[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 172 (Tuesday, December 21, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H8817-H8819]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    WAIVING REQUIREMENT OF CLAUSE 6(a) OF RULE XIII WITH RESPECT TO 
 CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN RESOLUTIONS, AND PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION 
                    OF MOTIONS TO SUSPEND THE RULES

  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, 
I call up House Resolution 1771 and ask for its immediate 
consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 1771

     Waiving a requirement of clause 6(a) of rule XIII with 
     respect to consideration of certain resolutions reported from 
     the Committee on Rules, and providing for consideration of 
     motions to suspend the rules.
       Resolved, That the requirement of clause 6(a) of rule XIII 
     for a two-thirds vote to consider a report from the Committee 
     on Rules on the same day it is presented to the House is 
     waived with respect to any resolution reported through the 
     legislative day of December 24, 2010.
       Sec. 2. It shall be in order at any time through the 
     legislative day of December 24, 2010, for the Speaker to 
     entertain motions that the House suspend the rules. The 
     Speaker or her designee shall consult with the Minority 
     Leader or his designee on the designation of any matter for 
     consideration pursuant to this section.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Massachusetts is 
recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. McGOVERN. For the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 
30 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions). All time yielded 
during consideration of the rule is for debate only. I yield myself 
such time as I may consume.


                             General Leave

  Mr. McGOVERN. I also ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 
5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on House 
Resolution 1771.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Massachusetts?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, House Resolution 1771 waives the 
requirement of clause 6(a) of rule XIII, requiring a two-thirds vote to 
consider a rule on the same day it is reported from the Rules 
Committee. This would allow for the same-day consideration of any 
resolution reported through the legislative day of December 24, 2010.
  The resolution allows the Speaker to entertain motions to suspend the 
rules through the legislative day of December 24, 2010. The Speaker or 
her designee shall consult with the minority leader or his designee on 
the designation of any matter for consideration pursuant to section 2 
of the rule.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Good morning, Madam Speaker. Welcome to this week of 
Christmas.
  I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I want to thank the gentleman from Massachusetts, my friend Mr. 
McGovern, the vice chairman of the Rules Committee, for bringing this 
martial law rule to the floor of the House of Representatives today.

                              {time}  1220

  Madam Speaker, the 111th Congress is in its final days, or so the 
body hopes. The rule before us today provides for an expedited same-day 
consideration of all legislation brought forward until Christmas Eve 
and extends suspension authority for that same period. This martial law 
rule consists of the ability of the Democrats to bring 4 more days of 
expedited consideration on top of the 11 days my colleagues gave 
themselves on the 8th of December.
  This Congress has seen a record number of restrictive rules over the 
past 2 years. In fact, we have not debated one open rule in this 
Congress. I don't believe that closing debate, limiting amendments, and 
shutting down Democrats and Republicans out of their thoughtful 
solutions on the House floor is what we were promised by Speaker 
Pelosi. Speaker Pelosi openly told the American people that she would 
run the most open, honest, and ethical Congress. Madam Speaker, I would 
say to you that as we started, so are we ending, in chaos.
  It seems like every time I come to the House floor I point out that 
my Democrat colleagues are using an unprecedented, restrictive, and 
closed process. This is not what the American people wanted, and I 
believe the American people truly do want their Member of Congress to 
be able to come to Washington, DC, to fully participate in the process. 
And unfortunately, we find ourselves here again today with Members 
simply sitting back in their offices, wondering and waiting what is 
next, what are we even debating, what are we doing, rather than being 
actively involved in this democratic process. Madam Speaker, that's why 
people came to Congress.
  This Congress has managed to rack up a record $1.4 trillion deficit 
in 2009, more than three times the size of the deficit in 2008, and it 
hit a $1.3 trillion deficit this year. Additionally, we have seen 
unemployment at or above 9.5 percent across this country for over 18 
consecutive months and a national debt that has now ballooned to $13.4 
trillion, and yet we see no end to the spending, which is evident by 
the rule that we are here discussing today. No discipline; no feedback 
from Members,

[[Page H8818]]

