[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 152 (Wednesday, November 16, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H10339-H10342]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1430
    PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1065, UNITED STATES BOXING 
                             COMMISSION ACT

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the 
Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 553 and ask for its 
immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 553

       Resolved, That at any time after the adoption of this 
     resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule 
     XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the 
     Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of 
     the bill (H.R. 1065) to establish the United States Boxing 
     Commission to protect the general welfare of boxers and to 
     ensure fairness in the sport of professional boxing. The 
     first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. All points 
     of order against consideration of the bill are waived. 
     General debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not 
     exceed one hour, with 40 minutes equally divided and 
     controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the 
     Committee on Energy and Commerce and 20 minutes equally 
     divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority 
     member of the Committee on the Judiciary. After general 
     debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the 
     five-minute rule. In lieu of the amendments recommended by 
     the Committees on Energy and Commerce and the Judiciary now 
     printed in the bill, it shall be in order to consider as an 
     original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five-
     minute rule the amendment in the nature of a substitute 
     printed in part A of the report of the Committee on Rules 
     accompanying this resolution. That amendment in the nature of 
     a substitute shall be considered as read. All points of order 
     against that amendment in the nature of a substitute are 
     waived. Notwithstanding clause 11 of rule XVIII, no amendment 
     to that amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be in 
     order except those printed in part B of the report of the 
     Committee on Rules. Each amendment may be offered only in the 
     order printed in the report, may be offered only by a Member 
     designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall 
     be debatable for the time specified in the report equally 
     divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, 
     shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject 
     to a demand for division of the question in the House or in 
     the Committee of the Whole. All points of order against such 
     amendments are waived. At the conclusion of consideration of 
     the bill for amendment the Committee shall rise and report 
     the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been 
     adopted. Any Member may demand a separate vote in the House 
     on any amendment adopted in the Committee of the Whole to the 
     bill or to the amendment in the nature of a substitute made 
     in order as original text. The previous question shall be 
     considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to 
     final passage without intervening motion except one motion to 
     recommit with or without instructions.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Boozman). The gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart) is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of 
debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Hastings), pending which I yield myself such time as I may 
consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is 
for the purpose of debate only.
  (Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida asked and was given permission to 
revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 553 
is a fair rule. It provides for consideration of H.R. 1065, the United 
States Boxing Commission Act. The rule allows for consideration of the 
amendments, all the amendments that were submitted to the Rules 
Committee. We are making in order all the amendments that were 
submitted to the Rules Committee.
  It also provides 1 hour of general debate, with 40 minutes equally 
divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce and 20

[[Page H10340]]

