[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 148 (Thursday, September 6, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H7894-H7896]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MOTION TO INSTRUCT CONFEREES ON H.R. 6147, INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT,
FINANCIAL SERVICES, AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019
Mr. CALVERT. Madam Speaker, pursuant to clause 1 of rule XXII and by
direction of the Committee on Appropriations, I have a motion at the
desk.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion.
The Clerk read as follows:
Mr. Calvert moves that the House take from the Speaker's
table the bill, H.R. 6147, with the Senate amendment thereto,
disagree to the Senate amendment, and request a conference
with the Senate thereon.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from California is recognized
for 1 hour.
Mr. CALVERT. Madam Speaker, this is a necessary step to continue to
move the fiscal year 2019 appropriations process forward under regular
order.
On July 19, the House passed H.R. 6147 by a vote of 217-199, which
includes the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies and the
Financial Services and General Government bills.
The Senate has now sent H.R. 6147 back to the House with the
Agriculture
[[Page H7895]]
and Transportation bills added to the package. With the appointment of
these conferees, the House and the Senate may begin to resolve
differences, with the goal of passing H.R. 6147 before the end of the
fiscal year.
As such, I strongly support this motion.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the
previous question on the motion.
The previous question was ordered.
The motion was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
Ms. McCOLLUM. Madam Speaker, I have a motion to instruct conferees at
the desk.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion.
The Clerk read as follows:
Ms. McCollum moves that the managers on the part of the
House at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two
Houses on the Senate amendment to the bill H.R. 6147 be
instructed to agree to section 114 of division A of the
matter proposed to be added by the Senate amendment.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 7 of rule XXII, the
gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum) and the gentleman from
California (Mr. Calvert) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Minnesota.
General Leave
Ms. McCOLLUM. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Minnesota?
There was no objection.
Ms. McCOLLUM. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, this motion would instruct conferees to use a
provision from the Senate Interior Appropriations bill that guarantees
full funding for the Payment in Lieu of Taxes program. The Payment in
Lieu of Taxes program--or PILT, as I will refer to it from now on--
provides Federal payments to local governments to help offset the loss
of property taxes due to nontransferable Federal lands within their
boundaries.
Since local governments cannot tax Federal lands, PILT payments help
defray the cost for maintaining vital community services, such as
police and fire protection and construction of schools and roads in
many cases. It also provides much-needed search and rescue operations.
To date, including fiscal year 2018 payments, approximately $8.5
billion in payments have been made to local units of government. These
payments are a vital lifeline for communities across this country.
Originally, PILT was part of the discretionary appropriations
process; but often, Congress failed to provide enough funding for our
counties and they ended up being shortchanged. To stop this from
happening and to correct the problem, the program was made mandatory.
However, Congress has failed to authorize the PILT program, so we are
back to funding PILT through the Interior Appropriations bill.
Funding PILT through the discretionary appropriations process creates
uncertainty and unpredictability for local governments across this
country. Why? Because the amount available to be appropriated for PILT
is constrained by the 302(b) allocation provided in the Interior,
Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee. And with less than a 1
percent funding increase for 2018 and 2019, it just goes to show that
the Interior allocation cannot continue to keep pace with the rising
cost of PILT.
At the same time, we need to meet other important obligations in the
Interior bill, such as providing healthcare for Native Americans and
Alaskan Natives, addressing the backlog of deferred maintenance on
Federal lands, and maintaining our national parks, only to name a few.
In the past 25 years, PILT has grown from $103 million to $553
million in fiscal year '18. The estimate for this year is again going
to exceed $500 million.
I agree with our local units of government; PILT should be funded as
a permanent mandatory program. But with the reauthorizers not having
completed their work, the next best thing we can do is to pass this
motion to guarantee full funding for our counties.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to pass this commonsense motion,
and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CALVERT. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise in reluctant opposition to the motion to
instruct conferees. The House and Senate, both Democrats and
Republicans, have been working together to complete work on as many
appropriations bills as possible as quickly as possible. We face a
looming deadline of September 30. We are making great progress.
The conferees recognize the importance of the four bills included in
this conference package: Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies;
Financial Services and General Government; Agriculture, Rural
Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies; and
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies. These programs
support economic growth, the preservation and promotion of our natural
resources and agricultural products, and critical law enforcement
functions.
As chairman of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Subcommittee, I am determined to complete this legislation, a
commitment I know my friends on the other side of the aisle and on the
other side of the Capitol also share.
As we are doing with the two other conference committees, both of
which I am serving on, we are negotiating in good faith and working to
ensure that the agencies and departments under these bills are
adequately funded.
The House and Senate are returning to regular order, and this is
great news for the American people. We should let the process work as
intended.
Given this, this motion to instruct is unnecessary. I am sure it is
going to be one of the items we will be discussing over the next few
days. We should not risk any delays to completing the final conference
report for these four bills, particularly given the deadline and
limited number of legislative days ahead.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reject this motion to instruct
conferees, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. McCOLLUM. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the chairman's reluctance in opposing
this because the Payment in Lieu of Taxes program is a nonpartisan
issue and it is something that the Interior, Environment, and Related
Agencies Subcommittee has been struggling with over our allocations,
and it is something, as I bring up, that the Senate has in their bill,
something which I think is a good idea and should be discussed. I look
forward to further discussions on this, as well as with the other
conference committee the chairman and I serve on, Madam Speaker.
