[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 2 (Monday, January 4, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H13-H36]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   ADOPTING THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FOR THE 117TH 
                                CONGRESS

  Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I send to the desk a privileged resolution.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                               H. Res. 8

       Resolved,

     SECTION 1. ADOPTION OF THE RULES OF THE ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH 
                   CONGRESS.

       The Rules of the House of Representatives of the One 
     Hundred Sixteenth Congress, including applicable provisions 
     of law or concurrent resolution that constituted rules of the 
     House at the end of the One Hundred Sixteenth Congress, are 
     adopted as the Rules of the House of Representatives of the 
     One Hundred Seventeenth Congress, with amendments to the 
     standing rules as provided in section 2, and with other 
     orders as provided in this resolution.

     SEC. 2. CHANGES TO THE STANDING RULES.

       (a) Conforming Change.--In clause 2(i) of rule II--
       (1) strike the designation of subparagraph (1); and
       (2) strike subparagraph (2).
       (b) Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Office of the 
     Whistleblower Ombuds.--
       (1) Establishment.--In rule II, add at the end the 
     following new clauses:

     ``Office of Diversity and Inclusion

       ``9.(a) There is established an Office of Diversity and 
     Inclusion. The Speaker, in consultation with the Minority 
     Leader, shall appoint a Director of the Office from 
     recommendations provided by the chair of the Committee on 
     House Administration in consultation with the ranking 
     minority member of such committee.
       ``(b) Subject to the policy direction and oversight of the 
     Committee on House Administration, the Office of Diversity 
     and Inclusion shall--
       ``(1) direct and guide House employing offices to recruit, 
     hire, train, develop, advance, promote, and retain a diverse 
     workforce;
       ``(2) survey and evaluate diversity in House employing 
     offices;

[[Page H14]]

       ``(3) through the Director of the Office at the end of each 
     session of Congress, submit a House of Representatives 
     diversity report to the Speaker, the Majority Leader, the 
     Minority Leader, the chair and ranking minority member of the 
     Committee on House Administration, and the chair and ranking 
     minority member of the Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch 
     of the Committee on Appropriations; and
       ``(4) provide consultation and guidance in furtherance of 
     increasing diversity and inclusion in the House.

     ``Office of the Whistleblower Ombuds

       ``10.(a) There is established an Office of the 
     Whistleblower Ombuds. The Speaker, in consultation with the 
     chairs and ranking minority members of the Committee on House 
     Administration and the Committee on Oversight and Reform, 
     shall appoint a Director of the Office.
       ``(b) Subject to the policy direction and oversight of the 
     Committee on House Administration, and in consultation with 
     any other committee (at the request of the chair or ranking 
     minority member of such other committee), the Office of the 
     Whistleblower Ombuds shall--
       ``(1) promulgate best practices for whistleblower intake 
     for offices of the House; and
       ``(2) provide training for offices of the House on 
     whistleblower intake, including establishing an effective 
     reporting system for whistleblowers, maintaining 
     whistleblower confidentiality, advising staff of relevant 
     laws and policies, and protecting information provided by 
     whistleblowers.''.
       (2) Conforming amendment.--In clause 4(d)(1)(A) of rule X--
       (A) strike ``and the Inspector General'' and insert ``, the 
     Inspector General, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and 
     the Office of the Whistleblower Ombuds''; and
       (B) strike ``and Inspector General'' and insert ``Inspector 
     General, Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and Office of the 
     Whistleblower Ombuds''.
       (c) Continuing Authority to Act in Litigation Matters.--In 
     clause 8(c) of rule II, strike ``appropriate'' and insert 
     ``appropriate, including, but not limited to, the issuance of 
     subpoenas,''.
       (d) Admittance to the Hall of the House.--
       (1) In clause 2(a)(14) of rule IV, insert ``and the Mayor 
     of the District of Columbia'' after ``Territories''.
       (2) In clause 4(a) of rule IV--
       (A) in subparagraph (2) strike ``committee; or'' and insert 
     ``committee;'';
       (B) in subparagraph (3) strike the period and insert ``; 
     or''; and
       (C) add at the end the following new subparagraph:
       ``(4) has been convicted by a court of record for the 
     commission of a crime in relation to that individual's 
     election to, or service to, the House.''.
       (e) Gender-inclusive Language.--
       (1) In clause 1(c)(9) of rule X, strike ``seamen'' and 
     insert ``seafarers''.
       (2) In clause 4(a)(1)(B) of rule X, strike ``Chairman'' and 
     insert ``Chair''.
       (3) In clause 8(c)(3) of rule XXIII, strike ``father, 
     mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first 
     cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, father-in-law, mother-
     in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-
     in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, 
     stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half sister, grandson, 
     or granddaughter'' and insert ``parent, child, sibling, 
     parent's sibling, first cousin, sibling's child, spouse, 
     parent-in-law, child-in-law, sibling-in-law, stepparent, 
     stepchild, stepsibling, half-sibling, or grandchild''.
       (4) In clause 10(b) of rule XXIII--
       (A) strike ``submit his or her resignation'' and insert 
     ``resign'';
       (B) strike ``he or she serves'' and insert ``such Member, 
     Delegate, or Resident Commissioner serves''; and
       (C) strike ``he or she holds'' and insert ``such Member, 
     Delegate, or Resident Commissioner holds''.
       (5) In clause 15(d)(2) of rule XXIII, strike ``father, 
     mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, wife, 
     father-in-law, or mother-in-law'' and insert ``parent, child, 
     sibling, spouse, or parent-in-law''.
       (6) In clause 4 of rule XXVII, strike ``himself or 
     herself'' and insert ``themself''.
       (7) In rule XXIX, clause 2 is amended to read as follows:
       ``2. (Reserved.)''.
       (f) Committee on Armed Services.--In clause 1(c) of rule 
     X--
       (1) in subparagraph (1) strike ``and Air Force'' and insert 
     ``Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force''; and
       (2) in subparagraph (13), strike ``and Air Force'' and 
     insert ``Air Force, and Space Force''.
       (g) Committee Oversight Plans.--In clause 2(d)(2) of rule 
     X--
       (1) in subdivision (D), strike ``and'';
       (2) in subdivision (E), strike the period and insert ``; 
     and''; and
       (3) add at the end the following new subdivision:
       ``(F) give priority consideration to including in the plan 
     a discussion of how the committee's work will address issues 
     of inequities on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, 
     religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, 
     disability, age, or national origin.''.
       (h) Printing and Availability Requirements.--
       (1) In clause 6 of rule X, strike ``printed'' each place 
     that it appears.
       (2) In clause 8(b)(1)(A) of rule XXII, insert ``or pursuant 
     to clause 3 of rule XXIX'' after ``Congressional Record''.
       (i) Committee Vote Availability.--In clause 2(e)(1)(B) of 
     rule XI--
       (1) in item (i), strike ``made available by the committee 
     for inspection by the public at reasonable times in its 
     offices and also'';
       (2) in item (i), strike ``subdivision (B)(ii)'' and insert 
     ``item (ii)''; and
       (3) in item (ii), strike ``available for inspection by the 
     public'' and insert ``publicly available''.
       (j) Amendment Availability.--In clause 2(e)(6) of rule XI, 
     insert ``, or 48 hours after the disposition or withdrawal of 
     any other amendment,'' after ``any amendment''.
       (k) Truth-in-testimony Reform.--In clause 2(g)(5) of rule 
     XI--
       (1) amend subdivision (B) to read as follows:
       ``(B) In the case of a witness appearing in a non-
     governmental capacity, a written statement of proposed 
     testimony shall include--
       ``(i) a curriculum vitae;
       ``(ii) a disclosure of any Federal grants or contracts, or 
     contracts, grants, or payments originating with a foreign 
     government, received during the past 36 months by the witness 
     or by an entity represented by the witness and related to the 
     subject matter of the hearing; and
       ``(iii) a disclosure of whether the witness is a fiduciary 
     (including, but not limited to, a director, officer, advisor, 
     or resident agent) of any organization or entity that has an 
     interest in the subject matter of the hearing.'';
       (2) in subdivision (C), strike ``subdivision (B)'' and 
     insert ``subdivision (B)(ii)''; and
       (3) in subdivision (D), insert ``24 hours before the 
     witness appears to the extent practicable, but'' before ``not 
     later''.
       (l) Electronic Filing of Reports and Electronic 
     Signatures.--
       (1) In clause 2(l) of rule XI, insert ``(including in 
     electronic form)'' after ``signed views''.
       (2) In clause 2(a) of rule XIII--
       (A) in subparagraph (1), strike ``subparagraph (2)'' and 
     insert ``subparagraphs (2) and (3)''; and
       (B) add the following new subparagraph:
       ``(3) All reports of committees may be delivered to the 
     Clerk in electronic form.''.
       (3) In clause 5(b) of rule XIII, insert ``, pursuant to 
     clause 2(a)(3), or pursuant to clause 2(c),'' after ``from 
     the floor''.
       (4) In clause 5 of rule XXV, insert ``(including in 
     electronic form)'' after ``signed'' each place that it 
     appears.
       (5) In clause 1 of rule XXVII, insert ``(including in 
     electronic form)'' after ``signed''.
       (m) Subpoena Authority.--In clause 2(m)(3) of rule XI, add 
     the following new subdivision:
       ``(D) Subpoenas for documents or testimony may be issued to 
     any person or entity, whether governmental, public, or 
     private, within the United States, including, but not limited 
     to, the President, and the Vice President, whether current or 
     former, in a personal or official capacity, as well as the 
     White House, the Office of the President, the Executive 
     Office of the President, and any individual currently or 
     formerly employed in the White House, Office of the 
     President, or Executive Office of the President.''.
       (n) Committee on Ethics.--
       (1) In clause 5(a)(3)(C) of rule X, insert ``or fifth'' 
     after ``fourth''.
       (2) In clause 3 of rule XI--
       (A) in paragraph (b)(8)(A), insert ``, Delegate, Resident 
     Commissioner'' after ``Member'' each place it appears;
       (B) in paragraph (b)(8)(B)(iii), insert ``, Delegate, 
     Resident Commissioner'' after ``Member'';
       (C) in paragraph (k)(1)(A), insert ``, Delegate, Resident 
     Commissioner'' after ``Member'';
       (D) in paragraph (m)(1)(A), insert ``, Delegates, or the 
     Resident Commissioner'' after ``Members'';
       (E) in paragraph (n), insert ``, Delegate, Resident 
     Commissioner'' after ``Member''; and
       (F) in paragraph (r), insert ``, Delegate, Resident 
     Commissioner'' after ``Member''.
       (o) Audio and Video Recordings.--In clause 4(b) of rule XI, 
     strike ``radio and television tapes and television film'' and 
     insert ``audio and video recordings''.
       (p) Cosponsorship Withdrawal.--In clause 7(b)(2) of rule 
     XII, strike the first two sentences and insert the following: 
     ``The name of a cosponsor of a bill or resolution may be 
     deleted only by a demand from the floor made by the Member, 
     Delegate, or Resident Commissioner whose name is to be 
     deleted, or by a unanimous-consent request from the sponsor. 
     The Speaker may only entertain such a demand or request until 
     the last committee authorized to consider and report the bill 
     or resolution reports it to the House or is discharged from 
     its consideration.''.
       (q) Comparative Prints.--In rule XXI, strike clause 12.
       (r) Requiring Committee Hearing and Markup on Bills and 
     Joint Resolutions.--
       (1) In clause 3(c) of rule XIII, add the following new 
     subparagraph:
       ``(6)(A) On a bill or joint resolution to be considered 
     pursuant to a special order of business reported by the 
     Committee on Rules--
       ``(i) a list of related committee and subcommittee 
     hearings; and
       ``(ii) a designation of at least one committee or 
     subcommittee hearing that was used to develop or consider 
     such bill or joint resolution.
       ``(B) Subdivision (A) shall not apply to a bill or joint 
     resolution--

[[Page H15]]

       ``(i) continuing appropriations for a fiscal year; or
       ``(ii) containing an emergency designation under section 
     251(b)(2) or section 252(e) of the Balanced Budget and 
     Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.''.
       (2) In rule XXI, add at the end the following new clause:
       ``12.(a) It shall not be in order to consider a bill or 
     joint resolution pursuant to a special order of business 
     reported by the Committee on Rules that has not been reported 
     by a committee.
       ``(b) Paragraph (a) shall not apply to a bill or joint 
     resolution--
       ``(1) continuing appropriations for a fiscal year;
       ``(2) containing an emergency designation under section 
     251(b)(2) or section 252(e) of the Balanced Budget and 
     Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985;
       ``(3) designated pursuant to clause 7(a) of rule XV; or
       ``(4) not referred to committee.
       ``(c) Paragraph (a) does not apply before March 1 of an 
     odd-numbered year.''.
       (s) Motion to Recommit.--
       (1) In clause 6(c) of rule XIII, strike ``, including a 
     motion to recommit with instructions to report back an 
     amendment otherwise in order''.
       (2) In clause 2 of rule XIX--
       (A) in paragraph (a), strike ``with or'';
       (B) amend paragraph (b) to read as follows:
       ``(b) The previous question shall be considered as ordered 
     on any motion to recommit (or commit, as the case may be).''; 
     and
       (C) strike paragraph (c).
       (3) In clause 7(d) of rule XXII, strike ``or in a motion to 
     recommit to conference''.
       (t) District of Columbia Business.--In rule XV--
       (1) clause 4 is amended to read as follows:
       ``4. (Reserved.)''.
       (2) in clause 4, strike the caption.
       (u) Title Amendments.--In clause 6 of rule XVI, insert ``, 
     shall be in order only if offered by the Majority Leader or a 
     designee,'' after ``adoption''.
       (v) Reconciliation Directives.--Clause 7 of rule XXI is 
     amended to read as follows:
       ``7. (Reserved.)''.
       (w) Availability of Measures.--In clause 11 of rule XXI, 
     insert ``the text of'' before ``such measure''.
       (x) Prohibited Service.--Clause 19(c) of rule XXIII is 
     amended to read as follows: ``A Member, Delegate, Resident 
     Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House shall comply 
     with regulations issued and revised, as necessary, by the 
     Committee on Ethics regarding types of prohibited service or 
     positions that could lead to conflicts of interest.''.
       (y) Code of Official Conduct.--In rule XXIII--
       (1) redesignate clause 20 as clause 22; and
       (2) insert after clause 19 the following new clauses:
       ``20. A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, 
     or employee of the House may not, directly or indirectly, 
     take any actions to prevent any individual from or retaliate 
     against any individual for providing truthful information to 
     the Committee on Ethics, the Office of Congressional Ethics, 
     the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, or any law 
     enforcement official, provided that the disclosure of such 
     information is not otherwise prohibited by law or House 
     rules.
       ``21.(a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c), a 
     Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee 
     of the House shall not knowingly and willfully disclose 
     publicly the identity of, or personally identifiable 
     information about, any individual who has reported 
     allegations of possible wrongdoing, including retaliation, 
     under processes and protections provided by the Civil Service 
     Reform Act of 1978, the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989, 
     the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act of 
     1998, or any other Federal law that establishes the right for 
     individuals to make protected disclosures to Congress.
       ``(b) The limitation in paragraph (a) shall not apply to 
     any disclosure of an individual's identity or personally 
     identifiable information if--
       ``(1) the individual has provided express written consent 
     prior to such disclosure;
       ``(2) the individual has already voluntarily and publicly 
     disclosed their identity; or
       ``(3) the disclosure is by the chair of a committee after 
     an affirmative vote by two-thirds of the members of the 
     committee that such disclosure is in the public interest.
       ``(c) Nothing in this clause shall prevent--
       ``(1) an investigation of any allegation of wrongdoing 
     disclosed by any individual; or
       ``(2) the public disclosure of substantive information 
     shared by any individual that is not personally identifiable 
     to that individual.
       ``(d) Disclosures made pursuant to paragraph (b)(3) shall 
     be subject to appropriate safeguards, including that the 
     individual be provided timely advance notice if possible 
     before their identity or any personally identifiable 
     information is disclosed prior to the vote described in 
     paragraph (b)(3), unless such information would jeopardize 
     the related investigations. When providing such notice to the 
     individual the committee chair shall send the individual a 
     written explanation of the reasons for the disclosure.''.
       (z) Communications Standards Commission.--In clause 5 of 
     rule XXIV, strike ``Commission on Congressional Mailing 
     Standards'' and insert ``Communications Standards 
     Commission''.

     SEC. 3. SEPARATE ORDERS.

       (a) Member Day Hearing Requirement.--During the first 
     session of the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress, each 
     standing committee (other than the Committee on Ethics) or 
     each subcommittee thereof (other than a subcommittee on 
     oversight) shall hold a hearing at which it receives 
     testimony from Members, Delegates, and the Resident 
     Commissioner on proposed legislation within its jurisdiction, 
     except that the Committee on Rules may hold such hearing 
     during the second session of the One Hundred Seventeenth 
     Congress.
       (b) Deposition Authority.--
       (1) During the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress, the chair 
     of a standing committee (other than the Committee on Rules), 
     and the chair of the Permanent Select Committee on 
     Intelligence, upon consultation with the ranking minority 
     member of such committee, may order the taking of 
     depositions, including pursuant to subpoena, by a member or 
     counsel of such committee.
       (2) Depositions taken under the authority prescribed in 
     this subsection shall be subject to regulations issued by the 
     chair of the Committee on Rules and printed in the 
     Congressional Record.
       (c) War Powers Resolution.--During the One Hundred 
     Seventeenth Congress, a motion to discharge a measure 
     introduced pursuant to section 6 or section 7 of the War 
     Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1545-46) shall not be subject to 
     a motion to table.
       (d) Exercise Facilities for Former Members.--During the One 
     Hundred Seventeenth Congress--
       (1) The House of Representatives may not provide access to 
     any exercise facility which is made available exclusively to 
     Members and former Members, officers and former officers of 
     the House of Representatives, and their spouses to any former 
     Member, former officer, or spouse who is a lobbyist 
     registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 or any 
     successor statute or who is an agent of a foreign principal 
     as defined in clause 5 of rule XXV. For purposes of this 
     subsection, the term ``Member'' includes a Delegate or 
     Resident Commissioner to the Congress.
       (2) The Committee on House Administration shall promulgate 
     regulations to carry out this subsection.
       (e) Empaneling Investigative Subcommittee of the Committee 
     on Ethics.--The text of House Resolution 451, One Hundred 
     Tenth Congress, shall apply in the One Hundred Seventeenth 
     Congress in the same manner as such provision applied in the 
     One Hundred Tenth Congress, except that references to the 
     Committee on Standards of Official Conduct shall be construed 
     as references to the Committee on Ethics.
       (f) Non-disclosure Agreements.--Any non-disclosure 
     agreement imposed by any employing or contracting authority 
     in the House of Representatives to which a paid or unpaid 
     employee or contractor is or was required to agree as a term 
     of employment shall--
       (1) provide clear guidance that the employee or contractor 
     may communicate concerning any matter with the Committee on 
     Ethics, the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, or any 
     other office or entity designated by the Committee on House 
     Administration without prior, concurrent, or subsequent 
     notice or approval; and
       (2) not be binding and shall have no legal effect to the 
     extent to which it requires prior, concurrent, or subsequent 
     notice or approval from anyone on any matter with respect to 
     communications from an employee or contractor to any of the 
     committees, offices, or entities described in paragraph (1).
       (g) Requiring Members to Pay for Discrimination 
     Settlements.--
       (1) In general.--In the case of a settlement of a complaint 
     under the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 in 
     connection with a claim alleging a violation described in 
     paragraph (2) which is committed personally by a Member, 
     Delegate, or Resident Commissioner, if the Member, Delegate, 
     or Resident Commissioner is not required under law to 
     reimburse the Treasury for the amount of the settlement, the 
     chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on House 
     Administration may not approve the settlement pursuant to 
     clause 4(d)(2) of rule X unless, under the terms and 
     conditions of the settlement, the Member, Delegate, or 
     Resident Commissioner is required to reimburse the Treasury 
     for the amount of the settlement.
       (2) Violations described.--A violation described in this 
     paragraph is--
       (A) a violation of section 201(a) or section 206(a) of the 
     Congressional Accountability Act of 1995; or
       (B) a violation of section 207 of such Act which consists 
     of intimidating, taking reprisal against, or otherwise 
     discriminating against any covered employee under such Act 
     because of a claim alleging a violation described in 
     subparagraph (A).
       (h) Mandatory Anti-harassment and Anti-discrimination 
     Policies for House Offices.--
       (1) Requiring offices to adopt policy.--Each employing 
     office of the House of Representatives under the 
     Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 shall adopt an anti-
     harassment and anti-discrimination policy for the office's 
     workplace.
       (2) Regulations.--Not later than April 1, 2021, the 
     Committee on House Administration shall promulgate 
     regulations to carry out this subsection, and shall ensure 
     that