Members of this body coming faithfully to do their job, not even 
knowing what is happening and what is next, purely speculation. No 
sharing of information; no plan that can be executed based upon the 
Members of this body understanding what we're doing, where we're going, 
and what is next.
  Madam Speaker, if there ever was a time when the American people need 
to know what the plan is and Members of Congress need to know what the 
plan is it would be now. It would be now for us to determine not only 
how to have fiscal restraint, but also, a majority who offered 
leadership, leadership on a budget process, leadership on a 
transparency process, leadership on the ability for Members of Congress 
to come and effectively represent their district and, perhaps more 
importantly, not just a budget that was never produced, how about an 
appropriations bill that was properly done.
  Every single business that I know of--State and local government, 
families, schools--everybody has a budget. Even nonprofits who try and 
work in the best interest of a smaller group of people recognize you've 
got to have a plan. That's an exception for this Federal Government. 
It's an exception by this Congress, and that is not leadership.
  As the chairman of the Budget Committee once said, If you can't 
budget, you cannot govern. I think he's right. That's exactly the truth 
of what Chairman John Spratt said. And if the shoe fits, we're wearing 
it right now. Unfortunately, we've come to expect this behavior from 
this majority, but, once again, there is always tomorrow. Republicans 
have made a pledge to America, and we intend to keep it.
  I am happy to report that very soon, on or about January 5, 2011, 
there will be a significant course correction in this House of 
Representatives. Members will be expected to, and allowed to, read 
legislation before they cast their votes, take part in the activities 
of not only their committees, but also come to the Rules Committee with 
their ideas to take part in the process that they want to do.
  I think open rules will make a triumphant return to the House floor, 
and elected Representatives, Members of Congress, will have a chance to 
fully contribute in this legislative process. It does not make me happy 
when I recognize that there is no Member, freshman Member of this body, 
who has not, for the last 2 years, seen this body work the way it was 
designed--a legislative process that would be open, a legislative 
process that would be ethical, and a legislative process that would be 
transparent for people.
  So here we are, once again, the week before Christmas. I can handle 
that. I'm here ready to work but, like the rest of my colleagues, 
waiting for a small cadre of people to let us in on the plan.
  I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this rule. We've got to return 
to a process which is prepared for the future and prepared for Members 
to fully participate.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I regret that the gentleman from Texas 
will not support this rule so that we can move our legislative business 
forward, but I'm not surprised because, quite frankly, his party, the 
Republican Party, has had one goal since President Obama became 
President of the United States, and that is to obstruct and delay 
everything, and that's what they've tried to do.
  The gentleman talks about democracy. Well, I think the American 
people are scratching their head as they see what's happening over in 
the Senate where a minority, not a majority, but a minority determines 
the agenda. A minority can hold legislation from coming to the floor. 
That's not the democracy that most people believe our government is 
about.
  I'd also say to the gentleman that we look forward to the next 
legislative year, and we look forward to the gentleman and his party 
becoming the leaders of this House. And as someone who has been on the 
Rules Committee, both in the majority and minority, I don't recall a 
single instance when the gentleman, when his party was in power, ever 
voted against a closed rule proposed by the Republican then-majority, 
but we will see what happens.
  And I will also say, Madam Speaker, that one of the things I think 
that the American people are now beginning to realize is that the 
Republicans are not at all serious about fiscal discipline. You know, I 
remind everybody that when Bill Clinton was President, we had record 
job creation and we had historical fiscal restraint. We actually 
eliminated the deficit and started paying down the debt.
  When George Bush and the Republicans then took over, what ended up 
happening is they took this record surplus and turned it into historic 
debt. And how did they do it? Well, they did it through a number of 
things. Unpaid-for wars is one of them. The other is a Medicare 
prescription drug bill that, by the way, nobody here had a chance to 
read, that was voted on in the middle of the night. They kept the vote 
open 3 hours so that people's arms could be twisted, but it cost twice 
as much as anybody thought it was going to cost, not paid for.
  But the thing that really broke the bank was their unprecedented tax 
cuts and giveaways to the wealthiest individuals in this country, not 
paid for, not paid for. And sadly, Madam Speaker, the Republicans in 
the Senate held unemployment compensation, benefits to the millions of 
people in this country who are unemployed through no fault of their 
own, held that hostage so they could get their tax cuts for the rich. 
And those tax cuts for the rich, by the way, Madam Speaker, are not 
paid for, not a single offset to pay for those tax cuts for the rich.

