[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 17253-17256]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           RAISING A QUESTION OF THE PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE

  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise to a question of the 
privileges of the House and offer the resolution previously noticed.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the resolution.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Whereas on January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was inaugurated 
     as President of the United States, and the outstanding public 
     debt of the United States stood at $10.627 trillion;
       Whereas on January 20, 2009, in the President's Inaugural 
     Address, he stated, ``[T]hose of us who manage the public's 
     dollars will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad 
     habits, and do our business in the light of day, because only 
     then can we restore the vital trust between a people and 
     their government.'';
       Whereas on February 17, 2009, the President signed into 
     public law H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 
     of 2009;
       Whereas the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 
     included $575 billion of new spending and $212 billion of 
     revenue reductions for a total deficit impact of $787 
     billion;
       Whereas the borrowing necessary to finance the American 
     Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will cost an additional 
     $300 billion;
       Whereas on February 26, 2009, the President unveiled his 
     budget blueprint for FY 2010;
       Whereas the President's budget for FY 2010 proposes the 
     eleven highest annual deficits in U.S. history;
       Whereas the President's budget for FY 2010 proposes to 
     increase the national debt to $23.1 trillion by FY 2019, more 
     than doubling it from current levels;
       Whereas on March 11, 2009, the President signed into public 
     law H.R. 1105, the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009;
       Whereas the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 constitutes 
     nine of the twelve appropriations bills for FY 2009 which had 
     not been enacted before the start of the fiscal year;
       Whereas the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 spends $19.1 
     billion more than the request of President Bush;
       Whereas the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 spends $19.0 
     billion more than simply extending the continuing resolution 
     for FY 2009;
       Whereas on April 1, 2009, the House considered H. Con. Res. 
     85, Congressional Democrats' budget proposal for FY 2010;
       Whereas the Congressional Democrats' budget proposal for FY 
     2010, H. Con. Res. 85, proposes the six highest annual 
     deficits in U.S. history;
       Whereas the Congressional Democrats' budget proposal for FY 
     2010, H. Con. Res. 85, proposes to increase the national debt 
     to $17.1 trillion over five years, $5.3 trillion more than 
     compared to the level on January 20, 2009;
       Whereas Congressional Republicans produced an alternative 
     budget proposal for FY 2010 which spends $4.8 trillion less 
     than the Congressional Democrats' budget over 10 years;
       Whereas the Republican Study Committee produced an 
     alternative budget proposal for FY 2010 which improves the 
     budget outlook in every single year, balances the budget by 
     FY 2019, and cuts the national debt by more than $6 trillion 
     compared to the President"s budget;
       Whereas on April 20, 2009, attempting to respond to public 
     criticism, the President convened the first cabinet meeting 
     of his Administration and challenged his cabinet to cut a 
     collective $100 million in the next 90 days;
       Whereas the challenge to cut a collective $100 million 
     represents just 1/40,000 of the Federal budget;
       Whereas on June 16, 2009, total outstanding Troubled Asset 
     Relief Program, or TARP, funds to banks stood at $197.6 
     billion;
       Whereas on June 16, 2009, total outstanding TARP funds to 
     AIG stood at $69.8 billion;
       Whereas on June 16, 2009, total outstanding TARP funds to 
     domestic automotive manufacturers and their finance units 
     stood at $80 billion;
       Whereas on June 19, 2009, the outstanding public debt of 
     the United States was $11.409 trillion;
       Whereas on June 19, 2009, each citizen's share of the 
     outstanding public debt of the United States came to 
     $37,236.88;
       Whereas according to a New York Times/CBS News survey, 
     three-fifths of Americans (60 percent) do not think the 
     President has developed a clear plan for dealing with the 
     current budget deficit (New York Times/CBS News, Conducted 
     June 12-16, 2009, Survey of 895 Adults Nationwide);
       Whereas the best means to develop a clear plan for dealing 
     with runaway Federal spending is a real commitment to fiscal 
     restraint and an open and transparent appropriations process 
     in the House of Representatives;
       Whereas before assuming control of the House of 
     Representatives in January 2007, Congressional Democrats were 
     committed to an open and transparent appropriations process;
       Whereas according to a document by Congressional Democrats 
     entitled ``Democratic Declaration: Honest Leadership and Open 
     Government,'' page 2 states, ``Our goal is to restore 
     accountability, honesty and openness at all levels of 
     government.'';

[[Page 17254]]