minutes equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking 
minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary. The rule also 
provides one motion to recommit, with or without instructions.
  The underlying bill, Mr. Speaker, would establish a Federal boxing 
regulatory agency, the United States Boxing Commission. The commission 
would have the responsibility to protect the general interests of 
boxers, ensure uniformity, fairness, and integrity in professional 
boxing, and oversee all the professional boxing matches in the United 
States.
  The boxing commission, in consultation with the Association of Boxing 
Commissions, will formulate uniform minimum standards for professional 
boxing. The commission would also ensure that Federal and State laws 
applicable to professional boxing are enforced and will assist State 
boxing commissions in meeting the minimum standards prescribed by the 
bill.
  The bill requires that every boxer, promoter, or sanctioning 
organization connected with a boxing match must obtain a license from 
the boxing commission. The license could be suspended or revoked for 
violations of the standards adopted by the commission. This bill does 
not preempt any existing State boxing standards. As I stated before, 
Mr. Speaker, what it does is it establishes a national boxing 
commission really to oversee this sport, which is a sport of long 
tradition; but it is obviously one that is peculiar in terms of its 
degree of violence.
  Mr. Speaker, when I was a child, I remember I was living in Spain. We 
had a friend, my family had a friend, who was in exile from Cuba. He 
was living in Madrid at the time. He had been welterweight champion of 
the world. He was a fine, gentle man. Really just an extraordinary 
human being. His name was Kid Tunero. He was very famous not only in 
Cuba but throughout the boxing world.
  And I remember, and obviously this bill is not directly related to 
this that I am going to bring up now, but he impacted me in a number of 
ways. I remember his gentleness. It was impacting that a man who had 
made such a reputation as a champion boxer was perhaps one of the most 
gentle men that I have ever met. And he had two sons, and they were 
both artists. I do not know where they are today. At that time they 
were living in Paris.
  And he told me, I would do anything in the world, anything in the 
world, so that my sons are not boxers because of what you go through 
when you are a boxer. Not only the actual physical torture, the 
physical pain, but having to deal with really much of an unfortunate 
set of circumstances. By the way, another aside, he was such a great 
boxer, Kid Tunero, in Madrid I remember, when I was a child, he was 
training a young man who became the flyweight champion of the world, 
and I met him. That was the only time I have ever been to a boxing 
fight, but I remember he got us really good seats. Imagine he was 
training Legra, and Legra got to be the flyweight champion of the 
world.
  Mr. Speaker, I will tell the Members I remember I was 9 years old and 
to this day I can tell the Members I was up ringside being shocked, and 
I can remember the shock that I felt at the violence, the violence of 
that sport, the physical pain that those two boxers were feeling. I 
have never gone back to a match. I respect it. There are millions, 
millions of fans.
  What we want to do with this legislation is set minimum standards for 
the protection of those people who make a living out of that tough 
sport. So even though Kid Tunero is no longer around, no longer with 
us, I think of him today and the lessons that I learned from him, how 
to be an ultimate gentleman. What a great man he was.
  Anyway, that is what we are doing with the underlying legislation, 
Mr. Speaker. The will of the House will be manifested today, and people 
can either establish or not establish the boxing commission, but we are 
bringing forth that legislation with this rule.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart), my good friend, for yielding me the 
customary 30 minutes; and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. HASTINGS of Florida asked and was given permission to revise and 
extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise with great 
disappointment that the House is being asked again to consider 
legislation under a restrictive rule. My good friend from Florida said 
that the will of the House will be expressed here today. I query him as 
to how that will occur under a restrictive rule.
  Under this rule, only a limited number of amendments will be offered 
by a select few. There are many who will argue that this legislation, 
when considered, is noncontroversial. If that is the case, then why not 
make this an open rule?
  Or perhaps the question ought to be, Why are we considering this bill 
at a time when the House should be considering legislation that 
increases veterans benefits, invests in affordable housing, and ensures 
that our country's neediest have access to affordable health care under 
Medicare and Medicaid? The truth of the matter is, Mr. Speaker, none of 
these issues are being debated on this floor today because my 
colleagues in the majority are too busy cutting backroom deals that 
will cut Federal funding in each of these critically important areas as 
well as other areas of import. I just spoke with a group of foreign 
service officers who were pointing out to me some of the cuts that will 
take place in places where they are scheduled to go.
  The majority knows that they are wrong on all of these issues, and 
that is why they do not want to debate us on them. So, Mr. Speaker, we 
find ourselves at this moment on the floor of the House debating a bill 
that I would think my friends on the other side of the aisle would say 
reeks of hypocrisy and overarching Federal Government interference. Are 
not Republicans the ones who claim that they are the party of States' 
rights? Are not Republicans the ones who claim that States are more 
effective in regulating what happens within their own State? Are not 
Republicans the ones who claim that another Federal commission trumping 
State commissions already in existence is nothing more than unnecessary 
bureaucracy? Are not Republicans federalists?
  But Republicans are not saying these things. Instead, some are trying 
to divert attention away from the things on a much larger scale that 
actually matter.
  Mr. Speaker, I am not trying to say that a problem does not exist in 
the sport of boxing. My friend mentioned one Kid. Mention to him 
another, Kid Gavilan, who died in our area and of my good friend, 
Representative Diaz-Balart, a shoeshine man after fighting some of the 
better fights in two divisions with some of the better fighters in the 
world at some point. So there are a lot of things to be said from 
people receiving too many blows upside their heads. In the last decade, 
amateur and professional boxing has grown into a multibillion dollar 
business. Promoters, cable companies, and the sporting industry as a 
whole reap big ticket sales from the sweat and toil of young athletes.
  Yet those who actually step into the ring often find an entirely 
different opponent outside the ring, as Kid Gavilan did. Many boxers 
find those who claim to be in their corner have made dirty deals and 
shortcuts that undermine a boxer's earnings and in some cases their 
health. Contracts are often broken or exploited. Injuries and adequate 
medical care are sometimes overlooked. These are important issues that 
should be dealt with, but not by this body and not in this manner.

