State pursuant to the cost-sharing provisions of section
316(b) of Public Law 104-303, and shall be subject to an
agreement that the lands to be acquired will be managed in
perpetuity for the restoration of the Everglades: Provided
further, That none of the funds provided for the State
assistance program may be used to establish a contingency
fund: Provided further, That notwithstanding any other
provision of law, funds provided in this Act and in prior
Acts for project modifications by the Army Corps of Engineers
pursuant in section 104 of the Everglades National Park
Protection and Expansion Act of 1989 shall be made available
to the Army Corps of Engineers, which shall implement without
further delay Alternative 6D, including acquisition of lands
and interests in lands, as generally described in the Central
and Southern Florida Project, Modified Water Deliveries to
Everglades National Park, Florida, 8.5 Square Mile Area,
General Reevaluation Report and Final Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement, dated July 2000, for the
purpose of providing a flood protection system for the 8.5
Square Mile Area.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order against
the amendment.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman reserves a point of order.
Mr. DICKS. Mr. Chairman, why do my colleagues object to this? The
President, the Governor of Florida, the Corps of Engineers, the
Department of Interior, all think this is necessary in order to move
this project forward. Are we going to let a couple dozen people, and
most of which I am told are prepared to sell their property, so it gets
down to a handful of people, are we going to let that block this
project?
I think the gentleman from Alaska who has been a great leader in
terms of our efforts on the West Coast to return the salmon runs, I
think of that and this as the two most important environmental efforts
of our time. Why are we trying to block this?
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. DICKS. I yield to the gentleman from Alaska.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. There are two reasons. One is I am not terribly
fond of what originally this Congress did about the Florida Everglades.
This is one of the largest pits we have ever created as far as dollars
and expenditures. And we have some difference of opinion from science
about the benefit of what they are trying to do. I have heard this as
Resources chairman.
Secondly, although small in number, there are about 200 people that
are directly affected by the actions that you propose. Now, that may be
small in number for a lot of people in this room, but I am one that
believes that the individual is all-important, not the mass.
Mr. DICKS. The gentleman has answered the question. Let me ask this.
If we are going to let a handful of people block this project, how are
we going to complete this immense effort? How are we going to get that
done if we cannot get this small initial project started?
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. I think there are different alternatives. I
think it can be done a different way. I am not convinced that this is
the perfect way of doing it, as I mentioned to you. As long as, in
fact, I have the opportunity to see a different way, I am going to try
to have that happen.
Now, I know the sincerity of the gentleman. I do not doubt that, but
I am not convinced that everybody is right in this issue. I have people
from Florida calling me, talking to me, asking me to do this. And very
frankly, just because there is 200 does not make the project that
important if they are going to be adversely affected.
Mr. DICKS. I definitely disagree with the gentleman.
Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula).
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I would just reiterate what I said
yesterday, that this is a major project. It is basically sold on the
fact that we will restore the Everglades as a great national monument
and part of our heritage, biological heritage. To not allow the
Secretary of Interior to have a voice in the management of this project
does not make any sense at all because it is fundamentally Interior. We
have put in a billion dollars thus far from Interior. We are going to
put 100 million in in this bill. And certainly the American people who
are putting up the money with their taxes are doing this not because
they care about Florida, but because they care about the Everglades. It
is a great natural asset.
Unfortunately, the language as it would be at the moment is that the
Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Development Association will
be calling the shots. And what is the key to all of this? Water. And,
therefore, the Secretary of Interior should have a voice in the access
to the water because that is the thing that makes the Everglades what
it is.
And, of course, on this land issue I thought that they had that
resolved in the 8.5 square miles because they changed it so that only a
limited number of houses are affected by it. But if we want to restore
the Everglades, and that has been the basic premise of which all this
has been done, we have to have the water and we have to have the
Secretary of Interior playing a role in management.
Mr. DICKS. I will just say the final thing since the gentleman has
covered
[[Page H4856]]
my second amendment, and I think the gentleman from Alaska will object
to both of them, I would let the gentleman now proceed with his point
of order which I will concede.
Point of Order
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Chairman, I raise a point of order.
This amendment violates clause 2 of rule XXI. It changes existing law
and, therefore, constitutes legislating on an appropriation bill in
violation of House rules.
