[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 7-21]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1430
                           RULES OF THE HOUSE

  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I offer a privileged resolution (H. Res. 5) 
and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                               H. Res. 5

       Resolved, That the Rules of the House of Representatives of 
     the One Hundred Seventh Congress, including applicable 
     provisions of law or concurrent resolution that constituted 
     rules of the House at the end of the One Hundred Seventh 
     Congress, are adopted as the Rules of the House of 
     Representatives of the One Hundred Eighth Congress, with 
     amendments to the standing rules as provided in section 2, 
     and with other orders as provided in sections 3 and 4.

     SEC. 2. CHANGES IN STANDING RULES.--

       (a) Members To Act as Speaker Pro Tempore.--In clause 8(b) 
     of rule I, add at the end the following new subparagraph:
       ``(3)(A) In the case of a vacancy in the office of Speaker, 
     the next Member on the list described in subdivision (B) 
     shall act as Speaker pro tempore until the election of a 
     Speaker or a Speaker pro tempore. Pending such election the 
     Member acting as Speaker pro tempore may exercise such 
     authorities of the Office of Speaker as may be necessary and 
     appropriate to that end.
       ``(B) As soon as practicable after his election and 
     whenever he deems appropriate thereafter, the Speaker shall 
     deliver to the Clerk a list of Members in the order in which 
     each shall act as Speaker pro tempore under subdivision (A).
       ``(C) For purposes of subdivision (A), a vacancy in the 
     office of Speaker may exist by reason of the physical 
     inability of the Speaker to discharge the duties of the 
     office.''.
       (b) Term of Speaker--In rule I--
       (1) strike clause 9; and
       (2) redesignate clause 13 as clause 9.
       (c) Recess and Convening Authorities.--In clause 12 of rule 
     I--
       (1) amend the caption to read ``Recess and convening 
     authorities''; and
       (2) designate the existing text as paragraph (a) and add 
     thereafter the following new paragraphs:
       ``(b) To suspend the business of the House when notified of 
     an imminent threat to its safety, the Speaker may declare an 
     emergency recess subject to the call of the Chair.
       ``(c) During any recess or adjournment of not more than 
     three days, if the Speaker is notified by the Sergeant-at-
     Arms of an imminent impairment of the place of reconvening at 
     the time previously appointed, then he may, in consultation 
     with the Minority Leader--
       ``(1) postpone the time for reconvening within the limits 
     of clause 4, section 5, article I of the Constitution and 
     notify Members accordingly; or
       ``(2) reconvene the House before the time previously 
     appointed solely to declare the House in recess within the 
     limits of clause 4, section 5, article I of the Constitution 
     and notify Members accordingly.
       ``(d) The Speaker may convene the House in a place at the 
     seat of government other than the Hall of the House whenever, 
     in his opinion, the public interest shall warrant it.''.
       (d) Privileges of Floor.--In clause 2(a)(7) of rule IV, 
     after ``consideration'' insert a comma followed by ``and 
     staff of the respective party leaderships when so assigned 
     with the approval of the Speaker''.
       (e) Membership of Budget Committee.--In clause 5(a)(2) of 
     rule X, amend subdivision (A)(i) to read as follows:
       ``(i) Members, Delegates, or the Resident Commissioner who 
     are members of other standing committees, including five from 
     the

[[Page 8]]

     Committee on Appropriations, five from the Committee on Ways 
     and Means, and one from the Committee on Rules;''.
       (e-1) Tenure of certain chairmen and ranking minority 
     members.--
       (1) In clause 5(a)(2) of rule X, amended subdivision (C) to 
     read as follows:
       ``(C) In the case of a Member, Delegate, or Resident 
     Commissioner elected to serve as the chairman or the ranking 
     minority member of the committee, tenure on the committee 
     shall be limited only by paragraph (c)(2) of this clause.''.
       (2) In clause 11(a)(4) of rule X, amend subdivision (B) to 
     read as follows:
       ``(B) In the case of a Member, Delegate, or Resident 
     Commissioner appointed to serve as the chairman or the 
     ranking minority member of the select committee, tenure on 
     the selected committee shall not be limited.''.
       (f) Associate Staff.--In clause 9(b) of rule X--
       (1) redesignate subparagraph (2) as subparagraph (2)(A);
       (2) redesignate subparagraph (3) as subparagraph (2)(B);
       (3) in subparagraph (2)(B), as redesignated, insert ``other 
     than the committee on Appropriations'' after ``a committee''; 
     and
       (4) strike subparagraph (4).
       (g) Postponing Votes in Committee.--At the end of clause 
     2(h) of rule XI, add the following new subparagraph:
       ``(4)(A) Each committee may adopt a rule authorizing the 
     chairman of a committee or subcommittee--
       ``(i) to postpone further proceedings when a record vote is 
     ordered on the question of approving a measure or matter or 
     on adopting an amendment; and
       ``(ii) to resume proceedings on a postponed question at any 
     time after reasonable notice.
       ``(B) A rule adopted pursuant to this subparagraph shall 
     provide that when proceedings resume on a postponed question, 
     notwithstanding any intervening order for the previous 
     question, an underlying proposition shall remain subject to 
     further debate or amendment to the same extent as when the 
     question was postponed.''.
       (h) Codification of Freestanding Ethics Rules.--In clause 3 
     of rule XI, add at the end the following new paragraphs:


                          ``Committee agendas

       ``(f) The committee shall adopt rules providing that the 
     chairman shall establish the agenda for meetings of the 
     committee, but shall not preclude the ranking minority member 
     from placing any item on the agenda.


                           ``Committee staff

       ``(g)(1) The committee shall adopt rules providing that--
       ``(A) the staff be assembled and retained as a 
     professional, nonpartisan staff;
       ``(B) each member of the staff shall be professional and 
     demonstrably qualified for the position for which he is 
     hired;
       ``(C) the staff as a whole and each member of the staff 
     shall perform all official duties in a nonpartisan manner;
       ``(D) no member of the staff shall engage in any partisan 
     political activity directly affecting any congressional or 
     presidential election;
       ``(E) no member of the staff or outside counsel may accept 
     public speaking engagements or write for publication on any 
     subject that is in any way related to his or her employment 
     or duties with the committee without specific prior approval 
     from the chairman and ranking minority member; and
       ``(F) no member of the staff or outside counsel may make 
     public, unless approved by an affirmative vote of a majority 
     of the members of the committee, any information, document, 
     or other material that is confidential, derived from 
     executive session, or classified and that is obtained during 
     the course of employment with the committee.
       ``(2) Only subdivisions (C), (E), and (F) of subparagraph 
     (1) shall apply to shared staff.
       ``(3)(A) All staff members shall be appointed by an 
     affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the 
     committee. Such vote shall occur at the first meeting of the 
     membership of the committee during each Congress and as 
     necessary during the Congress.
       ``(B) Subject to the approval of the Committee on House 
     Administration, the committee may retain counsel not employed 
     by the House of Representatives whenever the committee 
     determines, by an affirmative vote of a majority of the 
     members of the committee, that the retention of outside 
     counsel is necessary and appropriate.
       ``(C) If the committee determines that it is necessary to 
     retain staff members for the purpose of a particular 
     investigation or other proceeding, then such staff shall be 
     retained only for the duration of that particular 
     investigation or proceeding.
       ``(D) Outside counsel may be dismissed before the end of a 
     contract between the committee and such counsel only by an 
     affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the 
     committee.
       ``(4) In addition to any other staff provided for by law, 
     rule, or other authority, with respect to the committee, the 
     chairman and ranking minority member each may appoint one 
     individual as a shared staff member for his or her personal 
     staff to perform service for the committee. Such shared staff 
     may assist the chairman or ranking minority member on any 
     subcommittee on which he serves.


                        ``Meetings and hearings

       ``(h)(1) The committee shall adopt rules providing that--
       ``(A) all meetings or hearings of the committee or any 
     subcommittee thereof, other than any hearing held by an 
     adjudicatory subcommittee or any sanction hearing held by the 
     committee, shall occur in executive session unless the 
     committee or subcommittee by an affirmative vote of a 
     majority of its members opens the meeting or hearing to the 
     public; and
       ``(B) any hearing held by an adjudicatory subcommittee or 
     any sanction hearing held by the committee shall be open to 
     the public unless the committee or subcommittee by an 
     affirmative vote of a majority of its members closes the 
     hearing to the public.


                          ``Public disclosure

       ``(i) The committee shall adopt rules providing that, 
     unless otherwise determined by a vote of the committee, only 
     the chairman or ranking minority member, after consultation 
     with each other, may make public statements regarding matters 
     before the committee or any subcommittee thereof.


                ``Requirements to constitute a complaint

       ``(j) The committee shall adopt rules regarding complaints 
     to provide that whenever information offered as a complaint 
     is submitted to the committee, the chairman and ranking 
     minority member shall have 14 calendar days or five 
     legislative days, whichever is sooner, to determine whether 
     the information meets the requirements of the rules of the 
     committee for what constitutes a complaint.


  ``Duties of chairman and ranking minority member regarding properly 
                            flied complaints

       ``(k)(1) The committee shall adopt rules providing that 
     whenever the chairman and ranking minority member jointly 
     determine that information submitted to the committee meets 
     the requirements of the rules of the committee for what 
     constitutes a complaint, they shall have 45 calendar days or 
     five legislative days, whichever is later, after that 
     determination (unless the committee by an affirmative vote of 
     a majority of its members votes otherwise) to--
       ``(A) recommend to the committee that it dispose of the 
     complaint, or any portion thereof, in any manner that does 
     not require action by the House, which may include dismissal 
     of the complaint or resolution of the complaint by a letter 
     to the Member, officer, or employee of the House against whom 
     the complaint is made;
       ``(B) establish an investigative subcommittee; or
       ``(C) request that the committee extend the applicable 45-
     calendar day or five-legislative day period by one additional 
     45-calendar day period when they determine more time is 
     necessary in order to make a recommendation under subdivision 
     (A).
       ``(2) The committee shall adopt rules providing that if the 
     chairman and ranking minority member jointly determine that 
     information submitted to the committee meets the requirements 
     of the rules of the committee for what constitutes a 
     complaint, and the complaint is not disposed of within the 
     applicable time periods under subparagraph (1), then they 
     shall establish an investigative subcommittee and forward the 
     complaint, or any portion thereof, to that subcommittee for 
     its consideration. However, if, at any time during those 
     periods, either the chairman or ranking minority member 
     places on the agenda the issue of whether to establish an 
     investigative subcommittee, then an investigative 
     subcommittee may be established only by an affirmative vote 
     of a majority of the members of the committee.


``DUTIES OF CHAIRMAN AND RANKING MINORITY MEMBER REGARDING INFORMATION 
                      NOT CONSTITUTING A COMPLAINT

       ``(l) The committee shall adopt rules providing that 
     whenever the chairman and ranking minority member jointly 
     determine that information submitted to the committee does 
     not meet the requirements of the rules of the committee for 
     what constitutes a complaint, they may--
       ``(1) return the information to the complainant with a 
     statement that it fails to meet the requirements of the rules 
     of the committee for what constitutes a complaint; or
       ``(2) recommend to the committee that it authorize the 
     establishment of an investigative subcommittee.


             ``Investigative and adjudicatory subcommittee

       ``(m) The committee shall adopt rules providing that--
       ``(1)(A) an investigative subcommittee shall be composed of 
     four Members (with equal representation from the majority and 
     minority parties) whenever such a subcommittee is established 
     pursuant to the rules of the committee;
       ``(B) an adjudicatory subcommittee shall be composed of the 
     members of the committee who did not serve on the pertinent 
     investigative subcommittee (with equal representation from 
     the majority and minority parties) whenever such a 
     subcommittee is established pursuant to the rules of the 
     committee; and
       ``(C) notwithstanding any other provision of this clause, 
     the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee may 
     consult with an investigative subcommittee either on their 
     own initiative or on the initiative of the subcommittee, 
     shall have access

[[Page 9]]

     to information before a subcommittee with which they so 
     consult, and shall not thereby be precluded from serving as 
     full, voting members of any adjudicatory subcommittee;
       ``(2) at the time of appointment, the chairman shall 
     designate one member of a subcommittee to serve as chairman 
     and the ranking minority member shall designate one member of 
     the subcommittee to serve as the ranking minority member; and
       ``(3) the chairman and ranking minority member of the 
     committee may serve as members of an investigative 
     subcommittee, but may not serve as non-voting, ex officio 
     members.


