[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 36 (Thursday, March 6, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H1652-H1653]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MOTION TO ADJOURN
Mr. COOPER. Mr. Speaker, I offer a privileged motion.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion.
The Clerk read as follows:
Mr. Cooper moves that the House do now adjourn.
Mr. COOPER. Mr. Speaker, I am an unlikely radical. I called for a
motion to adjourn today, that disrupted normal House business, in order
to highlight one of the smelliest pieces of legislation in recent
memory. Sunshine is the best disinfectant, and this bill, although it
is labeled as helpful to our military men and women, needs lots of
sunshine and lots of disinfectant so that a new, improved bill can be
truly helpful to our military.
I felt compelled to rise in reluctant opposition to H. Res. 126 and
H.R. 878, the rule for debate and the ``Armed Forces Tax Fairness
Act.'' I am one of the strongest supporters of our National Guard and
Reserve, but this bill is not good enough for them. It only grants a
tiny fraction of the tax relief that our Guard and Reserve deserve, and
it is a bill loaded with special interest provisions that have nothing
to do with the Guard and Reserve,
Fortunately, the Republicans have now pulled the bill from the floor
because I think they were beginning to notice the stink that their
legislation was causing. I hope that we will vote on an improved bill
very soon because our service men and women deserve a clean, strong
bill to give them tax relief now.
Newspapers across the nation have denounced H.R. 878 with headlines
such as, ``Help Soldiers, Not Gamblers,'' but many members still feel
compelled to vote for it on final passage because it does still contain
some relief for our men and women in uniform. That is a devil's
bargain. We should not be blackmailed into accepting special interest
tax provisions just because they are packaged with all too meager tax
breaks for our Guard and Reserved. Especially in a time of war, the
U.S. House of Representatives should honor and reward our Guard and
Reserve, and not limit their benefits as this bill does. Above all we
should not load it with lobbyists' dream lists of special interest tax
provisions, such as a tax relief for foreign gamblers.
The Republicans majority are using our Guard and Reserve as human
shields for their special interests selfishness. They should have
allowed a substitute to be offered so that Congress could vote for
either their bill, with $189 million in tax benefits for our Guard and
Reserve over 10 years, or the Democrats and Senate Finance Committee
bills with $851 in tax relief for our troopers. A fair vote on these
two bills was denied the House, under the rule, H. Res. 126, and that's
why I am opposing not only the bill but also the rule.
Who would have thought that the Republican majority would add tax
breaks for foreigners who bet on U.S. horse races to the bill, or tax
relief for bow and arrow manufacturers, or tax breaks for mixing diesel
fuel with water. These provisions should be considered separately, not
in legislation whose title is the ``Armed Forces Tax Fairness Act.''
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to adjourn
offered by the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cooper).
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the noes appeared to have it.
Recorded Vote
Mr. COOPER. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 63,
noes 358, answered ``present'' 1, not voting 12, as follows:
[Roll No. 48]
AYES--63
Allen
Andrews
Ballance
Berry
Brown (OH)
Capuano
Cardoza
Carson (IN)
Clay
Cooper
Crowley
Dingell
Doggett
Evans
Farr
Filner
Ford
Frank (MA)
Grijalva
Hastings (FL)
Hinchey
Honda
Hoyer
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Johnson, E. B.
Jones (OH)
Kucinich
Lantos
Larsen (WA)
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lynch
Markey
McDermott
McGovern
McNulty
Miller (NC)
Miller, George
Moran (VA)
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Owens
Pallone
Pastor
Pelosi
Price (NC)
Rangel
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sabo
Schakowsky
Schiff
Stark
Tanner
Taylor (MS)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Towns
Velazquez
Woolsey
NOES--358
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Baca
Bachus
Baird
Baker
Baldwin
Ballenger
Barrett (SC)
Bartlett (MD)
Barton (TX)
Bass
Beauprez
Becerra
Bell
Bereuter
Berkley
Berman
Biggert
Bilirakis
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Bishop (UT)
Blackburn
Blumenauer
Blunt
Boehlert
Boehner
Bonilla
Bonner
Bono
Boozman
Boswell
Boucher
Boyd
Bradley (NH)
Brady (PA)
Brady (TX)
Brown (SC)
Brown, Corrine
Brown-Waite, Ginny
Burgess
Burns
Burr
Burton (IN)
Buyer
Calvert
Camp
Cannon
Cantor
Capito
Capps
Cardin
Carson (OK)
Carter
Case
Castle
Chabot
Chocola
Clyburn
Coble
Cole
Collins
Combest
Costello
Cox
Cramer
Crane
Crenshaw
Cummings
Cunningham
Davis (AL)
Davis (CA)
Davis (FL)
Davis (IL)
Davis (TN)
Davis, Jo Ann
Davis, Tom
Deal (GA)
DeFazio
DeGette
Delahunt
DeLauro
DeLay
DeMint
Deutsch
Diaz-Balart, L.