The CHAIRMAN. Does any Member wish to be heard on the point of order?
If not, the Chair is prepared to rule.
The amendment waives existing law in violation of clause 2 of rule
XXI.
The point of order is sustained.
Amendment Offered by Mr. Flake
Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
The Clerk read as follows:
Amendment offered by Mr. Flake:
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the
following:
Sec. . None of the funds made available in this Act may be
used to provide any grant, loan, loan guarantee, contract, or
other assistance to any entity (including a State or
locality, but excluding any Federal entity) identified
specifically by name as the recipient in a report of the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives
or the Senate, or in a joint explanatory statement of the
committee of conference, accompanying this Act unless the
entity is also identified specifically by name as the
recipient in this Act.
Mr. DICKS. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman reserves a point of order.
The gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, this amendment is actually quite simple. We
have a situation in Congress now, we have been spending the last full
day, many, many hours trying to amend the Interior appropriations bill.
This is the bill. There are very strict limits on what we can amend and
what we can do because we can only amend the bill. The problem is most
of the spending is actually directed not on the bill itself but in the
committee report.
The committee report actually directs how a lot of the money is to be
spent. The hard marks are in the bill. The soft marks are in the
committee report.
The problem we have is once this bill passes through the House,
passes through the Senate, and then comes to a House-Senate conference,
we then have the bill which we in the House vote on and they vote on it
in the Senate, we have to go up or down. We cannot go in and amend
specific language. But, again, most of the spending is actually
directed, not then by a committee report, but by a conference report.
Ordinary run-of-the-mill Members, if you are not a member of Committee
on Appropriations, really do not have a chance to go in and amend some
of the most egregious pork barrel projects that are often part of the
bill. And there are some doozies. We hear about them all the time.
{time} 2030
We have little ability on the House floor either at this point or no
ability when we vote on the House-Senate conference report to actually
go in and amend and actually go to try to clean up some of these pork
barrel projects. What this amendment simply says is the executive
branch of government cannot spend money, cannot expend any of the money
appropriated in the bill that is not expressly contained in the bill.
This does not get rid of earmarks. Earmarks are an important part of
the congressional prerogative. The executive branch does not always
know the best way to spend money, and Congress has the prerogative to
direct that spending.
What this amendment simply says is that if we want to direct the
spending, if we want to earmark the spending, do so in the bill, not in
the conference report; and that will allow Members to go in and
actually take that money out or move it around and not be limited to
the very limited amount of money that we can actually direct or rescind
or move around in the bill. We have to remember, most of the money is
directed and earmarked through soft marks in the report language in the
committee and then the conference report.
I think this amendment is very simple. It actually would shine a lot
of sunshine on the process. This would allow Members of the House and
the Senate, not just those on the Committee on Appropriations, but
Members at large to actually go in and face that pork barrel spending
and actually do something about it, not just tell their constituents,
hey, I was forced with an up-or-down vote, I had to vote ``yes'' or I
had to vote ``no.''
That is the amendment and I urge my colleagues to support it.
Point of Order
Mr. DICKS. Mr. Chairman, I make a point of order against the
amendment, and I insist on my point of order because it proposes to
change existing law and imposes new duties and constitutes legislation
in an appropriation bill and, therefore, violates clause 2 of rule XXI.
The rule states in pertinent part, ``No amendment to a general
appropriation bill shall be in order if changing existing law the
amendment imposes additional duties.''
I ask for a ruling from the Chair.
The CHAIRMAN. Are there other Members who wish to be heard on the
point of order?
Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I wish to be heard on the point of order.
The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Arizona is recognized.
Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, as I understand the rules of the House, a
proposal constitutes legislating if it imposes an additional task or
new task on the executive branch or a government official, such as
having information that that government official does not currently
have.
I would inquire of the Chair, is that the correct understanding of
this provision?
The CHAIRMAN. The Chair is going to listen to arguments on the point
of order, and then the Chair is going to rule.
Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, the amendment I have proposed only requires
that a government official responsible for making grants or loans knows
what is in the appropriation bill. Now I think we assume that those on
the executive side actually read the bill. That is all that is required
here. When they read the bill, they will know if this is report
language or if it is language actually contained in the bill.
With this information, they are able to make that determination
simply by reading the bill. I do not see how this imposes a new task on
a government official.