   ``STANDARD OF PROOF FOR ADOPTION OF STATEMENT OF ALLEGED VIOLATION

       ``(n) The committee shall adopt rules to provide that an 
     investigative subcommittee may adopt a statement of alleged 
     violation only if it determines by an affirmative vote of a 
     majority of the members of the subcommittee that there is 
     substantial reason to believe that a violation of the Code of 
     Official Conduct, or of a law, rule, regulation, or other 
     standard of conduct applicable to the performance of official 
     duties or the discharge of official responsibilities by a 
     Member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives, 
     has occurred.


                         ``SUBCOMMITTEE POWERS

       ``(o)(1) The committee shall adopt rules providing that an 
     investigative subcommittee or an adjudicatory subcommittee 
     may authorize and issue subpoenas only when authorized by an 
     affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the 
     subcommittee.
       ``(2) The committee shall adopt rules providing that an 
     investigative subcommittee may, upon an affirmative vote of a 
     majority of its members, expand the scope of its 
     investigation approved by an affirmative vote of a majority 
     of the members of the committee.
       ``(3) The committee shall adopt rules to provide that--
       ``(A) an investigative subcommittee may, upon an 
     affirmative vote of a majority of its members, amend its 
     statement of alleged violation anytime before the statement 
     of alleged violation is transmitted to the committee; and
       ``(B) if an investigative subcommittee amends its statement 
     of alleged violation, the respondent shall be notified in 
     writing and shall have 30 calendar days from the date of that 
     notification to file an answer to the amended statement of 
     alleged violation.


                  ``DUE PROCESS RIGHTS OF RESPONDENTS

       ``(p) The committee shall adopt rules to provide that--
       ``(1) not less than 10 calendar days before a scheduled 
     vote by an investigative subcommittee on a statement of 
     alleged violation, the subcommittee shall provide the 
     respondent with a copy of the statement of alleged violation 
     it intends to adopt together with all evidence it intends to 
     use to prove those charges which it intends to adopt, 
     including documentary evidence, witness testimony, memoranda 
     of witness interviews, and physical evidence, unless the 
     subcommittee by an affirmative vote of a majority of its 
     members decides to withhold certain evidence in order to 
     protect a witness; but if such evidence is withheld, the 
     subcommittee shall inform the respondent that evidence is 
     being withheld and of the count to which such evidence 
     relates;
       ``(2) neither the respondent nor his counsel shall, 
     directly or indirectly, contact the subcommittee or any 
     member thereof during the period of time set forth in 
     paragraph (1) except for the sole purpose of settlement 
     discussions where counsel for the respondent and the 
     subcommittee are present;
       ``(3) if, at any time after the issuance of a statement of 
     alleged violation, the committee or any subcommittee thereof 
     determines that it intends to use evidence not provided to a 
     respondent under paragraph (1) to prove the charges contained 
     in the statement of alleged violation (or any amendment 
     thereof), such evidence shall be made immediately available 
     to the respondent, and it may be used in any further 
     proceeding under the rules of the committee;
       ``(4) evidence provided pursuant to paragraph (1) or (3) 
     shall be made available to the respondent and his or her 
     counsel only after each agrees, in writing, that no document, 
     information, or other materials obtained pursuant to that 
     paragraph shall be made public until--
       ``(A) such time as a statement of alleged violation is made 
     public by the committee if the respondent has waived the 
     adjudicatory hearing; or
       ``(B) the commencement of an adjudicatory hearing if the 
     respondent has not waived an adjudicatory hearing; but the 
     failure of respondent and his counsel to so agree in writing, 
     and their consequent failure to receive the evidence, shall 
     not preclude the issuance of a statement of alleged violation 
     at the end of the period referred to in paragraph (1);
       ``(5) a respondent shall receive written notice whenever--
       ``(A) the chairman and ranking minority member determine 
     that information the committee has received constitutes a 
     complaint;
       ``(B) a complaint or allegation is transmitted to an 
     investigative subcommittee;
       ``(C) an investigative subcommittee votes to authorize its 
     first subpoena or to take testimony under oath, whichever 
     occurs first; or
       ``(D) an investigative subcommittee votes to expand the 
     scope of its investigation;
       ``(6) whenever an investigative subcommittee adopts a 
     statement of alleged violation and a respondent enters into 
     an agreement with that subcommittee to settle a complaint on 
     which that statement is based, that agreement, unless the 
     respondent requests otherwise, shall be in writing and signed 
     by the respondent and respondent's counsel, the chairman and 
     ranking minority member of the subcommittee, and the outside 
     counsel, if any;
       ``(7) statements or information derived solely from a 
     respondent or his counsel during any settlement discussions 
     between the committee or a subcommittee thereof and the 
     respondent shall not be included in any report of the 
     subcommittee or the committee or otherwise publicly disclosed 
     without the consent of the respondent; and
       ``(8) whenever a motion to establish an investigative 
     subcommittee does not prevail, the committee shall promptly 
     send a letter to the respondent informing him of such vote.


                   ``Committee reporting requirements

       ``(q) The committee shall adopt rules to provide that--
       ``(1) whenever an investigative subcommittee does not adopt 
     a statement of alleged violation and transmits a report to 
     that effect to the committee, the committee may by an 
     affirmative vote of a majority of its members transmit such 
     report to the House of Representatives;
       ``(2) whenever an investigative subcommittee adopts a 
     statement of alleged violation, the respondent admits to the 
     violations set forth in such statement, the respondent waives 
     his or her right to an adjudicatory hearing, and the 
     respondent's waiver is approved by the committee--
       ``(A) the subcommittee shall prepare a report for 
     transmittal to the committee, a final draft of which shall be 
     provided to the respondent not less than 15 calendar days 
     before the subcommittee votes on whether to adopt the report;
       ``(B) the respondent may submit views in writing regarding 
     the final draft to the subcommittee within seven calendar 
     days of receipt of that draft;
       ``(C) the subcommittee shall transmit a report to the 
     committee regarding the statement of alleged violation 
     together with any views submitted by the respondent pursuant 
     to subdivision (B), and the committee shall make the report 
     together with respondent's views available to the public 
     before the commencement of any sanction hearing; and
       ``(D) the committee shall by an affirmative vote of a 
     majority of its members issue a report and transmit such 
     report to the House of Representatives, together with the 
     respondent's views previously submitted pursuant to 
     subdivision (B) and any additional views respondent may 
     submit for attachment to the final report; and
       ``(3) members of the committee shall have not less than 72 
     hours to review any report transmitted to the committee by an 
     investigative subcommittee before both the commencement of a 
     sanction hearing and the committee vote on whether to adopt 
     the report.''
       (i) Joint Referral.--In clause 2(c)(1) of rule XII, insert 
     before the semicolon the following: ``(except where he 
     determines that extraordinary circumstances justify review by 
     more than one committee as though primary)''.
       (j) Macroeconomic analysis of Tax Proposals.--In clause 
     3(h) of rule XIII, strike subparagraphs (2) and (3) and 
     insert in lieu thereof the following:
       ``(2)(A) it shall not be in order to consider a bill or 
     joint resolution reported by the Committee on Ways and Means 
     that proposes the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 unless--
       ``(i) the report includes a macroeconomic impact analysis;
       ``(ii) the report includes a statement from the Joint 
     Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation explaining why a 
     macroeconomic impact analysis is not calculable; or
       ``(iii) the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means 
     causes a macroeconomic impact analysis to be printed in the 
     Congressional Record before consideration of the bill or 
     joint resolution.
       ``(B) In subdivision (A), the term ``macroeconomic impact 
     analysis'' means--
       ``(i) an estimate prepared by the Joint Committee on 
     Internal Revenue Taxation of the changes in economic output, 
     employment, capital stock, and tax revenues expected to 
     result from enactment of the proposal; and
       ``(ii) a statement from the Joint Committee on Internal 
     Revenue Taxation identifying the critical assumptions and the 
     source of data underlying that estimate.''.
       (k) Personal Electronic Equipment on Floor.--In clause 5 of 
     rule XVII, strike ``any personal'' and all that following in 
     the penultimate sentence and insert in lieu thereof ``a 
     wireless telephone or personal computer on the floor of the 
     House.''.
       (l) Accounting for Vacancies.--In clause 5 of rule XX, add 
     after paragraph (b) the following new paragraph:
       ``(c) Upon the death, resignation, expulsion, 
     disqualification, or removal of a Member, the whole number of 
     the House shall be

[[Page 10]]

     adjusted accordingly. The Speaker shall announce the 
     adjustment to the House. Such an announcement shall not be 
     subject to appeal. In the case of a death, the Speaker may 
     lay before the House such documentation from federal, state, 
     or local officials as he deems pertinent.''.
       (m) Proceedings During Call of House.--In clause 6(c) of 
     rule XX, strike ``the Speaker may entertain a motion that the 
     House adjourn'' and insert in lieu thereof'' a motion that 
     the House adjourn shall be in order''.
       (n) Five-Minute Voting in Series.--In rule XX, amend clause 
     9 to read as follows:
       ``9. The Speaker may reduce to five minutes the minimum 
     time for electronic voting on any question arising without 
     intervening business after an electronic vote on another 
     question if notice of possible five-minute voting for a given 
     series of votes was issued before the proceeding electronic 
     vote.''.
       (o) Certain Tax or Tariff Provisions.--In clause 5(a) of 
     XXI, designate the existing text as subparagraph (1) and add 
     thereafter the following new subparagraph:
       ``(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), a tax or tariff 
     measure includes an amendment proposing a limitation on funds 
     in a general appropriation bill for the administration of a 
     tax or tariff.''.
       (p) Motions to Instruct During Conference.--In clause 
     7(c)(1) of XXII, strike ``20 calendar days'' and insert in 
     lieu thereof ``20 calendar days and 10 legislative days''.
       (q) Practice of Medicine.--In clause 2 of rule XXV, insert 
     ``except for the practice of medicine'' after ``fiduciary 
     relationship'' in both places it appears.
       (r) Gifts of Perishable Food.--In clause 5(a)(1)(B) of XXV 
     before the last sentence insert the following: ``The value of 
     perishable food sent to an office shall be allocated among 
     the individual recipients and not the Member, Delegate, or 
     Resident Commissioner.''.
       (s) Charity Travel.--In clause 5(a)(4)(C) of XXV, insert 
     before the period the following: ``unless--
       ``(i) all of the net proceeds of the event are for the 
     benefit of an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of 
     the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation 
     under section 501(a) of such Code;
       ``(ii) reimbursement for the transportation and lodging in 
     connection with the event is paid by such organization; and
       ``(iii) the offer of free attendance at the event is made 
     by such organization''.
       (t) Public Debt-Limit Legislation.--Redesignation rule 
     XXVII as rule XXVII and insert after rule XXVI the following 
     new rule:

                              ``Rule XXVII


                    ``statutory limit on public debt

       ``1. Upon adoption by Congress of a concurrent resolution 
     on the budget under section 301 or 304 of the Congressional 
     Budget Act of 1974 that sets forth, as the appropriate level 
     of the public debt for the period to which the concurrent 
     resolution relates, an amount that is different from the 
     amount of the statutory limit on the public debt that 
     otherwise would be in effect for that period, the Clerk shall 
     prepare an engrossment of a joint resolution increasing or 
     decreasing, as the case may be, the statutory limit on the 
     public debt in the form prescribed in clause 2. Upon 
     engrossment of the joint resolution, the vote by which the 
     concurrent resolution on the budget was finally agreed to in 
     the House shall also be considered as a vote on passage of 
     the joint resolution in the House, and the joint resolution 
     shall be considered as passed by the House and duly certified 
     and examined. The engrossed copy shall be signed by the Clerk 
     and transmitted to the Senate for further legislative action.
       ``2. The matter after the resolving clause in a joint 
     resolution described in clause 1 shall be as follows: `That 
     subsection (b) of section 3101 of title 31, United States 
     Code, is amended by striking out the dollar limitation 
     contained in such subsection and inserting in lieu thereof 
     ``$__''.', with the blank being filled with a dollar 
     limitation equal to the appropriate level of the public debt 
     set forth pursuant to section 301(a)(5) of the Congressional 
     Budget Act of 1974 in the relevant concurrent resolution 
     described in clause 1. If an adopted concurrent resolution 
     under clause 1 sets forth different appropriate levels of the 
     public debt for separate periods, only one engrossed joint 
     resolution shall be prepared under clause 1; and the blank 
     referred to in the preceding sentence shall be filled with 
     the limitation that is to apply for each period.
       ``3. (a) The report of the Committee on the Budget on a 
     concurrent resolution described in clause 1 and the joint 
     explanatory statement of the managers on a conference report 
     to accompany such a concurrent resolution each shall contain 
     a clear statement of the effect the eventual enactment of a 
     joint resolution engrossed under this rule would have on the 
     statutory limit on the public debt.
       ``(b) It shall not be in order for the House to consider a 
     concurrent resolution described in clause 1, or a conference 
     report thereon, unless the report of the Committee on the 
     Budget or the joint explanatory statement of the managers 
     complies with paragraph (a).
       ``4. Nothing in this rule shall be construed as limiting or 
     otherwise affecting--
       ``(a) the power of the House or the Senate to consider and 
     pass bills or joint resolutions, without regard to the 
     procedures under clause 1, that would change the statutory 
     limit on the public debt; or
       ``(b) the rights of Members, Delegates, the Resident 
     Commissioner, or committees with respect to the introduction, 
     consideration, and reporting of such bills or joint 
     resolutions.
       ``5. In this rule the term `statutory limit on the public 
     debt' means the maximum face amount of obligations issued 
     under authority of chapter 31 of title 31, United States 
     Code, and obligations guaranteed as to principal and interest 
     by the United States (except such guaranteed obligations as 
     may be held by the Secretary of the Treasury), as determined 
     under section 3101(b) of such title after the application of 
     section 3101(a) of such title, that may be outstanding at any 
     one time.''
       (u) Technical and Codifying Changes.--
       (1) In clause 2(g) of rule II--
       (a) strike ``do'' in each place it appears and insert in 
     lieu thereof ``perform''; and
       (b) strike ``done'' and insert in lieu thereof 
     ``performed''.
       (2) In clause 1(g)(6) of rule X, strike ``organization'' 
     and insert in lieu thereof ``organizations''.
       (3) In clause 3(a)(1)(B) of rule XIII, strike ``or (4)''.
       (4) In clause 3 of rule XVIII, strike ``All bills'' and 
     insert in lieu thereof ``All public bills''.
       (5) In clause 2(a) of rule XX, strike ``9 or 10'' and 
     insert in lieu thereof ``8 or 9''.
       (6) In clause 8 of rule XX--
       (a) amend paragraph (a)(1) to read as follows:
       ``(a)(1) When a recorded vote is ordered, or the yeas and 
     nays are ordered, or a vote is objected to under clause 6--
       ``(A) on any of the questions specified in subparagraph 
     (2), the Speaker may postpone further proceedings to a 
     designated place in the legislative schedule within two 
     additional legislative days; and
       ``(B) on the question of agreeing to the Speaker's approval 
     of the Journal, the Speaker may postpone further proceedings 
     to a designated place in the legislative schedule on that 
     legislative day.''; and
       (b) in paragraph (a)(2), strike ``the'' before 
     ``subparagraph (1)''.
       (7) In clause 8 of rule XX--
       (a) in paragraph (b) strike ``in the order in which it was 
     considered''; and
       (b) in paragraph (d) strike ``in the order in which they 
     were considered''.
       (8) In clause 1 of rule XXII, strike ``bill or resolution'' 
     in each place it appears and insert in lieu thereof 
     ``proposition''.
       (9) In clause 12(a)(2) of rule XXII, strike ``by a record 
     vote'' and insert in lieu thereof ``by the yeas and nays''.

     SEC. 3. SEPARATE ORDERS.

       (a) Budget Matters.--
       (1) During the One Hundred Eighth Congress, references in 
     section 306 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to a 
     resolution shall be construed in the House of Representatives 
     as references to a joint resolution.
       (2) During the One Hundred Eighth Congress, in the case of 
     a reported bill or joint resolution considered pursuant to a 
     special order of business, a point of order under section 303 
     of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 shall be determined 
     on the basis of the text made in order as an original bill or 
     joint resolution for the purpose of amendment or to the text 
     on which the previous question is ordered directly to 
     passage, as the case may be.
       (3) During the One Hundred Eighth Congress, a provision in 
     a bill or joint resolution, or in an amendment thereto or a 
     conference report thereon, that establishes prospectively for 
     a Federal office or position a specified or minimum level of 
     compensation to be funded by annual discretionary 
     appropriations shall not be considered as providing new 
     entitlement authority within the meaning of the Congressional 
     Budget Act of 1974.
       (4)(A) During the One Hundred Eighth Congress, pending the 
     adoption of a concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal 
     year 2003, the provisions of House Concurrent Resolution 353 
     of the One Hundred Seventh Congress, as adopted by the House, 
     shall have force and effect in the House as though the One 
     Hundred Eighth Congress has adopted such a concurrent 
     resolution.
       (B) The chairman of the Committee on the Budget (when 
     elected) shall submit for printing in the Congressional 
     Record--
       (i) the allocations contemplated by section 302(a) of the 
     Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to accompany the concurrent 
     resolution described in subparagraph (A), which shall be 
     considered to be such allocations under a concurrent 
     resolution on the budget;
       (ii) ``Accounts Identified for Advance Appropriations,'' 
     which shall be considered to be the programs, projects, 
     activities, or accounts referred to section 301(b) of House 
     Concurrent Resolution 353 of the One Hundred Seventh 
     Congress, as adopted by the House; and
       (iii) an estimated unified surplus, which shall be 
     considered to be the estimated unified surplus set forth in 
     the report of the Committee on the Budget accompanying House 
     Concurrent Resolution 353 of the One Hundred Seventh Congress 
     referred to in section 211 of such concurrent resolution.
       (C) The allocation referred to in section 231(d) of House 
     Concurrent Resolution 353 of

[[Page 11]]

     the One Hundred Seventh Congress, as adopted by the House, 
     shall be considered to be the corresponding allocation among 
     those submitted by the chairman of the Committee on the 
     Budget under subparagraph (B)(i).
       (b) Certain Subcommittees.--Notwithstanding clause 5(d) of 
     rule X, during the One Hundred Eighth Congress--
       (1) the Committee on Armed Services may have not more than 
     six subcommittees;
       (2) the Committee on International Relations may have not 
     more than six subcommittees; and
       (3) the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure may 
     have not more than six subcommittees.
       (c) Numbering of Bills.--In the One Hundred Eighth 
     Congress, the first 10 numbers for bills (H.R. 1 through H.R. 
     10) shall be reserved for assignment by the Speaker to such 
     bills as he may designate when introduced during the first 
     session.
       (d) Motions To Suspend the Rules.--During the first session 
     of the One Hundred Eighth Congress, the Speaker may entertain 
     motions that the House suspend the rules on Wednesdays 
     through the second Wednesday in April as though under clause 
     1 of rule XV.

     SEC. 4. SELECT COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY.

       (a) Establishment; Composition; Vacancies.--
       (1) Establishment.--During the One Hundred Eighth Congress, 
     there is established a Select Committee on Homeland Security.
       (2) Composition.--The select committee shall be composed of 
     Members appointed by the Speaker, including Members appointed 
     on the recommendation of the Minority Leader. The Speaker 
     shall designate one member as chairman. Service on the select 
     committee shall not count against the limitations on 
     committee service in clause 5(b)(2) of rule X.
       (3) Vacancies.--Any vacancies occurring in the membership 
     of the select committee shall be filled in the same manner as 
     the original appointment.
       (b) Jurisdiction; functions.--
       (1) Legislative jurisdiction.--The select committee may 
     develop recommendations and report to the House by bill or 
     otherwise on such matters that relate to the Homeland 
     Security Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-296) as may be referred to it 
     by the Speaker.
       (2) Oversight function.--The select committee shall review 
     and study on the continuing basis laws, programs, and 
     Government activities relating to homeland security.
       (3) Rules study.--The select committee is authorized and 
     directed to conduct a thorough and complete study of the 
     operation and implementation of the rules of the House, 
     including rule X, with respect to the issue of homeland 
     security. The select committee shall submit its 
     recommendations regarding any changes in the rules of the 
     House to the Committee on Rules not later than September 30, 
     2004.
       (c) Procedure.--The rules of the House applicable to the 
     standing committees shall govern the select committee where 
     not inconsistent with this section.
       (d) Funding.--To enable the select committee to carry out 
     the purposes of this resolution, the select committee may use 
     the services of staff of the House.
       (e) Disposition of Records.--Upon dissolution of the select 
     committee, the records of the select committee shall become 
     the records of any committee designated by the Speaker.

  The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay) is recognized for 1 
hour.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, for the purposes of debate only, I yield the 
customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) or 
her designee, pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. 
During the consideration of the resolution, all time yielded is for 
debate purposes only. I ask unanimous consent that the time allocated 
to me be controlled by the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier).
  The SPEAKER. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from 
Texas?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Dreier).
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I want to begin by extending congratulations to the Speaker, our 
majority leader, our friends in the minority and all of our colleagues 
on their election.
  The comprehensive changes that we are proposing in H. Res. 5 seek to 
build on the successful reform accomplishments of the last 8 years 
which have helped to make the House more accountable and deliberative 
and have strengthened our ability to govern effectively and 
responsibly.
  As my colleagues recall, Mr. Speaker, we overhauled the committee 
system, made Congress compliant with anti-discrimination and workplace 
safety laws, opened committee meetings to the public and press, 
modernized the Rules of the House to make them more understandable, and 
cut the number of standing rules nearly in half. In the 107th Congress, 
we created the Committee on Financial Services, enhanced oversight 
planning, strengthened performance goals and objectives, and created 
the Department of Homeland Security.
  Our continued investments in technology are transforming the culture, 
operations, and responsibilities of Congress in a very positive way.
  With that having been said, I want to describe some of the more 
significant positive rules changes we are proposing to the standing 
rules of the House, and those are contained in section 2 of this 
resolution.
  Section 2(A) and section 2(C), as well as section 2(L) stem from the 
recommendations made by the bipartisan Continuity of Congress Task 
Force, which was formed following the attack of September 11, 2001, 
which Speaker Hastert talked about, that was cochaired by my friend, 
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Frost) and the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Cox), and it reviewed the rules and procedures of the House to 
ensure that the appropriate institutional and mechanisms were in place 
to respond to a catastrophic event.
  The first provision amends rule 1, clause 8(b) to require the Speaker 
to provide to the Clerk of the House a list of Members in the order in 
which each shall act as Speaker pro tempore in the case of a vacancy in 
the office of Speaker.
  Section 2(C) provides new recess and convening authorities to the 
Speaker in the event of an imminent threat to the safety of the House 
by amending clause 12 of rule 1.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, section 2(L) codifies the practice of adjusting 
the whole number of the House upon the death, resignation, expulsion, 
disqualification, or removal of a Member in rule 20, clause 5.
  In the 107th Congress, rule 18 was amended to allow the Chairman of 
the Committee of the Whole to postpone a request for a recorded vote on 
any amendment. This procedure has been very helpful, as my colleagues 
know, Mr. Speaker, in improving the management of the floor and in 
dealing with the challenges of our legislative schedule. In an effort 
to provide committees with similar management flexibility, section 2(G) 
proposes to amend rule 11, clause 2(h) to allow committees to adopt a 
similar rule authorizing the chairman of a committee or subcommittee to 
postpone certain votes and resume proceedings on a postponed question 
after reasonable notice. An underlying proposition would remain subject 
to further debate or amendment to the same extent as when the question 
was postponed.
  During the 105th Congress, Mr. Speaker, the House adopted H. Res. 
168, which included both changes to the standing rules of the House and 
freestanding directives to the Committee on Standards of Official 
Conduct. For the past two Congresses, these freestanding directives 
have been carried forward through a separate order.
  Section 2(H) codifies these directives which address committee 
agenda, committee staff, meetings and hearings, public disclosure, 
requirements to constitute a complaint, duties of the chairman and 
ranking member, investigative and adjudicatory subcommittees, standard 
of proof for adoption of statement of alleged violation, subcommittee 
powers, due process rights of respondents, and committee reporting 
requirements.
  Section 2(I) permits the joint referral of measures without 
designation of primary jurisdiction. This change is meant only as a 
minor deviation from the normal requirement under the rules for the 
designation of one committee of primary jurisdiction and should be 
exercised only in extraordinary jurisdictionally deserving instances.
  Mr. Speaker, in an effort to provide more realistic estimates of tax 
measures, section 2(J) requires the Committee on Ways and Means to 
include in reports on measures amending the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 an analysis by the Joint Tax Committee on

