[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 13031-13032]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    WAIVING REQUIREMENT OF CLAUSE 6(a) OF RULE XIII WITH RESPECT TO 
                  CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN RESOLUTIONS

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, 
I call up House Resolution 1281 and ask for its immediate 
consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 1281

       Resolved, That the requirement of clause 6(a) of rule XIII 
     for a two-thirds vote to consider a report from the Committee 
     on Rules on the same day it is presented to the House is 
     waived with respect to any resolution reported on the 
     legislative day of June 19, 2008, providing for consideration 
     or disposition of a measure making supplemental 
     appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from New York is recognized 
for 1 hour.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
  For the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to 
the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier). All time yielded during 
consideration of the rule is for debate only.
  I yield myself such time as I may consume and ask unanimous consent 
that all Members be given 5 legislative days in which to revise and 
extend their remarks on House Resolution 1281.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Speaker, H. Res. 1281 waives clause 6(a) of rule 
XIII which requires a two-thirds vote to consider a rule on the same 
day it is reported from the Rules Committee. The waiver would apply to 
any rule reported on the legislative day of June 19, 2008, that 
provides for consideration or disposition of a measure making 
supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year 2008.
  Madam Speaker, with the passage of this rule, the House would move 
one step closer to taking up the supplemental appropriations bill, a 
bill forged in bipartisan compromise that provides funding for our 
troops currently on the ground, critical domestic savings for Americans 
calling out for relief, and a dramatic expansion for veterans' 
educational benefits.
  The same-day rule will allow us to do all of this in an expedited 
manner. Later today, the Rules Committee will report out a rule that 
will give the Chamber the opportunity to debate the bipartisan 
legislation dealing with some of the most pressing issues facing our 
Nation today.
  I urge a ``yes'' vote on the rule.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might 
consume.
  I want to begin by expressing my great appreciation to the very able 
and distinguished Chair of the Committee on Rules, my dear friend from 
Rochester (Ms. Slaughter) for yielding me the customary 30 minutes.
  And I will say, Madam Speaker, that I stand here with somewhat mixed 
emotions. While I am happy that we are going to finally ensure that our 
men and women in uniform who are on the front lines ensuring the safety 
of our fellow Americans are going to have the funding that is 
necessary, I'm saddened that we are here at this juncture considering 
this measure under a process which was not at all necessary.
  Madam Speaker, if we had, literally months ago, months ago, come to 
this point, we could have, under regular order, very easily provided 
the necessary troop funding that is out there, dealt with the issue of 
unemployment benefits, which is going to be addressed, and ensure that 
we're not going to put into place a massive tax increase on job 
creators here in the United States.

                              {time}  1115

  So I will say, Madam Speaker, that we want to do everything that we 
can to, as expeditiously as possible, meet the demand that has been set 
forward by our leaders on the frontline in the field in Iraq and 
Afghanistan.
  I hope very much that my colleagues will join with me. It's not 
normal that I would support this structure that would allow for same-
day consideration of the measure, but I believe it is imperative that 
we get funding to our troops, and I believe that the measure that we're 
going to consider in just a little while from now will allow us to do 
that.
  With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Speaker, just one response to my good friend 
from California and my dear friend, that had the Republican Party voted 
for the last supplemental bill which funded the troops, it would not be 
necessary to be here today.
  Mr. DREIER. Would the gentlewoman yield on that point?
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. I will be happy to yield.
  Mr. DREIER. I will simply say that there were very important reasons 
that we did not support it: a massive tax increase that was imposed on 
working Americans and job creators.
  This measure that we are going to be considering later today is one 
that I believe we can have support from the United States Senate on and 
support from the President on. And we know full well that had that 
measure passed this House that we would have ended up right where we 
are today because the President would have vetoed the bill if it had 
gotten there, and most likely, would have not gotten through the 
Senate.
  So I thank my friend for yielding. Let's move ahead. We have a 
bipartisan compromise right now, and I believe it is beneficial.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. I just want to make one inquiry: Is the massive tax 
increase you're talking about the extension of unemployment benefits?
  Mr. DREIER. If I could ask my friend to further yield, I will say 
absolutely not. I will tell you that what I was talking about was the 
tax that is imposed on those people in upper income brackets, 82 
percent of whom are small business owners in this country. That's the 
tax that we were talking about in

[[Page 13032]]

the last measure, and that played a big role in leading those of us who 
want to ensure that we get this economy growing again that we would 
not, in fact, impinge on that by imposing that tax increase.
  So I will say to my friend, let's move ahead. Let's make sure that we 
get the important funding to our troops so that we can be successful in 
ensuring our safety, and I thank my friend for yielding.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Well, I will just close by saying we've been trying 
very hard to do just that.
  I yield back the balance of my time and move the previous question on 
the resolution.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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