If the Chair rules that my amendment is subject to a point of order
because it proposes a new duty, then the Chair is ruling that a
government official does not have the responsibility to actually read
the bill. That is, I think, the least we can expect of government
officials is that they actually read the bills that we pass.
I would submit that this should not be subject to a point of order.
It is inconceivable that this body is deciding that government
officials cannot actually read the report. I respectfully ask that the
Chair does not sustain the point of order.
The CHAIRMAN. Are there other Members who wish to be heard on the
point of order? If not, the Chair is prepared to rule.
The gentleman from Washington (Mr. Dicks) makes a point of order that
the amendment offered by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake) changes
existing law in violation of clause 2 of rule XXI.
The amendment in pertinent part would require the examination of
certain legislative reports to determine whether an entity is
specifically identified by name. As indicated on page 802 of the House
Rules and Manual, the burden is on the proponent of the amendment to
prove that the amendment does not change existing law. In this
instance, the proponent has been unable to prove the existence of a
requirement in law requiring the examination of legislative reports by
Federal agencies.
Accordingly, the point of order is sustained.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
(Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend
his remarks.)
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Chairman, I am in support of the proposed
interior appropriations, and I am including my statement in the Record
[[Page H4857]]
and also a letter from deputy assistant Secretary David Cohen.
Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from California, Congressman Darrell
Issa, has introduced two amendments to reduce considerably funding for
my district of American Samoa. It is my understanding that there has
been an exchange of communications between the Gentleman and the
Governor of American Samoa. Specifically the gentleman's constituent
has had an employment contract dispute with the American Samoa
Government, and this matter has been ongoing for almost two years now.
Mr. Chairman, it is my understanding the gentleman has withdrawn his
amendments, and that he will insert a statement for the record. I do
appreciate the fact that the gentleman has decided not to introduce his
amendments, but I would also like submit this statement to express my
concerns on the proposed amendments.
I can appreciate the gentleman's concerns for his constituent, and I
commend the gentleman for his efforts to look after the needs of his
constituent. And every member should follow his good example.
Mr. Chairman, my concern for these two amendments is that the
gentleman's constituent has not sought judicial adjudication for
whatever rights he felt were not fulfilled by the American Samoa
Government. To punish every man, woman, and child in my district by
reducing critically needed funding as the gentleman's amendments
proposed--is just simply unfair and not right.
This matter was never brought to the attention of the Interior
Appropriations Subcommittee, as well as the Full Appropriations
Committee. And the matter certainly has been reviewed by the
appropriate authorizing committees.
Mr. Chairman, we have the courts to deal with contractual disputes
between individuals and government entities. Our High Court in my
district is the proper forum for my colleague's constituent to pursue
his rights under the employment contract he agreed to with the American
Samoa Government.
I submit the American Samoa Government does have budgetary and fiscal
problems, but so does our federal government, the state of California
and all other states and other territorial governments. But this is not
an issue about fiscal management or mismanagement. It is an issue about
making sure the constitutional rights of my colleague's constituent are
protected. And I submit the constituent always was afforded an
opportunity to take the matter to court, but he did not. And for this
basic reason, my colleague's amendments are not in order and should not
be approved by this body.
U.S. Department of the Interior,
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY,
Washington, DC, July 16, 2002.
Hon. C.W. Bill Young,
Chairman, Committee on Appropriations, House of
Representatives, Washington, DC
Dear Mr. Chairman: It has come to our attention that two
amendments have been offered to the Department of the
Interior's appropriations bill that would limit grants to the
government of American Samoa for fiscal year 2003 to
$22,012,058 (under one proposed amendment) or $23,012,058
(under the other proposed amendment). As you know, a total of
$33,240,000 was earmarked for American Samoa's government
operations and capital improvement projects for fiscal year
2002, and the same amount was requested by the Administration
for these purposes for fiscal year 2003. Additionally,
approximately $2,100,000 in technical assistance grants is
provided to American Samoa through my office in a typical
year. Therefore, the more severe of the two proposed
amendments would have the effect of reducing appropriations
to American Samoa for fiscal year 2002 to fiscal year 2003 by
approximately $13,328,000 or by approximately 38%. Needless
to say, such a drastic reduction would jeopardize essential
projects that my office was supported for hospital
improvements, new classrooms, water and wastewater systems,
public safety equipment and other essential activities.