[[Page 12]]

the macroeconomic impact of such legislation. This is something also 
known, Mr. Speaker, as dynamic scoring.
  Mr. Speaker, section 2(O) of the resolution expands the application 
of clause 5(a) of rule 21 to include as a tax or tariff measure a floor 
amendment limiting funds in a general appropriation bill for the 
administration of a tax or tariff. The intent of this rules change is 
to ease the burden on the maker of a point of order from having to show 
a necessary, certain and inevitable change in revenue collections, tax 
statuses, or liability as previous precedents required, to one of 
showing a textual relationship between the amendment and the 
administration of the Internal Revenue or tariff laws.
  The resolution amends clause 7(c)(1) of rule 22 to permit further 
motions to instruct during conference to be offered after 20 calendar 
days, but not less than 10 legislative days. While continuing to afford 
a Member a timely opportunity to offer a further motion to instruct, 
the modification in section 2(P) provides a more realistic timetable, 
especially when a conference extends over a lengthy recess and is 
unable to meet.
  Section 2(T) creates a new rule 27 which provides for the automatic 
House passage of a joint resolution increasing the statutory limit on 
the public debt when the House agrees to a budget resolution that 
requires such an increase. The amount of the increase in the joint 
resolution conforms to the level established in the budget resolution. 
The final House vote on the conference report on the budget resolution 
shall be deemed the vote on the joint resolution. The rule is similar 
to the former rule 23 of the 106th Congress and prior Congresses.
  The resolution also makes exceptions and clarifications to rule 25, 
also known as the gift rule, with regard to perishable food distributed 
in the office and charity travel, respectively. And, for the most part, 
the remaining provisions of section 2 are technical, conforming, or 
clarifying in nature.
  Mr. Speaker, section 3 of the resolution consists of ``Separate 
Orders'' which do not change any of the standing rules of the House. 
These are more or less housekeeping provisions which deem certain 
actions or waive the application of certain rules of the House.
  Section 3(A) provides for the continuation of certain budget 
enforcement mechanisms from the 107th Congress as well as deems the 
provisions of the budget resolution H. Con. Res. 353 as adopted by the 
House in the 107th Congress shall have effect in the 108th Congress 
until such time as a conference report establishing a budget for the 
fiscal year 2004 is adopted.
  Also contained in section 3(B) is a separate order providing for the 
limited number of exemptions to clause 5(d) of rule 10 regarding a 
limitation on the number of subcommittees a committee may establish. 
This resolution grants the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee 
on International Relations, and the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure up to six subcommittees each.
  Mr. Speaker, recognizing that it takes time for committees to 
organize and report legislation at the beginning of a new Congress, 
section 3(D) provides that during the first session of this 108th 
Congress motions to suspend the rules shall be in order on Wednesdays 
from the beginning of the Congress through the second Wednesday in 
April, as though under clause 1 of rule 15.
  Mr. Speaker, section 4 of the resolution is very important and 
significant, and is aimed at ensuring effective oversight of a crucial 
national priority, and that is what was discussed in the Speaker's 
address to us; namely, homeland security. The security threats to our 
Nation are real and dangerous. Every branch of government, including 
the Congress, must be an integral part of the homeland security effort.
  In that regard, section 4 of the resolution establishes a Select 
Committee on Homeland Security for the 108th Congress with both 
legislative and oversight responsibilities.
  The select committee would have legislative jurisdiction over matters 
that relate to the Homeland Security Act of 2002, Public Law 107-296. 
As the Act is the organic statute creating the new Department of 
Homeland Security, it is anticipated that the select committee would be 
the committee of jurisdiction over bills dealing with the new 
Department.
  Further, the select committee would have jurisdiction over 
legislation amending the Act such as a bill making technical 
corrections to that Act. In addition to the committee of primary 
jurisdiction, the Speaker would have the authority to refer bills to 
the select committee as an additional committee, either initially or 
sequentially. Otherwise, the existing jurisdictional rules of the House 
would continue to apply during the 108th Congress.
  The select committee would have oversight responsibility over laws, 
programs, and government activities relating to homeland security and 
is intended to serve as the primary coordinating committee of the 
House.
  Mr. Speaker, until the new Department of Homeland Security is up and 
running, it is difficult to predict how best to reflect legislative 
oversight and authorization functions for the Department in the House. 
Furthermore, during this transitional period, it is crucial that the 
White House and the new Department's leadership have a central point of 
contact with the House. This new select committee will provide this 
interim capacity. It will also conduct a study of the operation of the 
rules of the House, including possible changes in committee 
jurisdiction with respect to homeland security. Those recommendations 
would be submitted to the Committee on Rules by September 30, 2004.
  At this point, Mr. Speaker, I would like to include for the Record a 
more detailed, section-by-section summary of H. Res. 5, as well as 
other relevant material.

                       Section-By-Section Summary


                       Section 1. Resolved Clause

       The rules of the House of Representatives for the 107th 
     Congress are adopted as the rules of the House for the 108th 
     Congress with amendments as provided in section 2, and with 
     other orders provided in sections 3 and 4.


                  Section 2. Changes in Standing Rules

       (a) Speaker succession. The Speaker is required to submit 
     to the Clerk of the House a list of Members to succeed the 
     Speaker in the event of a vacancy in the office of the 
     Speaker until the House reconvenes in order to elect a new 
     Speaker. [Rule I, clause 8(b)]
       (b) Repeal of Speaker term limit. This provision strikes 
     Clause 9 of Rule 1, which limits a Member to no more than 4 
     consecutive terms as Speaker. [Rule I, clause 9]
       (c) Declaration of emergency recess. The Speaker may, when 
     notified of an imminent threat to the House's safety, declare 
     an emergency recess subject to the call of the Chair. Allows 
     the Speaker to accelerate or postpone the reconvening of the 
     House in the event of an emergency. [Rule I, clause 12]
       (d) Clarification of staff access to House Floor. The 
     practice of allowing leadership staff with Floor 
     responsibilities access to the House Floor is codified. [Rule 
     IV, clause 2(a)(7)]
       (e) Rules Member on Budget Committee. The Committee on the 
     Budget shall include one member of the Committee on Rules. 
     Codifies action taken in the 108th Republican Conference 
     organizational meeting requiring that one Member of the Rules 
     Committee serve on the Budget Committee. [Rule X, clause 
     5(a)(2)]
       (f) Associate and professional staff. This change clarified 
     that the professional staff of the Appropriations Committee 
     shall comply with the same rules regarding their duties as 
     the professional staff of all other House committees. Further 
     clarifies that the associate or shared staff of the 
     Appropriations Committee are not subject to the review of the 
     Committee on House Administration in connection with the 
     reporting of committee expense resolutions. This change is 
     technical in nature [Rules X, clause 9(b)]
       (g) Postponing votes in committee. Committees may adopt a 
     rule which allows the chairman of a committee or subcommittee 
     to postpone votes on approving a measure or matter or on 
     adopting an amendment and to resume proceedings on a 
     postponed question at any time after reasonable notice. An 
     underlying proposition shall remain subject to further debate 
     or amendment to the same extent as when the question was 
     postponed. [Rule XI, clause 2(h)]
       (h) Incorporation of H. Res. 168 (105th) in clause 3 of 
     Rule XI ``(Committee on Standards of Official Conduct).'' 
     Over the last two consecutive Congresses the Committee on 
     Standards of Official Conduct's operating procedure has been 
     carried over as a separate order referencing a resolution 
     adopted by the 105th Congress. This modification codifies the 
     aforementioned operating procedures. [Rule XII, clause 
     2(c)(1)]

[[Page 13]]

       (i) Joint referral. Joint referral of measures without 
     designation of primary jurisdiction will be permitted under 
     `exceptional circumstances.' Under this designation, the 
     Speaker may designate more than one committee as though 
     primary. [Rule XII, clause 2(c)(1)]
       (j) Require dynamic scoring in Ways & Means reports. The 
     Committee on Ways and Means is required to include in reports 
     on measures amending the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 an 
     analysis by the Joint Tax Committee on the macroeconomic 
     impact of such legislation. The committee is not required to 
     include such analysis if the Joint Tax Committee certifies 
     that such analysis is not calculable. In addition, the 
     chairman of the Ways & Means Committee may satisfy this 
     requirement by inserting such analysis in the Congressional 
     Record prior to the bill's consideration on the floor. [Rule 
     XIII, clause 3(h)]
       (k) Personal electronic equipment on the Floor. This 
     provision modernizes the rules of the House to prohibit only 
     the use of wireless telephones and personal computers on the 
     House floor, thereby permitting the use of unobtrusive 
     handheld electronic devices. [Rule XVII, clause 5]
       (l) Accounting for vacancies. The practice of adjusting the 
     whole number of the House in the case of vacancies in the 
     membership is codified. [Rule XX, clause 5]
       (m) Proceedings during call of House. This change clarifies 
     that a motion to adjourn retains its normal privilege and is 
     in order during a call of the House under clause 6 of rule 
     XX. The former language of the rule could be interpreted to 
     five the Speaker the discretion to entertain such motion. 
     This change is technical in nature. [Rule XX, clause 6(c)]
       (n) Five-minute voting in series. The Speaker's authority 
     to reduce the minimum time for electronic voting following a 
     fifteen-minute vote is expanded to include all succeeding 
     votes provided no other business intervenes and notice of 
     possible five-minute voting is given. This change is 
     technical in nature. [Rule XX, clause 9]
       (o) Prohibition on limitation amendments for the 
     administration of taxes and tariffs and on measures 
     restricting imports. Expands the application of clause 5(a) 
     of rule XXI to include as a tax or tariff measure a floor 
     amendment limiting funds in a general appropriation bill for 
     the administration of a tax or tariff. [Rule XXI, clause 
     5(a)]
       (p) Motions to instruct during conference. Permits further 
     motions to instruct to be offered after 20 calendar days, but 
     not less than 10 legislative days. [Rule XXII, clause 
     7(c)(1)]
       (q) Fiduciary relationship exemption for physicians. 
     Redefines a fiduciary relationship as not including ``the 
     practice of medicine,'' thereby allowing dentists and 
     physicians to earn outside income up to $22,500. [Rule XXV, 
     clause 2]
       (r) Perishable food as gift. Provides that the value of 
     perishable food sent as a gift to an office shall be 
     allocated among the individual receipts and not to the 
     Member. [Rule XXV, clause 5(a)(1)(B)]
       (s) Gift ban exemption for charity travel. Clarifies the 
     gift ban to allow Members to be reimbursed for travel and 
     lodging expenses by a charity organization, in cases where 
     the net proceeds of the event go to a qualified charity, and 
     the invitation is issued by the charity. [Rule XXV, clause 
     5(a)(4)(C)]
       (t) Statutory limit on public debt. (reinstate ``Gephardt 
     Rule'', former Rule XXIII of the 106th Congress.) Provides 
     for automatic House passage of joint resolution increasing 
     the statutory limit on the public debt when the House agrees 
     to a budget resolution that requires such an increase. The 
     amount of the increase in the joint resolution conforms to 
     the level established in the budget resolution. The final 
     House vote on the budget resolution shall be deemed the vote 
     on the joint resolution. [New Rule XXVII, former Rule XXVII 
     redesignated as Rule XXVIII]
       (u) Technical corrections. Technical and grammatical 
     changes are made throughout the rules of the rules of the 
     House, including those correcting changes that were made as a 
     result of the recodification of the House rules.