[[Page H16]]

     such regulations are consistent with the requirements of the 
     Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, rule XXIII, and 
     other relevant laws, rules, and regulations.
       (i) Displaying Statement of Rights and Protections Provided 
     to House Employees.--The Committee on House Administration 
     shall issue regulations to provide that each employing office 
     of the House of Representatives shall post in a prominent 
     location in the office (including, in the case of the office 
     of a Member, Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner, a 
     prominent location in each district office) a statement of 
     the rights and protections provided to employees of the House 
     of Representatives under the Congressional Accountability Act 
     of 1995, including the procedures available to employees of 
     the House under such Act for responding to and adjudicating 
     allegations of violations of such rights and protections.
       (j) Broadening Availability and Utility of Legislative 
     Documents in Machine-readable Formats.--The Committee on 
     House Administration, the Clerk, and other officers and 
     officials of the House shall continue efforts to broaden the 
     availability and utility of legislative documents in machine 
     readable formats in the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress in 
     furtherance of the institutional priorities of--
       (1) improving public availability and use of legislative 
     information produced by the House and its committees; and
       (2) enabling all House staff to produce comparative prints 
     showing the differences between versions of legislation, how 
     proposed legislation will amend existing law, and how an 
     amendment may change proposed legislation.
       (k) Improving the Committee Electronic Document 
     Repository.--The Clerk, the Committee on House 
     Administration, and other officers and officials of the House 
     shall undertake efforts to improve the electronic document 
     repository operated by the Clerk for use by committees of the 
     House in the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress, in furtherance 
     of the institutional priority of increasing public 
     availability and identification of legislative information 
     produced and held by House committees, including votes, 
     amendments, and witness disclosure forms.
       (l) Inclusion of Citations for Proposed Repeals and 
     Amendments.--To the maximum extent practicable and consistent 
     with established drafting conventions, an instruction in a 
     bill or joint resolution proposing to repeal or amend any law 
     or part thereof not contained in a codified title of the 
     United States Code shall include, in parentheses immediately 
     following the designation of the matter proposed to be 
     repealed or amended, the applicable United States Code 
     citation (which may be a note in the United States Code), or, 
     if no such citation is available, an appropriate alternative 
     citation to the applicable law or part.
       (m) Providing for Transparency With Respect to Memorials 
     Submitted Pursuant to Article V of the Constitution of the 
     United States.--With respect to any memorial presented under 
     clause 3 of rule XII purporting to be an application of the 
     legislature of a State calling for a convention for proposing 
     amendments to the Constitution of the United States pursuant 
     to Article V, or a rescission of any such prior application--
       (1) the chair of the Committee on the Judiciary shall, in 
     the case of a memorial presented in the One Hundred 
     Fourteenth Congress or succeeding Congresses, and may, in the 
     case of such a memorial presented prior to the One Hundred 
     Fourteenth Congress, designate any such memorial for public 
     availability by the Clerk; and
       (2) the Clerk shall make such memorials as are designated 
     pursuant to paragraph (1) publicly available in electronic 
     form, organized by State of origin and year of receipt, and 
     shall indicate whether the memorial was designated as an 
     application or a rescission.
       (n) Subcommittees.--Notwithstanding clause 5(d) of rule X, 
     during the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress the Committee on 
     Agriculture may have not more than six subcommittees.
       (o) Congressional Member Organization Transparency 
     Reform.--
       (1) Payment of salaries and expenses through account of 
     organization.--A Member of the House of Representatives and 
     an eligible Congressional Member Organization may enter into 
     an agreement under which--
       (A) an employee of the Member's office may carry out 
     official and representational duties of the Member by 
     assignment to the Organization; and
       (B) to the extent that the employee carries out such duties 
     under the agreement, the Member shall transfer the portion of 
     the Members' Representational Allowance (MRA) of the Member 
     which would otherwise be used for the salary and related 
     expenses of the employee to a dedicated account in the House 
     of Representatives which is administered by the Organization, 
     in accordance with the regulations promulgated by the 
     Committee on House Administration under paragraph (2).
       (2) Regulations.--The Committee on House Administration 
     (hereafter referred to in this subsection as the 
     ``Committee'') shall promulgate regulations as follows:
       (A) Use of mra.--Pursuant to the authority of section 
     101(d) of the House of Representatives Administrative Reform 
     Technical Corrections Act (2 U.S.C. 5341(d)), the Committee 
     shall prescribe regulations to provide that an eligible 
     Congressional Member Organization may use the amounts 
     transferred to the Organization's dedicated account under 
     paragraph (1)(B) for the same purposes for which a Member of 
     the House of Representatives may use the Members' 
     Representational Allowance, except that the Organization may 
     not use such amounts for franked mail, official travel, or 
     leases of space or vehicles.
       (B) Maintenance of limitations on number of shared 
     employees.--Pursuant to the authority of section 104(d) of 
     the House of Representatives Administrative Reform Technical 
     Corrections Act (2 U.S.C. 5321(d)), the Committee shall 
     prescribe regulations to provide that an employee of the 
     office of a Member of the House of Representatives who is 
     covered by an agreement entered into under paragraph (1) 
     between the Member and an eligible Congressional Member 
     Organization shall be considered a shared employee of the 
     Member's office and the Organization for purposes of such 
     section, and shall include in such regulations appropriate 
     accounting standards to ensure that a Member of the House of 
     Representatives who enters into an agreement with such an 
     Organization under paragraph (1) does not employ more 
     employees than the Member is authorized to employ under such 
     section.
       (C) Participation in student loan repayment program.--
     Pursuant to the authority of section 105(b) of the 
     Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2003 (2 U.S.C. 
     4536(b)), relating to the student loan repayment program for 
     employees of the House, the Committee shall promulgate 
     regulations to provide that, in the case of an employee who 
     is covered by an agreement entered into under paragraph (1) 
     between a Member of the House of Representatives and an 
     eligible Congressional Member Organization and who 
     participates in such program while carrying out duties under 
     the agreement--
       (i) any funds made available for making payments under the 
     program with respect to the employee shall be transferred to 
     the Organization's dedicated account under paragraph (1)(B); 
     and
       (ii) the Organization shall use the funds to repay a 
     student loan taken out by the employee, under the same terms 
     and conditions which would apply under the program if the 
     Organization were the employing office of the employee.
       (D) Access to house services.--The Committee shall 
     prescribe regulations to ensure that an eligible 
     Congressional Member Organization has appropriate access to 
     services of the House.
       (E) Other regulations.--The Committee shall promulgate such 
     other regulations as may be appropriate to carry out this 
     subsection.
       (3) Eligible congressional member organization defined.--In 
     this subsection, the term ``eligible Congressional Member 
     Organization'' means, with respect to the One Hundred 
     Seventeenth Congress, an organization meeting each of the 
     following requirements:
       (A) The organization is registered as a Congressional 
     Member Organization with the Committee on House 
     Administration.
       (B) The organization designates a single Member of the 
     House of Representatives to be responsible for the 
     administration of the organization, including the 
     administration of the account administered under paragraph 
     (1)(B), and includes the identification of such Member with 
     the statement of organization that the organization files and 
     maintains with the Committee on House Administration.
       (C) At least 3 employees of the House are assigned to 
     perform some work for the organization.
       (D) During the One Hundred Sixteenth Congress, at least 15 
     Members of the House of Representatives used a portion of the 
     Members' Representational Allowance of the Member for the 
     salary and related expenses of an employee who was a shared 
     employee of the Member's office and the organization.
       (E) The organization files a statement with the Committee 
     on House Administration and the Chief Administrative Officer 
     of the House of Representatives certifying that it will 
     administer an account in accordance with paragraph (1)(B).
       (p) Budget Matters.--During the first session of the One 
     Hundred Seventeenth Congress, pending the adoption of a 
     concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2021, the 
     allocations, aggregates, and other appropriate levels as 
     contained in the statement of the chair of the Committee on 
     the Budget of the House of Representatives in the 
     Congressional Record of May 1, 2020, as adjusted in the One 
     Hundred Sixteenth Congress, shall be considered for all 
     purposes in the House to be the allocations, aggregates, and 
     other appropriate levels under titles III and IV of the 
     Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
       (q) Reissuance of Subpoenas Prior to Committee 
     Organization.--(1) The House authorizes the chair of the 
     Committee on Oversight and Reform (when elected), on behalf 
     of the Committee on Oversight and Reform and until such 
     committee has adopted rules pursuant to clause 2(a) of rule 
     XI, to issue subpoenas related to the investigation into the 
     accuracy and timing of the 2020 decennial census and related 
     matters.
       (2) The House authorizes the chair of the Select 
     Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis (when designated), on 
     behalf of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis 
     and until the Committee on Oversight and Reform has adopted 
     rules pursuant to clause 2(a) of rule XI, to issue subpoenas 
     related to the investigation into political interference in 
     the response to the coronavirus pandemic at the Department of 
     Health and Human

[[Page H17]]

     Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and 
     related matters.
       (r) Numbering of Bills.--In the One Hundred Seventeenth 
     Congress, the first 10 numbers for bills (H.R. 1 through H.R. 
     10) shall be reserved for assignment by the Speaker and the 
     second 10 numbers for bills (H.R. 11 through H.R. 20) shall 
     be reserved for assignment by the Minority Leader.
       (s) Remote Voting by Proxy and Remote Committee Activity.--
     House Resolution 965, One Hundred Sixteenth Congress, shall 
     apply in the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress in the same 
     manner as such resolution applied in the One Hundred 
     Sixteenth Congress, except that--
       (1) the notification and availability requirements of 
     section 2 do not apply to revocation letters submitted to the 
     Clerk after an automatic revocation pursuant to section 
     2(a)(2)(B);
       (2) section 4(b) shall not apply; and
       (3) the chair of the Committee on House Administration, in 
     consultation with the ranking minority member, shall identify 
     and submit to the Speaker and to the chair and ranking 
     minority member of the Committee on Rules specific operable 
     and secure technology that may be used to conduct remote 
     voting in the House and shall provide certification of such 
     submission to the House as though pursuant to section 5(a).
       (t) Witness Diversity.--Not later than July 1, 2021, the 
     Office of Diversity and Inclusion shall submit a report to 
     the Committee on House Administration and the Committee on 
     Rules recommending a method to survey the diversity of 
     witness panels at committee hearings. Not later than July 31, 
     2021, the Committee on House Administration and the Committee 
     on Rules shall take such steps as may be necessary to ensure 
     the implementation of such method.
       (u) Requirements for Committee Hearing and Markup.--During 
     the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress, notwithstanding clause 
     12(c) of rule XXI (as added by section 2(r)), clause 12(a) of 
     rule XXI shall not apply before April 1, 2021.
       (v) Exemptions.--The chair of the Committee on the Budget 
     may adjust an estimate under clause 4 of rule XXIX to--
       (1) exempt the budgetary effects of measures to prevent, 
     prepare for, or respond to economic or public health 
     consequences resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; and
       (2) exempt the budgetary effects of measures to prevent, 
     prepare for, or respond to economic, environmental, or public 
     health consequences resulting from climate change.
       (w) Further Expenses for Resolving Contested Elections.--
       (1) Amounts for expenses of committee on house 
     administration.--There shall be paid out of the applicable 
     accounts of the House of Representatives such sums as may be 
     necessary for further expenses of the Committee on House 
     Administration for the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress for 
     resolving contested elections.
       (2) Session limitation.--The amount specified in paragraph 
     (1) shall be available for expenses incurred during the 
     period beginning at noon on January 3, 2021, and ending 
     immediately before noon on January 3, 2022.
       (3) Vouchers.--Payments under this subsection shall be made 
     on vouchers authorized by the Committee on House 
     Administration, signed by the chair of the Committee, and 
     approved in the manner directed by the Committee.
       (4) Regulations.--Amounts made available under this 
     subsection shall be expended in accordance with regulations 
     prescribed by the Committee on House Administration.
       (x) Support for Senate Measures.--Not later than February 
     1, 2021, the Clerk shall submit to the chair of the Committee 
     on Rules regulations establishing a process for Members to 
     indicate their support for Senate measures that have been 
     received by the House. Such process shall include the 
     maintenance of a publicly available list of Members 
     supporting each such Senate measure. Upon receipt of such 
     regulations, the chair of the Committee on Rules shall cause 
     them to be printed in the Congressional Record, and Members 
     shall be permitted to indicate their support for Senate 
     measures accordingly.
       (y) Dissemination of Manipulated Media.--The Committee on 
     Ethics is directed to report to the House, not later than 
     December 31, 2021, any recommended amendments to the Code of 
     Official Conduct, as well as any accompanying regulations, 
     intended to address the circumstances and instances, if any, 
     for which a Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, 
     or employee of the House may be subject to discipline for the 
     dissemination by electronic means, including by social media, 
     of any image, video, or audio file that has been distorted or 
     manipulated with the intent to mislead the public.

     SEC. 4. COMMITTEES, COMMISSIONS, AND HOUSE OFFICES.

       (a) House Democracy Partnership.--House Resolution 24, One 
     Hundred Tenth Congress, shall apply in the One Hundred 
     Seventeenth Congress in the same manner as such resolution 
     applied in the One Hundred Tenth Congress, except that the 
     commission concerned shall be known as the House Democracy 
     Partnership.
       (b) Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.--Sections 1 through 
     7 of House Resolution 1451, One Hundred Tenth Congress, shall 
     apply in the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress in the same 
     manner as such provisions applied in the One Hundred Tenth 
     Congress, except that--
       (1) the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission may, in addition 
     to collaborating closely with other professional staff 
     members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, collaborate 
     closely with professional staff members of other relevant 
     committees;
       (2) the resources of the Committee on Foreign Affairs which 
     the Commission may use shall include all resources which the 
     Committee is authorized to obtain from other offices of the 
     House of Representatives; and
       (3) any amounts authorized to provide full-time 
     professional staff and resources to the Tom Lantos Human 
     Rights Commission shall be in addition to and separate from 
     the amounts authorized for salaries and expenses of the 
     Committee on Foreign Affairs as provided by resolution of the 
     House, shall be administered by the Committee on Foreign 
     Affairs, and shall be distributed equally between the co-
     chairs of the Commission.
       (c) Office of Congressional Ethics.--Section 1 of House 
     Resolution 895, One Hundred Tenth Congress, shall apply in 
     the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress in the same manner as 
     such provision applied in the One Hundred Tenth Congress, 
     except that--
       (1) the Office of Congressional Ethics shall be treated as 
     a standing committee of the House for purposes of section 
     202(i) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 
     U.S.C. 4301(i));
       (2) references to the Committee on Standards of Official 
     Conduct shall be construed as references to the Committee on 
     Ethics;
       (3) any requirement for concurrence in section 1(b)(1) 
     shall be construed as a requirement for consultation;
       (4) the second sentence of section 1(b)(6)(A) shall not 
     apply;
       (5) members subject to section 1(b)(6)(B) may be 
     reappointed for a fourth additional term;
       (6) any individual who is the subject of a preliminary 
     review or second-phase review by the board shall be informed 
     of the right to be represented by counsel and invoking that 
     right should not be held negatively against such individual; 
     and
       (7) the Office may not take any action that would deny any 
     person any right or protection provided under the 
     Constitution of the United States.
       (d) Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.--Section 104(f) 
     of House Resolution 6, One Hundred Sixteenth Congress, shall 
     apply in the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress in the same 
     manner as such section applied in the One Hundred Sixteenth 
     Congress, except that--
       (1) the investigative jurisdiction of the Select Committee 
     on the Climate Crisis shall consist of policies, strategies, 
     and innovations to achieve substantial and permanent 
     reductions in pollution and other activities that contribute 
     to the climate crisis which will honor our responsibility to 
     be good stewards of the planet for future generations and 
     advance environmental justice;
       (2) the Select Committee shall coordinate with and advise 
     standing committees with relevant jurisdiction with respect 
     to such policies, strategies, and innovations;
       (3) any records obtained by a standing committee pursuant 
     to a subpoena or deposition recommended by the Select 
     Committee pursuant to section 104(f)(3)(B)(iii) may be 
     transferred to the Select Committee; and
       (4) the Select Committee shall submit all policy 
     recommendations referenced in section 104(f)(5) by December 
     31, 2021, and all reports referenced in section 104(f)(5) by 
     December 31, 2022.
       (e) Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress.--
     Section 201 of House Resolution 6, One Hundred Sixteenth 
     Congress, shall apply in the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress 
     in the same manner as such section applied in the One Hundred 
     Sixteenth Congress, except that--
       (1) the Select Committee shall submit the final report 
     under section 201(f)(3) not later than December 31, 2022; and
       (2) section 201(g)(1) shall not apply.
       (f) Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.--
     Sections 1 through 7 of House Resolution 935, One Hundred 
     Sixteenth Congress, shall apply in the One Hundred 
     Seventeenth Congress in the same manner as such provisions 
     applied in the One Hundred Sixteenth Congress.
       (g) Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in 
     Growth.--
       (1) Establishment; composition.--
       (A) Establishment.--There is hereby established a Select 
     Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth 
     (hereafter in this subsection referred to as the ``Select 
     Committee'').
       (B) Composition.--The Select Committee shall be composed of 
     15 Members, Delegates, or the Resident Commissioner appointed 
     by the Speaker, of whom 6 shall be appointed on the 
     recommendation of the Minority Leader. The Speaker shall 
     designate one member of the Select Committee as its chair. A 
     vacancy in the membership of the Select Committee shall be 
     filled in the same manner as the original appointment.
       (2) Jurisdiction; functions.--
       (A) Legislative jurisdiction.--The Select Committee shall 
     not have legislative jurisdiction and shall have no authority 
     to take legislative action on any bill or resolution.
       (B) Investigative jurisdiction.--The sole authority of the 
     Select Committee shall be to investigate, study, make 
     findings, and develop recommendations on policies, 
     strategies, and innovations to make our economy work for 
     everyone, empowering American economic growth while ensuring 
     that no one is left out or behind in the 21st Century

[[Page H18]]

     Economy. The Select Committee shall coordinate with and 
     advise standing committees with relevant jurisdiction with 
     respect to policy related to economic fairness, access to 
     education, and workforce development. The Select Committee 
     may, at its discretion, hold public hearings in connection 
     with any aspect of its investigative functions.
       (3) Procedure.--(A) Except as specified in subparagraph 
     (B), the Select Committee shall have the authorities and 
     responsibilities of, and shall be subject to the same 
     limitations and restrictions as, a standing committee of the 
     House, and shall be deemed a committee of the House for all 
     purposes of law or rule.
       (B)(i) Rules X and XI shall apply to the Select Committee 
     where not inconsistent with this subsection.
       (ii) Service on the Select Committee shall not count 
     against the limitations in clause 5(b)(2) of rule X.
       (iii) Clause 2(m)(1)(B) of rule XI, clause 2(m)(3) of rule 
     XI, and section 3(b) of this resolution shall not apply to 
     the Select Committee, but the Select Committee may recommend 
     subpoenas and depositions and submit such recommendations to 
     the relevant standing committee. Any records obtained by a 
     standing committee pursuant to a subpoena or deposition 
     recommended by the Select Committee pursuant to this clause 
     may be transferred to the Select Committee.
       (iv) Clause 2(d) of rule X shall not apply to the Select 
     Committee.
       (4) Amounts for initial expenses.--
       (A) Payment of expenses.--There shall be paid out of the 
     applicable accounts of the House of Representatives not more 
     than $500,000 for the expenses of the Select Committee, to be 
     available during the period beginning at noon on January 3, 
     2021, and ending on March 31, 2021.
       (B) Vouchers.--Payments under this paragraph shall be made 
     on vouchers authorized by the Select Committee, signed by the 
     chair of the Select Committee, and approved in the manner 
     directed by the Committee on House Administration.
       (C) Regulations.--Amounts made available under this 
     paragraph shall be expended in accordance with regulations 
     prescribed by the Committee on House Administration.
       (5) Use of staff.--To enable the Select Committee to carry 
     out the purposes of this subsection, the Select Committee may 
     use the services of staff of the House.
       (6) Reporting.--The Select Committee may report to the 
     House or any committee of the House from time to time the 
     results of its investigations and studies, together with such 
     detailed findings and policy recommendations as it may deem 
     advisable. All such reports shall be submitted to the House 
     by December 31, 2022. All such policy recommendations shall 
     be submitted to the relevant standing committees not later 
     than December 31, 2021.
       (7) Publication.--The Select Committee shall ensure that 
     reports and proposals prepared in accordance with this 
     subsection shall, upon completion, be made available to the 
     general public in widely accessible formats not later than 30 
     calendar days following the respective dates for completion 
     set forth in paragraph (6).

     SEC. 5. ORDERS OF BUSINESS.

       (a)(1) On any legislative day during the period from 
     January 3, 2021 through January 28, 2021--
       (A) the Journal of the proceedings of the previous day 
     shall be considered as approved; and
       (B) the Chair may at any time declare the House adjourned 
     to meet at a date and time, within the limits of clause 4, 
     section 5, article I of the Constitution, to be announced by 
     the Chair in declaring the adjournment.
       (2) The Speaker may appoint Members to perform the duties 
     of the Chair for the duration of the period addressed by 
     paragraph (1) as though under clause 8(a) of rule I.
       (3) Each day during the period addressed by paragraph (1) 
     shall not constitute a calendar day for purposes of section 7 
     of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1546).
       (4) Each day during the period addressed by paragraph (1) 
     shall not constitute a legislative day for purposes of clause 
     7 of rule XIII.
       (5) Each day during the period addressed by paragraph (1) 
     shall not constitute a calendar or legislative day for 
     purposes of clause 7(c)(1) of rule XXII.
       (6) Each day during the period addressed by paragraph (1) 
     shall not constitute a legislative day for purposes of clause 
     7 of rule XV.
       (b) It shall be in order at any time through the 
     legislative day of January 28, 2021, for the Speaker to 
     entertain motions that the House suspend the rules as though 
     under clause 1 of rule XV. 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 
     subsection.
       (c) 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 January 28, 2021.

  Mr. HOYER (during the reading). Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous 
consent to dispense with the reading.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Maryland?
  There was no objection.


                    Motion to Postpone Consideration

  Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I really think that my good friends in the 
majority need more time to present a fair rules package. So I move to 
postpone consideration of H. Res. 8 until January 5, 2021.