       Whereas according to a document by Congressional Democrats 
     entitled ``A New Direction for America,'' page 29 states, 
     ``Bills should generally come to the floor under a procedure 
     that allows open, full, and fair debate consisting of a full 
     amendment process that grants the Minority the right to offer 
     its alternatives, including a substitute.'';
       Whereas on November 21, 2006, The San Francisco Chronicle 
     reported, ``Speaker Pelosi pledged to restore `minority 
     rights'--including the right of Republicans to offer 
     amendments to bills on the floor . . . The principle of 
     civility and respect for minority participation in this House 
     is something that we promised the American people, she said. 
     `It's the right thing to do.''' (``Pelosi's All Smiles 
     through a Rough House Transition,'' The San Francisco 
     Chronicle, November 21, 2006);
       Whereas on December 6, 2006, Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated, 
     ``[We] promised the American people that we would have the 
     most honest and open government and we will.'';
       Whereas on December 17, 2006, The Washington Post reported, 
     ``After a decade of bitter partisanship that has all but 
     crippled efforts to deal with major national problems, Pelosi 
     is determined to try to return the House to what it was in an 
     earlier era--`where you debated ideas and listened to each 
     others arguments.''' (``Pelosi's House Diplomacy,'' The 
     Washington Post, December 17, 2006);
       Whereas on December 5, 2006, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer 
     stated, ``We intend to have a Rules Committee . . . that 
     gives opposition voices and alternative proposals the ability 
     to be heard and considered on the floor of the House.'' 
     (``Hoyer Says Dems' Plans Unruffled by Approps Logjam,'' 
     CongressDaily PM, December 5, 2006);
       Whereas during debate on June 14, 2005, in the 
     Congressional Record on page H4410, Chairwoman Louise M. 
     Slaughter of the House Rules Committee stated, ``If we want 
     to foster democracy in this body, we should take the time and 
     thoughtfulness to debate all major legislation under an open 
     rule, not just appropriations bills, which are already 
     restricted. An open process should be the norm and not the 
     exception.'';
       Whereas since January 2007, there has been a failure to 
     commit to an open and transparent process in the House of 
     Representatives;
       Whereas more bills were considered under closed rules, 64 
     total, in the 110th Congress under Democratic control, than 
     in the previous Congress, 49, under Republican control;
       Whereas fewer bills were considered under open rules, 10 
     total, in the 110th Congress under Democratic control, than 
     in the previous Congress, 22, under Republican control;
       Whereas fewer amendments were allowed per bill, 7.68, in 
     the 110th Congress under Democratic control, than in the 
     previous Congress, 9.22, under Republican control;
       Whereas the failure to commit to an open and transparent 
     process in order to develop a clear plan for dealing with 
     runaway Federal spending reached its pinnacle in the House's 
     handling of H.R. 2847, the Commerce, Justice, Science, and 
     Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010;
       Whereas H.R. 2847, the Commerce, Justice, Science, and 
     Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010 contains $64.4 
     billion in discretionary spending, 11.6 percent more than 
     enacted in FY 2009;
       Whereas on June 11, 2009, the House Rules Committee issued 
     an announcement stating that amendments for H.R. 2847, the 
     Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies 
     Appropriations Act, 2010 must be pre-printed in the 
     Congressional Record by the close of business on June 15, 
     2009;
       Whereas both Republicans and Democrats filed 127 amendments 
     in the Congressional Record for consideration on the House 
     floor;
       Whereas on June 15, 2009, the House Rules Committee 
     reported H. Res. 544, a rule with a pre-printing requirement 
     and unlimited pro forma amendments for purposes of debate;
       Whereas on June 16, 2009, the House proceeded with one hour 
     of general debate, or one minute to vet each $1.07 billion in 
     H.R. 2847, in the Committee of the Whole;
       Whereas after one hour of general debate the House 
     proceeded with amendment debate;
       Whereas after just 22 minutes of amendment debate, or one 
     minute to vet each $3.02 billion in H.R. 2847, a motion that 
     the Committee rise was offered by Congressional Democrats;
       Whereas the House agreed on a motion that the Committee 
     rise by a recorded vote of 179 Ayes to 124 Noes, with all 
     votes in the affirmative being cast by Democrats;
       Whereas afterwards, the House Rules Committee convened a 
     special, untelevised meeting to dispense with further 
     proceedings on H.R. 2847, the Commerce, Justice, Science, and 
     Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010;
       Whereas on June 17, 2009, the House Rules Committee 
     reported H. Res. 552, a new and restrictive structured rule 
     for H.R. 2847, the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related 
     Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010;
       Whereas every House Republican and 27 House Democrats voted 
     against agreeing on H. Res. 552;
       Whereas H. Res. 552 made in order just 23 amendments, with 
     a possibility for 10 more amendments, out of the 127 
     amendments originally filed;
       Whereas H. Res. 552 severely curtailed pro forma amendments 
     for the purposes of debate;
       Whereas the actions of Congressional Democrats to curtail 
     debate and the number of amendments offered to H.R. 2847, the 
     Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies 
     Appropriations Act, 2010 effectively ended the process to 
     deal with runaway Federal spending in a positive and 
     responsible manner;
       Whereas Congressional Democrats continue to curtail debate 
     and the number of amendments offered to appropriations bills;
       Whereas on June 18, 2009, the House Rules Committee 
     reported H. Res. 559, a restrictive structured rule for H.R. 
     2918, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2010;
       Whereas H. Res. 559 made in order just one amendment out of 
     the 20 amendments originally filed;
       Whereas on June 23, 2009, the House Rules Committee 
     reported H. Res. 573, a restrictive structured rule for H.R. 
     2892, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 
     2010;
       Whereas H. Res. 573 made in order just 9 amendments, with a 
     possibility for 5 more amendments, out of the 91 amendments 
     originally filed;
       Whereas on June 24, 2009, the House Rules Committee 
     reported H. Res. 578, a restrictive structured rule for H.R. 
     2996, the Department of the Interior, Environment, and 
     Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010;
       Whereas H. Res. 578 made in order just 8 amendments, with a 
     possibility for 5 more amendments, out of the 105 amendments 
     originally filed; and
       Whereas the actions taken have resulted in indignity being 
     visited upon the House of Representatives: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That--
       (1) the House of Representatives recommit itself to fiscal 
     restraint and develop a clear plan for dealing with runaway 
     Federal spending;
       (2) the House of Representatives return to its best 
     traditions of an open and transparent appropriations process 
     without a pre-printing requirement; and
       (3) the House Rules Committee shall report out open rules 
     for all general appropriations bills throughout the remainder 
     of the 111th Congress.