                       Section 3. Separate Orders

       (a)(1)-(a)(3) Continuation of budget enforcement mechanisms 
     from the 107th. This order clarifies that section 306 of the 
     Budget Act (prohibiting consideration of legislation within 
     the Budget Committee's jurisdiction, unless reported by the 
     Budget Committee) only applies to bills and joint resolutions 
     and not to simple and concurrent resolutions. It also makes a 
     Section 303 point of order (requiring adoption of budget 
     resolution before consideration of budget-related 
     legislation) applicable to text made in order as original 
     bill by a special rule. Specified or minimum levels of 
     compensation will not be considered as providing new 
     entitlement authority.
       (a)(4) Continuation of budget ``deeming'' resolution from 
     the 2nd Session of the 107th Congress. This order establishes 
     that the provisions of House Concurrent Resolution 353 as 
     adopted by the House in the 107th Congress, shall have effect 
     in the 108th Congress until such time as a conference report 
     establishing a budget for the fiscal year 2004 is adopted.
       (b) Extra subcommittees for Armed Services, International 
     Relations, and Transportation & Infrastructure. A waiver of 
     Rule X, clause 5(d), is granted for International Relations, 
     Transportation & Infrastructure, and Armed Services for 6 
     subcommittees in the 108th Congress.
       (c) Numbering of bills. In the 108th Congress, the first 10 
     numbers for bills (H.R. 1 through H.R. 10) shall be reserved 
     for assignment by the Speaker to such bills as he may 
     designate when introduced during the first session.
       (d) Wednesday suspension day. During the first session of 
     the 108th Congress, motions to suspend the rules shall be in 
     order on Wednesdays through the second Wednesday in April.


            Section 4. Select Committee on Homeland Security

       This section establishes the Select Committee on Homeland 
     Security for the 108th Congress. It establishes that the 
     Select Committee will have legislative jurisdiction to 
     develop recommendations and report to the House by bill or 
     otherwise on such matters that relates to the Homeland 
     Security Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-296).

  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, we all remember how partisan, divisive and, most 
importantly, unproductive the last Congress was. Despite the 
President's campaign promise to change the tone in Washington, nothing 
really changed in the way Republicans ran the House of Representatives. 
In fact, over the past 2 years, the Republican majority had a well-
established and easily documented track record of denying the minority 
a voice in proceedings and deliberations of the House, and that, 
unfortunately, played a large role in the failure of the Republican 
Congress to address America's critical concerns, from the economy and 
homeland security to health care and retirement security.
  But, in the spirit of the new year, Mr. Speaker, Democrats came to 
the floor today hoping that Republicans might turn over a new leaf, 
that they might agree to a rules package to operate the House as a 
deliberate, democratic institution in which all points of view have a 
right to be heard. Unfortunately, the package before us only makes 
things worse, making changes that only assure that the voice of the 
minority will be heard less and less. For that reason, I rise in 
opposition to H. Res. 5. I will offer a motion to commit at the end of 
this debate, and I urge every Member of this body who believes that all 
of the American people have a right to be heard and a right to 
participate in a democratic, small ``d'', institution to vote for it.
  Mr. Speaker, this is not the Politburo; this is the United States 
House of Representatives. It is high time that the majority remembered 
that very clear distinction. We are not here to raise our hands in 
unison; we are here to debate what is in the best interests of this 
country, and there are many differing views in this body about how to 
achieve that end. Those views should and must be heard.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a few minutes to explain why I and 
the Democratic Caucus oppose these rules changes proposed by the 
Republican majority. As I said, we see these changes, along with the 
majority's record of stifling dissent, as counterintuitive to the 
notion of the democratic process. We see some of these changes as fig 
leaves or, as my good friend the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) is 
often heard to say, giving Members a chance to pose for holy pictures. 
We see some of these changes as attempts to cover up what is really 
happening in terms of the Federal budget, both on the spending and tax 
sides. And finally, we see some of these changes as allowing Members to 
skirt the intent of the ethics rules in this body, something that only 
sullies the reputation of an honorable institution.
  For example, the majority took great pains in 1995 to abolish the 
practice of proxy voting. I am not here to pass judgment on that old 
practice. I can only say that the Republican majority condemned 
Democrats when we held the majority for allowing Members to vote by 
proxy in committee. However, the Republican majority has encountered 
some of the same problems that made proxy voting a useful tool for

[[Page 14]]

committees to get their work done. Because the Republican majority has 
refused to negotiate committee ratios that accurately reflect and 
fairly reflect the numbers in this body, their Members have been spread 
too thin and oftentimes must choose between one committee's proceedings 
and another.

                              {time}  1445

  Consequently, there have been a number of markups held where 
Democrats have been able to pass amendments because some Republicans 
have voted for those amendments and because other Republican Members 
have been absent. The majority has decided that the best way to deal 
with those rare occasions in which Democrats actually win a vote is to 
ensure that votes cannot be taken until the Chair of the full committee 
or a subcommittee has all the votes in the room, somewhat akin to proxy 
voting.
  This change proposed by the majority would allow those Chairs to 
postpone indefinitely votes on ordered questions. There is no 
definition in the rule about when votes must be called by, and there is 
no definition in the rule for what constitutes reasonable notice.
  Frankly, Mr. Speaker, this rule is a recipe for autocracy in the 
committees of this body. My motion to commit will delete this provision 
from the package of the rules for the 108th Congress.
  Secondly, the Republican majority seems intent on cooking the Federal 
budgetary books in so many ways that a new recipe was sure to find its 
way into this package, and so it has. The majority has now included a 
rule providing that no tax bill may be considered unless the Joint 
Committee on Taxation has included an analysis in the report 
accompanying that bill on the macroeconomic impact of such legislation. 
And just what is the macroeconomic impact? Why, it is nothing more than 
dynamic scoring, a methodology that has been discounted and outright 
dismissed by any economist worth his or her salt, including the 
chairman of the Federal Reserve.
  As Chairman Greenspan has said about dynamic scoring: ``The 
analytical tools required to achieve it are deficient . . . no model 
currently in use can predict macroeconomic effects without substantial 
ad hoc adjustments that effectively override the internal structure of 
the model.'' In other words, Mr. Speaker, it does not work, an example 
of what President Bush had called ``fuzzy math.''
  Yet, the Republican majority persists in believing that this bogus 
economic analysis of tax policy is real and reliable. But I would 
contend the only real thing that is real and reliable about dynamic 
scoring is that it will serve as a cover-up for the true impact of the 
losses of revenue to the Federal Treasury generated by tax cuts 
endorsed by this White House and the Republican majority. My motion to 
commit will delete this provision from the package of the rules of the 
108th Congress.
  Motions to instruct conferees have been successfully used by 
Democrats and, may I add, by the Republicans when they were in the 
minority, to fight for important issues like aviation security when 
otherwise denied that ability by the Republican majority. Because 
Democratic Members are far too often shut out of the deliberative 
process when a bill reaches the floor, a motion to instruct is 
sometimes the only way a Member might be able to bring an issue up for 
discussion. But the Republican majority, who did not seem particularly 
anxious to do much work in Washington in the past 2 years, considers 
these attempts to open the discussion in the House as a nuisance, 
rather than as a means to bring democracy back to the institution.
  So Republicans have an amendment in this package that further 
restricts the right of any Member, Republican or Democrat, to offer a 
motion to instruct by requiring that in addition to the 20 calendar 
days from the time a conference is appointed, 10 legislative days must 
elapse. The new rule is so loosely drafted that it is questionable 
whether those 20 calendar days and 10 legislative days run concurrently 
or not. Either way, since this body is in session so seldom, 10 
legislative days would fill up an entire month, further delaying the 
ability of Members to bring up legitimate issues relating to those 
bills submitted to conference.
  Mr. Speaker, this provision is such a blatant slap in the face of the 
democratic process in the House of Representatives, the Republican 
majority should hang its collective head. For that reason, my motion to 
commit will strike this amendment from the rules package.
  Mr. Speaker, since I have been in Congress, I have had the 
opportunity to serve on two special committees created for the purpose 
of revising and strengthening our ethics rules and regulations. The 
Republican majority made much of past abuses in this body, in spite of 
the fact that Members on both sides of the aisle were caught in these 
situations. Yet, now the Republicans believe they have such a safe and 
secure majority for the foreseeable future, they want to undo some of 
the significant strides that were made by these two special committees.
  The Republican majority has opened a proverbial can of worms by 
including several items in their package. The first might be called the 
``pizza rule.'' Because some outsiders like to provide large quantities 
of free food and drink to Members' offices night after night, this new 
Republican provision would carve out an exception to the gift rule.
  We also have the ``I have a second job and I want to get paid for 
it'' rule. Members are currently prohibited from acting in certain 
fiduciary capacities and thus are not allowed to receive compensation 
for practicing a profession that offers services involving a fiduciary 
relationship.
  Mr. Speaker, no matter how worthy a profession might be, why should 
we create a special exemption in the rules for the practice of 
medicine? If we do it for one, why not everyone? I think this House 
would be far better served if we just kept the rule the way it is now.
  For these reasons, my motion to commit will strike the provisions in 
the rules package that relate to ethics rules.
  My motion to commit also strikes two separate orders contained in 
section 3 of the resolution. The first provision I will seek to strike 
establishes the budget resolution adopted by the House in the second 
session of the 107th Congress as in effect in this Congress until such 
time as a conference report establishing a budget for fiscal year 2004 
is passed.
  Mr. Speaker, my Republican colleagues will say this will merely allow 
the House to finish work on the appropriations bills for fiscal year 
2003. Perhaps we should have done that in the 107th Congress rather 
than waiting to do it in the 108th Congress, with budget numbers 
outdated and unrealistic given the current economic circumstances.
  In addition, the appropriations number in the House-passed budget 
resolution of the 107th Congress is $749 billion; yet, the Republican 
leadership has agreed with the White House on budget numbers exceeding 
that figure. In addition, the budget resolution of the second session 
of last Congress maintains highway numbers that are also outdated and 
which, frankly, are not good policy. For example, those numbers will 
not allow for increased highway construction money that might be 
prudently spent throughout the country to create jobs and restore 
crumbling infrastructure.
  Secondly, in furtherance of the Republican majority's agenda to 
stifle debate by cutting debate, cutting off amendments, and staying 
out of town as much as possible, this package contains a separate order 
that will make Wednesday a suspension day through the second Wednesday 
in April. Now, this order will certainly cut down on the work of the 
Committee on Rules, since one of our best work products has been a rule 
making Wednesday a suspension day. But Democrats believe that far too 
many bills are considered under suspension already and that the House 
is thus denied the opportunity to fully debate and amend legislation.
  In my motion to commit, this provision would be stricken; but we have 
also included language that calls on the Republican majority to bring 
up