Either of the proposed amendments would likely have a
significant adverse impact on the health and safety of the
people of American Samoa.
Please feel free to contact me at my office at 208-4736
should you or your staff have any questions.
Sincerely,
David B. Cohen
Deputy Assistant Secretary, for Insular Affairs.
The CHAIRMAN. Are there further amendments?
Amendment Offered by Mr. Shadegg
The CHAIRMAN. The pending business is the demand for a recorded vote
on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Shadegg) on
which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes
prevailed by voice vote.
The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The Clerk designated the amendment.
Recorded Vote
The CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 153,
noes 269, not voting 12, as follows:
[Roll No. 317]
AYES--153
Aderholt
Akin
Armey
Bachus
Baker
Barr
Bartlett
Barton
Bilirakis
Blunt
Boehner
Boozman
Brady (TX)
Bryant
Burr
Burton
Buyer
Cannon
Cantor
Chabot
Chambliss
Coble
Collins
Combest
Condit
Cooksey
Cox
Crane
Cubin
Culberson
Cunningham
DeLay
DeMint
Diaz-Balart
Doolittle
Dreier
Duncan
Emerson
Everett
Flake
Fletcher
Foley
Forbes
Fossella
Gallegly
Ganske
Gibbons
Gilchrest
Gillmor
Goode
Goodlatte
Goss
Graham
Graves
Green (WI)
Grucci
Gutknecht
Hall (TX)
Hansen
Hart
Hastings (WA)
Hayworth
Hefley
Herger
Hilleary
Hoekstra
Horn
Hostettler
Hunter
Hyde
Issa
Istook
Jenkins
Johnson, Sam
Jones (NC)
Keller
Kennedy (MN)
Kerns
King (NY)
Kingston
Kirk
Kolbe
Latham
Lewis (KY)
Linder
Lucas (OK)
Manzullo
Matheson
McCrery
McInnis
Miller, Dan
Miller, Gary
Miller, Jeff
Moran (KS)
Myrick
Ney
Norwood
Nussle
Osborne
Ose
Otter
Paul
Pence
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Phelps
Pickering
Pitts
Pombo
Pryce (OH)
Putnam
Radanovich
Rehberg
Reynolds
Riley
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Ryun (KS)
Schaffer
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Shays
Sherwood
Shimkus
Shuster
Smith (MI)
Smith (TX)
Souder
Stearns
Stenholm
Stump
Sullivan
Tancredo
Tauzin
Taylor (NC)
Terry
Thornberry
Thune
Tiahrt
Toomey
Turner
Upton
Vitter
Watkins (OK)
Watts (OK)
Weldon (FL)
Weller
Wicker
Wilson (NM)
Wilson (SC)
NOES--269
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Allen
Andrews
Baca
Baird
Baldacci
Baldwin
Ballenger
Barcia
Barrett
Bass
Becerra
Bentsen
Berkley
Berman
Berry
Biggert
Bishop
Blumenauer
Boehlert
Bonilla
Bono
Borski
Boswell
Boucher
Boyd
Brady (PA)
Brown (FL)
Brown (OH)
Brown (SC)
Callahan
Calvert
Camp
Capito
Capps
Capuano
Cardin
Carson (IN)
Carson (OK)
Castle
Clay
Clayton
Clement
Clyburn
Conyers
Costello
Coyne
Cramer
Crenshaw
Crowley
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis (FL)
Davis (IL)
Davis, Jo Ann
Davis, Tom
Deal
DeFazio
DeGette
Delahunt
DeLauro
Deutsch
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Dooley
Doyle
Dunn
Edwards
Ehlers
Engel
English
Eshoo
Etheridge
Evans
Farr
Fattah
Ferguson
Filner
Ford
Frank
Frelinghuysen
Frost
Gekas
Gephardt
Gilman
Gonzalez
Gordon
Granger
Green (TX)
Greenwood
Gutierrez
Hall (OH)
Harman
Hastings (FL)
Hayes
Hill
Hilliard
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hobson
Hoeffel
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hooley
Houghton
Hoyer
Hulshof
Inslee
Isakson
Israel
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
John
Johnson (CT)
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, E. B.
