[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 26, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H216-H219]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Chairman, I would like to inform you that I was
absent for rollcall vote No. 10 and rollcall vote No. 11 on January 26,
2005. These votes were on amendments to H.R. 54, the Congressional Gold
Medal Enhancement Act of 2005.
I respectfully request that it be entered into the Congressional
Record that if present, I would have voted: Rollcall vote No. 10, on
the Crowley amendment--``no''; rollcall vote No. 11, on the Crowley
amendment--``no.''
The CHAIRMAN. Under the rule, the Committee rises.
Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr.
Terry) having assumed the chair, Mr. LaHood, 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. 54) to amend
title 31, United States Code, to provide reasonable standards for
congressional gold medals, and for other purposes, pursuant to House
Resolution 42, he reported the bill back to the House with an amendment
adopted by the Committee of the Whole.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the rule, the previous question is
ordered.
The question is on the amendment.
The amendment was 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.
Motion to Recommit Offered by Mr. Crowley
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is the gentleman opposed to the bill?
Mr. CROWLEY. Yes, I am opposed to the bill in its current form.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion to
recommit.
The Clerk read as follows:
Mr. Crowley of New York moves to recommit the bill, H.R.
54, to the Committee on Financial Services with instructions
to report the same to the House forthwith with the following
amendment:
Page 2, strike line 7 and all that follows through line 19
and insert the following new paragraph:
``(2) Program requirement.--The Secretary may not strike a
congressional gold medal for presentation posthumously on
behalf of any individual except during the 20-year period
beginning 5 years after the death of the individual (unless
the Act of Congress authorizing the striking of such medal
was enacted before the death of such individual).''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley) is
recognized for 5 minutes.
{time} 1230
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, today we begin the 109th Congress in
earnest, and we do so by considering a bill that we do not need to act
on for a problem that, in our view and in the view of many of my
colleagues, simply does not exist. We considered this bill today not in
the spirit of openness and bipartisanship that should categorize the
democratic debate in the House, but with a restrictive rule that did
not allow us to have a debate on a key issue: whether one of the
highest honors that can be bestowed upon citizens of our country for
their extraordinary deeds, a Congressional Gold Medal, can be awarded
to one individual or more for their collective honorable or heroic
actions.
Mr. Speaker, if this bill passes in its current form, not only would
it limit medals to two per year, but it would prevent the House of
Representatives and the Senate from awarding medals in the future to
any group of individuals for their collective heroic deeds,
[[Page H217]]
such as those of the hundreds of first responders that perished in the
9/11 terrorist attacks.
I am puzzled why we would act to impose such limits on our own
ability to recognize the accomplishments of the citizens that we are
elected to represent. And I am even more puzzled that we would fix a
process that is not broken, that is bipartisan in nature, and that
works remarkably well for all Members.
The bipartisan process we have in place has allowed us to honor the
Reverend Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King; Nancy and Ronald
Reagan; Betty and Gerald Ford; Pope John Paul II; the Little Rock Nine;
the leaders of Brown v. The Board of Education; Jackie Robinson; civil
rights leader Dorothy Height; the Navajo Code Talkers; General Henry
Shelton; Charles Schulz; John Cardinal O'Connor, Archbishop of New
York; Father Theodore Hesburgh; Rosa Parks; Nelson Mandela; Mother
Teresa; Frank Sinatra; Ruth and Billy Graham; Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew; British Prime Minister Tony Blair; and others.
But under this bill, Mr. Speaker, we may not be able to honor Nancy
and Ronald Reagan jointly, nor Betty and Gerald Ford jointly, nor
Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King jointly, nor the Little Rock
Nine, nor the Navajo Code Talkers. And under this bill my colleague,
the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee), will be prevented from
honoring the fallen astronauts from the space shuttle Columbia.
In the 108th Congress the gentlewoman from Texas worked hard to gain
the requisite two-thirds cosponsorship of the House for a bill that
would honor these fallen American heroes posthumously with the
Congressional Gold Medal. It is only right that the rule of the House
be honored and that her hard-won efforts be not undone by this bill.
Since the majority party gained control of this House in 1995, 20
gold medals have been enacted into law either to an individual or a
group of individuals. Using the process we currently have in place, 10
gold medal bills out of 20 were sponsored by Republican Members, and 10
were sponsored by Democratic Members. How can anyone possibly argue
that the existing process does not work? We are fixing something that
simply is not broken.
Unfortunately, the bipartisan spirit that has characterized the
House's consideration of gold medals in the past has not carried over
to the debate on this bill. Not only did we do not have an open rule,
but today represents the first time this House is debating this issue
in any form. The committee responsible for legislation on this bill,
the Committee on Financial Services, on which I serve, has not held a
single hearing on this bill, let alone a markup.