But we have a precedent for using this provision. In fact, it a
fiscal year 2018 enacted bill. This provision would simply ensure that
100 percent of the PILT payments will be made even if the cost exceeds
the cost of the Interior Department's original estimate.
So this is a backstop. This is a guarantee. We still need the
authorizers to do their work, but this is to make sure that we don't
shortchange any of the other important programs that we fund in the
Interior bill. So in my opinion, this is a commonsense issue, and I
would urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on that.
Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for his comments and look forward
to going to conference and completing our goal together.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Without objection, the previous question is ordered on the motion to
instruct.
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to instruct.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the noes appeared to have it.
Ms. McCOLLUM. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 187,
nays 218, not voting 24, as follows:
[[Page H7896]]
[Roll No. 388]
YEAS--187
Adams
Aguilar
Barragan
Bass
Beatty
Bera
Beyer
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Blunt Rochester
Bonamici
Boyle, Brendan F.
Brady (PA)
Brown (MD)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Carbajal
Cardenas
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu, Judy
Cicilline
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Cooper
Correa
Costa
Courtney
Crist
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny
DeFazio
DeGette
Delaney
DeLauro
DelBene
Demings
DeSaulnier
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Donovan
Doyle, Michael F.
Duncan (TN)
Engel
Espaillat
Esty (CT)
Evans
Foster
Frankel (FL)
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Gohmert
Gomez
Gonzalez (TX)
Gottheimer
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hanabusa
Hastings
Heck
Higgins (NY)
Himes
Hoyer
Jackson Lee
Jayapal
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Jones
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Khanna
Kihuen
Kildee
Kilmer
Kind
Krishnamoorthi
Kuster (NH)
Lamb
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lawrence
Lawson (FL)
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lieu, Ted
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham, M.
Lujan, Ben Ray
Lynch
Maloney, Carolyn B.
Matsui
McCollum
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Moore
Moulton
Murphy (FL)
Nadler
Napolitano
Nolan
Norcross
O'Halleran
O'Rourke
Pallone
Panetta
Pascrell
Payne
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Pingree
Pocan
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Raskin
Rice (NY)
Richmond
Rogers (AL)
Rosen
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Sanchez
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrader
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Sinema
Sires
Smith (WA)
Soto
Suozzi
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tonko
Torres
Tsongas
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velazquez
Visclosky
Wasserman Schultz
Waters, Maxine
Watson Coleman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
NAYS--218
Abraham
Aderholt
Allen
Amash
Amodei
Arrington
Babin
Bacon
Balderson
Banks (IN)
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Bergman
Biggs
Bilirakis
Bishop (MI)
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blum
Bost
Brady (TX)
Brat
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Buchanan
Buck
Bucshon
Budd
Burgess
Byrne
Calvert
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Chabot
Cheney
Cloud
Coffman
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Comer
Comstock
Conaway
Cook
Costello (PA)
Cramer
Crawford
Culberson
Curbelo (FL)
Curtis
Davidson
Davis, Rodney
Denham
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Dunn
Emmer
Estes (KS)
Faso
Ferguson
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Flores
Fortenberry
Foxx
Frelinghuysen
Gaetz
Gallagher
Garrett
Gibbs
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Griffith
Grothman
Guthrie
Handel
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hensarling
Herrera Beutler
Hice, Jody B.
Higgins (LA)
Hill
Holding
Hollingsworth
Hudson
Huizenga
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurd
Jenkins (KS)
Johnson (LA)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jordan
Joyce (OH)
Katko
Kelly (MS)
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kinzinger
Knight
Kustoff (TN)
Labrador
LaHood
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Latta
Lesko
Lewis (MN)
LoBiondo
Long
Loudermilk
Love
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
MacArthur
Marchant
Marino
Marshall
Massie
Mast
McCarthy
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
McSally
Meadows
Messer
Mitchell
Moolenaar
Mooney (WV)
Mullin
Newhouse
Norman
Nunes
Olson
Palmer
Pearce
Perry
Pittenger
Poe (TX)
Poliquin
Posey
Ratcliffe
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Rice (SC)
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (KY)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney, Francis
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Rouzer
Rutherford
Sanford
Scalise
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Smucker
Stefanik
Stewart
Stivers
Taylor
Tenney
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tipton
Trott
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walker
Walorski
Walters, Mimi
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (AK)
Young (IA)
Zeldin
NOT VOTING--24
Blackburn
Capuano
DeSantis
Ellison
Eshoo
Gianforte
Huffman
Issa
Jenkins (WV)
Maloney, Sean
McEachin
Neal
Noem
Palazzo
Paulsen
Rooney, Thomas J.
Ros-Lehtinen
Royce (CA)
Russell
Ryan (OH)
Shuster
Speier
Titus
Walz
{time} 1528
Mrs. COMSTOCK, Messrs. LEWIS of Minnesota, HUNTER, TURNER, GRIFFITH,
Ms. GRANGER, Messrs. DENHAM, ROKITA, COLLINS of Georgia, BOST, DUFFY,
and STEWART changed their vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
Messrs. CROWLEY and DONOVAN changed their vote from ``nay'' to
``yea.''
So the motion to instruct was rejected.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
Stated against:
Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been
present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 388.
____________________