Jones (OH)
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kelly
Kennedy (RI)
Kildee
Kilpatrick
Kind (WI)
Kleczka
Knollenberg
Kucinich
LaFalce
LaHood
Lampson
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
LaTourette
Leach
Lee
Levin
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (GA)
LoBiondo
Lofgren
Lowey
Lucas (KY)
Luther
Lynch
Maloney (CT)
Maloney (NY)
Markey
Matsui
McCarthy (MO)
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McIntyre
McKeon
McKinney
McNulty
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Menendez
Mica
Millender-McDonald
Miller, George
Mink
Mollohan
Moore
Moran (VA)
Morella
Murtha
Napolitano
Neal
Nethercutt
Northup
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Ortiz
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Payne
Pelosi
Peterson (MN)
Platts
Pomeroy
Portman
Price (NC)
Quinn
Rahall
Ramstad
Rangel
Regula
Reyes
Rivers
Rodriguez
Roemer
Rogers (KY)
Ros-Lehtinen
Ross
Rothman
Roukema
Roybal-Allard
Rush
Sabo
Sanchez
Sanders
Sandlin
Sawyer
Saxton
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schrock
Scott
Serrano
Shaw
Sherman
Shows
Simmons
Simpson
Skeen
Skelton
Slaughter
Smith (NJ)
Smith (WA)
Snyder
Solis
Spratt
Stark
Strickland
Stupak
Sununu
Sweeney
Tanner
Tauscher
Taylor (MS)
Thomas
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Thurman
Tiberi
Tierney
[[Page H4858]]
Towns
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walden
Walsh
Wamp
Waters
Watson (CA)
Watt (NC)
Waxman
Weiner
Weldon (PA)
Wexler
Whitfield
Wolf
Woolsey
Wu
Wynn
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
NOT VOTING--12
Bereuter
Blagojevich
Bonior
Ehrlich
Lantos
Lipinski
Mascara
McHugh
Meehan
Nadler
Oxley
Traficant
{time} 2058
Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. QUINN, Ms. McCOLLUM, Ms. JACKSON-LEE
of Texas, Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia, and Mr. LUTHER changed their
vote from ``aye'' to ``no.''
Mr. SHAYS changed his vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
So the amendment was rejected.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
{time} 2100
Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last
word.
Mr. Chairman, it has been a long couple of days for all of us, and we
are coming to the end of the Department of Interior appropriations
bill, which will be the last appropriations bill with the gentleman
from New Mexico (Mr. Skeen) as the chairman of a subcommittee of this
House.
Whenever I walk through the halls of the House and I pass by the
statue of Will Rogers, I always think of Joe because Will Rogers is
such a wonderful, funny man with a dry sense of humor who loved his
country. Joe Skeen is the same kind of guy. He is a gentleman with a
dry sense of humor, almost as dry as New Mexico this year. He loves his
country, he loves this House; and he has served it well. I think we
should all show our thanks to the gentleman from New Mexico.
Mr. SKEEN. Mr. Chairman, will the gentlewoman yield?
Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico. I yield to the gentleman from New Mexico.
Mr. SKEEN. Mr. Chairman, I thank the Members. Now sit down and go to
work.
The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will read.
The Clerk read as follows:
This Act may be cited as the ``Department of the Interior
and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2003''.
Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Chairman, this is a good bill. I support
it, and urge its passage by the House.
This bill is important for the whole country, of course, but it is
particularly important for Colorado and other states that include large
amounts of federal lands.
So, I am very appreciative of the hard work of Chairman Joe Skeen,
ranking Member Norm Dicks, and the other members of the Interior
Subcommittee as well as Chairman Young and ranking Member Obey of the
full Appropriations Committee.
In particular, I want to thank them for including in the bill $700
million in Fiscal Year 2002 emergency firefighting funds. As we in
Colorado are all too aware, the combination of serious drought
conditions and the results of a century's policy of suppressing all
fires on federal lands has produced a series of extreme wildfires that
have threatened the lives and property of thousands of people in our
state and elsewhere.
As a result, the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and other
federal land-managing agencies have exhausted the funds budget for
firefighting and have had to divert money from other important purposes
to respond to the emergency conditions.
