[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 156 (Wednesday, December 7, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H11179-H11181]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MOTION TO GO TO CONFERENCE ON H.R. 3010, DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH
AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS
ACT, 2006
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1 of rule XXII and by
direction of the Committee on Appropriations, I move to take from the
Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 3010) making appropriations for the
Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and
related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006, and for
other purposes, with the Senate amendment thereto, disagree to the
Senate amendment, and agree to the further conference asked by the
Senate.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The motion was agreed to.
Motion to Instruct Offered by Mr. Obey
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct conferees.
The Clerk read as follows:
Mr. Obey moves that the managers on the part of the House
at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses
on the bill, H.R. 3010, be instructed to insist that the
conference agreement include $4.183 billion for the Low-
Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), an increase
of $2.176 billion over the House bill and $2 billion over the
Senate bill, to help the elderly and the poor cope with
rising energy prices, and that the additional cost be offset
through reductions in tax cuts for households with incomes
above $1,000,000. The additional amounts above the House-
passed level should be appropriated to the LIHEAP contingency
fund, and in allocating the funds among States the Secretary
should be directed to give due regard to estimated increases
in the heating and cooling costs for low-income households
during fiscal year 2006 as compared to the previous year.
Point of Order
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I make a point of order against the motion
because it violates clause 9 of rule XXII by proposing to direct the
conferees to exceed the scope of matters committed to conference.
I ask for a ruling from the Chair.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bass). Does any Member wish to be heard
on the point of order?
Mr. OBEY. Yes, I do, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, 2 weeks ago the Labor, Health appropriation bill was
defeated on this floor largely because it contained inadequate
investments in education and health. Today, the bill is back, and what
this motion would do is to say to the majority that if they do not want
to recognize the need for additional education and health funding, that
they at least recognize that an emergency situation exists with respect
to the rapidly rising home heating costs with natural gas, for
instance, expected to be 50 percent higher than it was last year and
with only 15 percent of persons in the country who are eligible getting
help from LIHEAP as it is.
I would simply ask the majority to withdraw the point of order in
order to allow us to simply proceed to at least debate and vote on the
question of rearranging priorities so that we can add $2 billion to the
Low Income Heating Assistance Program and fully pay for that by cutting
back the scheduled tax cut for persons who make over $1 million to
$131,000. I think that is quite ample for them. I would urge the
gentleman from Ohio to withdraw his point of order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair is prepared to rule on the point
of order.
[[Page H11180]]
The Chair finds that the proposed instructions dwell their operative
focus on matters not within the scope of differences committed to the
conference by the two Houses.
On these premises, the Chair holds that the motion is not in order.
The point of order is sustained.
Motion to Instruct Offered by Mr. Obey
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I offer a second motion to instruct conferees.
The Clerk read as follows:
Mr. Obey moves that the managers on the part of the House
at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses
on the bill, H.R. 3010, be instructed to insist that the
conference agreement include $4.183 billion for the Low-
Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), including $2
billion in emergency funding, thereby bringing the total for
LIHEAP to $2.176 billion over the House bill and $2 billion
over the Senate bill, to help the elderly and the poor cope
with rising energy prices. The emergency funds should be
appropriated to the LIHEAP contingency fund, and in
allocating the funds among States the Secretary should be
directed to give due regard to the estimated increases in the
heating and cooling costs for low-income households during
fiscal year 2006 as compared to the previous year.
Point of Order
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I make a point of order against the motion
because it violates clause 9 of rule XXII by proposing to direct the
conferees to exceed the scope of matters committed to conference.
I ask for a ruling from the Chair.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Does any Member wish to be heard on the
point of order?
Mr. OBEY. Yes, I do, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the last motion sought to increase funding for the Low
Income Heating Assistance Program by $2 billion and fully pay for that
with an offset on the revenue side of the ledger. The gentleman from
Ohio did raise a point of order against that. We would have preferred
to fully fund the amendment, but given the fact that the majority has
chosen to exercise its rights under the rules of the House to raise a
point of order, this is the only remaining avenue that we have to try
to increase funding for Low Income Heating Assistance, recognizing that
there is indeed an emergency; and we would simply ask that the amount
of money for Low Income Heating Assistance be increased by $2 billion
and recognized as emergency funding under the Budget Act so that we can
proceed to deal with the very real problem that persons in this country
will have heating their homes with higher energy prices. If we are not
allowed to do that, then there is no way that we are going to be able
to provide substantial help to them.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair is prepared to rule on the point
of order.
As in the previous motion, the proposed instructions exceed the scope
of conference.
