[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 7917-7919]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



    PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 4425, MILITARY CONSTRUCTION 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2001

  Mr. REYNOLDS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I 
call up House Resolution 502 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 502

       Resolved, That at any time after the adoption of this 
     resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule 
     XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the 
     Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of 
     the bill (H.R. 4425) making appropriations for military 
     construction, family housing, and base realignment and 
     closure for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year 
     ending September 30, 2001, and for other purposes. The first 
     reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. Points of order 
     against consideration of the bill for failure to comply with 
     clause 4(c) of rule XIII are waived. General debate shall be 
     confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally 
     divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority 
     member of the Committee on Appropriations. After general 
     debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the 
     five-minute rule. Points of order against provisions in the 
     bill for failure to comply with clause 2 of rule XXI are 
     waived. During consideration of the bill for amendment, the 
     Chairman of the Committee of the Whole may accord priority in 
     recognition on the basis of whether the Member offering an 
     amendment has caused it to be printed in the portion of the 
     Congressional Record designated for that purpose in clause 8 
     of rule XVIII. Amendments so printed shall be considered as 
     read. The Chairman of the Committee of the Whole may: (1) 
     postpone until a time during further consideration in the 
     Committee of the Whole a request for a recorded vote on any 
     amendment; and (2) reduce to five minutes the minimum time 
     for electronic voting on any postponed question that follows 
     another electronic vote without intervening business, 
     provided that the minimum time for electronic voting on the 
     first in any series of questions shall be 15 minutes. At the 
     conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendments the 
     Committee shall rise and report the bill to the House with 
     such amendments as may have been adopted. The previous 
     question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and 
     amendments thereto to final passage without intervening 
     motion except one motion to recommit with or without 
     instructions.
       Sec. 2. For purposes of enforcement of the Congressional 
     Budget Act of 1974 in the House, the appropriate levels of 
     total new budget authority and total budget outlays for 
     fiscal years 2000 through 2005 prescribed by House Concurrent 
     Resolution 290 pursuant to section 301(a)(1) of the Act shall 
     be those reflected in the table entitled ``Conference Report 
     Fiscal Year 2001 Budget Resolution Total Spending and 
     Revenues'' on page 49 of House Report 106-577.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New York (Mr. Reynolds) 
is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. REYNOLDS. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield 
the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hall), 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.
  Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Committee on Rules met and granted an open 
rule for H.R. 4425, the Military Construction Appropriations bill for 
fiscal year 2001. The rule provides for 1 hour of general debate 
equally divided and controlled by the chairman and the ranking member 
of the Committee on Appropriations.
  The rule waives clause 2 of House rule XXI prohibiting unauthorized 
or legislative provisions in a general appropriations bill against 
provisions in the bill. The rule also waives clause 4(c) of rule XIII 
requiring the 3-day availability of printed hearings on a general 
appropriations bill against consideration of the bill.
  Additionally, the rule provides that the bill shall be open to 
amendment by paragraph and authorizes the Chair to accord priority in 
recognition to Members who have preprinted their amendments in the 
Congressional Record.
  The rule further allows the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole to 
postpone votes during consideration of the bill and to reduce voting 
time to 5 minutes on a postponed question if it follows a 15-minute 
vote.
  The rule provides that for the purposes of enforcement of the 
Congressional Budget Act, the appropriate levels of new budget 
authority and total budget outlays shall be those reflected in the 
table entitled ``Conference Report Fiscal Year 2001 Budget Resolution 
Total Spending and Revenues'' in House Report 106-577.
  Finally, the rule provides for one motion to recommit, with or 
without instructions.
  Mr. Speaker, as Thomas Jefferson warned, eternal vigilance is the 
price of liberty. Part of this Nation's vigilance is ensuring America's 
military readiness, for as Ronald Reagan said during an address at West 
Point, a successful Army is one that because of its strength, ability 
and dedication will not be called upon to fight, for no one will dare 
provoke it.
  Too often, we take for granted the security and peace of mind that 
comes with living in the greatest, freest Nation in the world. But we 
cannot take

[[Page 7918]]

for granted the dedicated men and women who serve in the United States 
military.
  The Military Construction Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2001 
recognizes the dedication and commitment of our troops by providing for 
their most basic needs: improved military facilities, including housing 
and medical facilities.
  Last year, this Congress began to meet its responsibility to our 
troops and the recruitment and retention of military personnel by 
increasing military pay. This legislation will continue that effort by 
ensuring an adequate and appropriate quality of life.
  The quality of housing for service members and their families is an 
important incentive, attracting and retaining dedicated individuals to 
military service. Today's poor state of military housing for these men 
and women clearly serves as a disincentive to reenlistment.
  This bill provides an overall increase for military construction, 
which includes $43 million for child development centers, $141 million 
for hospital and medical facilities, and $26 million for environmental 
compliance. The bill also provides $859 million for new family housing 
units and for improvements to existing units.
  Additionally, I am pleased the committee included $4.1 million for 
the Niagara Falls International Airport upgrade overrun and runway. The 
Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station is home to the 914th Air Reserve 
(Airlift) Wing and the 109th Air National Guard (Refueling) Wing. 
Upgrading the runway and constructing the necessary overrun will enable 
Niagara based fueling aircraft to participate in the ``Air Bridge'' 
missions which resupply operations in Europe and the Near East as well 
as serve as a third Northeast Tanker Task Force Location for ``surge'' 
contingency missions.