                            Motion to Table

  Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I move that the motion to postpone 
consideration be tabled.
  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. COLE. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 214, 
nays 204, not voting 11, as follows:

                              [Roll No. 4]

                               YEAS--214

     Adams
     Aguilar
     Allred
     Auchincloss
     Axne
     Barragan
     Bass
     Beatty
     Bera
     Beyer
     Bishop (GA)
     Blumenauer
     Blunt Rochester
     Bonamici
     Bourdeaux
     Bowman
     Boyle, Brendan F.
     Brown
     Bush
     Bustos
     Butterfield
     Carbajal
     Cardenas
     Carson
     Cartwright
     Case
     Casten
     Castor (FL)
     Castro (TX)
     Chu
     Cicilline
     Clarke (NY)
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Connolly
     Cooper
     Correa
     Costa
     Courtney
     Craig
     Crist
     Crow
     Cuellar
     Davids (KS)
     Davis, Danny K.
     Dean
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     DeLauro
     DelBene
     Delgado
     Demings
     Deutch
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doyle, Michael F.
     Escobar
     Eshoo
     Espaillat
     Evans
     Fletcher
     Foster
     Frankel, Lois
     Fudge
     Gallego
     Garamendi
     Garcia (IL)
     Garcia (TX)
     Golden
     Gomez
     Gonzalez, Vicente
     Gottheimer
     Green, Al (TX)
     Grijalva
     Haaland
     Harder (CA)
     Hayes
     Higgins (NY)
     Himes
     Horsford
     Houlahan
     Hoyer
     Huffman
     Jackson Lee
     Jacobs (CA)
     Jayapal
     Jeffries
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson (TX)
     Jones
     Kahele
     Kaptur
     Keating
     Kelly (IL)
     Khanna
     Kildee
     Kilmer
     Kim (NJ)
     Kind
     Kirkpatrick
     Krishnamoorthi
     Kuster
     Lamb
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lawrence
     Lawson (FL)
     Lee (CA)
     Lee (NV)
     Leger Fernandez
     Levin (CA)
     Levin (MI)
     Lieu
     Lofgren
     Lowenthal
     Luria
     Lynch
     Malinowski
     Maloney, Carolyn B.
     Maloney, Sean
     Manning
     Matsui
     McBath
     McCollum
     McEachin
     McGovern
     McNerney
     Meeks
     Meng
     Mfume
     Moore (WI)
     Morelle
     Moulton
     Mrvan
     Murphy (FL)
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Neguse
     Newman
     Norcross
     O'Halleran
     Ocasio-Cortez
     Omar
     Pallone
     Panetta
     Pappas
     Pascrell
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Peters
     Phillips
     Pingree
     Pocan
     Porter
     Pressley
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Rice (NY)
     Richmond
     Ross
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruiz
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan
     Sanchez
     Sarbanes
     Scanlon
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schneider
     Schrader
     Schrier
     Scott (VA)
     Scott, David
     Sewell
     Sherman
     Sherrill
     Sires
     Slotkin
     Smith (WA)
     Soto
     Spanberger
     Speier
     Stanton
     Stevens
     Strickland
     Suozzi
     Swalwell
     Takano
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Titus
     Tlaib
     Tonko
     Torres (CA)
     Torres (NY)
     Trahan
     Trone
     Underwood
     Vargas
     Veasey
     Vela
     Velazquez
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson Coleman
     Welch
     Wexton
     Wild
     Williams (GA)
     Yarmuth

                               NAYS--204

     Aderholt
     Allen
     Amodei
     Armstrong
     Arrington
     Babin
     Bacon
     Baird
     Balderson
     Banks
     Barr
     Bentz
     Bergman
     Bice (OK)
     Biggs
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (NC)
     Boebert
     Bost
     Brooks
     Buchanan
     Buck
     Bucshon
     Budd
     Burchett
     Burgess
     Calvert
     Cammack
     Carl
     Carter (GA)
     Carter (TX)
     Cawthorn
     Chabot
     Cheney
     Cline
     Cloud
     Clyde
     Cole
     Comer
     Crawford
     Crenshaw
     Curtis
     Davidson
     Davis, Rodney
     DesJarlais
     Diaz-Balart
     Donalds
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Emmer
     Estes
     Fallon
     Feenstra
     Fischbach
     Fitzgerald
     Fitzpatrick
     Fleischmann
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Franklin, C. Scott
     Fulcher
     Gaetz
     Gallagher
     Garbarino
     Garcia (CA)
     Gibbs
     Gimenez
     Gohmert
     Gonzales, Tony
     Gonzalez (OH)
     Good (VA)
     Gooden (TX)
     Gosar
     Graves (LA)
     Graves (MO)
     Green (TN)
     Greene (GA)
     Griffith
     Grothman
     Guest
     Guthrie
     Hagedorn
     Harris
     Harshbarger
     Hartzler
     Hern
     Herrell
     Herrera Beutler
     Hice (GA)
     Higgins (LA)
     Hill
     Hinson
     Hollingsworth
     Hudson
     Huizenga
     Issa
     Jackson
     Jacobs (NY)
     Johnson (LA)
     Johnson (OH)
     Johnson (SD)
     Jordan
     Joyce (OH)
     Joyce (PA)
     Katko
     Keller
     Kelly (MS)
     Kelly (PA)
     Kim (CA)
     Kinzinger
     Kustoff
     LaHood
     LaMalfa
     Lamborn
     Latta
     LaTurner
     Lesko
     Long
     Loudermilk
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Mace
     Malliotakis
     Mann
     Massie
     Mast
     McCarthy
     McCaul
     McClain
     McClintock
     McHenry

[[Page H19]]


     McKinley
     Meijer
     Meuser
     Miller (IL)
     Miller (WV)
     Miller-Meeks
     Moolenaar
     Mooney
     Moore (AL)
     Moore (UT)
     Mullin
     Murphy (NC)
     Nehls
     Newhouse
     Norman
     Nunes
     Obernolte
     Owens
     Palazzo
     Palmer
     Pence
     Perry
     Pfluger
     Posey
     Reed
     Reschenthaler
     Rice (SC)
     Rodgers (WA)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rose
     Rosendale
     Rouzer
     Roy
     Rutherford
     Scalise
     Schweikert
     Sessions
     Simpson
     Smith (MO)
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smucker
     Spartz
     Stauber
     Steel
     Stefanik
     Steil
     Steube
     Stewart
     Stivers
     Taylor
     Thompson (PA)
     Tiffany
     Timmons
     Turner
     Upton
     Van Drew
     Van Duyne
     Wagner
     Walberg
     Walorski
     Waltz
     Weber (TX)
     Webster (FL)
     Wenstrup
     Westerman
     Williams (TX)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Womack
     Wright
     Zeldin

                             NOT VOTING--11

     Brady
     Brownley
     Clark (MA)
     DeSaulnier
     Ferguson
     Granger
     Nadler
     Raskin
     Scott, Austin
     Wilson (FL)
     Young


                      swearing in of members-elect

  The SPEAKER (during the vote). The Chair is prepared to swear in a 
group of Members-elect currently present in the Chamber.
  Will the Representatives-elect please present themselves in the well.
  Mr. Womack, Mr. Posey, Ms. Waters, Mr. Smith of Washington, and Mr. 
Langevin appeared at the bar of the House and took the oath of office, 
as follows:

       Do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the 
     Constitution of the United States against all enemies, 
     foreign and domestic; that you will bear true faith and 
     allegiance to the same; that you take this obligation freely, 
     without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and 
     that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the 
     office on which you are about to enter, so help you God.

  The SPEAKER. Congratulations. You are now Members of the 117th 
Congress.


                      announcement by the speaker

  The SPEAKER (during the vote). The Chair would remind Members that 
the Chair has the authority and responsibility to preserve order and 
decorum in the Chamber, even prior to the adoption of the rules of the 
House.
  To that end, the Chair reminds all Members that, as a matter of 
decorum, they are required to wear masks at all times while in the Hall 
of the House, even while under recognition. In addition, Members must 
practice proper social distancing and should not linger in the Chamber 
after casting their vote.

                              {time}  1125

  Mr. JACOBS of New York changed his vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
  Miss RICE of New York, Mr. McEACHIN, Ms. ESHOO, Messrs. VEASEY, 
MALINOWSKI, GREEN of Texas, and LYNCH 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:
  Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I missed votes due to circumstances 
beyond my control. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on 
rollcall No. 4.


                            Motion to Refer

  Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I have a motion to refer 
at the desk.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. DeGette). The Clerk will report the 
motion.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Mr. Rodney Davis of Illinois moves to refer the resolution 
     H. Res. 8 to a select committee composed of the Majority 
     Leader and the Minority Leader with instructions to report it 
     forthwith back to the House with the following amendment:
       At the end of the resolution, add the following new 
     section:

     SEC. 6. PROMOTING FAIR ADMINISTRATION OF AND VOTER CONFIDENCE 
                   IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.

       Not later than January 31, 2021, the Committee on House 
     Administration shall report to the House a bill containing 
     the following provisions:
       (1) A statement of findings that, consistent with article 
     I, section 4 of the Constitution of the United States and the 
     principles of federalism, Congress recognizes that the 
     primary authority to conduct elections for Federal office is 
     reserved to the States, and that Congress's proper role is 
     secondary, to provide support and minimum baselines for the 
     conduct of such elections in order to ensure fair 
     administration of, and voter confidence in, such elections.
       (2) Provisions extending existing Federal baseline 
     standards and providing additional protections to govern the 
     use of ballots cast by mail in elections for Federal office.
       (3) Provisions establishing Federal baseline standards to 
     govern signature verification on ballots cast in elections 
     for Federal office.
       (4) Provisions to improve voter confidence in the 
     administration of elections for Federal office and promote 
     certainty in the results of such elections.
       (5) Provisions to provide for conducting oversight of the 
     use of Federal funds that are provided by the Election 
     Assistance Commission pursuant to the Help America Vote Act 
     of 2002 for the administration of elections for Federal 
     office.


                            Motion to Table

  Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Mr. Hoyer moves to lay on the table the motion to refer.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to table.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the noes appeared to have it.
  Mr. HOYER. 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 214, 
nays 196, not voting 19, as follows:

                              [Roll No. 5]

                               YEAS--214

     Adams
     Aguilar
     Allred
     Auchincloss
     Axne
     Barragan
     Beatty
     Bera
     Beyer
     Bishop (GA)
     Blumenauer
     Blunt Rochester
     Bonamici
     Bourdeaux
     Bowman
     Boyle, Brendan F.
     Brown
     Bush
     Bustos
     Butterfield
     Carbajal
     Cardenas
     Carson
     Cartwright
     Case
     Casten
     Castor (FL)
     Castro (TX)
     Chu
     Cicilline
     Clarke (NY)
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Connolly
     Cooper
     Correa
     Costa
     Courtney
     Craig
     Crist
     Crow
     Cuellar
     Davids (KS)
     Davis, Danny K.
     Dean
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     DeLauro
     DelBene
     Delgado
     Demings
     DeSaulnier
     Deutch
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doyle, Michael F.
     Escobar
     Eshoo
     Espaillat
     Evans
     Fletcher
     Foster
     Frankel, Lois
     Fudge
     Gallego
     Garamendi
     Garcia (IL)
     Garcia (TX)
     Golden
     Gomez
     Gonzalez, Vicente
     Gottheimer
     Green, Al (TX)
     Grijalva
     Haaland
     Harder (CA)
     Hayes
     Higgins (NY)
     Himes
     Horsford
     Houlahan
     Hoyer
     Huffman
     Jackson Lee
     Jacobs (CA)
     Jayapal
     Jeffries
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson (TX)
     Jones
     Kahele
     Kaptur
     Keating
     Kelly (IL)
     Khanna
     Kildee
     Kilmer
     Kim (NJ)
     Kind
     Kirkpatrick
     Krishnamoorthi
     Kuster
     Lamb
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lawrence
     Lawson (FL)
     Lee (CA)
     Lee (NV)
     Leger Fernandez
     Levin (CA)
     Levin (MI)
     Lieu
     Lofgren
     Lowenthal
     Luria
     Lynch
     Malinowski
     Maloney, Carolyn B.
     Manning
     Matsui
     McBath
     McCollum
     McEachin
     McGovern
     McNerney
     Meeks
     Meng
     Mfume
     Moore (WI)
     Morelle
     Moulton
     Mrvan
     Murphy (FL)
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Neguse
     Newman
     Norcross
     O'Halleran
     Ocasio-Cortez
     Omar
     Pallone
     Panetta
     Pappas
     Pascrell
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Peters
     Phillips
     Pingree
     Pocan
     Porter
     Pressley
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Rice (NY)
     Richmond
     Ross
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruiz
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan
     Sanchez
     Sarbanes
     Scanlon
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schneider
     Schrader
     Schrier
     Scott (VA)
     Scott, David
     Sewell
     Sherman
     Sherrill
     Sires
     Slotkin
     Smith (WA)
     Soto
     Spanberger
     Speier
     Stanton
     Stevens
     Strickland
     Suozzi
     Swalwell
     Takano
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Titus
     Tlaib
     Tonko
     Torres (CA)
     Torres (NY)
     Trahan
     Trone
     Underwood
     Vargas
     Veasey
     Vela
     Velazquez
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson Coleman
     Welch
     Wexton
     Wild
     Williams (GA)
     Wilson (FL)
     Yarmuth

                               NAYS--196

     Aderholt
     Allen
     Amodei
     Armstrong
     Arrington
     Babin
     Bacon
     Baird
     Balderson
     Banks
     Barr
     Bentz
     Bergman
     Bice (OK)
     Biggs
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (NC)
     Boebert
     Bost
     Brooks
     Buchanan
     Buck
     Bucshon
     Budd
     Burchett
     Burgess
     Cammack
     Carl
     Carter (GA)
     Carter (TX)
     Cawthorn
     Chabot
     Cheney
     Cline
     Cloud
     Clyde
     Cole
     Comer
     Crenshaw
     Curtis
     Davidson
     Davis, Rodney
     DesJarlais
     Diaz-Balart
     Donalds
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Emmer
     Estes
     Fallon
     Feenstra
     Fischbach
     Fitzgerald
     Fitzpatrick
     Fleischmann
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Franklin, C. Scott
     Fulcher
     Gaetz
     Gallagher
     Garbarino
     Garcia (CA)
     Gibbs
     Gimenez
     Gohmert
     Gonzales, Tony
     Gonzalez (OH)
     Good (VA)
     Gooden (TX)
     Gosar
     Graves (LA)
     Graves (MO)
     Green (TN)
     Greene (GA)
     Griffith
     Grothman
     Guest
     Guthrie
     Hagedorn
     Harris
     Harshbarger
     Hartzler
     Hern
     Herrell
     Herrera Beutler
     Hice (GA)
     Higgins (LA)
     Hill
     Hinson
     Hollingsworth
     Hudson
     Huizenga
     Issa
     Jackson
     Jacobs (NY)
     Johnson (LA)
     Johnson (OH)

[[Page H20]]


     Johnson (SD)
     Jordan
     Joyce (OH)
     Joyce (PA)
     Katko
     Keller
     Kelly (MS)
     Kelly (PA)
     Kim (CA)
     Kinzinger
     Kustoff
     LaHood
     LaMalfa
     Lamborn
     Latta
     LaTurner
     Lesko
     Long
     Loudermilk
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Mace
     Malliotakis
     Mann
     Massie
     Mast
     McCaul
     McClain
     McClintock
     McHenry
     McKinley
     Meijer
     Meuser
     Miller (IL)
     Miller (WV)
     Miller-Meeks
     Moolenaar
     Mooney
     Moore (AL)
     Moore (UT)
     Mullin
     Murphy (NC)
     Nehls
     Newhouse
     Norman
     Obernolte
     Owens
     Palazzo
     Palmer
     Pence
     Perry
     Pfluger
     Posey
     Reed
     Reschenthaler
     Rice (SC)
     Rodgers (WA)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rose
     Rosendale
     Rouzer
     Roy
     Rutherford
     Scalise
     Schweikert
     Sessions
     Simpson
     Smith (MO)
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smucker
     Spartz
     Stauber
     Steel
     Steil
     Steube
     Stivers
     Taylor
     Thompson (PA)
     Tiffany
     Timmons
     Upton
     Van Drew
     Van Duyne
     Wagner
     Walberg
     Walorski
     Waltz
     Weber (TX)
     Webster (FL)
     Westerman
     Williams (TX)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Womack
     Wright
     Zeldin

                             NOT VOTING--19

     Bass
     Brady
     Brownley
     Calvert
     Clark (MA)
     Crawford
     Ferguson
     Granger
     Maloney, Sean
     McCarthy
     Nadler
     Nunes
     Raskin
     Scott, Austin
     Stefanik
     Stewart
     Turner
     Wenstrup
     Young

                              {time}  1218

  Mr. GREEN of Texas changed his 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:
  Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I missed votes due to circumstances 
beyond my control. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on 
rollcall No. 5.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) is 
recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the time 
allocated to me be controlled by the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
McGovern), the chairman of the Rules Committee.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Maryland?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield 
the customary 30 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Oklahoma 
(Mr. Cole), my good friend, 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. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
on H. Res. 8.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Massachusetts?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, a rules package is one of the most 
consequential things we will consider in this entire Congress.
  As we stand here in the opening days of this Congress, I am proud 
that the reforms before us represent a collaborative process that began 
many months ago. We asked Members on both sides of the aisle for ideas; 
we listened to our many caucuses and coalitions; we spent hours in the 
Rules Committee listening to input during our Member Day hearing; and 
we spoke with the outside groups that study these issues.
  Weeks and weeks of thoughtful discussion got us to this point. That 
process made the final product an even stronger one--not for one party 
or the other, but for this institution and for all those Americans 
counting on us to represent them; not the special interests or the 
monied interests, but our workers and those struggling to get ahead.
  This is a rules package that encourages us to tackle the most 
pressing issues facing our Nation today, like climate change, through 
the continued work of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.
  I want to thank Chairwoman Castor for her leadership, along with 
Chairman Pallone and Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, who have encouraged 
us to think big when confronting the threat of climate change.
  We are confronting the pandemic without any waste or fraud. That is 
through the ongoing work of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus 
Crisis, under the stewardship of Chairman Clyburn.
  It makes reforms to our budget rules so we can deal with these dual 
challenges through an all-hands-on-deck approach, while maintaining 
fiscal responsibility.
  I want to recognize the many Members, especially the Blue Dogs, the 
Progressives, and the New Democrats, who worked together to make this 
compromise happen.
  We are also focusing on those who have traditionally been left behind 
through the creation of a new Select Committee on Economic Disparity 
and Fairness in Growth.
  I want to thank Speaker Pelosi for her commitment to making sure that 
our policies lift up every single American.
  This new select committee will sharpen our focus on the income and 
wealth disparity crisis that plagues our Nation today.
  This package honors all gender identities by changing pronouns in the 
House rules so they are gender neutral.
  Look, we made this change for the sake of inclusion, not exclusion. 
But I have got to be honest with you. I heard the distinguished 
minority leader say that this rules package was canceling Mother's Day. 
I mean, are you kidding me?
  He also claimed that these rules make it so Members can no longer say 
``father,'' ``mother,'' ``son,'' or ``daughter.'' Madam Speaker, has he 
even read these rules? That is just not accurate. That is not how this 
works.
  And, by the way, our Founding Fathers are still our Founding Fathers.
  Madam Speaker, maybe this is meant as a distraction. Maybe if we can 
create a controversy, then we are not talking about the ongoing 
pandemic, from which over 350,000 people have already died due to 
mismanagement and incompetence, or maybe we are not talking about the 
attempted coup being planned down at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. But the 
bottom line is what has been said is just not accurate.
  I love this. Someone just handed me this. A Member on the other side 
from, I think, Arizona, for instance, tweeted:

       If I stand up and I say that I am a proud husband of my 
     wife of almost 40 years now, then they would say that I 
     violated the rules because you can no longer use any version 
     of husband or father or gender reference between man and 
     woman.

  I don't know what the hell he is talking about, Madam Speaker. Oh, my 
God; that is my response to this.
  I mean, Madam Speaker, this is why people really are frustrated with 
Congress and with Washington. I think we, in this Chamber, need to hold 
ourselves to a higher standard when it comes to facts and reality. 
Unlike the White House, this should not be a fact-free zone; we ought 
to focus on facts.
  If my Republican friends want to disagree on policy, we can disagree 
on policy. There are lots of issues that separate us, and we should 
debate those issues. That shouldn't be a radical idea. But people 
shouldn't make things up just to create a controversy. Accuracy 
matters, and it should come before saying whatever helps you get 
another hit on FOX News.
  Anyway, Madam Speaker, for those who insist on trying to disparage 
what we have done in the written rules, I want you to bring the bill to 
the floor and show me where it says, in writing, that we are canceling 
Mother's Day or that you can't refer to yourself as a husband or father 
or mother or grandmother.
  Give me a break. Enough is enough. We have to stop this. We have to 
focus in on solving the problems that face the American people.

  This rules package also requires that oversight plans from committees 
include how they intend to combat race, gender, and other inequities. 
It makes the Office of Diversity and Inclusion permanent. This will 
commit our institution to creating a diverse workforce for many years 
to come.
  As we tackle these issues, Madam Speaker, this rules package creates 
a more transparent process for ideas to be considered. It makes 
permanent the requirement that all bills that come before the Rules 
Committee get a hearing and a markup first. It preserves the motion to 
recommit, while making reforms so that it can no longer be used to 
hijack the legislative process for political gamesmanship.

[[Page H21]]

  We are also continuing temporary rules changes that have ensured we 
completed the people's work as safely as possible during this 
coronavirus pandemic. I am impressed with how this Congress was able to 
adapt and find a way to function in the midst of this worldwide health 
emergency. During the pandemic in 1918, Congress was not able to adapt, 
but we did.
  I would just say to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle that we 
need to listen to the Speaker's recommendation that we all continue to 
follow the best and most current health and medical guidance.
  Madam Speaker, we acted. While we can and we should do much more for 
Americans struggling today, I am proud of what we were able to 
accomplish in the last year. It is no small part due to the 
implementation of remote voting by proxy and the development of virtual 
committee proceedings.
  Admittedly, Congress isn't always known for being on the cutting edge 
of the digital world. This rules package, however, seeks to change that 
even further. It contains many reforms designed to help us better 
embrace technology so that we can get our work done as efficiently and 
as transparently as possible.
  Congresswoman Eshoo and the Select Committee on the Modernization of 
Congress, under the leadership of Chairman Kilmer, were instrumental in 
these new changes.
  Madam Speaker, now, I just want to speak candidly for a moment.
  As important as these reforms are and as proud of them as I am, I 
know there is something even more important, and that is the foundation 
that they are built upon.
  Ethical leadership must be the bedrock principle of this and every 
Congress. If the American people do not begin to trust their 
fundamental institutions again, then division, conspiracies, and 
mistruths will continue to fester.

                              {time}  1230

  This body, each of us, must do our part. No matter what side of the 
aisle you are on or who you vote for, we must hold ourselves to the 
highest standard of leadership. People can and should question our 
positions on the issues, but we should never act in a way that invites 
anyone to question our motivation. That is why this rules package 
doesn't just tinker at the edges, it breaks new ground through 
transformative reforms.
  It removes floor privileges for formers Members convicted of crimes 
related to their House service or election. This will ensure that we 
can do our work here without the undue influence of law breakers. We 
task the Ethics Committee to come up with a bipartisan plan to handle 
``deepfakes,'' because we need to stop the spread, intentional or 
unintentional, of manipulated media that is created to mislead the 
public.
  I will note that we initially plan to go even further, amending our 
Code of Conduct with this rules package, but we heard some of our 
colleagues' concerns. We agreed to take a little bit more time to get 
the language just right, and we will do that through our bipartisan 
Ethics Committee.
  Thanks to the leadership of Congresswoman Porter of California, we 
strengthen Truth in Testimony disclosures for witnesses that testify 
before Congress. Now the public and all Members will have more 
information about those who appear before congressional committees.
  Our rules will further protect whistleblowers. This package prevents 
retaliation. It also makes permanent an office dedicated to ensuring 
congressional offices know how to handle whistleblower complaints in a 
responsible and secure way.
  I want to recognize the tremendous work of many people, from Majority 
Leader Hoyer and Congresswoman Speier to members of the Progressive 
Caucus that made these reforms a reality. In short, we are holding 
ourselves to a higher standard, Madam Speaker, not by changes developed 
in a vacuum just among ourselves. We also spoke with outside groups and 
experts and included their feedback. This is how the package was 
developed, through conversation, collaboration, and consultation.
  My Rules Committee colleagues, including Ranking Member Cole, offered 
input that was invaluable. Our committee chairs and their excellent 
staffs worked with us early in the morning and late at night as this 
package took shape. I am deeply grateful for the work of all of our 
caucuses, including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the 
Congressional Black Caucus, the New Democrat Coalition, the LGBTQ+ 
Equality Caucus, the Congressional Asia Pacific American Caucus, and 
the Blue Dog Coalition.
  The Problem Solvers Caucus was, once again, involved with crafting 
this package. I always appreciate the chance to work with Congressman 
Gottheimer and Congressman Reed. We even got to work with a new member 
of the Problem Solvers this Congress, Representative Van Taylor. And I 
could go on and on.
  Input from the nonpartisan staffs across this institution made this 
package stronger. That includes those with the offices of the 
Parliamentarian, the Congressional Budget Office, the Clerk, the 
General Counsel, the Congressional Research Service, the Sergeant at 
Arms, and the Chief Administrative Officer, just to name a few. Many 
staffers worked through the holidays on this, and I am deeply grateful 
for their efforts, especially the incredible staff on the Rules 
Committee.
  Democrats have been entrusted by the American people to lead this 
institution, but the rules package is about more than party. It is 
about making this Chamber work at its best for the people we represent. 
These reforms will do that. They will hold us to a higher standard so 
we can get it done for them and in a way that makes the public proud.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to 
support in passing this package, and let's implement real reforms so we 
can quickly get to work on behalf of the American people.
  Before I reserve the balance of my time, I just want to take one 
second, Madam Speaker, to thank my Republican colleagues on the Rules 
Committee. We don't always agree on everything, but they are up in the 
Rules Committee diligently at every meeting making the case for their 
side of the aisle.
  I especially want to thank my ranking member, Mr. Cole, who cares 
deeply about this institution. And while we probably will not agree on 
this rules package, we agree that we need to make this a better place, 
and we need to hold it to the highest standards in terms of integrity, 
and to make sure the American people have trust in what we do here.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts, my 
very good friend, Chairman McGovern, for yielding me the customary 30 
minutes; and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, we are here today to address the majority's proposed 
changes in the Rules of the House of Representatives for the 117th 
Congress.
  These changes are some of the harshest and most cynical that I have 
experienced during my time in Congress. Democratic leadership is 
suppressing minority rights and paving the way for the Green New Deal 
by intentionally removing budgetary checks that have been in place for 
over a decade.
  The most egregious of these changes is the complete gutting of the 
motion to recommit. The motion to recommit, or the MTR, is the 
minority's right to propose a final amendment before moving passage. 
This is a right that has been guaranteed to the minority for well over 
a century.
  With today's changes, the majority is seeking to silence views they 
are afraid of with no regard for this institution or the American 
people's trust in our constitutional responsibility to govern and 
govern well. They are taking away the ability to debate a motion to 
recommit and the ability to offer a motion to recommit with 
instructions. This completely guts the minority's ability to offer a 
last amendment on the floor prior to passage of legislation.
  I would remind my colleagues that during the many years Republicans 
were in the majority, we never even thought to deny the minority this 
motion. And the only reason Democrats are doing so today is out of 
embarrassment. They are embarrassed that the

[[Page H22]]

Republicans were able to pass eight motions to recommit in the 116th 
Congress. But rather than acknowledging that Republicans sometimes have 
good policy ideas that should be incorporated into legislation, the 
majority is instead seeking to completely cut off this key right, and 
that, Madam Speaker, is simply reprehensible.