The point of order is sustained.
Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, because we have no other way to bring this to
the House, I most reluctantly appeal the ruling of the Chair.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is: Shall the decision of the
Chair stand as the judgment of the House?
Motion to Table Offered by Mr. Regula
Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, I move to lay the appeal on the table.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to table.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. OBEY. 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 tabling the appeal of the Chair will be followed by 5-
minute votes on passage of H.R. 4340; and motions to suspend the rules
and pass H.R. 4388 and H.R. 4440.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 226,
nays 196, not voting 10, as follows:
[Roll No. 615]
YEAS--226
Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Bachus
Baker
Barrett (SC)
Bartlett (MD)
Barton (TX)
Bass
Beauprez
Biggert
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Blackburn
Blunt
Boehlert
Boehner
Bonilla
Bonner
Bono
Boozman
Boustany
Bradley (NH)
Brady (TX)
Brown (SC)
Burgess
Burton (IN)
Buyer
Calvert
Camp
Cannon
Cantor
Capito
Carter
Castle
Chabot
Chocola
Coble
Cole (OK)
Conaway
Crenshaw
Cubin
Culberson
Davis (KY)
Davis, Jo Ann
Davis, Tom
Deal (GA)
DeLay
Dent
Diaz-Balart, L.
Diaz-Balart, M.
Doolittle
Drake
Dreier
Duncan
Ehlers
Emerson
English (PA)
Everett
Feeney
Ferguson
Fitzpatrick (PA)
Flake
Foley
Forbes
Fortenberry
Fossella
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Garrett (NJ)
Gerlach
Gibbons
Gilchrest
Gillmor
Gingrey
Gohmert
Goode
Goodlatte
Granger
Graves
Green (WI)
Gutknecht
Hall
Harris
Hart
Hayes
Hayworth
Hefley
Hensarling
Herger
Hobson
Hoekstra
Hostettler
Hulshof
Hunter
Hyde
Inglis (SC)
Issa
Istook
Jenkins
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
Manzullo
Marchant
McCaul (TX)
McCotter
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
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Pickering
Pitts
Platts
Poe
Pombo
Porter
Price (GA)
Pryce (OH)
Putnam
Radanovich
Ramstad
Regula
Rehberg
Reichert
Renzi
Reynolds
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Ros-Lehtinen
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Ryun (KS)
Saxton
Schmidt
Schwarz (MI)
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Shaw
Shays
Sherwood
Shimkus
Shuster
Simmons
Simpson
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Sodrel
Souder
Stearns
Sullivan
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)
NAYS--196
Abercrombie
Ackerman
Allen
Baca
Baird
Baldwin
Barrow
Bean
Becerra
Berkley
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
Cleaver
Clyburn
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Costello
Cramer
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (AL)
Davis (CA)
Davis (IL)
Davis (TN)
DeFazio
DeGette
Delahunt
DeLauro
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Edwards
Emanuel
Engel
Eshoo
Etheridge
Evans
Farr
Fattah
Filner
Ford
Frank (MA)
Gonzalez
Gordon
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Harman
Hastings (FL)
Herseth
Higgins
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hooley
Hoyer
Inslee
Israel
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
Johnson, E. B.
Jones (OH)
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kennedy (RI)
Kildee
Kilpatrick (MI)
Kind
Kucinich
Langevin
Lantos
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lipinski
Lofgren, Zoe
Lowey
Lynch
Maloney
Markey
Marshall
Matheson
Matsui
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)
Moran (VA)
Murtha
Neal (MA)
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Ortiz
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor
Payne
Peterson (MN)
Pomeroy
Price (NC)
Rahall
Rangel
Reyes
Ross
Rothman
Roybal-Allard
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sabo
Salazar
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sanders
Schakowsky
Schiff
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
Watson
Watt
Waxman
Weiner
Woolsey
Wu
Wynn
NOT VOTING--10
Andrews
Brown-Waite, Ginny
Clay
Davis (FL)
Hastings (WA)
Nadler
Napolitano
Pelosi
Pence
Wexler
{time} 1709
Ms. HARMAN, Mrs. MALONEY and Messrs. ETHERIDGE, EMANUEL, BLUMENAUER,
DINGELL, LARSON of Connecticut and LANGEVIN changed their vote from
``yea'' to ``nay.''
[[Page H11181]]
Ms. HART, Ms. HARRIS and Mr. HEFLEY changed their vote from ``nay''
to ``yea.''
So the motion to table was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
Stated against:
Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 615, had I been
present, I would have voted ``nay.''
____________________