The limited debate over this bill on the House floor may culminate in
the passing of a bad bill, unless my colleagues join me in voting in
favor of sending this bill back to committee, where we can have a
meaningful debate, and where we can determine whether limiting gold
medals is truly in the interest of the public and in the interest of
the House.
Mr. Speaker, the House has become the 109th Congress on a bad note:
We are considering a bill with almost no meaningful debate, and it
proposes to represent a solution to a problem that simply does not
exist, a problem the record shows does not exist. Does this action
foretell what lies ahead in terms of the existence of bipartisanship
throughout this Congress?
I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the right
thing, to vote in favor of my motion to recommit this bill back to the
Committee on Financial Services and to allow this House to take a
closer look at this legislation to determine whether it really meets
the interests of the American people.
Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion to
recommit.
(Mr. OXLEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. OXLEY. First of all, Mr. Speaker, let me point out that this is a
motion with instructions, so it does not go back to the Committee on
Financial Services, it would automatically come back to the floor.
Secondly, I want to applaud the gentleman from Delaware, who
sponsored this legislation. The concept behind the gold medal, the
highest award that the Congress can provide, has historically been
given, historically, to an individual. The first individual was George
Washington, even before the Declaration of Independence. Historically
that was the case.
In the first 123 years of the existence of our country, only 45
medals were given out, all of them to individuals. Since that time, we
have had a tenfold increase in the next subsequent 100 years. And the
gentleman from Delaware is right, we need to reform the system.
There is bipartisanship in the existing system because it involves
290 cosponsors, so everybody gets an opportunity to weigh in on the
importance of the medal. There is an opportunity now with commemorative
coins to honor groups as opposed to the individual medal. So the
gentleman from Delaware needs to be congratulated on forward-looking
reforms, just as he did in the commemorative coin program.
This is an effort, really, to gut these reforms, this so-called
motion to recommit, and that is why I oppose it. We had extensive
debate during general debate, as well as the two amendments offered by
my friend from New York, and so I would ask that the motion to recommit
be defeated; that we pass this legislation; and then get on to the work
of defining two medals each year, a maximum of two medals each year,
four for the Congress, to honor individuals who have had extraordinary
contributions to our country.
Let us go back to what the original intent of the Founding Fathers
was in this gold medal. I think it is important to do so.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Terry). Without objection, the previous
question is ordered on the motion to recommit.
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to recommit.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the noes appeared to have it.
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XX, the Chair
will reduce to 5 minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote on
the question of passage.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 187,
nays 217, not voting 29, as follows:
[Roll No. 12]
YEAS--187
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Allen
Andrews
Baca
Baldwin
Barrow
Bean
Becerra
Berman
Berry
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Boren
Boswell
Boucher
Boyd
Brady (PA)
Brown (OH)
Brown, Corrine
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Cardin
Cardoza
Carnahan
Carson
Case
Chandler
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Conyers
Cooper
Costello
Cramer
Crowley
Cuellar
Davis (AL)
Davis (CA)
Davis (IL)
Davis (TN)
DeGette
DeLauro
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Edwards
Emanuel
Engel
Eshoo
Etheridge
Evans
Farr
Fattah
Filner
Ford
Gonzalez
Gordon
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Harman
Hastings (FL)
Herseth
Higgins
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hooley
Hoyer
Inslee
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
Johnson, E. B.
Jones (OH)
Kanjorski
Kennedy (RI)
Kildee
Kilpatrick (MI)
Kind
Kucinich
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lipinski
Lofgren, Zoe
Lowey
Lynch
Maloney
Markey
Marshall
Matheson
McCarthy
McCollum (MN)
McDermott
McGovern
McIntyre
McKinney
McNulty
Meehan
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Melancon
Menendez
Michaud
Millender-McDonald
Miller (NC)
Miller, George
Mollohan
Moore (KS)
Moore (WI)
Murtha
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal (MA)
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Ortiz
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Payne
Pelosi
Peterson (MN)
Price (NC)
Rahall
Rangel
Reyes
Ross
Rothman
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sabo
Salazar
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sanders
Schakowsky
Schwartz (PA)
Scott (GA)
Scott (VA)
Serrano
Sherman
Skelton
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Snyder
Solis
Spratt
Stark
Strickland
Stupak
Tanner
Tauscher
Taylor (MS)
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Towns
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Van Hollen
Velazquez
Visclosky
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
[[Page H218]]
Watson
Watt
Waxman
Weiner
Wexler
Woolsey
Wu
Wynn
NAYS--217
Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Bachus
Baker
Barrett (SC)
Bartlett (MD)
Barton (TX)
Bass
Beauprez
Biggert
Bishop (UT)
Blunt
Boehlert
Boehner
Bonilla
Bonner
Boozman
Boustany
Bradley (NH)
Brady (TX)
Brown (SC)
Brown-Waite, Ginny
Burgess
Buyer
Calvert
Camp
Cannon
Cantor
Capito
Carter
Castle
Chabot
Chocola
Coble
Cole (OK)
Conaway
Cox
Crenshaw
Cubin
Culberson
Cummings
Cunningham
Davis (KY)
Davis, Jo Ann
Davis, Tom
Deal (GA)
DeLay
Dent
Diaz-Balart, L.