That was why last month, along with my Colorado colleagues,
Representative Hefley, Representative DeGette, and Representative
Tancredo, and my cousin, Representative Tom Udall of New Mexico, I
wrote to Chairman Young and Mr. Obey, urging that the agencies be
provided with emergency supplemental firefighting funds.
I thought then--and still think--that the best way to accomplish this
would be to include the funds in the conference report on the emergency
supplemental bill already passed in both Chambers. However, I
understand that the Administration opposes that idea and therefore as
an alternative the money has been included in this bill. I certainly
support that, although I am concerned that the result may be to
unnecessarily delay the provision of these vitally-needed funds to the
agencies.
I also want to express my appreciation for inclusion of the bill of
$4 million to enable the Forest Service to continue acquiring lands in
the Beaver Brook area of Clear Creek County, in Colorado's Second
Congressional District.
This tract encompasses almost the entire watershed of Beaver Brook,
which flows into Clear Creek. the city of Golden originally acquired
the lands as a potential source of water. However, it now wants to sell
the lands so it can use the money for pressing municipal needs.
The Beaver Brook lands, nearly 6,000 acres in all, are important elk
habitat and include pristine riparian areas and ponderosa pine stands
that are comparatively rare in this part of Colorado. The tract also is
a key part of a corridor of open and undeveloped lands linking the
alpine terrain of the Mount Evans Wilderness with the foothills and
piedmont of the Front Range area. In short, these lands provide scenic,
recreational, and wildlife resources that are important to all
Coloradans, and it is very important that they remain undeveloped--
especially because our population growth is leading to increasing
development throughout this part of the state.
The City of Golden--the property owner--is willing to sell the lands
to the federal government so they can be added to the national forest.
Clear Creek County, where the lands are located, also supports that
acquisition, and the Forest Service has identified it as a high
regional priority. The acquisition is also supported by a wide range of
other individuals and groups in Colorado--and here in Washington,
Representative Tancredo and I have been working together on the idea as
well.
Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a ceremony marking
transfer of part of the lands to the United States for inclusion in the
Arapaho National Forest. The funds provided in this bill will help
maintain momentum as we move toward completion of this important
acquisition.
The bill also includes a number of other items of particular
importance to Colorado, including money for construction work at Rocky
Mountain National Park and the Great Sand Dunes National Monument,
funds to make the land acquisition that will set the stage for
upgrading the Great Sand Dunes to National Park status, and funds for
important work to further the protection of endangered species and the
sound management of our natural resources.
Of course, no bill is perfect. But this bill is a good one and I urge
its passage.
Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Chairman, today I voted for the Appropriations
Bill for the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies for the
year FY 2003. It is not a perfect bill, but it includes many provisions
that are important for Oregon and the rest of the country.
The bill appropriates a total of $20.4 billion, which includes an
important $700 million for emergency fire fighting in the West. The
bill includes an increase in funding over both the President's request
and the appropriation for last year for important programs within the
Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service. The bill also
increases funding for the National Parks Service, which has a
tremendous responsibility as caretaker of some or our nation's most
valued natural, cultural, and historic resources that draw nearly 300
million visitors annually. I was also pleased to vote for a bill that
provides $1.4 billion for conservation programs, $120 million more than
what President Bush recommended. Finally, on the 100-year anniversary
of the National Wildlife Refuge system, the bill provided a $60 million
increase for the refuge system to $458 million.
I was pleased that the bill also provides funding for programs that
are crucial to Oregon. We were able to secure $10 million and $2.5
million to purchase land from willing sellers in the Columbia River
Gorge and the Sandy River watershed, respectively. The bill increases
funding to help fish in the Pacific Northwest, providing $4 million for
fish screens and $20 million for additional fish passage projects. It
also provides $500,000 for the Columbia River Estuary Research program
at the OGI School of Science and Engineering.
This bill was also improved on the floor. Amendments on the floor
increased funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities that
will help improve our federal commitment to the arts, which make a
community vibrant, unique and lively. On the floor the House also voted
to increase funding for the Energy Star Program and to prohibit funding
for new oil drilling activity on the coast of California. Finally,
adjustments were made to the bill on the floor to remove provisions
that would be at best troubling, and possibly destructive to, the
Native American community. More importantly, a strong commitment was
made by the appropriators and members to work together to fashion a
solution to the long ignored Native American trust issues.