                              {time}  1400

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Does the gentleman from Georgia wish to 
present argument on why the resolution is privileged for immediate 
consideration?
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. I do, Mr. Speaker.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman is recognized.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, rule IX regarding questions of the 
privilege of the House states that questions of privilege shall be 
first those affecting the rights of the House collectively, its safety, 
dignity, and the integrity of its proceedings. The integrity of its 
proceedings.
  Mr. Speaker, clearly, the unprecedented actions that have been taken 
by the Democrats in charge have disenfranchised every single Member of 
this House. Appropriations bills have been, by tradition and previously 
by rule, brought to the floor under what's called an ``open rule,'' 
which means that every single Member of the House has an opportunity to 
affect the bill, to represent his or her constituents.
  Each of us represents basically the same number of folks, 650,000, 
675,000. When Members are not allowed to bring amendments to the floor 
on the spending of their constituents' tax money, that disenfranchises 
those Members. That is an affront to the House. It presents an 
indignity to the House.
  Mr. Speaker, I understand that the closed rule that was passed 
recently, yesterday, resulted in more closed rules on appropriations 
bills in this House of Representatives by this leadership, by these 
Democrats in charge, more than any in the history, not of this decade, 
not of this century, but in the history of this Republic. Mr. Speaker, 
in the history of this Republic.
  Now, I know my friend from California says that this is not the way 
we want things to operate, but, Mr. Speaker, they control the process. 
They control the process. They control this tyranny. Mr. Speaker, it is 
indeed tyranny. It's tyranny by the majority. It's what de Tocqueville 
warned about over 150 years ago when he said that the majority can 
indeed shut down the rights of the minority. And that's exactly

[[Page 17255]]

what is happening, which is why this resolution ought to be a 
privileged resolution, because what it directs the Rules Committee to 
do is to return to regular order; return to a process that allows each 
and every one of us to represent our constituents; return to a process 
that Mr. Obey, then in the minority on the Appropriations Committee, 
said, ``We have gotten so far from the regular order that I fear that 
if this continues, the House will not have the capacity to return to 
the precedents and procedures of the House that have given true meaning 
to the term `representative democracy.' The reason we have stuck to 
regular order as long as we have in this Institution is to protect the 
rights of every Member to participate. And when we lose those rights, 
we lose the right to be called the greatest deliberative body in the 
world.''
  Mr. Speaker, the tyranny of this majority, the tyranny of the folks 
in charge right now, have resulted in an affront on this House. Those 
actions, these actions have clearly violated the integrity of our 
proceedings. Therefore, I believe that this resolution qualifies as a 
privileged resolution of this House.
  I yield back.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair is prepared to rule.
  In evaluating the resolution offered by the gentleman from Georgia 
under the standards of rule IX, the Chair must be mindful of a 
fundamental principle illuminated by annotations of precedent in 
section 706 of the House Rules and Manual. That basic principle is that 
a question of the privileges of the House may not be invoked to 
prescribe a special order of business for the House.
  The Chair finds that the resolution offered by the gentleman from 
Georgia, by directing the Committee on Rules to report a certain kind 
of resolution, proposes a special order of business. Under a long and 
well-settled line of precedent presently culminating in the ruling of 
June 25, 2009, such a resolution cannot qualify as a question of the 
privileges of the House.
  The Chair therefore holds that the resolution is not privileged under 
rule IX for consideration ahead of other business. Instead, the 
resolution may be submitted through the hopper in the regular course.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I appeal the ruling of the Chair.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is, Shall the decision of the 
Chair stand as the judgment of the House?