                              {time}  1200

  Mr. Speaker, we must honor the most basic commitments we have made to 
the men and women of our Armed Services; we must ensure a reasonable 
quality of life to recruit and retain the best and the brightest to 
America's fighting forces; and most important, we must do all in our 
power to ensure a strong, able, dedicated American military, so that 
this Nation will be ever vigilant, ever prepared.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a fair and open rule for consideration of the 
fiscal year 2001 military construction appropriations bill. I urge my 
colleagues to support the rule and the underlying bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.
  This is an open rule. As my colleague from New York explained, the 
rule provides for one hour of general debate, to be equally divided and 
controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee 
on Appropriations. Under this rule, germane amendments will be allowed 
under the 5-minute rule, which is the normal amending process in the 
House. Members on both sides of the aisle will have the opportunity to 
offer amendments.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill funds construction projects on military bases. 
This includes homes for military families, hospitals, laboratories, 
training facilities, barracks and other buildings that support the 
missions of our armed forces. The bill also funds activities necessary 
to carry out the last two rounds of base closings and realignments.
  Our military requires modern facilities. New buildings can improve 
productivity, reduce waste and improve morale. The money spent in this 
bill is a long-term commitment to our defense capabilities.
  This bill funds a new ramp to replace one used by the 445th Airlift 
Wing on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which is partially in my 
district and partially in the 7th District. The current ramp is costly 
to maintain, and it is in such bad condition that it is a safety 
hazard. Another project at Wright-Patterson is a laboratory building to 
conduct environmental and toxics research.
  I want to commend the chairman of the subcommittee, the gentleman 
from Ohio (Mr. Hobson), for his great work, and the ranking minority 
Member, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Olver), for their work in 
crafting this bill and bringing it to the floor. The bill was approved 
by the Committee on Appropriations on a voice vote. It has support on 
both sides of the aisle. The rule is open, it was adopted by a voice 
vote of the Committee on Rules, and I support the rule and bill and 
urge its adoption.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. 
Blumenauer).
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his courtesy 
in yielding me time to discuss the bill today.
  Mr. Speaker, I am planning on supporting the rule and the underlying 
bill, but I am concerned that we are not taking full advantage of the 
opportunity in the military construction arena. One of the greatest 
threats to national security in this country and worldwide is the 
disease, poverty, pollution, unrest and misery that is produced. We 
have serious problems here at home that is part of the legacy of 60 
years of war, amongst them some of our production facilities at 
Hanford, Rocky Flats. We have chemical weapons, toxic waste and 
unexploded ordinance.
  One of the most powerful tools of government to lead is to lead by 
example. I think one of the ways the government can do that is to 
follow the rules and model the behavior that we want the rest of 
society to follow. One of the biggest, richest and most visible 
opportunities for the United States to lead by example in ways to 
promote livable communities is dealing with the military.
  The Department of Defense manages the world's largest dedicated 
infrastructure. It covers 40,000 square miles, a physical plant worth 
over $500 billion. The bill before us could give many opportunities. 
One that we see in the Department of Defense is on-base housing 
programs. The military housing privatization initiative that is being 
continued is an example to allow funding. It allows the service to 
partner with civilian developers to build and renovate family housing 
on military installations, to convey housing units to private 
companies, while retaining the land in Federal hands, to provide 
military members with the same type of housing that the people that 
they defend have the opportunity to live in, and create communities 
that look, feel and work like those outside a military base. But, 
unfortunately, we are losing an opportunity here for the Federal 
Government to be a better partner with the local communities in which 
they are situated.
  I would hope that as we move forward with this through the 
legislative process and in subsequent years, that we reverse the 
presumption that we have a situation where the Department of Defense 
plays by the local land use and planning rules of the local community.
  For instance, we saw in 1999 the Army proposed to develop a 700,000 
square foot private shopping center on Fort Hood that would have 
severely affected the surrounding business community in Collin, Texas. 
We have an opportunity here to avoid having the Federal Government 
impose massive highway and infrastructure requirements on States and 
communities without their being able to realize any offsetting tax 
benefits.
  I note that on the Senate side, in Section 8168 of the Defense 
Appropriations Act, it permits the City of San Antonio to exercise 
these responsibilities for the Brooks Air Force Base Demonstration 
Efficiency Project.
  This should not be the exception. This should be the rule. We should 
be cooperating with local communities, we should be playing by their 
planning and zoning rules, we should be leading by example.
  I am pleased that the bill has many other positive things, a 72 
percent increase in the cleaning up of the environmental problems 
associated with base closings, but I hope that the committee will work 
with us to make sure

[[Page 7919]]

that the military is a better partner with local communities to provide 
livability wherever our facilities are located.
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I endorse the rule and the bill.
  I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. REYNOLDS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, I 
yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on 
the resolution.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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