Unfortunately, an amendment I introduced that would have helped
improve the situation in the Klamath Basin did not pass. The amendment
would have help solveed the inherent conflicting priorities and
competition over scarce basin water by farmers, endangered species,
wildlife refuges, and Native Americans. The amendment would have also
helped make farming on the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake Wildlife Refuges
more consistent with farming on other refuges around the country by
prohibiting new leases from
[[Page H4859]]
growing row crops or alfalfa. I pledge to continue to work with my
colleagues in Oregon and California to address the shortage of water
and habitat degradation in the Klamath basin.
Overall, I believe this is a good bill for Oregon and for the United
States.
Mr. HOLT. Mr. Chairman, as a Member of the National Parks
Subcommittee in Congress, I have made the protection of our National
Parks one of my priorities in Congress. Our National Parks are our
national treasures, and belong to each and every American.
Each year millions of American families enjoy the fresh air, natural
splendor, and diverse wildlife of our National Parks. If we are to
preserve our Parks for future generations, however, we must invest the
resources necessary for their continued preservation and maintenance.
Due to a lack of funds, many of our parks suffer from inadequate
sewer systems, poor and deteriorating facilities, and an insufficient
number of park rangers. In addition to damaging the parks themselves,
these conditions detract from the experience that visitors take away
with them.
Yellowstone National Park, the world's first National Park and one of
my favorites, is representative of this problem. Created to preserve
its unique geothermal features, Yellowstone currently lacks a geologist
on staff to monitor and protect the park's geysers and ``underground
plumbing.''
Yellowstone, and the rest of or nation's treasures, deserve better.
Earlier this year I joined 83 of my colleagues urging a significantly
higher increase for the operations of the National Parks than provided
in the bill we are debating today. But, given the funding constraints
placed on the Committee, this bill takes a big step in the right
direction to address the significant operating shortfalls facing our
nation's parks. Because of this I would like to applaud the efforts of
the committee. As the bill moves to Conference, it is critical that at
a minimum, we hold the line on funding provided in this bill, and even
do better.
The CHAIRMAN. Are there any further amendments?
If not, under the rule, the Committee rises.
Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr.
Isakson) having assumed the chair, Mr. Simpson, Chairman of the
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, reported that
that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5093)
making appropriations for the Department of the Interior and related
agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2003, and for other
purposes, pursuant to House Resolution 483, he reported the bill, as
amended pursuant to that rule, back to the House with sundry further
amendments adopted by the Committee of the Whole.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the rule, the previous question is
ordered.
Is a separate vote demanded on any amendment? If not, the Chair will
put them en gros.
The amendments were agreed to.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the engrossment and third
reading of the bill.
The bill 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 bill.
Under clause 10 of rule XX, the yeas and nays are ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 377,
nays 46, not voting 11, as follows:
[Roll No. 318]
YEAS--377
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Aderholt
Allen
Andrews
Armey
Baca
Bachus
Baird
Baker
Baldacci
Baldwin
Ballenger
Barcia
Barrett
Bartlett
Bass
Becerra
Bentsen
Berkley
Berman
Biggert
Bilirakis
Bishop
Blumenauer
Blunt
Boehlert
Boehner
Bonilla
Bono
Boozman
Borski
Boucher
Boyd
Brady (PA)
Brady (TX)
Brown (FL)
Brown (OH)
Brown (SC)
Bryant
Burr
Burton
Buyer
Callahan
Calvert
Camp
Cannon
Cantor
Capito
Capps
Cardin
Carson (IN)
Carson (OK)
Castle
Chambliss
Clay
Clayton
Clement
Clyburn
Coble
Combest
Condit
Conyers
Cooksey
Costello
Coyne
Cramer
Crenshaw
Crowley
Cubin
Culberson
Cummings
Cunningham
Davis (CA)
Davis (FL)
Davis (IL)
Davis, Jo Ann
Davis, Tom
Deal
DeFazio
DeGette
Delahunt
DeLauro
DeLay
Deutsch
Diaz-Balart
Dicks
Dingell
Dooley
Doolittle
Doyle
Dreier
Dunn
Edwards
Ehlers
Ehrlich
Engel
English
Eshoo
Etheridge
Evans
Everett
Farr
Fattah
Ferguson
Filner
Fletcher
Foley
Forbes
Ford
Fossella
Frank
Frelinghuysen
Frost
Gallegly
Ganske
Gekas
Gephardt
Gilchrest
Gillmor
Gilman
Gonzalez
Goodlatte
Gordon
Goss
Graham
Granger
Green (TX)
Greenwood
Grucci
Gutierrez
Hall (OH)
Hall (TX)
Hansen
Harman
Hart
Hastings (FL)
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Hayworth
Herger
Hill
Hilleary
Hilliard
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hobson
Hoeffel
Hoekstra
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hooley
Horn
Houghton
Hoyer
Hulshof
Hunter
Hyde
Inslee
Isakson
Israel
Issa
Istook
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
Jenkins
John
Johnson (CT)
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, E. B.