  Madam Speaker, the motion to recommit has been around since the 
beginning of the House as an institution, and it has been in its 
present form since 1909. In fact, in 1919, Representative Abraham 
Garrett of Tennessee, noted that ``the motion to recommit is regarded 
as so sacred it is one of the few rules protected against the Committee 
on Rules by the general rules of the House.''
  And when Speaker Pelosi was herself in the minority, she equated the 
motion to recommit with the right of free speech enshrined in our 
Constitution. How this majority can now decide that a procedure that is 
so important it is on par with the guarantee of free speech must be 
eliminated is beyond my understanding.
  Madam Speaker, it is simply shocking that Democrats are so afraid of 
Republican ideas that they feel the need to rig the system against us. 
They don't want the House to work its will. They only want the 
Speaker's will. And we all know why that is. It is because the majority 
cannot effectively defend its policies against competing ideas.
  Eight times in the last Congress a majority of the House agreed that 
the Republican policy idea had merit and should be included in the 
final bill. But that state of affairs is evidently so embarrassing to 
Democrats that they can't stand it, and now they have to completely 
shut down minority rights lest they be embarrassed further, especially 
after the November election dealt them a harsh blow and they lost seats 
in their own ranks.
  Madam Speaker, I want to offer my friends on the other side of the 
aisle a word of warning: Majorities do not last forever. If there is 
one certainty we can take away from the history of American politics, 
it is that the party in power in the House of Representatives today 
will not hold that position forever. I can also guarantee you that your 
efforts to shut us down will not shut us up.
  So instead of having bills that pass with slight improvements made 
through an MTR, bills will fail here on the House floor. And for that 
reason, among others, I am sure Democrats will regret making this 
egregious change in the very near future. Republicans are proud to 
debate our policies and proposals, unlike the majority today, whose 
record of promised openness and fulsome debate is an abject failure.
  Now, Madam Speaker, while gutting the MTR may be the worst piece of 
this rules package to many, I want to applaud my friends for removing 
an almost equally egregious piece of this rules package. When the 
majority released this package over the weekend, there was a 
particularly noxious provision that would have empowered the Speaker of 
the House to censor the free speech of Members and employees of the 
House. What is worse, it would have empowered the Speaker to act as the 
sole judge, jury, and executioner, and included no clear guidelines for 
how this would be enforced. This proposed rule was downright un-
American.
  Fortunately, my friends on the other side of the aisle have listened 
to reason and removed that provision from this package. I wish they had 
further listened to reason and removed the provision taking away the 
minority's right to an MTR, which is why I offered a very reasonable 
motion to postpone for one day.
  Madam Speaker, I could go on all day about the MTR, but there are 
other changes in this rules package that need to be highlighted. 
Slipped into the package is another change that will effectively 
eliminate the paygo rule. Paygo is a useful budgetary control measure 
that essentially says that we can't spend money that we don't have. But 
if the majority gets their way, paygo will be eliminated for a broad 
category of topics, including for measures relating to climate change. 
This is doing nothing more than removing a key barrier to the Green New 
Deal and other liberal tax-and-spend policies.
  But never before has the majority tried to lift budgetary rules on 
something as absurdly expensive as the Green New Deal, which is 
estimated to cost as much as $100 trillion over the next decade, should 
it be enacted.
  It is clear that the majority doesn't even want to have a 
conversation about the cost of the Green New Deal, and instead wants to 
ensure that the American people never find out about the cost of their 
extreme plans.
  There are other measures in this rules package that are just as 
absurd. Not content with having investigated President Trump throughout 
his Presidency and subjected him to pointless impeachment, now 
Democrats are including provisions allowing them to send subpoenas to 
former Presidents, former Vice Presidents, and former White House 
staff, long after their administration has ended.
  This provision is a continuation of the Democratic majority's 
obsession with investigating President Trump and his administration, 
and ensures they will be able to keep their investigation gravy train 
rolling along long after the President leaves office.
  There is a similar provision which will allow certain committee 
chairs to reissue subpoenas prior to the committee organizing for the 
117th Congress, thus ensuring that existing investigations into 
President Trump, no matter how silly or pointless, will not have to 
slow down or even let the new Congress consider their current merits or 
legislative justification.
  Allowing a chair to issue subpoenas without any consultation with 
membership or with the minority is nothing less than an abuse of power. 
But I suppose I should not expect any less given the other provisions 
in this package.
  Madam Speaker, despite my affection for my friend on the other side 
of the aisle, I have to tell him that this package stinks. It is deeply 
cynical and deeply short-sighted. It tramples on minority rights and 
it ensures a power grab by Democratic leadership. It will change the 
nature of this institution, and not for the better.

  Madam Speaker, today, I call on all Members to vote ``no'' on this 
rules package. I ask all of my colleagues, regardless of party, to 
reject these radical and, at times, ridiculous changes. I call on all 
my colleagues to protect minority rights. The future of this 
institution depends on it.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments, I will put him 
down as undecided on this package.
  I am sure we will hear more about the motion to recommit throughout 
this debate, but I do just want to point out for the record, to be 
historically accurate, that the motion to recommit has had many 
different forms since its first inception. In fact, it was very, very 
different when I first ran for Congress.
  But having said all that, I would tell the gentleman that if those 
who initiated the motion to recommit way back when saw how it was being 
used today, I think they would object very strongly to it. They didn't 
see it as a tool to play political gotcha games to undermine 
legislation.
  Madam Speaker, I would also remind the gentleman that, you know, 
quite frankly, most of the motions to recommit that passed, all the 
Republicans voted against final passage of whatever bill it was. So the 
issue is not one of being a constructive legislator. It has turned into 
a political gotcha game.
  I think that we all talk about reading the bill. The problem with the 
motion to recommit is you don't get to see what it is you are proposing 
until a few minutes beforehand. I just want the Record to reflect that.
  On the issue of paygo, I would just remind the gentleman that when 
the Republicans were in charge, they had this thing called CutGo, and 
they exempted all kinds of things from CutGo. They exempted efforts to 
gut the Affordable Care Act. They exempted tax cuts for billionaires 
and corporations.
  So I think what we are talking about is a modest exemption for two 
international emergencies, the COVID pandemic and the climate crisis. 
Most people, except for a few in Washington, actually believe that it 
is not only a national emergency, but an international emergency.
  Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Crist).

[[Page H23]]

  


                              {time}  1245

  Mr. CRIST. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I rise to address an amendment that I have placed in the bill, and I 
want to thank the chairman for his grace in allowing that. It talks 
about addressing racial and ethnic impacts of legislation that we pass 
here.
  America is known for the words at the United States Supreme Court: 
``Equal justice under the law.'' Equal justice.
  We struggle in our country with equality. Why? The color of 
somebody's skin? Their ethnic background? Who they might love?
  I think it is important to recognize that above me are the words: ``E 
pluribus unum,'' ``Out of many, one.''
  We are all children of God. If we so choose, we can bring people 
together. We can start right here, and we can begin right now. We need 
to remember the words kindness, respect, decency, compassion, empathy. 
In other words, embrace the golden rule.
  I wear these yellow wrist bands on my hands every day, and they say: 
Practice the golden rule every day. Do unto others as you would have 
done unto you.
  That is what I am attempting in this amendment. God bless.
  Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds to respond to my 
friend.
  I remind my friend that you accepted eight MTRs, or eight were 
approved, because Democrats decided the Republican proposals were good 
proposals and made the bill better. We couldn't have done it on our 
own. So, you are actually limiting the choices in front of your own 
Members.
  We might not feel so strongly about the MTR if we got more amendments 
approved anyway. We only get about 18 percent of the amendments. When 
we were in the majority, we gave you 45. We got 38. You now get 68. So, 
you are taking a tool away that is important to us.
  Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Rodney Davis), my very good friend and the distinguished ranking member 
on the House Administration Committee.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to address their 
remarks to the Chair.
  Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I appreciate my good 
friend, Mr. Cole, yielding.
  It is disappointing that House Democrats have completely dismissed 
the first opportunity to work together in this new Congress to instill 
voter confidence and protect the integrity of our election process.
  The purpose of H. Res. 5 is to address many of the election 
administration problems that occurred in 2020, something I have 
encouraged the Committee on House Administration and this House to 
address long before the 2020 general election.
  The resolution would have required the Committee on House 
Administration to report out a bill that contains five main provisions:
  First, a provision to ensure this House's commitment to upholding the 
U.S. Constitution by maintaining that it is States that have the 
primary authority to conduct elections, not the Federal Government.
  Second, it ensures ballot integrity for votes cast by mail.
  Third, this provides a Federal baseline for signature verification.
  Fourth, it includes measures to improve voter confidence and 
certainty in our election results by counting ballots in a timely 
manner.
  And lastly, a provision to ensure proper oversight of Federal dollars 
provided to States to help them administer elections through the Help 
America Vote Act.
  These issues are nonpartisan. They are problems both sides struggled 
with in the 2020 election. As the committee with jurisdiction over 
Federal elections, it is our responsibility to address them.
  Arguably, the time to address these issues was before the 2020 
election, but it is never too late to do the right thing.
  In 2020, more than 65 million people voted by mail, more than ever 
before. Just as we have baseline standards for administering in-person 
elections, we should have them for mail-in voting. Baseline standards 
for these ballots would help ensure every legal vote is counted.
  There were many last-minute changes made during the 2020 cycle, in 
the name of COVID-19, that chipped away at the integrity of our 
election system, and it is important that we do not maintain this 
pandemic-style voting in the long term.
  The worst thing that can happen to our government is for the American 
people to lose all confidence in our elections. There are bipartisan 
steps we can take to help restore public confidence in our elections 
and protect our Republic.
  While it is disappointing that House Democrats have dismissed the 
first opportunity in this new Congress to work together to protect the 
integrity of our elections, I am hopeful that, working with Chairman 
McGovern, Ranking Member Cole, and Chairperson Lofgren and others in 
this arena, we can set politics aside to achieve this goal.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a section by 
section of the changes H. Res. 8 will make to the standing rules of the 
116th Congress and the separate orders taking effect for the 117th 
Congress.

                               H. Res. 8

               Adopting the Rules for the 117th Congress


                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

     Section 1. Adoption of the Rules of the One Hundred Sixteenth 
         Congress.
       This section provides that the Rules of the 116th Congress 
     are the Rules of the 117th Congress, except for the 
     amendments contained in section 2 of the resolution and 
     orders contained in the resolution.
     Section 2. Changes to the Standing Rules.
       Conforming Change. Subsection (a) strikes outdated language 
     that no longer exists in statute authorizing the Clerk to 
     maintain on the House payroll the staff of a former Speaker. 
     This authority, established through 2 U.S.C. Sec. 5128, was 
     repealed by Public Law 115-244 in the 115th Congress.
        Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Office of the 
     Whistleblower Ombuds. Subsection (b) codifies the Office of 
     Diversity and Inclusion, established in the 116th Congress in 
     House Resolution 6, into the standing rules of the House. The 
     subsection instructs the Speaker, in consultation with the 
     Minority Leader, to appoint a Director of the Office from 
     recommendations provided by the chair of the Committee on 
     House Administration in consultation with the ranking 
     minority member. The Office is subject to the policy 
     direction and oversight of the Committee on House 
     Administration and will direct and guide House employing 
     offices to recruit, hire, train, develop, advance, promote, 
     and retain a diverse workforce; survey and evaluate diversity 
     in House employing offices; submit a House of Representatives 
     diversity report each session; and provide consultation and 
     guidance in furtherance of increasing diversity and inclusion 
     in the House.
       Subsection (b) also codifies the Office of the 
     Whistleblower Ombudsman, established in the 116th Congress in 
     House Resolution 6, and changes its name to the gender-
     neutral Office of the Whistleblower Ombuds. The subsection 
     instructs the Speaker, in consultation with the chairs and 
     ranking minority members of the Committee on House 
     Administration and the Committee on Oversight and Reform, to 
     appoint a Director of the Office. The subsection instructs 
     the Office, under the direction of the Committee on House 
     Administration, and in consultation with other committees at 
     the request of their chairs or ranking members, to develop 
     best practices for whistleblower intake for House offices and 
     provide training to House offices on how to safely receive 
     information from whistleblowers.
       Continuing Authority to Act in Litigation Matters. 
     Subsection (c) clarifies existing practice that the 
     continuing authority to act in litigation matters provided by 
     clause 8(c) of rule II includes, but is not limited to, the 
     authority for committee chairs to immediately reissue 
     subpoenas, prior to the organization of their committees, to 
     ensure litigation can continue uninterrupted.
       Admittance to the Hall of the House. Subsection (d) adds 
     the Mayor of the District of Columbia to the list of persons 
     who are permitted in the Hall of the House. The subsection 
     also adds a new restriction on who may access the Hall of the 
     House, barring former Members, Delegates, Resident 
     Commissioners, Parliamentarians, elected officers of the 
     House, or minority employees nominated as an elected officer 
     of the House if they have been convicted of a crime related 
     to their election, or service to, the House.
       Gender-Inclusive Language. Subsection (e) modernizes the 
     use of pronouns, familial relationship terminology, and other 
     references to gender in order to be inclusive of all Members, 
     Delegates, Resident Commissioners, employees of the House, 
     and their families. This also obviates the need for the 
     former clause 2 of rule XXIX, which provided that ``words 
     importing one gender include the other as well.''
       Committee on Armed Services. Subsection (f) adds the Marine 
     Corps and the Space Force to the list of U.S. military 
     service branches covered under the jurisdiction of the 
     Committee on Armed Services. Neither addition substantively 
     alters the committee's current

[[Page H24]]

     jurisdiction, and both are clarifying and technical in 
     nature.
       Committee Oversight Plans. Subsection (g) requires 
     committees to include in their oversight plan a discussion of 
     how the committee's work will address issues of inequities on 
     the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual 
     orientation, gender identity, disability, age, or national 
     origin.
       Printing and Availability Requirements. Subsection (h) 
     modifies two requirements related to the method by which 
     specific types of legislative texts must be made available. 
     First, instead of requiring that primary expense resolutions 
     reported by the Committee on House Administration be 
     physically printed and available on the calendar day prior to 
     their consideration, this subsection now allows this 
     availability period to begin when the text is made available 
     electronically or in printed form. Second, this subsection 
     modifies the requirement that reports on Senate amendments in 
     disagreement by a conference committee, and any accompanying 
     statements, be available for 72 hours in the Congressional 
     Record. This 72-hour period now begins when the relevant text 
     is either made available in the Congressional Record or made 
     publicly available at an electronic document repository 
     operated by the Clerk.
       Committee Vote Availability. Subsection (i) modernizes the 
     requirement for committees to make the results of record 
     votes publicly available by removing the requirement that 
     they be made available to the public for in-person inspection 
     in committee offices. Committees will still be required to 
     make the results of record votes publicly available 
     electronically within 48 hours of the vote.
       Amendment Availability. Subsection (j) builds on the 
     requirement for committee chairs to make amendments adopted 
     by their committees publicly available within 24 hours by 
     requiring all other amendments--which includes failed or 
     withdrawn amendments--to be posted within 48 hours of their 
     disposition or withdrawal. This requirement does not apply to 
     amendments not offered.
       Truth-In-Testimony Reform. Subsection (k) amends the 
     disclosure requirements for witnesses appearing in 
     nongovernmental capacities by: (1) adding grants to the 
     reporting requirement for foreign payments; (2) expanding the 
     lookback period for reporting to 36 months; (3) requiring 
     witnesses to disclose whether they are the fiduciary of any 
     organization or entity with an interest in the subject matter 
     of the hearing; and (4) requiring, to the extent practicable, 
     the disclosures be made publicly available 24-hours prior to 
     the witness's appearance at a hearing. The subsection also 
     updates the text of clause 2(g)(5) of rule XI for clarity.
       Electronic Filing of Reports and Electronic Signatures. 
     Subsection (l) authorizes electronic filing of committee 
     reports, which was temporarily allowed by House Resolution 
     965 of the 116th Congress, and allows electronic signatures 
     to be used for signed views in committee reports and for 
     select forms received by the Committee on Ethics. Reports 
     received electronically will be processed as otherwise 
     provided in rule XIII, and committees filing electronic 
     reports should continue to consult with the Clerk regarding 
     proper format and other administrative requirements.
       Subpoena Authority. Subsection (m) affirms that committees 
     and subcommittees, pursuant to the longstanding subpoena 
     authority granted by clause 2(m) of rule XI, may authorize 
     and issue subpoenas for documents or testimony to any person 
     or entity, whether governmental, public, or private, within 
     the United States. The language makes clear that the rule 
     expressly authorizes the issuance of subpoenas to any current 
     or former President and Vice President, either in their 
     personal or official capacity, as well as the White House, 
     the Office of the President, the Executive Office of the 
     President, and any individual currently or formerly employed 
     by those entities. This is not a change to, but rather a 
     clearer affirmation of, existing authorities.
       Committee on Ethics. Subsection (n) provides that a Member 
     may serve on the Committee on Ethics during a fifth Congress 
     in a period of five successive Congresses if they are the 
     chair or ranking member of the committee. It also clarifies 
     that various provisions within clause 3 of rule XI apply to 
     Delegates and Resident Commissioners.
       Audio and Video Recordings. Subsection (o) modifies the 
     description of committee proceedings that may not be used or 
     made available for any partisan political campaign purpose to 
     clarify the provision's application to all such audio and 
     video coverage regardless of the specific technological 
     device recording medium used.
       Cosponsorship Withdrawal. Subsection (p) eliminates the 
     requirement that a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner 
     obtain unanimous consent to remove their name as a cosponsor 
     of a bill or resolution, instead allowing the Member, 
     Delegate, or Resident Commissioner to remove their own name 
     by making a demand from the floor. The sponsor of a bill, 
     however, must still make a unanimous-consent request in order 
     to remove a cosponsor, and cosponsors may still only be 
     removed until the last committee of referral reports the bill 
     to the House or is discharged from its consideration.
       Comparative Prints. Subsection (q) removes the requirement, 
     added in the 115th Congress, that prior to the consideration 
     of bills, joint resolutions, and amendments in the nature of 
     a substitute, comparative prints must be made available. 
     However, section 3(j) of this resolution directs the relevant 
     committees and offices of the House to continue efforts to 
     further the institutional priority of enabling all House 
     staff to produce such comparative prints.
       Requiring Committee Hearing and Markup on Bills and Joint 
     Resolutions. Subsection (r) codifies in the standing rules of 
     the House a separate order from the 116th Congress requiring 
     a committee hearing and markup in order for most bills and 
     joint resolutions to be considered pursuant to a special 
     order of business reported by the Committee on Rules. The 
     subsection provides a point of order against consideration if 
     such a measure has not been reported by at least one 
     committee, effective March 1st of an odd-numbered year. A 
     point of order also lies against any bill or joint resolution 
     reported by a committee if the report does not contain a list 
     of relevant committee and subcommittee hearings which 
     includes the designation of at least one such hearing that 
     was used to develop or consider the underlying measure. 
     Finally, the provision provides exceptions to the points of 
     order for resolutions continuing appropriations for a fiscal 
     year, measures that contain specified emergency designations 
     pursuant to the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 
     Act, measures considered pursuant to the Consensus Calendar, 
     and measures not referred to committee. Pursuant to section 
     3(u), because of the challenges facing committees operating 
     during a pandemic, this rule will not take effect in the 
     117th Congress until April 1, 2021.
       Motion to Recommit. Subsection (s) provides that a motion 
     to recommit (or commit) a bill or joint resolution to a 
     standing or select committee may only be made without 
     instructions and is not debatable. It also provides that the 
     previous question is considered as ordered on any such 
     motion. The subsection makes a conforming change to the 
     prohibition on the Committee on Rules from reporting a rule 
     preventing a motion to recommit in order to remove the 
     specification that instructions must be permitted. The 
     subsection also removes the now extraneous mandates that 
     motions to recommit with instructions must be in the form of 
     a direction to be reported back to the House forthwith and 
     that instructions in a motion to recommit to conference may 
     not include argument. The rule continues to prioritize 
     recognition of an opponent of the underlying measure, but the 
     Chair will address contested opposition when challenged on 
     the floor rather than continuing the practice of querying 
     for opposition at the time the motion is made.
       District of Columbia Business. Subsection (t) removes a no-
     longer-used provision setting aside the second and fourth 
     Mondays of a month for District of Columbia business called 
     up by the Committee on Oversight and Reform.
       Title Amendments. Subsection (u) limits the offering of 
     amendments to the titles of bills and resolutions to the 
     Majority Leader or a designee.
       Reconciliation Directives. Subsection (v) strikes the 
     contents of clause 7 of rule XXI, which created a point of 
     order against a concurrent resolution on the budget, 
     amendments to a budget resolution, or a conference report on 
     a budget resolution, containing reconciliation directives 
     that would have the effect of increasing net direct spending. 
     Clause 10 of rule XXI, the PAYGO rule, continues to apply to 
     any reconciliation measure reported pursuant to such 
     directives.
       Availability of Measures. Subsection (w) modifies the text 
     availability requirement for unreported bills and joint 
     resolutions by specifying that the 72-hour availability 
     period may begin when the text of the measure is made 
     electronically available prior to its introduction. Although 
     the introduced measure must consist of the exact text of the 
     language made electronically available prior to introduction 
     in order to qualify under this updated rule, changes to a 
     measure's text made after its introduction by a self-
     executing special rule do not impact this availability 
     period.
       Prohibited Service. Subsection (x) modifies a provision in 
     the Code of Official Conduct added in the 116th Congress 
     prohibiting Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, 
     officers, and employees of the House from serving as an 
     officer or director of any public company by replacing a 
     direction to the Committee on Ethics to develop regulations 
     with a requirement for compliance with such regulations as 
     the Committee has since promulgated these regulations.
       Code of Official Conduct. Subsection (y) adds two new 
     clauses to the Code of Official Conduct. First, the new 
     clause 20 of rule XXIII protects Congressional whistleblowers 
     by preventing a Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, 
     officer, or employee of the House from taking any actions to 
     prevent an individual from, or to retaliate against an 
     individual for, providing truthful information to the 
     Committee on Ethics, the Office of Congressional Ethics, the 
     Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, or any law 
     enforcement official, provided that the disclosure of such 
     information is not otherwise prohibited by law or House 
     rules.
       Second, the new clause 21 of rule XXIII further protects 
     the identities of whistleblowers by prohibiting a Member, 
     Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the 
     House from knowingly and willfully publicly disclosing the 
     identity or personally identifiable information of an 
     individual who is granted protections under federal whistle 
     blower laws. Exempted from this prohibition