[[Page 15]]

fewer, rather than more, bills on suspension, and that no bill should 
be considered on suspension if it authorizes or makes appropriations in 
excess of $100 million. There is ample time in our calendar to spend on 
the floor debating legislation. We should not be institutionalizing 
shortened weekdays and cutting off debate.
  We have also included in the Democratic motion to commit language 
calling on the Republican leadership to ensure that the minority party 
will be able to fully participate in the legislative process. We have 
recommended that they strive to ensure that five ``good government'' 
ideas are followed in the House.
  First, so that Members might know what they are voting on when they 
vote, we call on the Republican leadership to ensure that Members have 
conference reports available to them 3 calendar days before such a 
conference report is considered in the House; and at the very least, at 
a bare minimum, no conference report should come to the floor unless 
every Member has had 24 hours to review it; not exactly a revolutionary 
concept.
  Second, we asked the Republican leadership to reduce the number of 
waivers contained in rules reported from the Committee on Rules. This 
is especially important in the consideration of bills that have been 
reported and that go straight to the floor. Many times, even members of 
the committee of jurisdiction are not sure if the bill that comes to 
the floor is the same bill that was reported, and it would only enhance 
the legislative process and democracy if Members had adequate time to 
review legislation.
  Third, we call on the Republican leadership to allow the House to 
debate and amend legislation by reducing the number of important bills 
that are considered on the suspension calendar.
  In that regard, we are, fourthly, asking that the majority ensure 
that more alternatives and substitutes be allowed in rules adopted by 
the Committee on Rules.
  Finally, we ask the Republican leadership to allow more legislation 
to be considered on the floor under open rules so that more Democrats 
may offer amendments.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, Democrats must raise strong objections to the 
manner in which the Republican leadership has gone about creating a 
Select Committee on Homeland Security. This provision was added last 
night with no consultation with the minority, and we believe that is no 
way to begin a new Congress when the issue of homeland security is one 
that does not belong to either party. We are all Americans here, and we 
should be involved in the deliberations surrounding the provisions of 
the Homeland Security Act.
  Mr. Speaker, I know our motion to commit will not pass today; but I 
do believe it is important that we talk about these issues, because in 
the long run it is for the good of the institution. I am proud to serve 
here, and I am proud to represent the people of my congressional 
district. I think that I, along with every other Member of this body, 
should be able to fully participate in the process of making laws, 
setting policy, and determining the course of this Nation in the years 
to come.
  While I recognize that he with the most votes wins, I also know that 
if someone has the most votes, they should not fear an opposing point 
of view. For too long the Republican Party has seemed, through their 
words and actions, to fear dissent among their own ranks, as well as 
the opposing view that may be held by the minority. We are a democracy; 
and we should never forget that, for in a democracy the rights of the 
minority are protected while at the same time advancing the will of the 
majority. I hope my Republican colleagues will remember that in the 
108th Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I was inclined early on to believe that my friend, the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Frost), might be supportive of our package; but I have now 
come to the conclusion that he would at best be undecided on our 
package, and he has raised a number of questions.
  I believe that I should say that we clearly plan to work in the area 
of homeland security with my friend, the gentleman from Texas, and 
other members of the minority in addressing issues of concern when we 
proceed with this very important work. We want to work in a bipartisan 
way; and I happen to believe that this package which we have come forth 
with will, as I said, increase the accountability and deliberative 
nature of the institution. I would hope that we could have both 
Democrats and Republicans supporting it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Stenholm).
  Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the rules package 
before us today. While it contains several items which I support, 
particularly the deeming resolution setting spending limits for the 
unfinished appropriation bills, the package contains two items which 
tilt the rules in favor of policies which will more easily send our 
Nation further into red ink. I would ask the majority to reconsider 
both of these proposals.
  One of the reforms the majority made with great fanfare as part of 
the Contract with America in 1995 was repeal of the Gephardt rule, 
which would spin off separate legislation increasing the debt limit 
upon passage of the debt resolution without a separate vote or 
opportunity for debate on the amendments.
  Now that our national debt is growing at a record pace under their 
policies, less than 6 months ago the administration asked us to 
increase the debt ceiling by $400 billion; Christmas Eve, the 
administration is asking us to increase the debt ceiling again to $6.4 
trillion.
  The majority now, under their rules package, has decided that greater 
openness and accountability regarding our national debt perhaps is not 
such a good thing after all. I ask Members to reconsider that. Just as 
credit card spending limits serve as tools to force families to examine 
their household budgets, the statutory debt limit reminds our Nation to 
more closely evaluate taxing and spending policies. Reviving the 
Gephardt rule will allow Members to avoid taking responsibility for 
paying the bills we incur by our votes.
  Now, the implementation of dynamic scoring also should raise a red 
flag to those who call themselves conservative in this body. Under the 
logic of those advocating dynamic scoring, the tax cut we passed last 
year should have resulted in greater surpluses than was being projected 
last spring. We can disagree about the extent the tax cut contributed 
to the return of the deficit, but it is clear that it did not have a 
dynamic effect on producing higher surpluses and revenues.
  The conservative approach, to me, is to be conservative in budget 
projections. If we err on the side of being conservative and cautious, 
Congress can easily deal with the problem of having more money than was 
projected. But when we err on the side of being too optimistic, we have 
a much greater challenge in dealing with fiscal problems such as those 
before us now.
  We are paying the price today for ignoring the warnings of experts in 
the past. We should not ignore the warnings of those that say changing 
to dynamic scoring will contribute to further problems of the deficit 
and debt of this country.
  Vote ``no'' on the rules changes; vote ``yes'' on cutting the 
interest taxes on the American people.

                              {time}  1500

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar).
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, the proposal to create a new Select 
Committee on Homeland Security interestingly does not make any changes 
in the legislative jurisdiction of the committees outlined in rule 10 
of the rules of the House. For instance, in the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure we have handled complex aviation 
security issues for 28 years. We have held dozens of hearings, 
classified briefings on aviation security. We

[[Page 16]]

have monitored security at U.S. and foreign airports. We have passed 
landmark legislation like the Aviation Security Improvement Act of 1990 
in response to the terrorism attack on Pan Am 103, and in the aftermath 
of the September 11, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 
2001. We have a great body of expertise on aviation security issues and 
the legislation to improve security.
  Now, I am puzzled that a moment ago the Speaker said the ``select 
committee will be our eyes and ears of the House. The standing 
committees will maintain their jurisdictions and will still have 
authorization and oversight responsibilities.''
  Now I take that to mean that nothing in the package would deprive the 
House of the American people of the expertise of the committee and the 
members and staff of the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure. But it is not clear, the legislative proposal on the 
select committee includes ``matters that relate to the Homeland 
Security Act of 2002.''
  As I read the proposal, the new committee would not have primary 
jurisdiction over legislation involving programs administered by the 
Department of Homeland Security. The explanation offered a moment ago 
by the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Rules does not 
clarify that jurisdictional question.
  Now, let me pose an issue. Title 14 of the Homeland Security Act, 
entitled Arming Pilots Against Terrorism, establishes a program to 
deputize airline pilots as Federal law enforcement officers and enables 
them to carry firearms on board a plane. That provision was based upon 
a bill developed in our committee which passed the House. The question 
is, if a new bill were introduced to repeal that rule, would that bill 
be primarily referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure or to the Committee on Homeland Security? I would ask 
the gentleman that. Would the gentleman respond?
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. OBERSTAR. I yield to the gentleman from California.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, let me just say that it is very clear that 
the Speaker does have authority to refer legislation, and it is his 
intent to ensure that we maintain the jurisdiction of those committees. 
And the expertise that the gentleman offered on this very important 
issue, and I remember his testimony upstairs in the Committee on Rules 
on this, it will be very valuable as this issue is addressed. And it is 
quite possible that the gentleman may or a member of his committee may 
be a member of the Select Committee on Homeland Security. So I can 
assure the gentleman that we are going to do everything possible to 
keep the expertise that is out there involved in this process.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Kucinich).
  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, last fall it took weeks for the Members of 
the House, the press and the public to figure out who inserted a 
special interest provision in the homeland security bill to exempt Eli 
Lilly and other manufacturers of thimerosal. We did not know the 
provision was in the bill before we voted on it. After it was found we 
could not figure out how it got there. Now that is no way to make law.
  This is why I am supporting the motion to commit which would mandate 
that conference reports are made available to Members at least 24 hours 
before a vote. This requirement would not be permitted to be waived.
  Members of this body deserve to know what they are voting on. The 
practice of sneaking in unrelated provisions in thick conference 
reports in the dead of night is unacceptable. The reason it is done is 
to cause Members who normally would not support a provision to do so by 
burying it in a conference report at the last minute when there is 
little chance for it to be found.
  The thimerosal exception that was slipped into the Homeland Security 
bill is a prime example. The thimerosal exemption was a big Christmas 
gift to Eli Lilly and other thimerosal manufacturers. In the last 
election cycle is it any surprise that Eli Lilly was one of the top 
pharmaceutical contributors, giving $1.6 million? In return, they got a 
thimerosal exception that they have been lobbying for all year. Eli 
Lilly's first attempt was last spring when it placed the exemption in 
the comprehensive bill, but since the bill did not get anywhere in the 
Subcommittee on Health, it switched tactics to get the exemption in 
Homeland Security.
  The exemption effectively shields Eli Lilly from all lawsuits from 
claimants injured by thimerosal. One of the concerns being expressed is 
that there is a possible link between thimerosal and autism. The 
exemption even closed the door on litigation that was ongoing at the 
time the legislation was passed. It is time to open the conference 
process and stop the back room political maneuvers that lead to secret 
provisions. We must stop the abuses of the congressional process. We 
must allow Members to know what they are voting on. Support the motion 
to commit.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Frank).
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, this rules package is a very 
important continuation of the majority's effort to shut down democratic 
debate. The ranking minority member spoke about this rule allowing the 
chairs of committees to roll votes. Basically what it represents is a 
willingness of the Republican Members to roll over, to beg, to sit up 
and do whatever their leadership tells them, because what this does is 
degrade the possibility of democratic debate in committees.
  People not familiar with the jargon probably do not fully understand 
what is being proposed. You will go to a committee session, a markup as 
we call them, and vote on the legislation, and you will offer an 
amendment to try to change things. Under these rules you may very well 
not know whether your amendment has won or lost. There will be a debate 
on the amendment and the Chair of that committee can then postpone the 
voting on that amendment until the end of that session. And what do you 
do if you have offered an amendment that might be somewhat 
controversial that has a chance to pass? What do you do if you could 
have passed the amendment if you have made a slight change? How do you 
then decide what to do next? Obviously there is no way you can have a 
rational debate in a committee if, having offered an amendment, you 
cannot tell whether or not that amendment has passed or not.
  So what this does is simply ratify the Republican approach, which is 
all power is lodged in whatever leadership is in charge at the 
particular moment and the Members are to be excused from the irritation 
of having to think about it. When the majority came to power in 1995 
they wanted to give it a proxy. They said the problem with proxy voting 
is that people vote without listening to the debate. They are not 
there. They vote by proxy. So they have now come up with a proposal 
that has all of the abuses of proxies and none of the efficiencies. At 
least proxies allowed you to determine an issue one at a time.
  What will happen is you will go to a committee meeting. Members will 
not be there. They will troop in obediently at the end and vote as the 
Chair tells them, and it will have destroyed the possibility of debate 
earlier because you simply cannot logically legislate if you do not 
know what the outcome has been of these amendments.
  Now the majority has succeeded in a number of ways in this House, 
during my tenure here with their being in control, in shutting down 
debate. I have to say that sadly they have had an accomplice in this, 
the media. We had wide coverage in the press gallery of our ceremonial 
oath taking. Now that we are dealing with extremely controversial 
measures that will further the degradation of democracy in the U.S. 
House of Representatives, very few people are here to cover it. So I 
guess they will once again get away with it. But the