Diaz-Balart, M.
Doolittle
Drake
Dreier
Duncan
Emerson
English (PA)
Everett
Feeney
Ferguson
Fitzpatrick (PA)
Flake
Forbes
Fortenberry
Fossella
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Garrett (NJ)
Gerlach
Gibbons
Gilchrest
Gillmor
Gingrey
Gohmert
Goode
Goodlatte
Green (WI)
Gutknecht
Hall
Harris
Hart
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Hayworth
Hefley
Hensarling
Herger
Hobson
Hoekstra
Hostettler
Hulshof
Hunter
Hyde
Inglis (SC)
Issa
Istook
Jindal
Johnson (CT)
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, Sam
Jones (NC)
Keller
Kelly
Kennedy (MN)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kirk
Kline
Knollenberg
Kolbe
Kuhl (NY)
LaHood
Latham
LaTourette
Leach
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (KY)
Linder
LoBiondo
Lucas
Lungren, Daniel E.
Mack
Marchant
McCaul (TX)
McCrery
McHenry
McHugh
McKeon
McMorris
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Moran (KS)
Murphy
Musgrave
Myrick
Neugebauer
Ney
Northup
Norwood
Nunes
Nussle
Osborne
Otter
Oxley
Paul
Pearce
Pence
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Pickering
Pitts
Platts
Poe
Pombo
Pomeroy
Porter
Portman
Price (GA)
Pryce (OH)
Putnam
Radanovich
Ramstad
Regula
Rehberg
Reichert
Renzi
Reynolds
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Ros-Lehtinen
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Ryun (KS)
Saxton
Schwarz (MI)
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Shaw
Sherwood
Shimkus
Shuster
Simmons
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Sodrel
Souder
Stearns
Sweeney
Tancredo
Taylor (NC)
Terry
Thomas
Thornberry
Tiahrt
Tiberi
Turner
Upton
Walden (OR)
Walsh
Wamp
Weldon (FL)
Weldon (PA)
Weller
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Wicker
Wilson (NM)
Wilson (SC)
Wolf
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
NOT VOTING--29
Baird
Berkley
Bilirakis
Blackburn
Bono
Burton (IN)
Costa
Davis (FL)
DeFazio
Delahunt
Ehlers
Foley
Frank (MA)
Gallegly
Granger
Graves
Israel
Jenkins
Kaptur
Lantos
Manzullo
McCotter
Moran (VA)
Rohrabacher
Roybal-Allard
Schiff
Shays
Simpson
Sullivan
Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Terry) (during the vote). Members are
advised 2 minutes remain in the vote.
{time} 1302
Mr. PENCE changed his vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
So the motion to recommit was rejected.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
Stated against:
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 12 I was in the Chamber
seeking recognition but the vote was closed. Had I been able to vote, I
would have voted ``no.''
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Recorded Vote
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. This will be a 5-minute vote.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 231,
noes 173, not voting 29, as follows:
[Roll No. 13]
AYES--231
Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Bachus
Baker
Barrett (SC)
Bartlett (MD)
Barton (TX)
Bass
Beauprez
Biggert
Bishop (UT)
Blackburn
Blunt
Boehlert
Boehner
Bonilla
Bonner
Boozman
Boustany
Boyd
Bradley (NH)
Brady (PA)
Brady (TX)
Brown (SC)
Brown-Waite, Ginny
Burgess
Buyer
Calvert
Camp
Cannon
Cantor
Capito
Case
Castle
Chabot
Chocola
Coble
Cole (OK)
Conaway
Cox
Crenshaw
Cubin
Culberson
Cunningham
Davis (KY)
Davis (TN)
Davis, Tom
Deal (GA)
DeLay
Dent
Diaz-Balart, L.
Diaz-Balart, M.