[[Page H25]]

     are cases in which: (1) the individual has provided express 
     written consent prior to such disclosure; (2) the individual 
     has already voluntarily and publicly disclosed their 
     identity; or (3) the disclosure is by the chair of a 
     committee after an affirmative vote by two-thirds of the 
     committee members that such disclosure is in the public 
     interest. Additionally, nothing in this new whistleblower 
     protection will inhibit the investigation of any allegation 
     of wrongdoing disclosed by any individual or prevent the 
     public disclosure of substantive information shared that is 
     not personally identifiable. Disclosures by the chair of a 
     committee are subject to appropriate safeguards, including 
     advance notice to the individual including a written 
     explanation of the reasons for the disclosure.
       Communications Standards Commission. Subsection (z) renames 
     the House Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards to 
     the House Communications Standards Commission, conforming to 
     a change made in H.R. 133 of the 116th Congress. The new name 
     reflects the Commission's jurisdiction over all mass 
     communications.
     Section 3. Separate Orders.
       Member Day Hearing Requirement. Subsection (a) requires 
     each standing committee (except for the Committee on Ethics) 
     to hold a Member Day Hearing during the first session of the 
     117th Congress to hear testimony from Members, Delegates, and 
     the Resident Commissioner--whether or not they are a member 
     of the committee--on proposed legislation within its 
     jurisdiction. The subsection permits the Committee on Rules 
     to hold its Member Day Hearing during the second session, in 
     order to receive testimony on proposed changes to the 
     standing rules for the next Congress.
       Deposition Authority. Subsection (b) provides the Permanent 
     Select Committee on Intelligence and each standing committee 
     of the 117th Congress (except for the Committee on Rules) the 
     authority to order the taking of a deposition by a member or 
     counsel of such committee. Members, Delegates, and the 
     Resident Commissioner may participate in all such 
     depositions, but their presence is not required. Depositions 
     taken under this authority are subject to regulations issued 
     by the chair of the Committee on Rules and printed in the 
     Congressional Record, and such authority continues to include 
     potential supplemental regulations.
       War Powers Resolution. Subsection (c) expressly provides 
     that any motion to discharge a measure introduced pursuant to 
     section 6 or section 7 of the War Powers Resolution would not 
     be subject to a motion to table.
       Exercise Facilities for Former Members. Subsection (d) 
     continues the prohibition on access to any exercise facility 
     that is made available exclusively to Members, Delegates, the 
     Resident Commissioner, former Members, former Delegates, 
     former Resident Commissioners, officers, and former officers 
     of the House and their spouses to any former Member, former 
     Delegate, former Resident Commissioner, former officer, or 
     spouse who is a lobbyist registered under the Lobbying 
     Disclosure Act of 1995 or any successor statute, or who is an 
     agent of a foreign principal as defined in clause 5 of rule 
     XXV.
       Empaneling Investigative Subcommittee of the Committee on 
     Ethics. Subsection (e) carries forward House Resolution 451 
     from the 110th Congress, directing the Committee on Ethics to 
     empanel an investigative subcommittee or issue a report 
     within 30 days of the date a Member, Delegate, or the 
     Resident Commissioner is indicted or criminal charges are 
     filed. The subsection updates any references in House 
     Resolution 451 to the Committee on Standards of Official 
     Conduct to be references tot e Committee on Ethics.
       Non-Disclosure Agreements. Subsection (f) continues a 
     provision from the 116th Congress which provides that Non-
     Disclosure Agreements required by offices as a condition of 
     employment for paid or unpaid staff or contractors cannot 
     require notice or approval for employees to communicate with 
     the Committee on Ethics, the Office of Congressional 
     Workplace Rights, or any other office or entity designated by 
     the Committee on House Administration; and that Non-
     Disclosure Agreements must also provide clear guidance to 
     that effect.
       Requiring Members to Pay for Discrimination Settlements. 
     Subsection (g) continues from the 116th Congress a 
     requirement for a Member, Delegate, or the Resident 
     Commissioner to reimburse the Treasury for any settlement of 
     a complaint related to a claim alleging a violation by the 
     Member of sections 201(a), 206(a), or 207 of the 
     Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, which cover 
     discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (which the 
     Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recognizes as 
     including sexual orientation and gender identity), national 
     origin, age, disability, or an employee's service in the 
     uniformed services, and retaliation for claims alleging such 
     discrimination.
       Mandatory Anti-Harassment and Anti-Discrimination Policies 
     for House Offices. Subsection (h) continues from the 116th 
     Congress a requirement that each House office adopt an anti-
     harassment and anti-discrimination policy and requires the 
     Committee on House Administration to issue regulations to 
     carry out the subsection by April 1, 2021.
       Displaying Statement of Rights and Protections Provided to 
     House Employees. Subsection (i) continues from the 116th 
     Congress a requirement that the Committee on House 
     Administration issue regulations requiring each House office 
     to prominently display a statement of the rights and 
     protections provided to House employees under the 
     Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, including 
     procedures available to employees for responding to and 
     adjudicating allegations of workplace rights violations.
       Broadening Availability and Utility of Legislative 
     Documents in Machine-Readable Formats. Subsection (j) 
     instructs the Committee on House Administration, the Clerk, 
     and other officers and officials to continue to advance 
     government transparency by taking further steps to publish 
     documents of the House in machine-readable formats and 
     broaden their utility by enabling all House staff to create 
     comparative prints.
       Improving the Committee Electronic Document Repository. 
     Subsection (k) directs the Clerk, the Committee on House 
     Administration, and other officers and officials to improve 
     the existing electronic document repository operated by the 
     Clerk for use by committees. Such improvements are intended 
     to increase public availability and identification of 
     legislative information produced by House committees, 
     including votes, amendments, and witness disclosure forms.
       Inclusion of Citations for Proposed Repeals and Amendment. 
     Subsection (I) continues a requirement for parallel 
     citations, to the maximum extent practicable, for amendatory 
     instructions to Public Laws and Statutes at Large that are 
     not classified in the U.S. Code.
       Providing for Transparency with Respect to Memorials 
     Submitted Pursuant to Article V of the Constitution of the 
     United States. Subsection (m) carries forward provisions that 
     clarify the procedures of the House regarding the receipt of 
     Article V memorials from the States by directing the Clerk to 
     make each memorial, designated by the chair of the Committee 
     on the Judiciary, electronically available, organized by 
     State of origin and year of receipt, and indicate whether the 
     memorial was designated as an application or rescission.
       In carrying out this subsection, it is expected that the 
     chair of the Committee on the Judiciary will be solely 
     charged with determining whether a memorial purports to be an 
     application of the legislature of a state calling for a 
     constitutional convention or rescission of prior 
     applications. The Clerk's role will be entirely 
     administrative. The chair of the Committee on the Judiciary 
     will only designate memorials from state legislatures (and 
     not petitions from individuals or other parties), as it is 
     only state legislatures that are contemplated under Article V 
     of the Constitution.
       In submitting each memorial to the Clerk, the chair of the 
     Committee on the Judiciary will include a transmission letter 
     that indicates it has been designated under this subsection 
     of House Resolution 5. The Clerk will make publicly available 
     the memorial and the transmission letter from the chair. 
     Ancillary documentation from the state or other parties is 
     not expected to be publicized.
       Subcommittees. Subsection (n) waives clause 5(d) of rule X 
     to allow the Committee on Agriculture up to six 
     subcommittees, which is consistent with authorities in the 
     114th, 115th, and 116th Congresses.
       Congressional Member Organization Transparency Reform. 
     Subsection (o) continues to allow participating Members to 
     enter into agreements with eligible Congressional Member 
     Organizations for the purpose of payment of salaries and 
     expenses. The subsection requires that for the organization 
     to be eligible during the 117th Congress, the organization 
     must register with the Committee on House Administration, 
     designate a single Member to be responsible for the 
     administration of the organization, have at least 3 
     employees assigned to perform some work for the 
     organization, and had at least 15 Members during the 116th 
     Congress using a portion of their Members' 
     Representational Allowance (MRA) to pay for the salaries 
     and expenses of the organization.
       Budget Matters. Subsection (p) reestablishes that the 
     allocations, aggregates, and other appropriate levels as 
     contained in the statement of the chair of the Committee on 
     the Budget of May 1, 2020, as adjusted in the 116th Congress, 
     are effective pending the adoption of a fiscal year 2021 
     budget resolution.
       Reissuance of Subpoenas Prior to Committee Organization. 
     Subsection (q) authorizes the chair of the Committee on 
     Oversight and Reform to issue subpoenas related to the 
     Committee's investigation, initiated during the 116th 
     Congress, into the accuracy and timing of the 2020 decennial 
     census. The subsection also authorizes the chair of the 
     Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis to issue 
     subpoenas related to the Select Subcommittee's investigation, 
     likewise initiated during the 116th Congress, into political 
     interference in the response to the coronavirus pandemic at 
     the Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for 
     Disease Control and Prevention.
       Numbering of Bills. Subsection (r) reserves the first 10 
     numbers for bills (H.R. 1 through H.R. 10) for assignment by 
     the Speaker and the second 10 numbers (H.R. 11 through H.R. 
     20) for assignment by the Minority Leader.
       Remote Voting by Proxy and Remote Committee Activity. 
     Subsection (s) carries forward House Resolution 965 from the 
     116th Congress with the following changes: 1) notification 
     and availability requirements do not apply to proxy 
     revocation letters submitted to the Clerk after a Member has 
     automatically revoked their proxy by voting in person; 2) 
     committees may hold official business meetings without 
     submitting a letter regarding

[[Page H26]]

     requirements formerly contained in the remote committee 
     regulations; and 3) the chair of the Committee on House 
     Administration is required, in consultation with the ranking 
     member, to identify and submit to the Speaker and to the 
     chair and ranking member of the Committee on Rules specific 
     operable and secure technology that may be used to conduct 
     remote voting in the House--certification of that submission 
     replaces a previous requirement in section 5(a) of H. Res. 
     965.
       Witness Diversity. Subsection (t) requires the Office of 
     Diversity and Inclusion to provide a report to the Committee 
     on House Administration and the Committee on Rules 
     recommending a method to survey the diversity of witness 
     panels at committee hearings by July 1, 2021. It requires the 
     Committees on House Administration and Rules to take any 
     necessary steps to ensure its implementation by July 31, 
     2021.
       Requirements for Committee Hearing and Markup. Subsection 
     (u) provides that during the 117th Congress, the requirement 
     that committees hold a hearing and a markup for most bills 
     and joint resolutions considered pursuant to a rule (added to 
     the standing rules by section 2(r) of this resolution) shall 
     not apply before April 1, 2021. This delay in implementation 
     is due to the increased difficulty of organizing committees 
     and holding committee proceedings during the COVID-19 
     pandemic.
       Exemptions. Subsection (v) provides that the Chair of the 
     Committee on Budget may adjust an estimate to exempt the 
     budgetary effects of measures to prevent, prepare for, or 
     respond to economic or public health consequences resulting 
     from the COVID-19 pandemic; and measures to prevent, prepare 
     for, or respond to economic, environmental, or public health 
     consequences resulting from climate change.
       Further Expenses for Resolving Contested Election. 
     Subsection (w) authorizes such sums as may be necessary for 
     the Committee on House Administration to resolve contested 
     elections. Funds shall be available for expenses incurred 
     between January 3, 2021, and January 3, 2022. Amounts made 
     available under this subsection shall be expended in 
     accordance with regulations prescribed by the Committee on 
     House Administration.
       Support for Senate Measures. Subsection (x) requires the 
     Clerk to submit to the chair of the Committee on Rules by 
     February 1, 2021, regulations establishing a process for 
     House Members to indicate their support for Senate-passed 
     measures that have been received by the House, including 
     maintaining a publicly available list of Members supporting 
     each measure. The chair of the Committee on Rules is directed 
     to print the regulations in the Congressional Record, at 
     which point Members will be permitted to use the process to 
     indicate their support for Senate measures.
       Dissemination of Manipulated Media. Subsection (y) directs 
     the Committee on Ethics to report by December 31, 2021, any 
     recommended amendments to the Code of Official Conduct and 
     any accompanying regulations addressing the dissemination by 
     electronic means of any image, video, or audio file that has 
     been distorted or manipulated with the intent to mislead the 
     public.
     Section 4. Committees, Commissions, and House Offices
       House Democracy Partnership. Subsection (a) reauthorizes 
     the House Democracy Assistance Commission, now known as the 
     House Democracy Partnership.
       Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Subsection (b) 
     reauthorizes the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. The 
     subsection carries forward and makes minor modifications to 
     provisions from the 116th Congress to reaffirm that the 
     commission's budget is in addition to and separate from the 
     amounts authorized for salaries and expenses of the Committee 
     on Foreign Affairs, and to ensure equal distribution of 
     funding between the commission's co-chairs to reflect the 
     bipartisan structure of the commission.
       Office of Congressional Ethics. Subsection (c) reauthorizes 
     the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) and carries forward 
     provisions from the 116th Congress without substantive 
     revision except that members may be reappointed for a fourth 
     additional term.
       Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. Subsection (d) 
     reauthorizes the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. The 
     subsection carries forward and makes modest modifications to 
     provisions from the 116th Congress. The investigative 
     jurisdiction of the Select Committee shall consist of 
     policies, strategies, and innovations to achieve substantial 
     and permanent reductions in pollution and other activities 
     that contribute to the climate crisis which will honor our 
     responsibility to be good stewards of the planet for future 
     generations and advance environmental justice. The Select 
     Committee shall coordinate with and advise standing 
     committees with relevant jurisdiction with respect to such 
     policies, strategies, and innovations. Additionally, the 
     Select Committee is authorized to receive any records 
     transferred to it by a standing committee if obtained 
     pursuant to a subpoena or deposition recommended by the 
     Select Committee. The subsection requires that all policy 
     recommendations be submitted to committees by December 31, 
     2021, and that all reports be submitted to the House by 
     December 31, 2022.
       Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. 
     Subsection (e) reauthorizes the Select Committee on the 
     Modernization of Congress and carries forward provisions from 
     the 116th Congress without substantive revision except that 
     the final report shall be submitted by December 31, 2022. All 
     references to the 116th Congress shall apply to the 117th 
     Congress.
       Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. Subsection 
     (f) reauthorizes the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus 
     Crisis of the Committee on Oversight and Reform and carries 
     forward the authorizing provisions from the 116th Congress 
     without revision.
       Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in 
     Growth. Subsection (g) establishes a Select Committee on 
     Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth to investigate, 
     study, make findings, and develop recommendations on 
     policies, strategies, and innovations to make our economy 
     work for everyone, empowering American economic growth while 
     ensuring that no one is left out or behind in the 21st 
     Century Economy. The Select Committee shall coordinate with 
     and advise standing committees with relevant jurisdiction 
     with respect to policy related to economic fairness, access 
     to education, and workforce development. The Select Committee 
     is authorized to hold hearings and may report to the House or 
     any committee the results of its investigations and studies, 
     together with any detailed findings and policy 
     recommendations it deems advisable. The subsection requires 
     that all policy recommendations be submitted to committees by 
     December 31, 2021, and that all reports be submitted to the 
     House by December 31, 2022. The Speaker is directed to 
     appoint 15 Members, Delegates, or the Resident Commissioner 
     to serve on the Select Committee and to designate one of its 
     members to serve as the chair. Six of the 15 members must be 
     appointed on the recommendation of the Minority Leader. The 
     Select Committee will be governed by Rules X and XI, except 
     as provided in the subsection. The subsection does not extend 
     subpoena and deposition authority to the Select Committee, 
     but authorizes the Select Committee to submit subpoena and 
     deposition recommendations to the relevant standing 
     committees. Additionally, the Select Committee is authorized 
     to receive any records transferred to it by a standing 
     committee if obtained pursuant to a subpoena or deposition 
     recommended by the Select Committee. $500,000 is authorized 
     for the expenses of the Select Committee through March 31, 
     2021.
     Section 5. Orders of Business.
       The orders of business contained in section 5 are necessary 
     due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
       Subsection (a) provides that on any legislative day from 
     January 3, 2021, through January 28, 2021: the Journal shall 
     be approved; the Chair may declare the House adjourned to 
     meet within Constitutional limits; the Speaker may appoint 
     Members to perform the duties of the Chair; and each day 
     during this period shall not constitute a day for purposes of 
     section 7 of the War Powers Resolution, clause 7 of rule XIII 
     (resolutions of inquiry), clause 7(c)(1) of rule XXII 
     (motions to instruct conferees), and clause 7 of XV 
     (Consensus Calendar).
       Subsection (b) grants the Speaker authority to consider 
     bills under suspension of the rules through the legislative 
     day of January 28, 2021.
       Subsection (c) grants the House authority, through the 
     legislative day of January 28, to adopt a report from the 
     Committee on Rules through a majority vote on the same day it 
     is filed.

  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
the Virgin Islands (Ms. Plaskett).
  Ms. PLASKETT. Madam Speaker, as we begin the 117th Congress, I am 
truly grateful to the Democratic Caucus for bringing the six 
representatives of the territories of the United States and the 
District of Columbia--duly elected by 4 million Americans, 
collectively--to where we are today.
  That was done in the 116th Congress when the rules package 
strengthened our democratic representation by returning floor voting 
rights to Delegates and the Resident Commissioners in the Committee of 
the Whole. The principle that every American deserves to be represented 
by a vote on the floor of this House is important, and we have somewhat 
of a voice now.
  Moving forward, I think it is high time that we continue to expand 
that. The Constitution gives the fate, the rights, of all the 
territories solely to this body, to the Congress. That being said, it 
is important that we respect those votes, and I believe that our system 
for remote voting should apply with respect to votes cast in the 
Committee of the Whole in the same manner as it applies with respect to 
votes cast on the floor.
  That being said, I commend the further strides we are making in this 
rules package. As a former prosecutor and counsel on the House Ethics 
Committee, I applaud the tightening of the whistleblower laws.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the 
gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands.

[[Page H27]]

  

  Ms. PLASKETT. As a former counsel on the House Ethics Committee, I am 
pleased with the tightening of the whistleblower laws, and I commend 
the creation of the Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness 
in Growth to recommend policies to address economic disparities and 
make the economy work for everyone. I expect this to be a positive 
development, and I urge my colleagues to adopt this package.
  Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), my very good friend and the distinguished 
Republican whip.
  Mr. SCALISE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Oklahoma for 
yielding.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today to strongly object to this Soviet-style 
rules package. If you look at some of the things that are being laid 
out here, it is all designed to take away the voice of 48 percent of 
this House Chamber.
  This is the people's House. It is one of the great things that we 
celebrate about serving in the United States House of Representatives, 
a privilege for each of us who took that oath yesterday to represent 
roughly 750,000 people, to bring their ideas, their hopes for America, 
to this House floor, to debate the things that they believe in, that we 
believe in, that we want to fight for.
  We don't always agree. We don't always see eye to eye on what that 
is, but the beauty is we get to bring those ideas here, have that 
debate here. Yet, the rules package is attempting to strip that away, 
to yank away more rights for hundreds of millions of Americans to be 
represented on this House floor.
  That is not who we are. That is not what the House of Representatives 
is all about. Yet, that is what will be voted on in this rules package.
  Just look at the motion to recommit. Now, if the majority were 
allowing us, Madam Speaker, to bring amendments to the floor on a 
regular basis, you might not need a motion to recommit. But less than 
20 percent of all amendments allowed on the House floor in the last 2 
years were Republican amendments, less than 20 percent when we 
represent almost 49 percent of the Members of this body. That is not 
what an open, democratic institution is about. That is unbecoming of 
the House of Representatives. Yet, taking away that ability shows that 
the majority wants to shut down the debate of the other side, wants to 
shut down the voices not just of us but of the millions of people all 
across this country we represent.
  Think about the move to get rid of paygo, pay as you go, which had 
been a hallmark of Speaker Pelosi's majority. She gets rid of that on 
things like debating the Green New Deal. What does that tell you? That 
tells you that, number one, they plan on bringing the Green New Deal to 
the House floor, but they also know that it would have devastating 
consequences on American families. The hardworking people--in fact, the 
ones who would be hit the hardest by it--are low-income families who 
would end up paying thousands of dollars more in household electricity 
costs. They want to hide that so they get rid of paygo so you don't 
have to show what the cost to hardworking families would be for radical 
ideas like that.
  This is not who we are. I am a proud husband, a proud father of a son 
and a daughter. They don't even want you to be able to say that 
anymore.
  Let's open up the people's House to real, honest discourse and 
debate. Let's debate our differences and settle them here on the House 
floor, not try to hide the views of 48 percent of this country.
  I oppose this Soviet-style rules package.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, if the gentleman is interested in honest 
debate, I hope he will inform us where in the rules package it says 
that you can't refer to yourself as a father, a son, a grandfather, a 
wife, I mean, whatever. There is nothing in the rules package that says 
that. This is not reality.
  I would also remind the gentleman that when he was in charge, this 
was the most closed Congress in the history of the United States 
Congress.
  And if we are worried about protecting our democracy, I hope the 
gentleman and others will join with us in protecting the will of the 
American people, the millions and millions of voters who cast their 
votes for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala 
Harris, and vote to make sure we have a smooth transition to the next 
administration.
  I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Scanlon), 
a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.

  Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  In the 2 years that I have been here, every motion to recommit has 
been a poison pill, a gimmick designed to tank a bill or sow division 
between Members of Congress and their constituents.
  Despite high-flung rhetoric here today, not once have I seen the MTR 
used to make legislation better. In fact, on those occasions when it 
prevailed, our colleagues voted against the underlying bill.
  Since this legislative tool has not been used in good faith, it needs 
to be reformed.
  But I also wish to speak in favor of the efforts that have been made 
to use gender-neutral language in the rules. As a female Member of 
Congress and a member of last term's Select Committee to Modernize 
Congress, I applaud the efforts to drag the rules package into the 21st 
century and make it more inclusive, as well as to make it streamlined. 
The text changes have allowed us to make the rules package more 
concise, and that is a good thing.
  Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to 
quickly respond to my friend.
  Ms. Scanlon said the eight MTRs that passed this House were poison 
pills. By definition, they weren't. They passed the House. Democrats 
voted for them. Things like fighting against anti-Semitism is hardly a 
poison pill.
  Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Arizona 
(Mrs. Lesko), my very good friend.
  Mrs. LESKO. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Democrats' power has literally gone to their heads. They aren't 
satisfied enough to have the majority and the speakership, so now they 
want to silence opposing viewpoints altogether.
  They are undoing minority rights that have been a part of Congress 
for over 100 years by taking away debate on the motion to recommit, 
something that, while in the minority, now-Speaker Pelosi actually 
equated to free speech. Obviously, now that she is in power, she wants 
to take away that freedom of speech from us.
  And when you think things can't get more radical around here, they 
do. Now the Democrats' rules package takes out words like ``mother'' 
and ``father'' and ``brother'' and ``sister.'' In their quest to not 
offend anyone, they are offending almost all of America.
  If we are going to go down this path, I have some suggestions to be 
added to this rules package. How about we add: Members who have a 
relationship with a Chinese spy should be removed from the Intelligence 
Committee. How about: Members should be punished if they leak 
classified information and private information after they leave the 
SCIF. How about: Members should be disciplined if they spread around 
false Russian collusion information.
  Of course, my Democrat colleagues would never dream of adding that.
  Madam Speaker, I adamantly oppose this rules package.

                              {time}  1300

  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Castor).
  Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Madam Speaker, as we enter a new year, 
Americans are urging us to come together and tackle our toughest 
challenges, and that includes the costly climate crisis.
  In the previous Congress, the House directed that a Select Committee 
on the Climate Crisis develop a roadmap for America's clean energy 
future. With a broad cross section of ideas and input, the committee 
developed a majority staff report that was a detailed roadmap for 
action. It was called the Solving the Climate Crisis plan. It has been 
described as the most well-thought-out plan for addressing climate 
change that has ever been part of U.S. politics, an extraordinary 
synthesis of expertise from social and scientific fields.

[[Page H28]]

  Some of our recommendations have already been adopted into law 
through bipartisan legislation, but we have much more work to do. This 
excellent rules package will allow us to continue our work in the 117th 
Congress.
  Our bipartisan committee intends to advance clean energy solutions 
that unleash American innovation, promote environmental justice, and 
create good family-sustaining jobs in all communities across the 
country.
  I urge Members to support the rules package, and I thank Speaker 
Pelosi, Chairman McGovern, and the Committee on Rules for their work 
and for their vision.
  Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Washington (Mr. Newhouse), my very good friend and a former member of 
the Committee on Rules.
  Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, the Democrats' proposed changes to the 
House rules will disenfranchise rural America, plain and simple.
  In addition to throwing out budget rules to make way for socialist 
packages like the Green New Deal, Democrats are gutting the motion to 
recommit, which is an important tool for the minority to make 
substantive amendments to legislation.
  Past Republican motions to recommit have included things such as 
restoring funding for critical rural broadband programs or allowing for 
effective wildfire mitigation and increased funding for hazardous fuel 
reduction in our Nation's forests, also, an MTR to protect our farmers 
and agricultural employers from being sued out of businesses.
  Eliminating this opportunity to amend legislation further diminishes 
the voices of rural communities, and, frankly, Madam Speaker, it is a 
slap in the face to rural Americans. It is clear Speaker Pelosi's 
Democratic majority, albeit a heck of a lot slimmer than it once was, 
is threatened by our reinvigorated Republican Conference.
  Rural Americans deserve better.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished chair and 
all of those who opened up their thoughts to this very important 
process. I participated through the Progressive Caucus, and I am very 
grateful for the work that included all Members.
  I believe in democracy; I believe in the rights of the minority; but 
I want to applaud this rules package in particular because, as a member 
of the Committee on the Judiciary, I think extremely important is the 
language to protect whistleblowers.
  The responsibility of Congress is oversight, and even though this was 
not in the congressional wheelhouse, it was shameful what happened to 
Lieutenant Colonel Vindman, a United States Army leader, if you will, 
who thought it was his patriotic duty simply to tell the truth.
  What happened to him as a whistleblower in the executive? He was 
fired.
  What happened to his brother, twin brother? No longer there. No one 
protected them.
  I want to applaud a Committee on Rules package that protects but, as 
well, a Committee on Rules package that also deals with diversity, 
gender, and puts America's business first.
  Vote for this package.
  Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Smith), my very good friend and ranking 
Republican member of the Committee on the Budget.
  Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Oklahoma for yielding.
  Madam Speaker, on only day two of the 117th Congress, House Democrats 
are already attempting to strip Americans of the transparency that they 
deserve in order to push through an expensive progressive wish list.
  The House rules package includes three main provisions that will 
allow Democrats to hide their plans to irresponsibly spend taxpayer 
dollars in an effort to satisfy their liberal base: a deeming 
resolution, signaling they do not plan on doing a budget; two, new, 
broad exemptions to budget rules, such as paygo, to allow passage of 
socialist policies with large price tags; and, three, they want the 
repeal of a House rule prohibiting reconciliation from increasing net 
direct spending, making it easier to advance a costly radical agenda.
  It has been 733 days since Democrats took control of the House of 
Representatives, and they have yet to produce one single budget. These 
rules will continue to let Democrats shirk their duty to write and pass 
a budget.
  Don't forget, Speaker Pelosi is the one who stated the budget is a 
statement of values. I couldn't agree more. I must ask: Have Democrats 
not done a budget because they know revealing their true plans, their 
true colors, will let the American people know how unpopular their 
ideas are?
  The people deserve to know, and they deserve a transparent budget to 
know how House Democrats plan to spend their hard-earned tax dollars 
and how Democrats want to increase their taxes.
  Furthermore, by weakening fiscal restraint rules, Democrats clearly 
intend to drastically increase the size of the Federal Government. This 
will only continue to drive up the unsustainable Federal debt while 
decreasing Americans' liberties and freedoms.

  Specifically, it includes a budgetary exemption for measures to 
prevent, prepare, or respond to economic, environmental, or public 
health consequences resulting from climate change. This exemption is 
irresponsible, since, arguably, it could apply to any radical, 
progressive, out-of-touch legislation dreamed up next by House 
Democrats. Clearly, this exemption was designed as a mechanism to ram 
through socialist policies like the Green New Deal and other ideas 
aimed at hurting American workers, families, and farmers.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 30 
seconds.
  Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, this past November, the voters 
rejected a socialist agenda. If this rules package is any indication 
for how Democrats plan to run the 117th Congress, I cannot wait for the 
midterm elections. These rules allow Democrats to continue deceiving 
the American people.
  Madam Speaker, I oppose this Soviet-style rules package.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I don't even know where to begin.
  Look, let me repeat, what we are doing is building in an exemption to 
deal with two worldwide emergencies: one is the coronavirus pandemic, 
which, unfortunately, this White House mismanaged terribly; the second 
is to deal with the issue of the climate crisis, which everybody but a 
few Members in this Chamber believe is a crisis.
  Madam Speaker, I will remind the gentleman that he has voted for 
exemptions when it comes to tax cuts for billionaires and corporations; 
he has voted for exemptions when it comes to taking people's healthcare 
away from them. So, obviously, we don't share the same values here, but 
I am very proud of what is in this package.
  Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/4\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida 
(Ms. Wasserman Schultz).
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Speaker, I find the protestations of our 
friends on the other side of the aisle rich, when 2 days from now they 
plan to actually vote in favor of overturning the results of an 
election that their party's nominee lost. So, please, spare us the 
protestations about the undemocratic process that you are opposing 
here.
  Further, I rise to urge adoption of the rules package for the 117th 
Congress. This package includes innovative proposals to modernize the 
House and facilitate good policymaking.
  It will establish the Select Committee on Economic Disparity and 
Fairness in Growth, which will work to combat income inequality and, 
critically, require committees to address inequities in marginalized 
communities.
  I recently proposed the creation of an advisory panel on equity and 
justice in Federal spending, so I am pleased that this package 
recognizes the need to dismantle the effects of systemic racism and 
creates a process to address intractable inequities.
  As a longtime proponent of diversity in hiring, I am glad we are 
making the Office of Diversity and Inclusion permanent.
  I am also pleased that the rules exempt climate legislation from 
budgetary restrictions, clearing the way for

[[Page H29]]

ambitious Federal investments to combat climate change. As an 
appropriator, I am eager to deploy the power of the Appropriations 
Committee to fight climate change and work toward environmental 
justice.
  Finally, I applaud the inclusion of gender-neutral language.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the 
gentlewoman from Florida.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Speaker, finally, I applaud the 
inclusion of gender-neutral language that embraces all gender 
identities and reflects that this Chamber is not just a man's world 
anymore.
  Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished new 
Member from the great State of Texas (Ms. Van Duyne), who will be 
making her first address on the House floor.
  Ms. VAN DUYNE. Madam Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H. Res. 
8.
  I came to Congress expecting to engage in vigorous debate with my 
colleagues to ensure legislation was passed in its best form. I am 
ready to legislate with Members on both sides of the aisle, but the 
majority is not interested in bipartisan legislating or even permitting 
the free expression of ideas. Instead, because Republicans made 
historic gains in the House, Democrats are changing the rules to limit 
their own Members from defecting.
  Since the very first Congress, the motion to recommit has protected 
the rights of the minority, both Republican and Democrat alike.
  The majority would overturn a century's worth of precedent by 
eliminating the motion to recommit and also pave the way for reckless 
spending by forgoing critical pay-as-you-go requirements to fund costly 
socialist policies.
  Finally, and most ridiculous of all, Democrats are banning terms like 
``mother,'' ``father,'' ``daughter,'' and ``son'' from the House rules.
  With so many tasks and obligations the American people expect us to 
undertake, this proposal demonstrates Democrats' true intentions, which 
is to advance radical liberal policies that have no meaningful impact 
on the American public.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this resolution.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  If we defeat the previous question, Madam Speaker, I will offer an 
amendment to the rule to immediately amend the rules package to strike 
the complete gutting of the MTR. My amendment will restore this sacred 
right to the minority to offer a final amendment to the bill.

  Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my 
amendment in the Record, along with extraneous material, immediately 
prior to the vote on the previous question.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Oklahoma?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. McCarthy), the distinguished Republican leader, to 
discuss this critical amendment in more detail.
  Mr. McCARTHY. Madam Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, we 
can amend the rule to save the right of every American to be heard on 
the floor of Congress.
  Madam Speaker, a tenet of socialism is to silence all opposition. The 
right to speak your mind and question your leaders are often the first 
casualties of socialist governments throughout history; not far behind 
are other important freedoms, including the right to defend yourself 
and the right to earn a living, which are impossible to protect without 
the freedom of speech.
  Our Constitution lists the freedom of speech as its very first 
freedom, and for our Founding Fathers, the reason was self-evident, as 
Benjamin Franklin once said: ``Without freedom of thought, there can be 
no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty, without 
freedom of speech.''
  The very first action of this majority is to take it away.
  From the very beginning of this institution, we had the motion to 
recommit to protect the minority. If you listen to Benjamin Franklin, 
tell me how the 117th Congress can have any wisdom or any public 
liberty or any freedom, because you deny us speech.

                              {time}  1315

  Benjamin Franklin was right then, and he is right now. But I have 
noticed the dangerous trend against free speech in recent years, a 
trend that betrays everything our Founding Fathers lived, fought, and 
died for.
  It began in our schools on college campuses where our students are 
taught the absurd notion that free speech is about privilege and power, 
not open debate and rational deliberation.
  Then it jumped to the mainstream media and social media giants who 
used their power to protect their liberal friends and censor 
conservatives, including during the last election and throughout the 
pandemic.
  Now, with today's vote, the same socialist ideas have found their way 
onto the floor and into the rules of the U.S. House of Representatives, 
which will shape every law this Chamber tries to make in the next 2 
years, taking the same idea that the socialist governments have taken 
before, the fear that you might lose based on an idea, so take their 
voice away.
  Whose voices are those? The constituents of millions of Americans. 
These changes will stop American voices from being heard, primarily by 
revoking the motion to recommit, the minority's longtime right to offer 
the last amendment to legislation.
  I see my good friend, the majority leader, across the aisle. He and I 
have switched jobs before. I was the majority leader. For 8 years, 
never once was it ever debated that we would deny the minority the 
right to an amendment on a bill. Never once. I know the majority leader 
will stand up later and say: Well, this has been changed time and time 
again. Only by Democrats.
  I know my friend is an institutionalist. I know he believes in this 
body, but he cannot believe about taking this away.
  Why would you want to? You cannot pass a motion to recommit on the 
floor unless you have a majority of the people in the body to vote for 
it. Are you so afraid that you can't hold people that you want to take 
it away? Are your constituents better than somebody else's?
  To again quote Ben Franklin, free speech is a necessary tool for 
exposing and keeping in check narrow thoughts and narrow men. That is 
what the MTR is all about. For our constituents, taking it away means 
freedom of speech is silenced and good ideas are stifled.
  While House Democrats have slowly chipped away at this right in the 
past, today's vote truly represents the nuclear option. It will prove 
once and for all who is truly an institutionalist in this body.
  Is it no wonder that your majority is so thin that you try to take 
away the MTR? Was the Speaker vote too close?
  I can't imagine casting that vote as your very first action. 
Additionally, these rules mirror the misplaced priorities of the last 
Congress. Democrats' 45-page resolution strips all mention of the words 
father, mother, son, daughter, brother, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law. 
I am a proud father. I am an extremely proud son. But we are going to 
strike them from the rules. First, we take your speech away. Then, we 
take away what you can say.
  Already, in their race to wokeness--I listened to your opening prayer 
yesterday. They changed the word ``amen,'' which has nothing to do with 
gender.
  Today's vote is about more than organizing Congress. It is about the 
American people's right to be heard by their government. This vote is 
important. It might be the most important vote we take after the vote 
for Speaker. It signals our priorities, our vision for the entire 2 
years.
  The fact that this is the Democrats' first course of action as a 
majority in the new Congress speaks volumes to the lengths they will go 
to silence the people's voice.
  I almost thought it would be the opposite. I know what you thought 
the day, the weeks, the months before the election. You wondered if you 
would have enough seats in here for how big your majority would be. I 
listened to the Speaker say she wasn't going to

[[Page H30]]

only win the majority; she was winning it for the next two or three 
elections because they were going to gain so many seats. My dear friend 
predicted a 15-seat gain by the Democrats. But that is not what the 
American people told you.
  I probably would have reversed and said: Oh, my gosh, if we are doing 
everything that the American people do not want, maybe we should change 
course. But you actually took the opposite approach.
  Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Let's deny people to even say 
more because they don't like what we are doing.
  I have watched this happen in other parts of the world, but I never 
thought, in the fundamental belief of the very first amendment of 
America, of the very belief of this body where we debate, where the 
voices of America are supposed to be heard, where an MTR has been 
around from the very beginning of this Nation, of this body--but you 
will be the individuals, you will be the slim majority, that took it 
away. You will cast that vote. You will have the history written about 
you.
  The fact that this is your very first course of action, you are 
setting the tone for the next 2 years. The political and moral stakes 
are high, and the American people know it.
  If censorship replaces open debate on this floor, serious 
deliberation of the most important issues confronting our country will 
become impossible. More importantly, Congress will continue to waste 
time on unnecessary distractions that have nothing to do with the needs 
of the American people. This damage will be immediate and long-lasting.
  But Republicans will never give up our right to fully represent our 
constituents' voices here in Washington. Democrats' small thinking may 
limit how we can do what is right for our constituents, but it won't 
stop us from doing what is needed. Maybe we need a little history in 
modern history.
  You had the ability to control this body for 40 years before 
Republicans ever won in 1994. You had tried to shut it off now and then 
based upon certain bills. The very first thing that Republicans did 
when they had the chance to write the rules and be in the majority, 
they guaranteed it for the minority--for you, when you were in the 
minority. They were not afraid.

  When we narrowed the majority, much to the same numbers we have 
today, was it removed then because Republicans were in power? It was 
not. It was guaranteed. My good friend was here during that time. The 
Speaker served during that time.
  When we, the Republicans, took the majority again and had it for 8 
years, not only did we never touch it, we guaranteed it again. You have 
been in power for 2 years. You lost seats based upon what you did on 
this floor. Instead of changing course, you now deny people their 
voice.
  That is the history that will be written today. That is the legacy 
you will live with. I will promise you this: Two years from today, when 
you are no longer in the majority, we will correct the course of 
history because we are not afraid of ideas. We believe it makes us 
stronger. We know it makes this country stronger.
  This choice will shape everything we do in the next 2 years and 
beyond. We have big challenges. We are going to have to work together. 
But if you deny us, you are going to have a hard time working with us.
  Madam Speaker, you and I travel a lot back to our districts. We often 
fly on the same planes. We see our constituents, and I see you listen 
to them. I see you talk to them about issues. I have watched you work 
across the aisle on some of the biggest issues, even when you were not 
in the majority.
  I want you to think one moment, Madam Speaker: What if those 
constituents you talk to--and you say you will bring their voice to the 
floor--what if you were going to be denied that? You never were denied 
that when you were in the minority.
  But I just ask every Member of this body, before you cast this vote, 
you may think a tough vote goes away. Oh, no, it won't. I will make you 
this promise: You have given me the passion to fight harder for my 
constituents. You have given me the passion to find a better 
opportunity for more of their voices to be heard. And you have given me 
the passion to win back the majority so I can win back the voices on 
this floor that they won't be denied. And they might not be my 
constituents. They may be the voices of your constituents because it is 
the right thing to do that has been here the entire time this body has 
been here.
  Madam Speaker, there are times we will disagree, but there are very 
few times I have ever been this embarrassed of this body, the hypocrisy 
of what I am about to see, the hypocrisy of what you think you will 
defend, everybody in this body knows it is wrong. But you feel you can 
grip power a little harder. You feel you can hold onto it a little 
stronger.
  I will tell you this: The power of free speech is so much stronger 
than the power of somebody trying to grip and hold onto the majority.
  Madam Speaker, I strongly urge defeat of the previous question.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will remind all Members, including 
the minority leader, of the rules of decorum, which say that a Member, 
Delegate, or Resident Commissioner who desires to speak or deliver a 
matter to the House shall respectfully address the Speaker.
  This Chair intends to enforce this rule. It is an important rule of 
decorum. We are entering into some difficult days, and I will tell all 
Members on both sides of the aisle: We will enforce the rules of 
decorum of the House.
  Remarks will be made to the Chair.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I appreciate the admonition here, and I wish the distinguished 
minority leader would have remained because he talked a lot about 
debate, and then he gave a speech and ran off the floor.
  But I would be careful, I would say to my friends on the other side 
of the aisle, about using words like ``hypocrisy'' because I was here 
when you were in the majority. You presided over the most closed 
Congress in the history of our country, more closed rules than any 
other Congress.
  The motion to recommit, arguably, is a procedural motion, but when 
you closed rule after rule after rule after rule, any substantive 
amendment, you blocked. But my friends had no problem with that at the 
time, and now, all of a sudden, they do.
  Again, I would just say to the distinguished minority leader, who 
keeps talking about mind control and people banning him from being able 
to say that he is a father or a son, I don't know what he is talking 
about. Please show me in the rules package where he can't say all of 
those things. There is nothing--nothing--in the rules package.
  I would just urge my colleagues--as I said at the beginning, I get 
it. The White House is a fact-free zone, but we have to aspire to be 
different. We can have our policy disagreements, but we shouldn't be 
making things up. I mean, I would like to think we are better than 
that, no matter how much we disagree on substantive issues.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will once again remind Members, if 
you are referring to the person you are debating as ``you,'' chances 
are you are violating the rule. All Members are asked to address all of 
their remarks to the Chair.