[[Page 17]]

consequence will be very clear. The extent to which there is now 
rational debate and openness in the committees will be substantially 
diminished.
  The Republican leadership is apparently willing obediently to vote 
for this rules package, although I am told that many of them objected 
to parts of it, to give once again their right to make decisions to 
their leadership.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Kansas (Mr. Moore).
  Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the House rules 
package the majority is proposing for the 108th Congress.
  The majority has turned its back on fiscal responsibility by 
attempting to hide large future increases in our national debt by 
reinstating the so-called ``Gephardt Rule.'' This rules change will 
allow the House to avoid a separate vote on the debt limit, preventing 
full and open debate on a policy with long-term consequences to our 
Nation's fiscal health.
  Last June, Mr. Speaker, we had a full debate as Congress raised the 
limit on the debt by $450 billion. I opposed this increase because the 
House failed at that time to reevaluate the policies that required us 
to increase the statutory limit on debt in the first place. But at 
least, at least we had a debate.
  An increase in the debt limit should require action by Congress and 
the President to put the fiscal house back in order. But now the 
majority party is resorting to the tactics that they opposed just last 
year. They are attempting to hide votes to increase the national debt 
by reviving this rule.
  The majority will eagerly support the President's proposal to be 
unveiled today which will add more than $600 billion to the debt over 
the next 10 years. They should be willing to stand up and be counted 
when the time comes to pay the bill by raising the debt limit. The new 
proposed rule will allow the majority to avoid taking responsibility 
for paying our bills. The majority's rule will impose a new tax, a debt 
tax, a tax equal to the interest payments on our $6.2 trillion national 
debt, a tax that cannot be repealed.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote for the motion to recommit 
and oppose the rules package that will result in a new debt tax 
increase for all Americans.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time I have 
remaining?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). The gentlewoman from New York 
(Ms. Slaughter) has 4\1/2\ minutes remaining.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Sherman).
  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to address section 2(J) of these rules providing 
for dynamic scoring of tax bills. I thought the Arthur Andersen 
accounting firm had been dissolved. Instead it is being moved wholesale 
into the Committee on Ways and Means and the Joint Committee on 
Taxation.
  With dynamic scoring, every tax cut for the wealthy can be scored as 
making money for the Treasury. The first President George Bush 
described this as voodoo economics, while the advisors unfortunately of 
the current President seem nostalgic for supply-side trickle down 
economics.
  The proof that dynamic scoring makes no sense is that dynamic scoring 
is provided in these rules for money spent to improve our economy. So 
if we were to spend $100 billion over 10 years improving vocational 
education, virtually every economist would agree that that will at 
least help our economy, maybe will help our economy to the point where 
the tax revenues outweigh the expenditures. And yet there is no 
recognition of the fact that spending money on education produces money 
eventually for our Treasury.
  In contrast, if we were to spend $100 billion over 10 years by giving 
tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans, some economists would say the 
cost of the Treasury exceeds $100 billion because it will have an 
adverse impact on our economy, drive up interest rates, et cetera. And 
yet instead we will no doubt get a dynamic score that says tax cuts do 
not cost the Treasury any money but spending on education, oh, that 
costs.
  That is why Alan Greenspan told us that unfortunately the analytical 
tools required to achieve dynamic scoring are deficient. Accordingly, 
we should be especially cautious about adopting technical scoring 
procedures that might be susceptible to overly optimistic assessments.
  In summary, the currently relatively straightforward scoring has 
served us well. I think Mr. Greenspan is correct.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes, the remainder of 
my time, to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor).
  Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, we are barely 3 hours into 
this Congress and the political hedonists of this Congress have struck 
their first blow. You know hedonism, if it feels good do it regardless 
of the consequences.
  Well, that is exactly what those people who have voted repeatedly to 
raise the debt limit and to stick our children and our children's 
children with our bills have done. Now they want to do it even better.
  One of the few things that controlled their urge to run up the bill 
and stick our kids with it was at least a law that said we had to vote 
to raise the debt limit. Now they want to do away with that law. They 
want a rule that says if they pass a budget we do not have to raise the 
debt limit.
  I would remind them that in the 19 months since the Bush budget 
became law, that we have stuck our children and our children's children 
with $749,529,498,242 worth of new debt. It did not stimulate the 
economy. It stimulated the debt. It is political hedonism. You heard it 
here first. You are going to hear it a lot.
  Just a little while ago the Speaker of the House said, ``We pledge to 
fight those who would endanger our freedom.'' Those of you who would 
bankrupt our Nation will destroy our freedom. And, therefore, just as 
the Speaker pledged to fight those who would endanger our freedom, I 
pledge to fight you tooth and nail on every effort to increase the 
national debt and every effort to hide the way that you do it.

                              {time}  1515

  The last time we had to have a vote, it was scheduled for three 
o'clock in the morning.
  My dad's taught me a lot in life; but generally, one of his best 
rules is anything a person does past midnight, they are probably not 
very proud of, and I am sure my colleagues were not proud of the fact 
that they raised the debt limit. So now my colleagues do not want to 
have that vote at all.
  Mr. Speaker, I am opposing these rule changes; and I would ask every 
Member to do so who believes in accountability, believes in standing up 
and talking to the citizens and saying, yes, I did that and this is the 
reason why or, no, I did not oppose this rule. If my colleagues have 
come here to hide from the truth, if they have come here to stick their 
children and their children's children with their bills, then vote for 
it.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of the time.
  Mr. Speaker, we began today with wonderful bipartisan statements that 
came from both the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the new 
minority leader, and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert), the 
Speaker, right behind me here in this Chamber; and we want to see that 
spirit continue today, and obviously we very much want to have that 
spirit continue through this 108th Congress because we have many very 
serious challenges that we face as a Nation.
  Number one, of course, is our national security and, along with that, 
homeland security, the challenges abroad. Right next to that, of 
course, is focusing on getting this economy moving, which the President 
talked about earlier today in Chicago; and as we look at this opening 
day rules package, I am very proud of the fact that it does more to 
focus on the very important issue of minority rights than anything that 
was done by my friends on the other side of the aisle during their 4 
decades of uninterrupted, one-party control of this institution.

[[Page 18]]

  If my colleagues look at the reforms that we have maintained we 
initiated once we became a majority and frankly built upon, they do, in 
fact, increase the accountability and the deliberative nature of this 
Congress. We have items that are included in this measure which 
guarantee the minority the right to offer a motion to recommit on 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I had the privilege of serving for 14 years here in the 
minority until in 1994 we won the majority. During that period of time, 
there were numerous occasions when the then-Republican minority was 
denied the chance to even offer a motion to recommit.
  Something else that we have done that we are very proud of, Mr. 
Speaker, again focusing on minority rights, has been to ensure that 
one-third of the funding level for minority staffing on committees is 
provided to the minority. Once again, during the 14 years that I was 
privileged to serve here in the minority, we saw numerous occasions 
when the then-Republican minority was denied the chance to have even a 
modicum of investigative staff on certain committees; and the numbers 
were very, very heavily skewed against the then-Republican minority. We 
are providing a much higher level of funding for the Democratic 
minority.
  Also, we heard this discussion earlier about the issue of proxy 
voting. The issue of proxy voting had to do with committee chairmen 
arbitrarily utilizing the proxy of Members who were not even in the 
room, in the building, quite possibly they were not even in our 
Nation's capital; and yet their votes were being cast on issues that 
they may not have even known about. So we chose to bring an end to 
proxy voting.
  Mr. Speaker, one of the things is that we have learned that we do 
have a very narrow majority. It is a little greater than in the 107th 
Congress, I am happy to say; but it is still the second narrowest in 
recent times, and we do have the challenge of trying to manage and move 
very important legislation through this body.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe that we have, as a Republican majority, 
learned from some of the actions of the Democratic majority; and we 
went, as I said, for 4 decades without being in the majority. We served 
in the minority. It took us time to learn about the process of 
governing. We were not able to do that overnight, and so I will admit 
there are some modifications that we have made, and providing the 
opportunity for committee chairmen, obviously working, as has been the 
case in the 107th Congress and earlier Congresses, with the minority to 
roll votes in committee while guaranteeing Members the opportunity to 
offer second-degree amendments is something that will again enhance the 
ability to move legislation effectively; and we hope, as has been the 
case in the past, that much of that will be done in a bipartisan way.
  We have established this Department of Homeland Security. We do have 
dynamic scoring. I know there was concern raised about that. It is a 
very, very small consideration. The Office of Management and Budget, 
the Congressional Budget Office will not be engaged in this; but we 
will see the Joint Committee on Taxation doing it. Why? Very simply, 
because we believe that behavioral patterns should be taken into 
consideration when we look at the impact of a tax cut on the flow of 
revenues to the Federal Treasury.
  Today, I introduced legislation which reduces the top rate on capital 
gains from 20 percent down to 10 percent. I introduced it 
perspectively, encouraging the American people to once again invest, to 
get into the market and to invest. What the bill that I have introduced 
basically says is that during a 2-year period, if people invest and 
they hold on to that asset for 1 year, they will be able to see a 
tremendous cut, a cut of one-half, from 20 percent down to 10 percent 
and from 10 percent to 5 percent for those in the 15 percent bracket.
  Mr. Speaker, I would argue and I believe that every shred of evidence 
over the past and with the scoring procedure that we have put into 
place will show that the rich pay more in taxes. Why? Because we have 
often a lock-in effect. More than half the American people are members 
of the investor class today. People are invested in markets through 
401(k)s, individual retirement accounts. They have got some appreciated 
assets with real estate homes and all, and we know that the market has 
dropped tremendously, but the President's plan is encouraging economic 
growth.
  We, in the bill that I have just introduced in a bipartisan way, are 
encouraging economic growth with that as well; and with economic 
growth, Mr. Speaker, we are going to see an increase in the flow of 
revenues to the Federal Treasury. That is what the scoring procedure 
that we have put into place for the Joint Committee on Taxation will 
do. It will simply provide that information, making that information 
available.
  So we have a very fair, balanced measure here which again increases 
the deliberative nature of this institution and does increase the 
accountability.
  On the issue of the debt limit, every Member will be accountable 
because that vote will be cast when we deal with the budget resolution 
itself. So we are going to see every Member accountable for their votes 
that they cast right here.
  We have spectacular leadership from Speaker Hastert. This is a 
measure that will allow him to deal with the very serious challenges 
that our Nation faces in the 108th Congress.
  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the House Rules 
packages being offered today by the majority. Over the previous four 
Congresses, which have been controlled by the Republican party, the 
House rules became increasingly hostile to the rights of the minority. 
This proposal continues that trend.
  Let there be no misunderstanding--when I speak of the rights of the 
minority I am speaking of the rights of the 47 percent of all Americans 
who are represented by Democratic and Independent Members of Congress. 
It is their rights which are being abused when their Member of Congress 
is treated unfairly.
  For example, the right of all Members, and particularly the minority, 
to file its views on legislation reported by a committee, has been 
reduced to 2 days. During the 40 years of Democratic control the 
minority was always permitted 3 days.
  Similarly, committee ratios have been consistently stacked against 
the minority. For example, on the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 
during Democratic control the majority representation of the committee 
was always within two percentage points of its ratio in the House, and 
the difference averaged less than one percent. In the past three 
Congresses, under Republican control, the difference was more than 3 
percent. In short, the Republican majority has robbed the Democratic 
minority of seats they deserve in our committee.
  In the last Congress, the Republican rules package radically changed 
the jurisdiction of the Energy and Commerce Committee by transferring 
its jurisdiction over securities and insurance to the Committee on 
Financial Services. This change was done without a single hearing at 
which Members of the majority or minority were permitted to present 
their views, or without a single markup at which minority Members could 
vote or suggest alternatives. Now the Republican majority is doing the 
same thing with the establishment of a Select Committee on Homeland 
Security.
  The majority has not only trampled upon the rights of the minority, 
but also upon the rights of individual citizens. For example, 
Republicans eliminated a longstanding rule of the House that permitted 
individuals who were required to appear before a committee under a 
subpoena the right to have television cameras turned off. The rule had 
permitted all other media to cover the hearing, but the rule gave the 
witness the right to some level of fairness.
  In this context, I look with interest every year to see what new 
rules will be adopted in response to the majority's irritation with the 
minority's invocation of its merger remaining rights.
  This year there are several interesting changes. Perhaps the most 
interesting one is the permission to committees to adopt rules allowing 
the chairman to postpone votes on bills and amendments in committee. 
When my Republican colleagues took control of the House they complained 
that proxy voting permitted Members to cast votes on matters without 
attending the debate that accompanied the matter. It now appears that 
by permitting votes to be postponed to a time certain, Members will no 
longer have to attend committee markups while important amendments are 
being debated. Instead, they will merely have to