                              {time}  1230

  Donald Trump gets another tax cut, unpaid for; and guess what, that 
debt gets piled on the backs of my kids and the kids of every American 
in this country. It is just not right.
  I think the American people are beginning to realize that their real 
goal is to go after domestic spending in an unprecedented way--Social 
Security, Medicare, programs that benefit the most vulnerable in our 
country. They will launch an unprecedented war against the poor in this 
country. We are going to see early on what their real agenda is. And I 
bet, Madam Speaker, as polls will reveal, it is not what the American 
people had in mind. So, again, I regret that the Republicans continue 
to want to do the same old, same old which is to delay and obstruct and 
put off and put off. But I think we need to pass this rule.
  I urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and on the rule.
  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. The question is on the resolution.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Madam 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 House Resolution 1771 will be followed by a 5-minute 
vote on suspending the rules with regard to H.R. 6540.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 199, 
nays 151, not voting 83, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 657]

                               YEAS--199

     Ackerman
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Boccieri
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Brown, Corrine
     Butterfield
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson (IN)
     Castor (FL)
     Chandler
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Cohen
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Courtney
     Critz
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Dahlkemper
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (TN)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     DeLauro
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Donnelly (IN)
     Driehaus
     Edwards (MD)
     Edwards (TX)
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Foster
     Frank (MA)
     Fudge
     Garamendi
     Giffords
     Gonzalez
     Gordon (TN)
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Halvorson
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Heinrich
     Higgins
     Hill
     Himes
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Holden
     Holt
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson Lee (TX)
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kildee
     Kilroy
     Kind
     Kirkpatrick (AZ)
     Kissell
     Klein (FL)
     Kosmas
     Kucinich
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)

[[Page H8819]]


     Loebsack
     Lowey
     Lujan
     Lynch
     Maffei
     Maloney
     Markey (CO)
     Markey (MA)
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McNerney
     Meeks (NY)
     Michaud
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Nadler (NY)
     Napolitano
     Nye
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Peters
     Peterson
     Pingree (ME)
     Polis (CO)
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Ross
     Rothman (NJ)
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Ryan (OH)
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schauer
     Schiff
     Schrader
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sestak
     Sherman
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Snyder
     Space
     Speier
     Spratt
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Teague
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Titus
     Tonko
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Wilson (OH)
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Yarmuth

                               NAYS--151

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Austria
     Bachus
     Bartlett
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Cantor
     Capito
     Carter
     Cassidy
     Castle
     Chaffetz
     Childers
     Coffman (CO)
     Cole
     Conaway
     Davis (KY)
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Djou
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Ehlers
     Emerson
     Flake
     Fleming
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gohmert
     Goodlatte
     Graves (GA)
     Graves (MO)
     Guthrie
     Hall (TX)
     Harper
     Hastings (WA)
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hoekstra
     Hunter
     Issa
     Jenkins
     Johnson (IL)
     Jordan (OH)
     King (IA)
     Kingston
     Kline (MN)
     Kratovil
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lee (NY)
     Lewis (CA)
     LoBiondo
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lummis
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Manzullo
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McCotter
     McHenry
     McKeon
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy, Tim
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Olson
     Paul
     Pence
     Perriello
     Petri
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe (TX)
     Posey
     Price (GA)
     Putnam
     Reed
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Rooney
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Scalise
     Schmidt
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shimkus
     Shuler
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Stutzman
     Sullivan
     Taylor
     Terry
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Upton
     Walden
     Wamp
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Wolf

                             NOT VOTING--83

     Adler (NJ)
     Arcuri
     Baca
     Bachmann
     Baird
     Barrett (SC)
     Barton (TX)
     Berry
     Blumenauer
     Bright
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Cao
     Chu
     Clyburn
     Coble
     Connolly (VA)
     Costello
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (IL)
     Delahunt
     Deutch
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Doyle
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Fallin
     Granger
     Grayson
     Griffith
     Heller
     Herseth Sandlin
     Hodes
     Honda
     Inglis
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Kennedy
     Kilpatrick (MI)
     King (NY)
     Lee (CA)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Marchant
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McMahon
     McMorris Rodgers
     Meek (FL)
     Melancon
     Miller, Gary
     Minnick
     Mitchell
     Murphy (NY)
     Neal (MA)
     Nunes
     Ortiz
     Pastor (AZ)
     Paulsen
     Radanovich
     Reyes
     Rush
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Schock
     Shea-Porter
     Sires
     Smith (WA)
     Stark
     Stearns
     Tanner
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Weiner
     Welch
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                              {time}  1300

  Messrs. DENT, TERRY, DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California, KING of Iowa, 
and McCAUL changed their vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
  Mrs. MALONEY changed her 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.

                          ____________________