                              {time}  1330

  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), who is the majority leader.
  Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I will continue to address my remarks to 
you notwithstanding the fact that you ruled against me just a little 
while ago on a vote, which excited some.
  I am an institutionalist. I believe in this body, I believe in 
democracy, and for your information, I believe in the free enterprise 
system.
  Madam Speaker, I listened to the remarks of the minority leader. I 
listened to the outrage that he expresses. I share the view of the 
Rules Committee chairman that he was a principal leader in the most 
closed Congress in which I have served, which was, of course, presided 
over by my Republican colleagues. He talked about free speech. Nothing 
in this rule undermines the free speech of any Member in this House--
nothing.
  When they had closed rules, I didn't get up and say: You are muzzling 
my speech.
  You muzzled my ability to make legislation, but you did not muzzle my

[[Page H31]]

speech. The First Amendment is sacrosanct, hopefully for everybody in 
this body. But I will tell you I have been in this body when Republican 
Members, Madam Speaker, rose to their feet demanding that people do 
something in the galleries.
  Madam Speaker, I am going to show hypocrisy--not from me. The 
gentleman, the chairman of the Rules Committee, Madam Speaker, 
mentioned that the minority leader mentioned hypocrisy. I presume his 
assertion was that somehow we were being hypocritical. I intend to 
speak a little bit of time and I intend to show hypocrisy.
  First of all, the gentleman is wrong in his facts. The motion to 
recommit was taken from the British Parliament and was present at the 
first Congress in 1789. Interestingly enough, the motion to recommit 
was used to correct something that had not been included in the bill 
and was considered a friendly amendment and remained that way for a 
very, very long time.
  In 1934, it was ruled that instructions in a motion which were 
present from time to time was not necessary, and that is the way the 
rule maintained essentially for the next 20 years--actually, excuse me, 
60 years, until 1995.
  The gentleman is correct. When the Republicans took office for the 
first time in a very long time under the leadership of Newt Gingrich, 
Madam Speaker, they changed the rule. They said that you have to have a 
motion to instruct, as if they were giving us something, as if they 
were giving us something. Remember that phrase because I am going to 
show it meant nothing. It was an illusion. It was a pretense.
  Madam Speaker, I am going to first go through, of 34 examples, about 
10 of the examples of what our Republican friends, Madam Speaker, said 
about the motion to recommit.
  First of all, the minority leader--I read from the Wichita Eagle of 
May 12, 2013: ``The political book on McCarthy is that he does a good 
job at counting votes, of knowing where the 233 House of 
Representatives Republicans are at any given time. He points out that 
Republicans, unlike Democrats in a previous Congress, haven't lost 
certain procedural votes''--procedural vote. Let me underline 
procedural vote. Not substance of the First Amendment and not substance 
of free speech. Procedural vote--``called a motion to recommit, that 
are a test of floor control.''
  That is what the minority leader was bragging about: floor control. 
He was not in the minority at that point in time. He was in the 
majority. I believe he was the whip.
  A subsequent--or previous to the present minority leader, Eric Cantor 
went on to amplify the Republican perspective on the motion to 
recommit. Majority Leader Eric Cantor publicly went on the defensive 
about an MTR, stating that the MTR was simply a gimmick. Eric Cantor, 
the majority leader of the Republican Party in 2012.
  Mr. Bishop, one of the ranking members, he is no longer here. He 
left. He retired last year. Referring to an MTR, he said: ``Mr. 
Speaker, this is a procedural motion.''
  Madam Speaker, Mr. Bishop went on to say that it is just ``another 
delay tactic.'' Just a delay tactic. He didn't say anything about the 
First Amendment. He didn't say anything about substantive consequences 
of the MTR. He said that it was a delaying tactic.
  Referring to the MTR, Representative Conaway said: ``To come in here 
now and pull this procedural trick. . . . When we are in the minority, 
we do it.''
  He is correct. When we are in the minority, we do it.
  Madam Speaker, very frankly, I will tell you--and you can take my 
words down for the future--if this never came back, ever, it wouldn't 
bother me because it is a charade of substance. It is a pretense of 
legislating.
  Representative Goodlatte, who was then-chairman of the Judiciary 
Committee, I believe, or at some subsequent point chairman of the 
Judiciary Committee, said: ``This is simply a dilatory tactic. . . . `'
  That is what the chairman of the Judiciary Committee--I am not sure 
if he was at that point in time in 2015. I think he was.
  Madam Speaker, a dilatory tactic is what the chairman of the 
Judiciary Committee on the Republican side of the aisle called the MTR. 
It ``seeks to distract from the urgent needs. . . . `'
  Representative Lamborn said: ``Mr. Speaker, this motion to recommit 
is a procedural motion. . . . `'
  Madam Speaker, I am sorry the Chamber is not full. It can't be full. 
I would have liked to speak to all the Members of the Congress, and 
they can judge on the hypocrisy of the arguments that are being made.
  This motion to recommit is a procedural motion designed to slow down 
consideration of this important bill. It is purely, purely procedural. 
Not a little bit procedural and a little bit substantive; it is 
purely procedural.

  Representative Olson, in 2019, referring to it, said: ``It fits a 
pattern of delay and obstruction that we simply can't afford.''
  Hypocrisy. He didn't say anything about its having to do with free 
speech. A motion that we were offering as an MTR that we thought, like 
you think--excuse me, Madam Speaker, as the Republicans think, is a 
gotcha amendment. It is politics on both sides. It is not substantive 
and it is not about free speech. It is about politics and gotcha. Yes, 
I am an institutionalist and, yes, I think we ought to not be doing 
gotcha in a nonsubstantive way.
  Madam Speaker, obviously, we disagree on issues. And when we offer an 
issue and they don't vote for it, we think that is politically helpful 
to us because we think it is for the people. They do the same thing and 
they think it is for the people. So no party is free of its gotcha 
actions. Mine is not, nor is theirs.
  Representative Upton, one of the institutionalists in this body, 
former chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Republican from 
the State of Michigan, being kind, as Fred Upton is kind, said: ``I 
appreciate the motion to recommit, and I would just say to all my 
colleagues: Our side certainly views that as a procedural issue, not a 
real amendment.''
  Madam Speaker, I would say to the ladies and gentlemen of the 
Congress: Who is hypocritical? Who is hypocritical when their Member, a 
valued senior chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, says that 
this is a procedural issue, not a real amendment?
  My goodness gracious, the Rules Committee is taking away not a real 
amendment.
  Isn't that horrific?
  How could they do that, Madam Speaker, when the Republicans say that 
it is not a real issue, it is not substantive, it is a gimmick, and it 
is a delaying and obstruction tactic?
  Now, let me say that the Republicans uniformly vote against the MTR.
  Mr. Woodall was a member of the Rules Committee. He is no longer 
here. He is from the State of Georgia. Mr. Woodall said, after being 
here for about 10 years of the motion to recommit, that he was told by 
the leadership when he started in this body that it is a procedural 
motion aimed to obstruct and delay, we always vote ``no.''
  Now, let me tell you, Madam Speaker, what they always vote ``no'' on. 
On April 7, 2011, an MTR was offered, a motion to recommit that would 
ensure that our troops would get paid. The Republicans defeated that 
motion overwhelmingly. Only one person on the Republican side voted for 
it, Walter Jones. He is no longer in the Congress. He was pretty 
iconoclastic when he was here, and he did what he darn well pleased 
irrespective of the directions of the leadership who said: Always vote 
``no'' on the MTR.
  So what they are complaining about, Madam Speaker, is the preclusion 
of doing something they always opposed. And, very frankly, when they 
won those MTRs from time to time--very few--they then voted against the 
bill. There was no substance.
  A little while later, about a month later, the motion to recommit 
that we offered ensured that our top priority in funding our 
intelligence services is the campaign to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat 
al-Qaida and affiliated organizations.
  Raise your hand if you are opposed to that. Madam Speaker, not your 
hand. But our colleagues ought to reflect on whether they are opposed 
to that premise. Not a single Republican voted for that MTR--this 
substantive assertion that our campaign and intelligence services ought 
to be not disrupted in their fight against al-Qaida and affiliated 
organizations.

[[Page H32]]

  A short time later we offered another MTR. The motion to recommit 
provides our troops with a $100 per month increase in combat pay.
  As you sit in your chairs in this House, or you are watching these 
proceedings on television, I want you to say to yourself: Am I against 
$100 for our troops who are at risk?

                              {time}  1345

  Because if you are, voting against the MTR was justified. Every 
Republican save--except--one more time--Walter Jones, voted against 
that amendment, that substantive amendment that we are stealing away 
from them, which they say we never vote for.
  Madam Speaker, if Mr. McCarthy were here, I would ask him: Have you 
ever voted for an MTR?
  I ask him rhetorically. Perhaps, at some point in time, he will tell 
us. Maybe he was against the substance of all of these amendments that 
I am speaking about.
  In 2012, the following year, the motion to recommit would prohibit 
the issuance of leases to any entity that is in violation of the Iran 
Sanctions Act or the Syrian Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty 
Restoration Act.
  Madam Speaker, not a single Republican voted for that amendment. The 
substantive amendment that they are so aggrieved--and by the way, 
energizing their party to be more partisan than they ought to be doing. 
We ought to all praise   Don Young, the dean of the House. He served 
here longer than anybody else. He said yesterday that we ought to come 
together and reach out our hands to one another and make this place 
work for the people.
  Another motion to recommit would prohibit export of helium from the 
Federal Helium Reserve to Iran, North Korea, and Syria.
  Madam Speaker, not a single Republican voted for that MTR. Why? 
Because it is procedural. It is a gimmick. It is obstructing. That is 
what we are taking away that you are so aggrieved at.
  Now, I have about 35 or 40 of these. The good news is, I am not going 
to read them all. But in 2014, the motion to recommit would ensure that 
the intelligence community continues to protect the United States--hear 
me--from Chinese and other state-sponsored computer theft. I am sure 
all of you will say, ``Well, I am against that. That is an awful thing 
to do.'' But everyone on that side of the aisle in the Congress today 
voted against that amendment. Our new Members didn't vote against it, 
obviously, but people who were here, every Republican that was here, 
voted ``no'' on protecting ourselves from the Chinese, the theft of our 
computer technology.
  Madam Speaker, the next year, 2015--and I am just taking a couple 
from each year--the motion to recommit would deter terrorist 
cyberattacks, homegrown terrorist attacks, and strengthen America's 
cybersecurity by increasing prevention efforts to stop the recruitment 
and travel of homegrown terrorists by ISIL, al-Qaida, and other 
terrorist organizations.
  Now, I know you are going to be shocked because you are probably 
thinking, ``Oh, of course we voted for that.'' Not one. Not a single 
Republican voted for that MTR.
  So, this aggrieved rhetoric that we hear about taking something away, 
the only thing being taken away is their gotcha opportunities and ours.
  Now, in the majority, you don't have the motion to recommit. I get 
that. But we may be in the minority at some point in time. Don't give 
it back to us because it is a political game that undermines the 
integrity of this institution, and it is covered as a gotcha game, for 
the most part, by the press and media that knows what that is--a game.
  Madam Speaker, in 2015, the motion to recommit would require the 
Department of Homeland Security to prioritize protection and technical 
assistance to stop cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, such as the 
electric power grid and nuclear power plants.
  By now, you know what I am going to say. Only one Republican voted 
for that. It won't surprise you that it was Walter Jones because Walter 
Jones really did treat it as a substantive piece of legislation.
  But the party that is so aggrieved today instructs their Republican 
freshmen and all of their Members: Vote ``no'' on the MTR.
  Madam Speaker, I am available to yield to anybody who is going to 
tell me that is not the truth. Nobody has propounded that question to 
me.
  In 2015, again, a month later, the motion to recommit would protect 
troop pay, guaranteeing a pay increase of 2.3 percent for our 
servicemembers and ensuring no lapse in troop pay in the event of a 
government shutdown. And there was my friend, standing tall--Walter 
Jones, alone but standing tall. Not a single other Republican voted for 
that.
  Just three left.
  Madam Speaker, in 2017, I am bringing you up to date because this has 
been a consistent pattern. This is not some ``one person said this; one 
person said that.'' It is a consistent pattern of Republicans 
dismissing the motion to recommit as not of substance, only a delay 
tactic, a gimmick, if you will, according to Mr. Cantor.
  The motion to recommit, in November 2017, to ensure rural communities 
have adequate funding for educational services, conservation projects, 
and fire prevention programs.
  Madam Speaker, now, Walter Jones got a friend on this one, Rod Blum, 
who is no longer here. And, tragically, Mr. Jones died too early. They 
are not here, but they thought that was a good idea. No other 
Republican thought that was a good idea.
  In 2018, just 2 years ago, the motion to recommit would amend the 
underlying bill to prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency from chartering a private plane or flying any class 
above coach. That was because a couple of Secretaries clearly did not 
meet their responsibilities to the American taxpayer in the 
expenditures of moneys in their Departments.
  Again, Mr. Blum and Mr. Jones thought that was a good idea, but the 
Republican leadership had instructed them, you will recall, according 
to Mr. Woodall, to vote ``no'' because this is just a delaying tactic. 
This is just a game. Vote ``no.'' It is procedural. It is not 
substance.
  Lastly--and people are now saying amen--the motion to recommit would 
ensure, in this case, that we would: protect students and children from 
a person who has been convicted of a sex offense against a 
minor; secondly, prevent domestic violence; thirdly, prevent rape or 
sexual assault; or four, require criminal background checks for schools 
or other employment.

  Rod Blum and Walter Jones stayed true to themselves and did not 
follow the instruction: This is a game. This is an obstruction. This is 
a gimmick. This is a way to delay and defeat.
  Madam Speaker, I have taken some time to discuss this because I don't 
like hypocrisy. I don't like wasting time. I don't like not respecting 
one another and playing a gotcha game to see if you guys are afraid of 
this amendment. And then when we adopt the amendment, if we adopt, a 
very few--vote against the bill because, after all, it was just a 
political game. We don't like the bill, no matter what you have in it.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this rule. Madam Speaker, 
the people who are watching this debate may not have the knowledge that 
all of us have. Almost invariably--almost invariably--this is a 
partisan vote. The Republicans will vote against our rule, and we will 
vote against their rule. And, invariably, we will find some problem 
with it that we can rationalize our vote on.
  Madam Speaker, I regret that we are starting this Congress--and I am 
going to look at Mr. Ryan's speech. I am going to look at Mr. Hastert's 
speech on the opening day. I am going to look at all the Speakers with 
whom I have served and see what their comments were on the opening day.
  I regretted the minority leader's opening statement. I regretted it 
because, as   Don Young said, we need to come together. We are at a 
time of pandemic. We are at a time of economic distress. We ought to be 
acting not for ourselves, not for our politics, but for our people.
  Madam Speaker, I would urge every Member to vote for this rule. And 
as they do so, be assured they are not denigrating or denying anybody's 
free speech any more than the Republicans denied free speech in the 
most closed Congress in our history just a few years ago.

[[Page H33]]

  

  Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished 
gentleman from California (Mr. Obernolte), one of our new Members.
  Mr. OBERNOLTE. Madam Speaker, although I share the concerns that have 
been raised about the MTR, I would like to speak on an aspect of this 
rules package that I find equally troubling, and that is the provision 
that would upend nearly 30 years of House tradition in exempting any 
legislation that can be tied in any way to either response to climate 
change or response to the coronavirus crisis from the requirements of 
paygo--in other words, the requirement that we consider how to pay for 
solutions to these problems in addition to how we solve these problems.
  Now, admittedly, climate change and coronavirus are serious issues, 
but it would be irresponsible to, when debating these issues, not 
consider their effects on the national debt and the budget deficit, 
which are also very serious issues. In fact, the CBO says that for the 
first time, last year, since World War II, our national debt exceeded 
100 percent of our gross domestic product.
  To fail to consider solutions that we debate in this Chamber, the 
effects of those solutions on those also serious problems, would be an 
abdication of our responsibility to our constituents. I urge a ``no'' 
vote.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy), my very good friend.
  Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Oklahoma.
  Madam Speaker, I rise to say that we had this great speech by the 
leader of the Democrat Party about debates and about what we should do 
in debating on this floor. When will we debate? That is the question. 
When will we actually debate?
  The leader made good points about previous rules, about closed 
debate. We haven't had an open debate on an amendment on this floor 
since May 2016, where I can come down as a Republican Member or as a 
Democratic Member and offer an amendment.
  We have no debates on amendments anymore, Mr. Leader. You know this 
is true. You have been here. You have seen the change in this body. And 
I would just suggest--that I address my remarks to the Chair--I would 
just suggest that we should have debate. That is what we are here to 
do.
  Madam Speaker, I reject this rules package. I have problems with it 
for the reasons my colleagues already articulated, but I think we 
should engage in colloquy. Let's actually have a debate about setting 
up rules so this body is filled with Members offering amendments and 
doing what the people want us to do. This rules package, respectfully, 
does not do that.

                              {time}  1400

  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Arkansas (Mr. Westerman), my very good friend and the distinguished 
ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, let me be very clear: This rules 
package is horrible. It is a progressive affront to America.
  The rules package continues proxy voting and remote hearing measures, 
even though Members of Congress and staff now have access to the COVID-
19 vaccine. If Congress can be first in line for the vaccine, then we 
must be first to go back to work.
  Exactly how far Democrats intend to take their attack on free speech 
is unclear, but look no further than the extremism in the opening 
prayer yesterday that concluded with ``amen, and a woman,'' which, 
quite simply, is illiterate and has nothing to do with gender.
  This package paves the way for Democrats to spend unlimited dollars 
to promote a climate agenda that will harm rural America and our 
economy while doing nothing to create a cleaner, safer, and healthier 
environment. Republicans want a better environment and economy, and 
this rules package will facilitate harm to both.
  I urge all of my colleagues, Republican and Democrat, to vote against 
this resolution. We can do better than neglecting our responsibility to 
show up in person.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the 
gentleman.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, we can do better than wasting taxpayer 
money on idealistic, political environmentalism.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, let me just refer the gentleman to the 
Office of the Attending Physician to get the most up-to-date medical 
guidance.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Posey).
  Mr. POSEY. Madam Speaker, in addition to all of the evils of the new 
rules package, as you have already heard, eliminating the comparative 
print requirement is the single biggest damage you can do to 
transparency and accountability in this House.
  The comparative print requirement was a top priority of the 
bipartisan Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, a number 
one, top priority of the bipartisan committee. Every State in the 
country that I know of uses comparative print. It shows you clearly 
what language in the bill actually changes the law. States can do it, 
but this great U.S. House of Representatives just can't seem to do it.
  It is an absolutely shameful thing, and I urge Members of the House 
to oppose this horrible rules package that destroys transparency and 
accountability.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  In closing, I want to urge all of my colleagues to vote ``no'' on 
this rules package. The majority's proposed package will only continue 
the ongoing assault on minority voices.
  The changes in this package completely gut the MTR. With all due 
respect to my friends, we disagree on that. I am sorry you have a hard 
time handling it or getting your Members to where you want them to go, 
but the fact is, eight times in the last Congress, Democrats joined 
with Republicans in deciding that the Republican proposal improved the 
bill. It is that simple.
  We shouldn't be taking that away, particularly when the record, I 
think, is so bad in the last Democratic Congress in granting amendment 
opportunities to the minority.
  I remind my friends, when we were in the majority, you got 45 percent 
of all of the amendments made in order in the Rules Committee; the 
Republicans got 38 percent; the remainder were bipartisan. Last time, 
you got two-thirds of the amendments, we got 18 percent, and the 
remainder were bipartisan.
  When you are removing the MTR, on top of not giving us very many 
amendments to begin with, we look on that as an effort to limit our 
ability to participate openly and effectively in debate. This rules 
package moves us in another direction.
  I am sorry that the traditional rules of the House that have been 
here over 100 years are inconvenient to the Democratic majority. 
Sometimes it is good to be inconvenienced when you are in the majority.
  You are limiting our ability to participate. Frankly, it will find 
other outlets; it always does. I think that is a tragic mistake I think 
that you will live to regret.
  In addition to that, obviously, we disagree in the proposed rules 
package with eliminating paygo in some critical areas. We think you 
could drive a truck through those. It is a critical budgetary tool, and 
we do think it will be missed, and its absence will be used to pave the 
way for the Green New Deal.
  In addition, the desire to continue to subpoena Presidents, Vice 
Presidents, and White House staff that are no longer in office strikes 
us as clearly an effort to just continue to harass the departing 
administration. I regret that. I think you will, too. I think people 
want us to look forward, not backward.
  So we don't see much use in that, nor do we see the automatic ability 
to resubmit subpoenas from the last Congress as a good thing. Again, it 
is looking in the rearview mirror.

[[Page H34]]

  Madam Speaker, I urge rejection of the package, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  I think this is a good rules package. As I said at the beginning, it 
reflects consultation with Democrats and Republicans; almost every 
caucus that you can think of was consulted on this. I think the end 
product is a quality product.

  I am particularly proud of the ethics reforms banning Members who 
have been convicted of corruption, protecting whistleblowers and making 
sure that their identities can't be revealed.
  I am proud of the creation of the Select Committee on Economic 
Disparity and Fairness in Growth. One of the things this pandemic has 
demonstrated is that there are great disparities in this country, and 
those disparities existed even before the pandemic. We need to address 
that issue.
  In terms of the exemptions for paygo, I mean, we are talking about 
two international, worldwide emergencies: the coronavirus pandemic and 
the climate crisis. I think every country in the world has recognized 
that they are emergencies, that we need to think big and boldly in how 
we deal with these issues.
  The unfortunate thing is we have had an administration that has not 
handled the pandemic appropriately, and as we gather today, well over 
350,000 people, fellow citizens, have perished.
  Let me just say, also, Madam Speaker, that I was also inspired by the 
remarks of our Republican colleague   Don Young, yesterday, when he 
talked about the need to work together. I was dismayed by the tone of 
the minority leader's comments on the opening day. In all of my years 
here, I have never heard anything quite so negative and combative.
  But here is the deal: We need to figure out a way to work together to 
get things done. You don't have to agree on everything to agree on 
something. The something we agree on, we ought to move forward. We can 
fight about the other stuff.
  If we are going to get things done, facts have to matter.
  I have got to be honest with you: In listening to the critiques of 
this rules package, one of the things that I found particularly 
disheartening was the distortions and, quite frankly, the falsehoods 
with regard to getting our rules language to be more inclusive. I don't 
understand why it was necessary for some to try to make things up. It 
does not entice the kind of collaboration and the kind of cooperation 
to get that something done.
  I am a great fan of my ranking member, Mr. Cole. This will probably 
get him in trouble, but I think he is one of the finest Members of this 
institution. We work together very well in the Rules Committee, 
notwithstanding some very, very difficult debates. But at the end of 
the day, I know he cares deeply about this institution. I know people 
like   Don Young care about this institution, and there are good 
Members on the other side who care about this institution.
  We have a slim majority here. If we are going to get anything done, 
if you are going to get anything done, we are going to have to find a 
way to work things out. But we have to all agree that we want to get 
things done.
  So it is in that spirit that I hope that this rules package will 
cultivate the kind of atmosphere in which we can get some important 
things done. Whether it is on the climate crisis, whether it is on 
economic disparity, whether it is fighting to end hunger in this 
country, whether it is to make sure we can expand healthcare 
protections for people, whether it is about justice and fairness in 
this country, we have a lot of work to do.
  I hope, with the new administration coming in, that maybe there will 
be a different tone. Maybe it will be less combative. Maybe the 
discussions will be based more on fact. I hope and I pray that that is 
the case. But we have to come together, and we have to get things done 
for the American people.
  Ms. ESHOO. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 8, which 
establishes House rules for the 117th Congress. This package contains 
many strong reforms I support, including ones that prioritize ethics 
and accountability, promote diversity and inclusion, and embrace 
technology, including a provision I requested that expands machine-
readability of House documents.
  On October 1, 2020, I testified at the Rules Committee about the need 
for the House to continue the progress we've made in expanding what 
legislative materials and House documents are available in machine-
readable formats. Today, bills and resolutions are posted to 
congress.gov in a machine-readable format, however, materials for 
markups are posted online as PDFs, and sometimes they are not even 
searchable PDFs.
  Why does this matter? If we receive amendments in the nature of a 
substitute 24 hours before marking up lengthy bills, we cannot compare 
amendments to original bills without manually reading documents line-
by-line or investing in expensive software. This is also prohibitive to 
public interest groups, stakeholders, and members of the public that 
wish to follow the legislative process. With machine-readable formats, 
Members, staff, and any interested party can easily analyze amendments 
and any other House document.
  I'm pleased to see that Section 3(j) directs the Committee on House 
Administration, the Clerk, and relevant House offices to take further 
steps to publish House documents in machine-readable formats and 
enabling staff to create comparative prints.
  This is critical for Members wishing to analyze legislation before 
us, but the move is just as important for the sake of public 
transparency. Public interest groups that advocate for government 
transparency have long called for all government documents to be 
available in machine readable formats because it enables informed 
analysis and engagement.
  I thank Chairman McGovern for including my suggestion in the proposed 
House rules package for the 117th Congress that we are considering 
today, and I urge my colleagues to support the legislation.
  Mr. BABIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today in my opposition to the 
Democrats' Rules Package for the 117th Congress.
  In the November 2020 House elections, many of the moderate voices in 
the Democratic Caucus were ousted in favor of Conservative values.
  Now free of moderate or reasonable voices, the shrill progressives 
seized the opportunity to make their party even more radical--this 
Rules package is proof.
  They're attacking the First Amendment by changing our use of gender 
specific pronouns--even ending prayers with ``Amen and Awomen''.
  They're eliminating the minority's ability to amend legislation--
something Congress has allowed for more than 100 years--because they're 
embarrassed when their own members publicly join Republicans to rein in 
their laughable, tone-deaf policies.
  These changes are not about fairness or good governance. They're 
about saving their own members from tough votes and accountability.
  I urge my colleagues to reject this.
  The material previously referred to by Mr. Cole is as follows:

    Amendment to House Resolution 8 Offered By Mr. Cole of Oklahoma

       Strike Section 2(s).
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and 
I move the previous question on the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on ordering the previous 
question.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. COLE. 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 217, 
nays 204, not voting 8, as follows:

                              [Roll No. 6]

                               YEAS--217

     Adams
     Aguilar
     Allred
     Auchincloss
     Axne
     Barragan
     Bass
     Beatty
     Bera
     Beyer
     Bishop (GA)
     Blumenauer
     Blunt Rochester
     Bonamici
     Bourdeaux
     Bowman
     Boyle, Brendan F.
     Brown
     Bush
     Bustos
     Butterfield
     Carbajal
     Cardenas
     Carson
     Cartwright
     Case
     Casten
     Castor (FL)
     Castro (TX)
     Chu
     Cicilline
     Clark (MA)
     Clarke (NY)
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Connolly
     Cooper
     Correa
     Costa
     Courtney
     Craig
     Crist
     Crow
     Cuellar
     Davids (KS)
     Davis, Danny K.
     Dean
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     DeLauro
     DelBene
     Delgado
     Demings
     DeSaulnier
     Deutch
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doyle, Michael F.
     Escobar
     Eshoo
     Espaillat
     Evans
     Fletcher
     Foster
     Frankel, Lois
     Fudge
     Gallego
     Garamendi
     Garcia (IL)
     Garcia (TX)
     Golden
     Gomez
     Gonzalez, Vicente
     Gottheimer
     Green, Al (TX)
     Grijalva
     Haaland
     Harder (CA)
     Hayes
     Higgins (NY)
     Himes
     Horsford
     Houlahan
     Hoyer
     Huffman
     Jackson Lee
     Jacobs (CA)
     Jayapal
     Jeffries
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson (TX)
     Jones

[[Page H35]]


     Kahele
     Kaptur
     Keating
     Kelly (IL)
     Khanna
     Kildee
     Kilmer
     Kim (NJ)
     Kind
     Kirkpatrick
     Krishnamoorthi
     Kuster
     Lamb
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lawrence
     Lawson (FL)
     Lee (CA)
     Lee (NV)
     Leger Fernandez
     Levin (CA)
     Levin (MI)
     Lieu
     Lofgren
     Lowenthal
     Luria
     Lynch
     Malinowski
     Maloney, Carolyn B.
     Maloney, Sean
     Manning
     Matsui
     McBath
     McCollum
     McEachin
     McGovern
     McNerney
     Meeks
     Meng
     Mfume
     Moore (WI)
     Morelle
     Moulton
     Mrvan
     Murphy (FL)
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Neguse
     Newman
     Norcross
     O'Halleran
     Ocasio-Cortez
     Omar
     Pallone
     Panetta
     Pappas
     Pascrell
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Peters
     Phillips
     Pingree
     Pocan
     Porter
     Pressley
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Rice (NY)
     Richmond
     Ross
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruiz
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan
     Sanchez
     Sarbanes
     Scanlon
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schneider
     Schrader
     Schrier
     Scott (VA)
     Scott, David
     Sewell
     Sherman
     Sherrill
     Sires
     Slotkin
     Smith (WA)
     Soto
     Spanberger
     Speier
     Stanton
     Stevens
     Strickland
     Suozzi
     Swalwell
     Takano
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Titus
     Tlaib
     Tonko
     Torres (CA)
     Torres (NY)
     Trahan
     Trone
     Underwood
     Vargas
     Veasey
     Vela
     Velazquez
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson Coleman
     Welch
     Wexton
     Wild
     Williams (GA)
     Wilson (FL)
     Yarmuth

                               NAYS--204

     Aderholt
     Allen
     Amodei
     Armstrong
     Arrington
     Babin
     Bacon
     Baird
     Balderson
     Banks
     Barr
     Bentz
     Bergman
     Bice (OK)
     Biggs
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (NC)
     Boebert
     Bost
     Brady
     Brooks
     Buchanan
     Buck
     Bucshon
     Budd
     Burchett
     Burgess
     Calvert
     Cammack
     Carl
     Carter (GA)
     Carter (TX)
     Cawthorn
     Chabot
     Cheney
     Cline
     Cloud
     Cole
     Comer
     Crawford
     Crenshaw
     Curtis
     Davidson
     Davis, Rodney
     DesJarlais
     Diaz-Balart
     Donalds
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Emmer
     Estes
     Fallon
     Feenstra
     Fischbach
     Fitzgerald
     Fitzpatrick
     Fleischmann
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Franklin, C. Scott
     Fulcher
     Gaetz
     Gallagher
     Garbarino
     Garcia (CA)
     Gibbs
     Gimenez
     Gohmert
     Gonzales, Tony
     Gonzalez (OH)
     Good (VA)
     Gooden (TX)
     Gosar
     Graves (LA)
     Graves (MO)
     Green (TN)
     Greene (GA)
     Griffith
     Grothman
     Guest
     Guthrie
     Hagedorn
     Harris
     Harshbarger
     Hartzler
     Hern
     Herrell
     Herrera Beutler
     Higgins (LA)
     Hill
     Hinson
     Hollingsworth
     Hudson
     Huizenga
     Issa
     Jackson
     Jacobs (NY)
     Johnson (LA)
     Johnson (OH)
     Johnson (SD)
     Jordan
     Joyce (OH)
     Joyce (PA)
     Katko
     Keller
     Kelly (MS)
     Kelly (PA)
     Kim (CA)
     Kinzinger
     Kustoff
     LaHood
     LaMalfa
     Lamborn
     Latta
     LaTurner
     Lesko
     Long
     Loudermilk
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Mace
     Malliotakis
     Mann
     Massie
     Mast
     McCarthy
     McCaul
     McClain
     McClintock
     McHenry
     McKinley
     Meijer
     Meuser
     Miller (IL)
     Miller (WV)
     Miller-Meeks
     Moolenaar
     Mooney
     Moore (AL)
     Moore (UT)
     Mullin
     Murphy (NC)
     Nehls
     Newhouse
     Norman
     Nunes
     Obernolte
     Owens
     Palazzo
     Palmer
     Pence
     Perry
     Pfluger
     Posey
     Reed
     Reschenthaler
     Rice (SC)
     Rodgers (WA)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rose
     Rosendale
     Rouzer
     Roy
     Rutherford
     Scalise
     Schweikert
     Sessions
     Simpson
     Smith (MO)
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smucker
     Spartz
     Stauber
     Steel
     Stefanik
     Steil
     Steube
     Stewart
     Stivers
     Taylor
     Thompson (PA)
     Tiffany
     Timmons
     Turner
     Upton
     Van Drew
     Van Duyne
     Wagner
     Walberg
     Walorski
     Waltz
     Weber (TX)
     Webster (FL)
     Wenstrup
     Westerman
     Williams (TX)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Womack
     Wright
     Young
     Zeldin

                             NOT VOTING--8

     Brownley
     Clyde
     Ferguson
     Granger
     Hice (GA)
     Nadler
     Raskin
     Scott, Austin

                              {time}  1502

  Mr. HUFFMAN changed his vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
  So the previous question was ordered.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.


                            Motion to Commit

  Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to commit at the 
desk.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Garcia of Illinois). The Clerk will 
report the motion to commit.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Mr. Smith of Missouri moves to commit the resolution (H. 
     Res. 8) to a select committee composed of the Majority Leader 
     and the Minority Leader with instructions to report it 
     forthwith back to the House with the following amendment:
       Strike Section 3(v)(2).
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is 
ordered on the motion to commit.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to commit.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the noes appeared to have it.
  Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. 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 203, 
nays 217, not voting 9, as follows:

                              [Roll No. 7]

                               YEAS--203

     Aderholt
     Allen
     Amodei
     Armstrong
     Arrington
     Babin
     Bacon
     Baird
     Balderson
     Banks
     Barr
     Bentz
     Bergman
     Bice (OK)
     Biggs
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (NC)
     Boebert
     Bost
     Brady
     Buchanan
     Buck
     Bucshon
     Budd
     Burchett
     Burgess
     Calvert
     Cammack
     Carl
     Carter (GA)
     Carter (TX)
     Cawthorn
     Chabot
     Cheney
     Cline
     Cloud
     Cole
     Comer
     Crawford
     Crenshaw
     Curtis
     Davidson
     Davis, Rodney
     DesJarlais
     Diaz-Balart
     Donalds
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Emmer
     Estes
     Fallon
     Feenstra
     Fischbach
     Fitzgerald
     Fitzpatrick
     Fleischmann
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Franklin, C. Scott
     Fulcher
     Gaetz
     Gallagher
     Garbarino
     Garcia (CA)
     Gibbs
     Gimenez
     Gohmert
     Gonzales, Tony
     Gonzalez (OH)
     Good (VA)
     Gooden (TX)
     Gosar
     Graves (LA)
     Graves (MO)
     Green (TN)
     Greene (GA)
     Griffith
     Grothman
     Guest
     Guthrie
     Hagedorn
     Harris
     Harshbarger
     Hartzler
     Hern
     Herrell
     Herrera Beutler
     Higgins (LA)
     Hill
     Hinson
     Hollingsworth
     Hudson
     Huizenga
     Issa
     Jackson
     Jacobs (NY)
     Johnson (LA)
     Johnson (OH)
     Johnson (SD)
     Jordan
     Joyce (OH)
     Joyce (PA)
     Katko
     Keller
     Kelly (MS)
     Kelly (PA)
     Kim (CA)
     Kinzinger
     Kustoff
     LaHood
     LaMalfa
     Lamborn
     Latta
     LaTurner
     Lesko
     Long
     Loudermilk
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Mace
     Malliotakis
     Mann
     Massie
     Mast
     McCarthy
     McCaul
     McClain
     McClintock
     McHenry
     McKinley
     Meijer
     Meuser
     Miller (IL)
     Miller (WV)
     Miller-Meeks
     Moolenaar
     Mooney
     Moore (AL)
     Moore (UT)
     Mullin
     Murphy (NC)
     Nehls
     Newhouse
     Norman
     Nunes
     Obernolte
     Owens
     Palazzo
     Palmer
     Pence
     Perry
     Pfluger
     Posey
     Reed
     Reschenthaler
     Rice (SC)
     Rodgers (WA)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rose
     Rosendale
     Rouzer
     Roy
     Rutherford
     Scalise
     Schweikert
     Sessions
     Simpson
     Smith (MO)
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smucker
     Spartz
     Stauber
     Steel
     Stefanik
     Steil
     Steube
     Stewart
     Stivers
     Taylor
     Thompson (PA)
     Tiffany
     Timmons
     Turner
     Upton
     Van Drew
     Van Duyne
     Wagner
     Walberg
     Walorski
     Waltz
     Weber (TX)
     Webster (FL)
     Wenstrup
     Westerman
     Williams (TX)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Womack
     Wright
     Young
     Zeldin

                               NAYS--217

     Adams
     Aguilar
     Allred
     Auchincloss
     Axne
     Barragan
     Bass
     Beatty
     Bera
     Beyer
     Bishop (GA)
     Blumenauer
     Blunt Rochester
     Bonamici
     Bourdeaux
     Bowman
     Boyle, Brendan F.
     Brown
     Bush
     Bustos
     Butterfield
     Carbajal
     Cardenas
     Carson
     Cartwright
     Case
     Casten
     Castor (FL)
     Castro (TX)
     Chu
     Cicilline
     Clark (MA)
     Clarke (NY)
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Connolly
     Cooper
     Correa
     Costa
     Courtney
     Craig
     Crist
     Crow
     Cuellar
     Davids (KS)
     Davis, Danny K.
     Dean
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     DeLauro
     DelBene
     Delgado
     Demings
     DeSaulnier
     Deutch
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doyle, Michael F.
     Escobar
     Eshoo
     Espaillat
     Evans
     Fletcher
     Foster
     Frankel, Lois
     Fudge
     Gallego
     Garamendi
     Garcia (IL)
     Garcia (TX)
     Golden
     Gomez
     Gonzalez, Vicente
     Gottheimer
     Green, Al (TX)
     Grijalva
     Haaland
     Harder (CA)
     Hayes
     Higgins (NY)
     Himes
     Horsford
     Houlahan
     Hoyer
     Huffman
     Jackson Lee
     Jacobs (CA)
     Jayapal
     Jeffries
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson (TX)
     Jones
     Kahele
     Kaptur
     Keating
     Kelly (IL)
     Khanna
     Kildee
     Kilmer
     Kim (NJ)
     Kind
     Kirkpatrick
     Krishnamoorthi
     Kuster
     Lamb
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lawrence
     Lawson (FL)
     Lee (CA)
     Lee (NV)
     Leger Fernandez
     Levin (CA)
     Levin (MI)
     Lieu
     Lofgren
     Lowenthal
     Luria
     Lynch
     Malinowski
     Maloney, Carolyn B.
     Maloney, Sean
     Manning
     Matsui
     McBath
     McCollum
     McEachin
     McGovern
     McNerney
     Meeks
     Meng
     Mfume
     Moore (WI)
     Morelle
     Moulton
     Mrvan
     Murphy (FL)
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Neguse
     Newman
     Norcross
     O'Halleran
     Ocasio-Cortez
     Omar
     Pallone
     Panetta
     Pappas
     Pascrell
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Peters
     Phillips
     Pingree
     Pocan
     Porter
     Pressley
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Rice (NY)
     Richmond
     Ross
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruiz
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan
     Sanchez
     Sarbanes
     Scanlon
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schneider

[[Page H36]]


     Schrader
     Schrier
     Scott (VA)
     Scott, David
     Sewell
     Sherman
     Sherrill
     Sires
     Slotkin
     Smith (WA)
     Soto
     Spanberger
     Speier
     Stanton
     Stevens
     Strickland
     Suozzi
     Swalwell
     Takano
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Titus
     Tlaib
     Tonko
     Torres (CA)
     Torres (NY)
     Trahan
     Trone
     Underwood
     Vargas
     Veasey
     Vela
     Velazquez
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson Coleman
     Welch
     Wexton
     Wild
     Williams (GA)
     Wilson (FL)
     Yarmuth

                             NOT VOTING--9

     Brooks
     Brownley
     Clyde
     Ferguson
     Granger
     Hice (GA)
     Nadler
     Raskin
     Scott, Austin

                              {time}  1551

  Ms. DeGETTE, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, and Mrs. FLETCHER 
changed their vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
  Mr. BUCK, Ms. VAN DUYNE, Messrs. NEWHOUSE, GAETZ, ISSA, BILIRAKIS, 
and CARTER of Texas changed their vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
  So the motion to commit was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. DeGette). The question is on the 
resolution.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. COLE. 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 217, 
nays 206, not voting 6, as follows:

                              [Roll No. 8]

                               YEAS--217

     Adams
     Aguilar
     Allred
     Auchincloss
     Axne
     Barragan
     Bass
     Beatty
     Bera
     Beyer
     Bishop (GA)
     Blumenauer
     Blunt Rochester
     Bonamici
     Bourdeaux
     Bowman
     Boyle, Brendan F.
     Brown
     Brownley
     Bush
     Bustos
     Butterfield
     Carbajal
     Cardenas
     Carson
     Cartwright
     Case
     Casten
     Castor (FL)
     Castro (TX)
     Chu
     Cicilline
     Clark (MA)
     Clarke (NY)
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Connolly
     Cooper
     Correa
     Costa
     Courtney
     Craig
     Crist
     Crow
     Cuellar
     Davids (KS)
     Davis, Danny K.
     Dean
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     DeLauro
     DelBene
     Delgado
     Demings
     DeSaulnier
     Deutch
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doyle, Michael F.
     Escobar
     Eshoo
     Espaillat
     Evans
     Fletcher
     Foster
     Frankel, Lois
     Fudge
     Gallego
     Garamendi
     Garcia (IL)
     Garcia (TX)
     Golden
     Gomez
     Gonzalez, Vicente
     Gottheimer
     Green, Al (TX)
     Grijalva
     Haaland
     Harder (CA)
     Hayes
     Higgins (NY)
     Himes
     Horsford
     Houlahan
     Hoyer
     Huffman
     Jackson Lee
     Jacobs (CA)
     Jayapal
     Jeffries
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson (TX)
     Jones
     Kahele
     Kaptur
     Keating
     Kelly (IL)
     Khanna
     Kildee
     Kilmer
     Kim (NJ)
     Kind
     Kirkpatrick
     Krishnamoorthi
     Kuster
     Lamb
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lawrence
     Lawson (FL)
     Lee (CA)
     Lee (NV)
     Leger Fernandez
     Levin (CA)
     Levin (MI)
     Lieu
     Lofgren
     Lowenthal
     Luria
     Lynch
     Malinowski
     Maloney, Carolyn B.
     Maloney, Sean
     Manning
     Matsui
     McBath
     McCollum
     McEachin
     McGovern
     McNerney
     Meeks
     Meng
     Mfume
     Moore (WI)
     Morelle
     Moulton
     Mrvan
     Murphy (FL)
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Neguse
     Newman
     Norcross
     O'Halleran
     Ocasio-Cortez
     Omar
     Pallone
     Panetta
     Pappas
     Pascrell
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Peters
     Phillips
     Pingree
     Pocan
     Porter
     Pressley
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Rice (NY)
     Richmond
     Ross
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruiz
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan
     Sarbanes
     Scanlon
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schneider
     Schrader
     Schrier
     Scott (VA)
     Scott, David
     Sewell
     Sherman
     Sherrill
     Sires
     Slotkin
     Smith (WA)
     Soto
     Spanberger
     Speier
     Stanton
     Stevens
     Strickland
     Suozzi
     Swalwell
     Takano
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Titus
     Tlaib
     Tonko
     Torres (CA)
     Torres (NY)
     Trahan
     Trone
     Underwood
     Vargas
     Veasey
     Vela
     Velazquez
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson Coleman
     Welch
     Wexton
     Wild
     Williams (GA)
     Wilson (FL)
     Yarmuth

                               NAYS--206

     Aderholt
     Allen
     Amodei
     Armstrong
     Arrington
     Babin
     Bacon
     Baird
     Balderson
     Banks
     Barr
     Bentz
     Bergman
     Bice (OK)
     Biggs
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (NC)
     Boebert
     Bost
     Brady
     Brooks
     Buchanan
     Buck
     Bucshon
     Budd
     Burchett
     Burgess
     Calvert
     Cammack
     Carl
     Carter (GA)
     Carter (TX)
     Cawthorn
     Chabot
     Cheney
     Cline
     Cloud
     Cole
     Comer
     Crawford
     Crenshaw
     Curtis
     Davidson
     Davis, Rodney
     DesJarlais
     Diaz-Balart
     Donalds
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Emmer
     Estes
     Fallon
     Feenstra
     Ferguson
     Fischbach
     Fitzgerald
     Fitzpatrick
     Fleischmann
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Franklin, C. Scott
     Fulcher
     Gaetz
     Gallagher
     Garbarino
     Garcia (CA)
     Gibbs
     Gimenez
     Gohmert
     Gonzales, Tony
     Gonzalez (OH)
     Good (VA)
     Gooden (TX)
     Gosar
     Graves (LA)
     Graves (MO)
     Green (TN)
     Greene (GA)
     Griffith
     Grothman
     Guest
     Guthrie
     Hagedorn
     Harris
     Harshbarger
     Hartzler
     Hern
     Herrell
     Herrera Beutler
     Higgins (LA)
     Hill
     Hinson
     Hollingsworth
     Hudson
     Huizenga
     Issa
     Jackson
     Jacobs (NY)
     Johnson (LA)
     Johnson (OH)
     Johnson (SD)
     Jordan
     Joyce (OH)
     Joyce (PA)
     Katko
     Keller
     Kelly (MS)
     Kelly (PA)
     Kim (CA)
     Kinzinger
     Kustoff
     LaHood
     LaMalfa
     Lamborn
     Latta
     LaTurner
     Lesko
     Long
     Loudermilk
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Mace
     Malliotakis
     Mann
     Massie
     Mast
     McCarthy
     McCaul
     McClain
     McClintock
     McHenry
     McKinley
     Meijer
     Meuser
     Miller (IL)
     Miller (WV)
     Miller-Meeks
     Moolenaar
     Mooney
     Moore (AL)
     Moore (UT)
     Mullin
     Murphy (NC)
     Nehls
     Newhouse
     Norman
     Nunes
     Obernolte
     Owens
     Palazzo
     Palmer
     Pence
     Perry
     Pfluger
     Posey
     Reed
     Reschenthaler
     Rice (SC)
     Rodgers (WA)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rose
     Rosendale
     Rouzer
     Roy
     Rutherford
     Scalise
     Schweikert
     Scott, Austin
     Sessions
     Simpson
     Smith (MO)
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smucker
     Spartz
     Stauber
     Steel
     Stefanik
     Steil
     Steube
     Stewart
     Stivers
     Taylor
     Thompson (PA)
     Tiffany
     Timmons
     Turner
     Upton
     Van Drew
     Van Duyne
     Wagner
     Walberg
     Walorski
     Waltz
     Weber (TX)
     Webster (FL)
     Wenstrup
     Westerman
     Williams (TX)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Womack
     Wright
     Young
     Zeldin

                             NOT VOTING--6

     Clyde
     Granger
     Hice (GA)
     Nadler
     Raskin
     Sanchez

                              {time}  1649

  Mr. PALAZZO changed his vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
  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.


                          personal explanation

  Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I missed votes due to circumstances 
beyond my control. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on 
roll call No. 6, ``yea'' on rollcall No. 7, and ``nay'' on rollcall No. 
8.

                          ____________________