Diaz-Balart, M.
Dicks
Dooley (CA)
Doolittle
Doyle
Dreier
Duncan
Dunn
Edwards
Ehlers
Emanuel
Emerson
Engel
English
Eshoo
Everett
Fattah
Feeney
Ferguson
Flake
Fletcher
Foley
Forbes
Fossella
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Frost
Gallegly
Garrett (NJ)
Gerlach
Gibbons
Gilchrest
Gillmor
Gingrey
Gonzalez
Goode
Goodlatte
Gordon
Goss
Granger
Graves
Green (TX)
Green (WI)
Greenwood
Gutierrez
Gutknecht
Hall
Harman
Harris
Hart
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Hayworth
Hefley
Hensarling
Herger
Hill
Hinojosa
Hobson
[[Page H1653]]
Hoeffel
Hoekstra
Holden
Holt
Hooley (OR)
Hostettler
Houghton
Hulshof
Hyde
Inslee
Isakson
Israel
Issa
Istook
Janklow
Jefferson
Jenkins
John
Johnson (CT)
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, Sam
Jones (NC)
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Keller
Kelly
Kennedy (MN)
Kennedy (RI)
Kildee
Kilpatrick
Kind
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kirk
Kleczka
Kline
Knollenberg
Kolbe
LaHood
Lampson
Langevin
Larson (CT)
Latham
LaTourette
Leach
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (KY)
Linder
Lipinski
LoBiondo
Lofgren
Lowey
Lucas (KY)
Majette
Maloney
Manzullo
Marshall
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy (MO)
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McCotter
McCrery
McHugh
McInnis
McIntyre
McKeon
Meehan
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Menendez
Mica
Michaud
Millender-McDonald
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Mollohan
Moore
Moran (KS)
Murphy
Murtha
Musgrave
Myrick
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal (MA)
Nethercutt
Ney
Northup
Norwood
Nunes
Nussle
Ortiz
Osborne
Ose
Otter
Oxley
Pascrell
Payne
Pearce
Pence
Peterson (MN)
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Pickering
Pitts
Platts
Pombo
Pomeroy
Porter
Portman
Pryce (OH)
Putnam
Quinn
Radanovich
Rahall
Ramstad
Regula
Rehberg
Renzi
Reyes
Reynolds
Rodriguez
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Ross
Rothman
Roybal-Allard
Royce
Ruppersberger
Ryan (WI)
Ryun (KS)
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sanders
Sandlin
Saxton
Schrock
Scott (GA)
Scott (VA)
Sensenbrenner
Serrano
Sessions
Shadegg
Shaw
Shays
Sherman
Sherwood
Shimkus
Shuster
Simmons
Simpson
Skelton
Slaughter
Smith (MI)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Smith (WA)
Solis
Souder
Spratt
Stearns
Stenholm
Strickland
Sullivan
Sweeney
Tancredo
Tauscher
Tauzin
Taylor (NC)
Terry
Thomas
Thompson (CA)
Thornberry
Tiahrt
Tiberi
Toomey
Turner (OH)
Turner (TX)
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Upton
Visclosky
Vitter
Walden (OR)
Walsh
Wamp
Waters
Watson
Watt
Waxman
Weiner
Weldon (FL)
Weldon (PA)
Weller
Whitfield
Wicker
Wilson (NM)
Wilson (SC)
Wolf
Wu
Wynn
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--1
Paul
NOT VOTING--12
Conyers
Cubin
Culberson
Etheridge
Gephardt
Hunter
Lucas (OK)
Ros-Lehtinen
Snyder
Stupak
Van Hollen
Wexler
Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Calvert) (during the vote). Members are
reminded that there are 2 minutes remaining in this vote.
{time} 1151
Mr. HONDA and Mr. SCHIFF changed their vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
So the motion to adjourn was rejected.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
____________________