[House Report 104-195]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



104th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 1st Session                                                    104-195
_______________________________________________________________________
 
PROVIDING FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2002, MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR 
 THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND RELATED AGENCIES FOR THE FISCAL 
         YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1996, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______


   July 19, 1995.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

_______________________________________________________________________


  Mrs. Waldholtz, from the Committee on Rules, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                       [To accompany H. Res. 194]
    The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration 
House Resolution 194, by a nonrecord vote, report the same on 
the House with the recommendation that the resolution be 
adopted.

               BRIEF SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF RESOLUTION

    The resolution provides for the consideration of H.R. 2002, 
``the Department of Transportation Appropriations Bill for the 
fiscal year 1996'' under an open rule. The rule provides one 
hour of general debate divided equally between the chairman and 
ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations.
    The rule waives clause 3 of rule XIII (requiring a 
committee bill report contain the text of the statute being 
repealed within that committee bill) and section 401(a) of the 
Congressional Budget Act (prohibiting consideration of 
legislation, as reported, providing new contract authority that 
is not limited to amounts provided in appropriations acts) 
against consideration of the bill. The rule also waives clause 
6 (prohibiting reappropriation) of rule XXI against provisions 
in the bill, and clause 2 (prohibiting unauthorized and 
legislative provisions) of rule XXI against provisions in the 
bill except as otherwise specified in the rule.
    The rule provides for the reading of the bill by title, 
rather than by paragraph or numbered section, for amendment, 
and each title is considered as read. Provides for the 
consideration of an amendment by Rep. Solomon or a designee, 
printed in Part 2 of the report of the Committee on rules 
accompanying the rule. The amendment shall be considered as 
read. The amendment is not subject to amendment or to a demand 
for a division of the question in the House or Committee of the 
Whole. All points of order are waived against the amendment.
    Members who have preprinted their amendments in the Record 
prior to their consideration will be given priority in 
recognition to offer their amendments if otherwise consistent 
with House rules. finally, the rule provides for one motion to 
recommit, with or without instructions.

                            COMMITTEE VOTES

    Pursuant to clause 21(l)(2)(B) of House rule XI the results 
of each rollcall vote on an amendment or motion to report, 
together with the names of those voting for and against, are 
printed below:

Rules Committee rollcall No. 168

    Date: July 19, 1995.
    Measure: Rule for consideration H.R. 2002, Transportation 
appropriations for Fiscal Year 1996.
    Motion By: Mr. Beilenson.
    Summary of Motion: Make in order, and waive points of order 
against, the amendment by Rep. Nadler amendment to rescind $5 
million for the Miller New York highway project.
    Results: Rejected, 3 to 8.
    Vote by Member: Quillen--Nay; Goss--Nay; Linder--Nay; 
Pryce--Nay; Diaz-Balart--Nay; McInnis--Nay; Waldholtz--Nay; 
Beilenson--Yea; Frost--Yea; Hall--Yea; Solomon--Nay.
Rules Committee rollcall No. 169

    Date: July 19, 1995.
    Measure: Rule for consideration H.R. 2002, Transportation 
Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1996.
    Motion By: Mr. Frost.
    Summary of Motion: Make in order, and waive points of order 
against, amendments of Rep. Shuster to restore transit projects 
subject to authorization.
    Results: Rejected, 3 to 8.
    Vote by Member: Quillen--Nay; Goss--Nay; Linder--Nay; 
Pryce--Nay; Diaz-Balart--Yea; McInnis--Nay; Waldholtz--Nay; 
Beilenson--Nay; Frost--Yea; Hall--Yea; Solomon--Nay.

Rules Committee rollcall No. 170

    Date: July 19, 1995.
    Measure: Rule for consideration H.R. 2002, Transportation 
Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1996.
    Motion By: Mr. Frost.
    Summary of Motion: Make in order, and waive points of order 
against, amendments of Rep. Shuster to restore transit projects 
subject to authorization.
    Results: Rejected, 3 to 8.
    Vote by Member: Quillen--Nay; Goss--Nay; Linder--Nay; 
Pryce--Nay; Diaz-Balart--Nay; McInnis--Nay; Waldholtz--Nay; 
Beilenson--Yea; Frost--Yea; Hall--Yea; Solomon--Nay.

                                 PART 2

    The amendment made in order at any time in the resolution 
is as follows:
  At the end of the bill, add the following new title:
                        TITLE V--LINE ITEM VETO

SEC. 501. SHORT TITLE.

  This title may be cited as the ``Line Item Veto Act''.