                              {time}  1445

  The solution would seem to be a crackdown on State commissions that 
woefully fail to enforce their own rules and regulations. Better yet, 
maybe we need a national sports commission to regulate all sports that 
Congress all of a sudden wants to regulate.
  First it was baseball; and we really did clean up baseball and 
steroids. That is gone. We do not have that as an issue any more. And 
now it is boxing. What next? The National Hockey League or the National 
Football League?
  All of these sports in some ways are violent, and we hear stories 
every year about athletes being injured, paralyzed and even killed. 
What about the Ultimate Fighting Championships, where

[[Page H10341]]

they put people in cages and then knock each other's brains out? Or 
World Wrestling Entertainment business where a lot of people wind up 
after careers in that field with broken bodies because they missed the 
trick at a given point? Or even our own United States Olympic 
Committee? If we are doing this about corruption, I can think of few 
sports committees in history as corrupt as the Olympic Committees. 
However, that is not what we are doing today.
  In the grand scheme of things, we have more important issues to deal 
with: a failing war in Iraq, skyrocketing prescription drug prices, our 
own citizens displaced by a recent torrent of natural disasters in my 
good friend from Florida's district and my district alone, and 
continuing unethical behavior from executive and legislative branches 
of our government, including national security leaks.
  All of these issues and so many more need to be higher priorities in 
our work today, but this body is silent on all of them. On behalf of 
the American people, I say, speak up. The silence is deafening. It is 
time that my friends in the majority stop wasting our time with bills 
that neglect those in need and divert attention from the failures of 
this body over the last decade. I urge my colleagues to reject this 
rule and the underlying legislation that does little, if anything, to 
promote the general welfare of our great Nation.
  One of the arguments that was made is if we do not regulate this from 
a national level, what is going to happen is boxing will go on venue 
shopping. I pointed out yesterday that Ali fought the Thriller in 
Manila and in addition to that fought the Rumble in the Jungle, so if 
we regulate it from the Federal level, what is going to stop them from 
going abroad to rope-a-dope?
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that my friend has advocated for the 
importance of States' rights. I think that is something that is to be 
commended. We certainly do believe in the American system of 
federalism. We do believe as well in regular order, and this bill came 
up. There were hearings before Chairman Barton. Mr. Stearns was telling 
us in the Rules Committee about how impacted he was at the hearing when 
he listened to Mrs. Ali because Muhammad Ali could not speak, but he 
was insisting on supporting, through Mrs. Ali, urging the committee to 
support and pass out this legislation because of corruption that exists 
in the boxing world and the need to regulate the sport and eliminate 
that corruption.
  We believe in regular order in addition to federalism, and this bill 
had hearings. It came up through regular order, and we believe in 
letting the House express its will. Every single amendment, every 
single amendment that was brought to the Rules Committee for 
consideration was made in order for debate. I am going to vote for the 
bill, and obviously the Members can make up their minds whether they 
support it or not. I urge all Members to support this rule. The rule is 
fair and made in order every amendment submitted to the Rules 
Committee.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the 
previous question on the resolution.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Boozman). The question is on the 
resolution.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the 
yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, this 15-
minute vote on adoption of H. Res. 553 will be followed by 5-minute 
votes on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 1790; the motion 
to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 547.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 366, 
nays 56, not voting 11, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 589]

