[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 57 (Thursday, May 11, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H2508-H2509]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 5122, NATIONAL DEFENSE
AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2007
Mr. COLE of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on
Rules, I call up House Resolution 811 and ask for its immediate
consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 811
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 further
consideration of the bill (H.R. 5122) to authorize
appropriations for fiscal year 2007 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, to prescribe military personnel
strengths for fiscal year 2007, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2. (a) Notwithstanding clause 11 of rule XVIII, no
further amendment to the committee amendment in the nature of
a substitute shall be in order except those printed in the
report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution
and amendments en bloc described in section 3 of this
resolution.
(b) Each amendment printed in the report of the Committee
on Rules shall be considered only in the order printed in the
report (except as specified in section 4 of this resolution),
may be offered only be 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
(except that the chairman and ranking minority member of the
Committee on Armed Services each may offer one pro forma
amendment for the purpose of further debate on any pending
amendment), and shall not be subject to a demand for division
of the question in the House or in the Committee of the
Whole.
(c) All points of order against amendments printed in the
report of the Committee on Rules or amendments en bloc
described in section 3 of this resolution are waived.
Sec. 3. It shall be in order at any time for the chairman
of the Committee on Armed Services or his designee to offer
amendments en bloc consisting of amendments printed in the
report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution
not earlier disposed of. Amendments en bloc offered pursuant
to this section shall be considered as read, shall be
debatable for 20 minutes equally divided and controlled by
the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on
Armed Services or their designees, 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. The original proponent of an amendment included in
such amendments en bloc may insert a statement in the
Congressional Record immediately before the disposition of
the amendments en bloc.
Sec. 4. The Chairman of the Committee of the Whole may
recognize for consideration of any amendment printed in the
report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution
out of the order printed, but not sooner than 30 minutes
after the chairman of the Committee on Armed Services or a
designee announces from the floor a request to that effect.
Sec. 5. 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 committee amendment in the nature of a substitute.
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. The gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole) is
recognized for 1 hour.
Mr. COLE of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I
yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms.
Slaughter), 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.
General Leave
Mr. COLE of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their
remarks, and to insert tabular and extraneous material.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Oklahoma?
There was no objection.
Mr. COLE of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, the Rules Committee
met and reported a second rule for consideration of the House Report
for H.R. 5122, the Fiscal Year 2007 National Defense Authorization Act.
Mr. Speaker, this rule is a structured rule and provides for further
consideration of the bill, H.R. 5122. It makes in order only those
amendments printed in the Rules Committee report accompanying the
resolution and amendments en bloc described in section 3 of the
resolution.
The rule provides that amendments printed in the report shall be
considered only in the order printed in the report, except as specified
in section 4 of the resolution, may be offered only by a Member
designated in the report, and shall be considered as read.
It provides that each amendment printed in the report shall be
debatable for the time specified in the report, equally divided and
controlled by a proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to
amendment, except that the chairman and ranking minority member of the
Committee on Armed Services each may offer one pro forma amendment for
the purpose of further debate on any pending amendment, and shall not
be subject to a demand for division of the question in the House or in
the Committee of the Whole.
Mr. Speaker, the rule waives all points of order against amendments
printed in the report and those amendments en bloc as described in
section 3 of the resolution. Additionally, it authorizes the chairman
of the Committee on Armed Services, or his designee, to offer
amendments en bloc consisting of amendments printed in the Rules
Committee report not earlier disposed of, which shall be considered as
read, shall be debatable for 20 minutes, equally divided and controlled
by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Armed
Services or their designees, and shall not be subject to amendment or
demand for division of the question in the House or the Committee of
the Whole.
[[Page H2509]]
{time} 1100
The rule provides that the original proponent of an amendment
included in such amendments en bloc may insert a statement in the
Congressional Record immediately before the disposition of the
amendments en bloc.
The rule also allows the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole to
recognize for consideration any amendment printed in the report out of
the order printed, but not sooner than 30 minutes after the Chairman of
the Armed Services Committee or his designee announces from the floor a
request to that effect. Lastly, the rule provides one motion to
recommit with or without instructions.
Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of this rule and the underlying
legislation. Yesterday, I believe we had a good discussion about the
importance of the underlying legislation, and the rule passed
overwhelmingly. The same facts that were true yesterday remain so
today.
Mr. Speaker, I am particularly proud about the way the rules for the
fiscal year 2007 National Defense Authorization Act have been
structured. Let's have a minute to review the facts here. The
underlying legislation had broad bipartisan agreement, passing the
committee by a vote of 60-1.
Between the subcommittee and the full committee, the Armed Services
Committee passed 75 amendments, 36 of those by Republican authors, 38
by Democrats, and one bipartisan amendment. Out of the 100 amendments
submitted to the Rules Committee, we made 31 in order, 15 Republican,
13 Democrats and two bipartisan.
In addition, six amendments were incorporated into the manager's
amendment.
Today, we may well hear that the amendment process was arbitrary and
unfair, but the facts do not support the claims. This legislation
proceeded through regular order. We will have a vigorous discussion
today, and the amendments in order will allow either side to improve
and perfect the defense authorization further.
As usual, minority rights are protected by allowing a motion to
recommit with or without instructions. This process has been open,
thorough and fair. While not every amendment was made in order, all
were considered. Only nine of the 60-odd amendments that were not
included were actually raised by the minority for consideration in the
Rules Committee.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday I spoke about the importance of four long-term
challenges relating to national security and how this bill addresses
them. Additionally, I drew attention to the fact that our deployed
servicemen and women rely on this legislation to directly support their
efforts in our Global War on Terror.
Nothing said today will change these facts. Today is really the day
we should be focused on uniting as Americans and supporting our troops
in the field. No one piece of legislation is ever perfect. Today is no
exception. But today we have a very good piece of legislation that was
crafted in a bipartisan way through regular order.
At the end of this debate, the House will have considered over 30
percent of all submitted amendments on the floor. The others were
previously considered at the committee level. There are no
irregularities here.
While we will no doubt have some spirited disagreements on some
amendments, including some not brought to the floor, this bill is, at
its core, an example of bipartisan cooperation and consensus.
The Members of the minority who serve on the House Armed Services
Committee have praised the committee chairman, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Hunter) for its inclusiveness and have said that the
legislation we are considering today deserves to pass. When all is said
and done, it will pass by an overwhelming bipartisan majority. That is
something in which this House, the American people and, more
importantly, our men and women in uniform can take pride.
Mr. Speaker, realizing the facts surrounding the fiscal year 2007
National Defense Authorization Act, I urge the support of the rule and
the underlying bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, listening to my colleague's remarks, he certainly made
it clear how proud he was of the bipartisanship in that committee. And
so should we all be.
But all bipartisanship ended when this came to the Rules Committee.
Of course it was an overwhelming vote. They have nine members, we have
four. The tragedy here is that major amendments that Democrats wanted
were not allowed to be heard today, very important things that we want
to do.
For example, the ranking member, Mr. Skelton, was denied an
amendment. The minority whip, Mr. Hoyer, was denied an amendment. And
so, Mr. Speaker, through you, I want to ask Mr. Cole if he will grant
me a unanimous consent request so that I can amend H. Res. 811 and add
several important Democratic amendments not allowed under this
restrictive rule.
Mr. Speaker, as you know, when Speaker Hastert was in the chair, he
said by unanimous consent that we can easily do this. The amendments we
want to add back are: A Skelton amendment that helps military families
with prescription drug costs; an Israel amendment that calls for
religious sensitivity by our military chaplains; an important Hoyer
amendment on alternative energy; a Capps amendment to be able to defend
her district against a nongermane provision in the bill; and a McGovern
amendment to close down the School of the Americas.
I ask if he will yield me that time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Does the gentleman from Oklahoma yield to
the gentlewoman from New York for the purpose of a unanimous consent
request?
Mr. COLE of Oklahoma. No, Mr. Speaker, I do not. Those matters can be
dealt with on a motion to recommit.
____________________