SEC. 502. LINE ITEM VETO AUTHORITY.

  (a) In General.--Notwithstanding the provisions of part B of 
title X of The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act 
of 1974, and subject to the provisions of this section, the 
President may rescind all or part of the dollar amount of any 
discretionary budget authority specified in an appropriation 
Act or conference report or joint explanatory statement 
accompanying a conference report on the Act, or veto any 
targeted tax benefit which is subject to the terms of this 
title if the President--
          (1) determines that--
                  (A) such rescission or veto would help reduce 
                the Federal budget deficit;
                  (B) such rescission or veto will not impair 
                any essential Government functions; and
                  (C) such rescission or veto will not harm the 
                national interest; and
          (2) notifies the Congress of such rescission or veto 
        by a special message not later than ten calendar days 
        (not including Sundays) after the date of enactment of 
        an appropriation Act providing such budget authority or 
        a revenue or reconciliation Act containing a targeted 
        tax benefit.
  (b) Deficit Reduction.--In each special message, the 
President may also propose to reduce the appropriate 
discretionary spending limit set forth in section 601(a)(2) of 
the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 by an amount that does not 
exceed the total amount of discretionary budget authority 
rescinded by that message.
  (c) Separate Messages.--The President shall submit a separate 
special message for each appropriation Act and for each revenue 
or reconciliation Act under this section.
  (d) Limitation.--No special message submitted by the 
President under this section may change any prohibition or 
limitation of discretionary budget authority set forth in any 
appropriation Act.
  (e) Special Rule for Fiscal Year 1995 Appropriation 
Measures.--Notwithstanding subsection (a)(2), in the case of 
any unobligated discretionary budget authority provided by any 
appropriation Act for fiscal year 1995, the President may 
rescind all or part of that discretionary budget authority 
under the terms of this title if the President notifies the 
Congress of such rescission by a special message not later than 
ten calendar days (not including Sundays) after the date of 
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 503. LINE ITEM VETO EFFECTIVE UNLESS DISAPPROVED.

  (a)(1) Any amount of budget authority rescinded under this 
title as set forth in a special message by the President shall 
be deemed canceled unless, during the period described in 
subsection (b), a rescission/receipts disapproval bill making 
available all of the amount rescinded is enacted into law.
  (2) Any provision of law vetoed under this title as set forth 
in a special message by the President shall be deemed repealed 
unless, during the period described in subsection (b), a 
rescission/receipts disapproval bill restoring that provision 
is enacted into law.
  (b) The period referred to in subsection (a) is--
          (1) a congressional review period of twenty calendar 
        days of session, beginning on the first calendar day of 
        session after the date of submission of the special 
        message, during which Congress must complete action on 
        the rescission/receipts disapproval bill and present 
        such bill to the President for approval or disapproval;
          (2) after the period provided in paragraph (1), an 
        additional ten days (not including Sundays) during 
        which the President may exercise his authority to sign 
        or veto the rescission/receipts disapproval bill; and
          (3) if the President vetoes the rescission/receipts 
        disapproval bill during the period provided in 
        paragraph (2), an additional five calendar days of 
        session after the date of the veto.
  (c) If a special message is transmitted by the President 
under this title and the last session of the Congress adjourns 
sine die before the expiration of the period described in 
subsection (b), the rescission or veto, as the case may be, 
shall not take effect. The message shall be deemed to have been 
retransmitted on the first Monday in February of the succeeding 
Congress and the review period referred to in subsection (b) 
(with respect to such message) shall run beginning after such 
first day.

SEC. 504. DEFINITIONS.