Doolittle
Drake
Dreier
Duncan
Edwards
Emerson
English (PA)
Eshoo
Everett
Fattah
Feeney
Ferguson
Fitzpatrick (PA)
Flake
Forbes
Fortenberry
Fossella
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Garrett (NJ)
Gerlach
Gilchrest
Gillmor
Gingrey
Gohmert
Goode
Goodlatte
Green (WI)
Green, Gene
Gutknecht
Hall
Harris
Hart
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Hayworth
Hefley
Hensarling
Herger
Hobson
Hoekstra
Holden
Holt
Hostettler
Hunter
Hyde
Inglis (SC)
Issa
Istook
Jindal
Johnson (CT)
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, Sam
Jones (NC)
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Keller
Kelly
Kennedy (MN)
King (IA)
Kingston
Kirk
Kline
Knollenberg
Kolbe
Kuhl (NY)
LaHood
Latham
LaTourette
Leach
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (KY)
Linder
LoBiondo
Lucas
Lungren, Daniel E.
Mack
Marchant
Marshall
McCaul (TX)
McCrery
McHenry
McHugh
McKeon
McMorris
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Moran (KS)
Murphy
Murtha
Musgrave
Myrick
Neugebauer
Ney
Northup
Norwood
Nunes
Nussle
Osborne
Otter
Oxley
Paul
Pearce
Pence
Peterson (MN)
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Pickering
Pitts
Platts
Poe
Pombo
Porter
Portman
Price (GA)
Pryce (OH)
Putnam
Radanovich
Ramstad
Regula
Rehberg
Reichert
Renzi
Reynolds
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Ros-Lehtinen
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Ryun (KS)
Sanchez, Loretta
Saxton
Schwartz (PA)
Schwarz (MI)
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Shaw
Sherwood
Shimkus
Shuster
Simmons
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Smith (WA)
Sodrel
Souder
Stearns
Stupak
Sweeney
Tancredo
Taylor (MS)
Taylor (NC)
Terry
Thomas
Thornberry
Tiahrt
Tiberi
Turner
Upton
Walden (OR)
Walsh
Wamp
Weldon (FL)
Weldon (PA)
Weller
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Wicker
Wilson (NM)
Wilson (SC)
Wolf
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
NOES--173
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Allen
Andrews
Baca
Baldwin
Barrow
Bean
Becerra
Berman
Berry
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Boren
Boswell
Boucher
Brown (OH)
Brown, Corrine
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Cardin
Cardoza
Carnahan
Carson
Chandler
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Conyers
Cooper
Costello
Cramer
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (AL)
Davis (CA)
Davis (IL)
DeGette
DeLauro
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Emanuel
Engel
Etheridge
Evans
Farr
Filner
Ford
Gibbons
Gonzalez
Gordon
Green, Al
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Harman
Hastings (FL)
Herseth
Higgins
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Honda
Hooley
Hoyer
Hulshof
Inslee
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
Johnson, E. B.
Jones (OH)
Kennedy (RI)
Kildee
Kilpatrick (MI)
Kind
King (NY)
Kucinich
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lipinski
Lofgren, Zoe
Lowey
Lynch
Maloney
Markey
Matheson
McCarthy
McCollum (MN)
McDermott
McGovern
McIntyre
McKinney
McNulty
Meehan
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Melancon
Menendez
Michaud
Millender-McDonald
Miller (NC)
Miller, George
Mollohan
Moore (KS)
Moore (WI)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal (MA)
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Ortiz
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Payne
Pelosi
Pomeroy
Price (NC)
Rahall
Rangel
Reyes
Ross
Rothman
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sabo
Salazar
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanders
Schakowsky
Scott (GA)
Scott (VA)
Serrano
Sherman
Skelton
Slaughter
Snyder
Solis
Spratt
Stark
Strickland
Tanner
Tauscher
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Towns
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Van Hollen
Velazquez
Visclosky
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watson
Watt
Waxman
Weiner
Wexler
Woolsey
Wu
Wynn
NOT VOTING--29
Baird
Berkley
Bilirakis
Bono
Burton (IN)
Carter
Costa
Davis (FL)
Davis, Jo Ann
DeFazio
Delahunt
Ehlers
Foley
Frank (MA)
Gallegly
Granger
Graves
Israel
Jenkins
Lantos
Manzullo
McCotter
Moran (VA)
Rohrabacher
Roybal-Allard
Schiff
Shays
Simpson
Sullivan
Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Terry) (during the vote). Members are
advised that 2 minutes remain in this vote.
{time} 1312
So the bill was passed.
[[Page H219]]
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________