[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 112 (Thursday, July 23, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H8591-H8592]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   NOTICE OF INTENTION TO OFFER RESOLUTION RAISING A QUESTION OF THE 
                        PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE

  Mr. HENSARLING. Madam Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(a)(1) of rule IX, 
I hereby notify the House of my intention to offer a resolution as a 
question of the privileges of the House.
  The form of my resolution is as follows:

       Whereas the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Hensarling--along 
     with the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Conaway, the gentleman 
     from Georgia, Mr. Gingrey, and the gentlewoman from 
     Tennessee, Mrs. Blackburn--submitted an amendment to the 
     Committee on Rules to H.R. 3288, the Transportation, and 
     Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act;
       Whereas the said gentleman's amendment would have 
     encouraged the development and use of alternative fuels by 
     the federal government from resources found abundantly in the 
     United States and Canada such as oil sands and oil shale, 
     furthering our ability to become more energy independent, 
     reducing the federal government's energy costs borne by the 
     American taxpayer;
       Whereas, this is especially important at a time of a record 
     deficit that has reached $1 trillion for the first time in 
     American history and a record debt that will be tripled in 10 
     years;
       Whereas, the said amendment could help in the creation of 
     desperately needed jobs in an economy where the unemployment 
     rate is 9.5%--the highest unemployment rate in 26 years and 
     climbing--and 2.6 million people have lost their job since 
     February 2009;
       Whereas, when campaigning for the presidency, then-Senator 
     Obama said that ``under my plan of a cap and trade system, 
     electricity rates would necessarily sky rocket.'';
       Whereas, on June, 26, 2009, the Democratic Majority passed 
     such legislation in H.R. 2454, a national energy tax also 
     known as cap and trade, that experts have estimated will 
     result in American families paying anywhere from $1,500 to 
     $3,000 annually in additional energy costs;
       Whereas, on December 6, 2006, then-Minority Leader Nancy 
     Pelosi said, ``[W]e promised the American people that we 
     would have the most honest and open government and we 
     will.'';
       Whereas, according to then-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's 
     New Direction for America, ``Bills should generally come to 
     the floor

[[Page H8592]]

     under a procedure that allows open, full, and fair debate 
     consisting of a full amendment process that grants the 
     Minority the right to offer its alternatives, including a 
     substitute.'';
       Whereas a similar amendment was adopted by the House in 
     2008 during consideration of H.R. 6599, the Military 
     Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2009 on 
     a bipartisan vote;
       Whereas the gentleman's amendment complied with all 
     applicable Rules of the House for amendments to 
     appropriations measures and would have been in order under an 
     open amendment process, but regrettably the House Democratic 
     leadership has dramatically breached decades of House 
     precedent and historically reduced the opportunity for open 
     debate on this Floor; and
       Whereas the Speaker, Mrs. Pelosi, the Democratic 
     leadership, and the chairman of the Committee on 
     Appropriations, Mr. Obey, prevented the House from voting on 
     the amendment by excluding it from the list of amendments 
     made in order under the rule for the bill: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That H. Res. 669, the rule to accompany H.R. 
     3288, be amended to allow the gentleman from Texas' amendment 
     be considered and voted on in the House.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under rule IX, a resolution offered from the 
floor by a Member other than the majority leader or the minority leader 
as a question of the privileges of the House has immediate precedence 
only at a time designated by the Chair within 2 legislative days after 
the resolution is properly noticed.
  Pending that designation, the form of the resolution noticed by the 
gentleman from Texas will appear in the Record at this point.
  The Chair will not at this point determine whether the resolution 
constitutes a question of privilege. That determination will be made at 
the time designated for consideration of the resolution.

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