                            Motion to Table

  Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I move that the appeal of the ruling of the 
Chair be laid on the table.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to table.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.


                             Recorded Vote

  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 and clause 9 of rule 
XX, this 15-minute vote on tabling the appeal of the ruling of the 
Chair will be followed by 5-minute votes on:
  ordering the previous question on H. Res. 617;
  adopting H. Res. 617, if ordered;
  suspending the rules and adopting House Concurrent Resolution 127, if 
ordered; and
  suspending the rules and adopting House Concurrent Resolution 131, if 
ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 240, 
noes 179, not voting 13, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 511]

                               AYES--240

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Adler (NJ)
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baca
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Boccieri
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Braley (IA)
     Bright
     Brown, Corrine
     Butterfield
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson (IN)
     Castor (FL)
     Chandler
     Childers
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Connolly (VA)
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Dahlkemper
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (TN)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Donnelly (IN)
     Doyle
     Driehaus
     Edwards (MD)
     Edwards (TX)
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Frank (MA)
     Giffords
     Gonzalez
     Grayson
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Griffith
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Halvorson
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Heinrich
     Herseth Sandlin
     Higgins
     Hill
     Himes
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hodes
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick (MI)
     Kilroy
     Kind
     Kirkpatrick (AZ)
     Kissell
     Klein (FL)
     Kosmas
     Kucinich
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee (CA)
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lujan
     Lynch
     Maffei
     Maloney
     Markey (CO)
     Markey (MA)
     Marshall
     Massa
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McMahon
     McNerney
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Michaud
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Minnick
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murtha
     Nadler (NY)
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor (AZ)
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Perriello
     Peters
     Peterson
     Pingree (ME)
     Polis (CO)
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Rahall
     Reyes
     Richardson
     Rodriguez
     Ross
     Rothman (NJ)
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schauer
     Schiff
     Schrader
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sestak
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shuler
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Space
     Speier
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Tanner
     Teague
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Titus
     Tonko
     Towns
     Tsongas
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Weiner
     Welch
     Wexler
     Wilson (OH)
     Wu
     Yarmuth

                               NOES--179

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Austria
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett
     Barton (TX)
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono Mack
     Boozman
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Broun (GA)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Cantor
     Cao
     Capito
     Carter
     Cassidy
     Castle
     Chaffetz
     Coble
     Coffman (CO)
     Cole
     Conaway
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Davis (KY)
     Deal (GA)
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Ehlers
     Emerson
     Fallin
     Flake
     Fleming
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Foster
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gingrey (GA)
     Gohmert
     Goodlatte
     Graves
     Guthrie
     Hall (TX)
     Harper
     Hastings (WA)
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hoekstra
     Hunter
     Inglis
     Issa
     Jenkins
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Jordan (OH)
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline (MN)
     Kratovil
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Latta
     Lee (NY)
     Lewis (CA)
     Linder
     LoBiondo
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lummis
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McCotter
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy, Tim
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Nye
     Olson
     Paul
     Paulsen
     Pence
     Petri
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe (TX)
     Posey
     Price (GA)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Rooney
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Scalise
     Schmidt
     Schock
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (TX)
     Souder
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Terry
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Upton
     Walden
     Wamp
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Wolf
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                             NOT VOTING--13

     DeLauro
     Fudge
     Gordon (TN)
     Granger
     Johnson (GA)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (NY)
     Rangel
     Schakowsky
     Smith (NJ)
     Taylor
     Waxman
     Woolsey


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (during the vote). Members have 2 minutes 
remaining in this vote.

[[Page 17256]]



                              {time}  1432

  Messrs. LUETKEMEYER and LEWIS of California changed their vote from 
``aye'' to ``no.''
  Messrs. KUCINICH and BERMAN and Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California 
changed their vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
  So the motion to table was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________