Johnson, Sam
Jones (OH)
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Keller
Kelly
Kennedy (MN)
Kennedy (RI)
Kildee
Kilpatrick
Kind (WI)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kirk
Kleczka
Knollenberg
Kolbe
Kucinich
LaFalce
LaHood
Lampson
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Latham
LaTourette
Leach
Lee
Levin
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (GA)
Lewis (KY)
Linder
LoBiondo
Lofgren
Lowey
Lucas (KY)
Lucas (OK)
Luther
Lynch
Maloney (CT)
Maloney (NY)
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy (MO)
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McCrery
McDermott
McGovern
McInnis
McIntyre
McKeon
McKinney
McNulty
Meehan
Meek (FL)
Menendez
Mica
Millender-McDonald
Miller, Dan
Miller, George
Mink
Mollohan
Moore
Moran (KS)
Moran (VA)
Morella
Murtha
Napolitano
Neal
Nethercutt
Ney
Northup
Norwood
Nussle
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Ortiz
Osborne
Ose
Otter
Owens
Oxley
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Payne
Pelosi
Peterson (MN)
Peterson (PA)
Phelps
Pickering
Platts
Pombo
Pomeroy
Portman
Price (NC)
Pryce (OH)
Putnam
Quinn
Radanovich
Rahall
Ramstad
Rangel
Regula
Rehberg
Reyes
Reynolds
Riley
Rivers
Rodriguez
Roemer
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Ros-Lehtinen
Ross
Rothman
Roukema
Roybal-Allard
Rush
Sabo
Sanchez
Sanders
Sandlin
Sawyer
Saxton
Schaffer
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schrock
Scott
Serrano
Shaw
Shays
Sherman
Sherwood
Shimkus
Shows
Shuster
Simmons
Simpson
Skeen
Skelton
Slaughter
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Smith (WA)
Snyder
Solis
Souder
Spratt
Stark
Stenholm
Strickland
Stump
Stupak
Sullivan
Sununu
Sweeney
Tancredo
Tanner
Tauscher
Tauzin
Taylor (MS)
Taylor (NC)
Thomas
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Thornberry
Thune
Thurman
Tiberi
Tierney
Towns
Turner
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Upton
Velazquez
Visclosky
Vitter
Walden
Walsh
Wamp
Waters
Watkins (OK)
Watson (CA)
Watt (NC)
Watts (OK)
Waxman
Weiner
Weldon (PA)
Weller
Wexler
Whitfield
Wicker
Wilson (NM)
Wolf
Woolsey
Wu
Wynn
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
NAYS--46
Akin
Barr
Barton
Berry
Boswell
Capuano
Chabot
Collins
Cox
Crane
DeMint
Doggett
Duncan
Emerson
Flake
Gibbons
Goode
Graves
Green (WI)
Gutknecht
Hefley
Hostettler
Jones (NC)
Kerns
Manzullo
Miller, Gary
Miller, Jeff
Myrick
Paul
Pence
Petri
Pitts
Rohrabacher
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Ryun (KS)
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Smith (MI)
Stearns
Terry
Tiahrt
Toomey
Weldon (FL)
Wilson (SC)
NOT VOTING--11
Bereuter
Blagojevich
Bonior
Lantos
Lipinski
Markey
Mascara
McHugh
Meeks (NY)
Nadler
Traficant
{time} 2124
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina changed his vote from ``yea'' to
``nay.''
So the bill was passed.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________