                               YEAS--366

     Abercrombie
     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Allen
     Baca
     Bachus
     Baird
     Baker
     Barrett (SC)
     Barrow
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bass
     Bean
     Beauprez
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Biggert
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blumenauer
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonner
     Bono
     Boozman
     Boren
     Boucher
     Boustany
     Boyd
     Bradley (NH)
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (OH)
     Brown (SC)
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Butterfield
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Capps
     Cardin
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carter
     Case
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chandler
     Chocola
     Clyburn
     Coble
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Costa
     Cramer
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Cubin
     Cuellar
     Culberson
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     DeLauro
     DeLay
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doolittle
     Doyle
     Drake
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Emanuel
     Emerson
     Engel
     English (PA)
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Everett
     Farr
     Fattah
     Feeney
     Filner
     Fitzpatrick (PA)
     Flake
     Foley
     Forbes
     Ford
     Fortenberry
     Fossella
     Foxx
     Frank (MA)
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Gonzalez
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Gordon
     Granger
     Graves
     Green (WI)
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutknecht
     Hall
     Harman
     Harris
     Hart
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Herseth
     Higgins
     Hinojosa
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Holt
     Hooley
     Hostettler
     Hoyer
     Hulshof
     Hyde
     Inglis (SC)
     Inslee
     Israel
     Issa
     Istook
     Jackson (IL)
     Jindal
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Jones (OH)
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Keller
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MN)
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick (MI)
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Leach
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Lynch
     Mack
     Maloney
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy
     McCaul (TX)
     McCollum (MN)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McGovern
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McMorris
     Meehan
     Meeks (NY)
     Mica
     Michaud
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, Gary
     Miller, George
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy
     Murtha
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Napolitano
     Neugebauer
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nunes
     Nussle
     Oberstar
     Ortiz
     Osborne
     Otter
     Owens
     Oxley
     Pascrell
     Paul
     Pearce
     Pelosi
     Pence
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe
     Pombo
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Price (GA)
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Renzi
     Reyes
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Ross
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Ryan (WI)
     Ryun (KS)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sanders
     Saxton
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schmidt
     Schwartz (PA)
     Schwarz (MI)
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherman
     Sherwood
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simmons
     Simpson
     Skelton
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Sodrel
     Solis
     Souder
     Spratt
     Stearns
     Strickland
     Stupak
     Sullivan
     Sweeney
     Tancredo
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor (NC)
     Terry
     Thomas
     Thompson (CA)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Udall (CO)
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Visclosky
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Westmoreland
     Wexler
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wolf
     Wynn
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                                NAYS--56

     Ackerman
     Andrews
     Baldwin
     Berman
     Berry
     Brown, Corrine
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Capuano
     Carson
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costello
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (TN)
     Delahunt
     Gutierrez
     Hastings (FL)
     Hinchey
     Honda
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kucinich
     Lee
     Lewis (GA)
     McDermott
     McKinney
     Meek (FL)
     Melancon
     Menendez
     Nadler
     Neal (MA)
     Obey
     Olver
     Pallone
     Pastor
     Payne
     Rangel
     Rothman
     Sabo
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Slaughter
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Udall (NM)
     Velazquez
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Woolsey
     Wu

[[Page H10342]]



                             NOT VOTING--11

     Boswell
     Cunningham
     Davis (FL)
     Ferguson
     Hunter
     Jenkins
     Lantos
     McNulty
     Reichert
     Stark
     Taylor (MS)

                              {time}  1519

  Messrs. NADLER, UDALL of New Mexico, DAVIS of Tennessee, GUTIERREZ, 
CLEAVER, PALLONE, ROTHMAN, HONDA, and Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas changed 
their vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
  Mr. ROSS, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. JACKSON of 
Illinois, and Mr. KNOLLENBERG changed their vote from ``nay'' to 
``yea.''
  So the resolution was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________