[[Page 19]]

show up at a specified time to vote. It sounds an awful lot like proxy 
voting to me.
  Another rule change stretches out the length of time before the 
minority may offer motions to instruct conferees by requiring a minimum 
of 10 legislative days. Again, this rule limits minority rights.
  While some rule changes are technical in nature, it appears that the 
other substantive amendments are designed to make it easier for my 
Republican colleagues to plunge our Nation further into debt. Not 
satisfied with throwing away the progress made during the Clinton 
administration, which changed annual budget deficits to surpluses, the 
Republicans in the last Congress immediately threw the country back 
into budget deficits while raiding our Social Security and Medicare 
trust funds.
  While they seemed to take delight in placing more and more tax cuts 
on the Floor during the past Congress, it was a lot more painful for 
them to figure out how to pay for them. So this year they are adopting 
a host of rules to hide their budget profligacy. No longer will they 
require Members to vote on raising the statutory limit on the debt. Now 
their vote on the budget resolution will automatically raise the debt 
limit.
  Moreover, the rules continue the so-called ``deeming'' resolution, 
which allows the House to pretend it has adopted a binding budget 
resolution when in reality, only one House has acted. The rules would 
also require the Ways and Means Committee to include so-called 
``dynamic scoring'' on amendments to the tax code. While ``dynamic 
scoring'' has no real definition, it is generally understood to mean a 
way to pretend that a tax cut increase revenues rather than decreasing 
them. We heard all of this same nonsense during the Reagan 
administration and talk about the Laffer curve. Ultimately, we saw only 
greater deficits.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time for my Republican colleagues to stop playing 
games with the House rules. We must respect the rights of Democratic 
Members of this body, and more importantly, the rights of the 47 
percent of Americans who they represent. We must stop using the House 
rules to make it easier to plunge the Nation into debt, while hiding 
raids on the Social Security and Medicare trust funds. The Republicans' 
procedural thumb on the scale demeans this institution and reduces its 
credibility.
  Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 5, 
the resolution providing for the rules for the House for the 108th 
Congress. This is an important package, with important reforms, for 
both the House and its committees.
  In particular, I am pleased to see that the House is prepared to 
accept my proposal that committees be permitted postpone some votes 
during markups. As I explained in my testimony submitted to the Rules 
Committee, one of the biggest obstacles I faced during my first term as 
Chairman of the Financial Services committee was the limited House 
schedule, combined with multiple demands for Committee members' time. 
When the House is in session for 2\1/2\ or 3 days a week, and members 
routinely have 2 and 3 committee assignments, we are faced with a 
situation where it is next to impossible for authorizing committees to 
do their work. When the committees are unable to complete their work, 
it's hard to keep the floor in session. It is a vicious cycle, and we 
need new tools to address it.
  That is why I suggested that the House change rule XI of the Rules of 
the House to permit committee chairmen to exercise authority similar to 
that of the Speaker in the House or the Chairman of the Committee of 
the Whole to postpone ordered record votes to permit the ``stacking'' 
of multiple votes. This is a practice we are all used to when we vote 
in the House or the Committee of the Whole, and one that can be easily 
applied to committee practice.
  It is important to note that nothing in this rules change will alter 
committee quorum requirements, or curtail other parliamentary options 
available to the Minority. Ultimately, this tool will be one of 
bipartisan convenience, rather than a tool to be used by the Majority 
to impose its will on the Minority.
  I am pleased to see that this proposal is included in the rules 
package before the House today. I especially want to thank the Majority 
Leader, Mr. DeLay, the speaker, and the Chairman of the Rules 
Committee, the gentleman from California, Mr. Dreier, for their support 
of this change.
  I believe this is an important provision in an excellent rules 
package, and I encourage all of my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I 
move the previous question on the resolution.


               Motion to Commit Offered by Ms. Slaughter

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to commit.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). The Clerk will report the 
motion.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Ms. Slaughter moves to commit the resolution H. Res. 5 to 
     the Committee on Rules with instructions to report the same 
     back to the House forthwith with the following amendments:
       Amend section 2 of the resolution (relating to changes in 
     standing rules) by striking amendments to the Rules of the 
     House of Representatives relating to--
       (1) postponement of votes in committee;
       (2) requirement of dynamic scoring in Ways and Means 
     reports;
       (3) motions to instruct during conference;
       (4) perishable food as a gift; and
       (5) gift ban exemption for charity travel; and
       (6) fiduciary relationship for physicians.
       Further amend section 2 of the resolution by adding at the 
     end the following new subsection:
       (v) Committee ratios.--Clause 5(a)(1) of rule X of the 
     Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by adding at 
     the end the following new sentence: ``The membership of each 
     committee (and each subcommittee or other subunit thereof) 
     shall reflect the ratio of majority to minority party members 
     of the House at the beginning of the Congress. This 
     requirement shall not apply to the Committee on Rules and the 
     Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.''.
       Amend section 3 of the resolution by striking subsection 
     (a)(4) and subsection (d).
       Amend the resolution by adding at the end the following new 
     section:

     SEC. 5. SENSE OF THE HOUSE.

       It is the sense of the House of Representatives that it 
     considers protection of the rights of the minority party to 
     be able to fully participate in the legislative process to be 
     of paramount importance and to that end, the Republican 
     leadership of the House should:
       (1) Pursuant to clause 8(a)(1) of rule XXII of the Rules of 
     the House of Representatives, ensure that conference reports 
     be available to Members at least three calendar days prior to 
     consideration, and that in no case shall they be brought up 
     for consideration without 24 hours availability.
       (2) Seek to reduce the number of waivers of the Rules of 
     the House of Representatives contained in special order of 
     business resolutions reported by the Committee on Rules.
       (3) Seek to reduce the number of bills considered by 
     suspension of the rules, especially those bills which are of 
     major legislative importance as well as any bill that may 
     make or authorize appropriations in excess of $100,000,000 
     for any fiscal year.
       (4) Seek to ensure that more alternatives or substitutes to 
     legislation be allowed in any special order of business 
     resolution reported by the Committee on Rules in order to 
     ensure that differing viewpoints may be debated on the House 
     floor which will open the democratic process in the House of 
     Representatives.
       (5) Seek to ensure that the Committee on Rules reports more 
     open rules so that Members of the Democratic Caucus may offer 
     amendments to committee bills, or in those cases where 
     structured rules are reported, that more Democratic 
     amendments presenting significant policy ideas and 
     initiatives be included in those amendments made eligible for 
     consideration by the rule.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the motion is considered 
as one to commit the resolution to a select committee composed of the 
majority leader and the minority leader.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is 
ordered on the motion to commit.
  There was no objection.


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair would like to announce that any 
Member-elect who failed to take the Oath of Office may present himself 
or herself in the well of the House prior to the vote on the motion to 
commit the resolution now pending or on any other rollcall vote.
  The question is on the motion to commit offered by the gentlewoman 
from New York (Ms. Slaughter).
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the noes appeared to have it.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. 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 200, 
nays 225, not voting 8, as follows:

                              [Roll No. 3]

                               YEAS--200

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Alexander
     Allen
     Andrews
     Baca
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Ballance
     Becerra
     Bell
     Berkley

[[Page 20]]


     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Brown (OH)
     Brown, Corrine
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardin
     Cardoza
     Carson (IN)
     Case
     Clay
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costello
     Cramer
     Crowley
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (TN)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Deutsch
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Dooley (CA)
     Doyle
     Edwards
     Emanuel
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Ford
     Frank (MA)
     Frost
     Gephardt
     Gonzalez
     Gordon
     Green (TX)
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Hill
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hoeffel
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     John
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones (OH)
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     Kleczka
     Kucinich
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Lantos
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Lucas (KY)
     Majette
     Maloney
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meeks (NY)
     Menendez
     Michaud
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mollohan
     Moore
     Moran (VA)
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Peterson (MN)
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Rodriguez
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sabo
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sanders
     Sandlin
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sherman
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stenholm
     Strickland
     Stupak
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor (MS)
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Turner (TX)
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Wexler
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn

                               NAYS--225

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Bachus
     Baker
     Ballenger
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bass
     Beauprez
     Bereuter
     Biggert
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonner
     Bono
     Boozman
     Bradley (NH)
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (SC)
     Burgess
     Burns
     Burr
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Carter
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chocola
     Coble
     Cole
     Collins
     Combest
     Cox
     Crane
     Crenshaw
     Cubin
     Culberson
     Cunningham
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     DeLay
     DeMint
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Doolittle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Ehlers
     Emerson
     English
     Everett
     Feeney
     Ferguson
     Flake
     Fletcher
     Foley
     Forbes
     Fossella
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gingrey
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Goss
     Granger
     Graves
     Green (WI)
     Greenwood
     Gutknecht
     Harris
     Hart
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Hostettler
     Houghton
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Hyde
     Isakson
     Issa
     Istook
     Jenkins
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Keller
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MN)
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     LaHood
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Leach
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     LoBiondo
     Lucas (OK)
     Manzullo
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McKeon
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Nethercutt
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nunes
     Nussle
     Osborne
     Ose
     Otter
     Oxley
     Paul
     Pearce
     Pence
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pitts
     Platts
     Pombo
     Porter
     Portman
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Renzi
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Ryun (KS)
     Saxton
     Schrock
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherwood
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simmons
     Simpson
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Souder
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Sweeney
     Tancredo
     Tauzin
     Taylor (NC)
     Terry
     Thomas
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Toomey
     Turner (OH)
     Upton
     Vitter
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wolf
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                             NOT VOTING--8

     Carson (OK)
     Clyburn
     Janklow
     Kennedy (RI)
     Lynch
     Meek (FL)
     Pickering
     Waters

                              {time}  1553

  Messrs. EVERETT, CASTLE, JONES of North Carolina, GARRETT of New 
Jersey, LEWIS of California, NORWOOD, PITTS, SMITH of Texas, and HUNTER 
changed their vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
  Messrs. LARSON of Connecticut, McDERMOTT, CARDOZA, PETERSON of 
Minnesota, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. OWENS, Mr. STARK, Ms. 
LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California, Mr. RAHALL and Mr. CONYERS changed 
their vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
  So the motion to commit was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  Stated against:
  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 3, I 
inadvertently pressed the ``yea'' button. I meant to vote ``nay.''
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). The question is on the 
resolution.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. 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 221, 
nays 203, not voting 9, as follows:

                              [Roll No. 4]

                               YEAS--221

     Akin
     Bachus
     Baker
     Ballenger
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bass
     Beauprez
     Bereuter
     Biggert
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonner
     Bono
     Boozman
     Bradley (NH)
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Burgess
     Burns
     Burr
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Carter
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chocola
     Coble
     Cole
     Collins
     Combest
     Crane
     Crenshaw
     Cubin
     Culberson
     Cunningham
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Davis, Tom
     DeLay
     DeMint
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Doolittle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Ehlers
     Emerson
     English
     Everett
     Feeney
     Ferguson
     Flake
     Fletcher
     Foley
     Forbes
     Fossella
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gingrey
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Goss
     Granger
     Graves
     Green (WI)
     Greenwood
     Gutknecht
     Harris
     Hart
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Hostettler
     Houghton
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Hyde
     Isakson
     Issa
     Istook
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Keller
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MN)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     LaHood
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Leach
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     LoBiondo
     Lucas (OK)
     Manzullo
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McKeon
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Nethercutt
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nunes
     Nussle
     Osborne
     Ose
     Otter
     Oxley
     Paul
     Pearce
     Pence
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Pombo
     Porter
     Portman
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Renzi
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Ryun (KS)
     Saxton
     Schrock
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherwood
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simmons
     Simpson
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Souder
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Sweeney
     Tancredo
     Tauzin
     Taylor (NC)
     Terry
     Thomas
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Toomey
     Turner (OH)
     Upton
     Vitter
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wolf
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                               NAYS--203

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Alexander
     Allen
     Andrews
     Baca
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Ballance
     Becerra
     Bell
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Blumenauer
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Brown (OH)
     Brown, Corrine
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardin
     Cardoza
     Carson (IN)
     Carson (OK)
     Case
     Clay
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costello
     Cramer
     Crowley
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (TN)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Deutsch
     Dicks
     Dingell

[[Page 21]]


     Doggett
     Dooley (CA)
     Doyle
     Edwards
     Emanuel
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Ford
     Frank (MA)
     Frost
     Gephardt
     Gonzalez
     Gordon
     Green (TX)
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Hill
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hoeffel
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     John
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones (OH)
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     Kleczka
     Kucinich
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Lantos
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Lucas (KY)
     Lynch
     Majette
     Maloney
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Menendez
     Michaud
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mollohan
     Moore
     Moran (VA)
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Peterson (MN)
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Rodriguez
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sabo
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sanders
     Sandlin
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sherman
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stenholm
     Strickland
     Stupak
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor (MS)
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Turner (TX)
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Wexler
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn

                             NOT VOTING--9

     Aderholt
     Bishop (NY)
     Clyburn
     Cox
     Deal (GA)
     Janklow
     Jenkins
     Johnson (CT)
     King (IA)

                              {time}  1611

  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.
  Stated for:
  Mr. KING of Iowa. Mr. Speaker on rollcall No. 4, my voting card did 
not function properly. Had it worked properly, I would have voted 
``yea.''
  Stated against:
  Mr. BISHOP of New York. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 4, I was 
unavoidably detained and I would have voted ``no'' on H. Res. 5.

                          ____________________