  As used in this title:
          (1) The term ``rescission/receipts disapproval bill'' 
        means a bill or joint resolution which only 
        disapproves, in whole, rescissions of discretionary 
        budget authority or only disapproves vetoes of targeted 
        tax benefits in a special message transmitted by the 
        President under this title and--
                  (A) which does not have a preamble;
                  (B)(i) in the case of a special message 
                regarding rescissions, the matter after the 
                enacting clause of which is as follows: ``That 
                Congress disapproves each rescission of 
                discretionary budget authority of the President 
                as submitted by the President in a special 
                message on ________'', the blank space being 
                filled in with the appropriate date and the 
                public law to which the message relates; and
                  (ii) in the case of a special message 
                regarding vetoes of targeted tax benefits, the 
                matter after the enacting clause of which is as 
                follows: ``That Congress disapproves each veto 
                of targeted tax benefits of the President as 
                submitted by the President in a special message 
                on ________'', the blank space being filled in 
                with the appropriate date and the public law to 
                which the message relates; and
                  (C) the title of which is as follows: ``A 
                bill disapproving the recommendations submitted 
                by the President on ________'', the blank space 
                being filled in with the date of submission of 
                the relevant special message and the public law 
                to which the message relates.
          (2) The term ``calendar days of session'' shall mean 
        only those days on which both Houses of Congress are in 
        session.
          (3) The term ``targeted tax benefit'' means any 
        provision of a revenue or reconciliation Act determined 
        by the President to provide a Federal tax deduction, 
        credit, exclusion, preference, or other concession to 
        100 or fewer beneficiaries. Any partnership, limited 
        partnership, trust, or S corporation, and any 
        subsidiary or affiliate of the same parent corporation, 
        shall be deemed and counted as a single beneficiary 
        regardless of the number of partners, limited partners, 
        beneficiaries, shareholders, or affiliated corporate 
        entities.
          (4) The term ``appropriation Act'' means any general 
        or special appropriation Act, and any Act or joint 
        resolution making supplemental, deficiency, or 
        continuing appropriations.
SEC. 505. CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF LINE ITEM VETOES.

  (a) Presidential Special Message.--Whenever the President 
rescinds any budget authority as provided in this title or 
vetoes any provision of law as provided in this title, the 
President shall transmit to both Houses of Congress a special 
message specifying--
          (1) the amount of budget authority rescinded or the 
        provision vetoed;
          (2) any account, department, or establishment of the 
        Government to which such budget authority is available 
        for obligation, and the specific project or 
        governmental functions involved;
          (3) the reasons and justifications for the 
        determination to rescind budget authority or veto any 
        provision pursuant to this title;
          (4) to the maximum extent practicable, the estimated 
        fiscal, economic, and budgetary effect of the 
        rescission or veto; and
          (5) all actions, circumstances, and considerations 
        relating to or bearing upon the rescission or veto and 
        the decision to effect the rescission or veto, and to 
        the maximum extent practicable, the estimated effect of 
        the rescission upon the objects, purposes, and programs 
        for which the budget authority is provided.
  (b) Transmission of Messages to House and Senate.--
          (1) Each special message transmitted under this title 
        shall be transmitted to the House of Representatives 
        and the Senate on the same day, and shall be delivered 
        to the Clerk of the House of Representatives if the 
        House is not in session, and to the Secretary of the 
        Senate if the Senate is not in session. Each special 
        message so transmitted shall be referred to the 
        appropriate committees of the House of Representatives 
        and the Senate. Each such message shall be printed as a 
        document of each House.
          (2) Any special message transmitted under this title 
        shall be printed in the first issue of the Federal 
        Register published after such transmittal.
  (c) Introduction of Rescission/Receipts Disapproval Bills.--
The procedures set forth in subsection (d) shall apply to any 
rescission/receipts disapproval bill introduced in the House of 
Representatives not later than the third calendar day of 
session beginning on the day after the date of submission of a 
special message by the President under section 502.
  (d) Consideration in the House of Representatives.--(1) The 
committee of the House of Representatives to which a 
rescission/receipts disapproval bill is referred shall report 
it without amendment, and with or without recommendation, not 
later than the eighth calendar day of session after the date of 
its introduction. If the committee fails to report the bill 
within that period, it is in order to move that the House 
discharge the committee from further consideration of the bill. 
A motion to discharge may be made only by an individual 
favoring the bill (but only after the legislative day on which 
a Member announces to the House the Member's intention to do 
so). The motion is highly privileged. Debate thereon shall be 
limited to not more than one hour, the time to be divided in 
the House equally between a proponent and an opponent. The 
previous question shall be considered as ordered on the motion 
to its adoption without intervening motion. A motion to 
reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed to or 
disagreed to shall not be in order.
  (2) After a rescission/receipts disapproval bill is reported 
or the committee has been discharged from further 
consideration, it is in order to move that the House resolve 
into the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 
for consideration of the bill. All points of order against the 
bill and against consideration of the bill are waived. The 
motion is highly privileged. The previous question shall be 
considered as ordered on that motion to its adoption without 
intervening motion. A motion to reconsider the vote by which 
the motion is agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in order. 
During consideration of the bill in the Committee of the Whole, 
the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. General 
debate shall proceed without intervening motion, shall be 
confined to the bill, and shall not exceed two hours equally 
divided and controlled by a proponent and an opponent of the 
bill. No amendment to the bill is in order, except any Member 
may move to strike the disapproval of any rescission or 
rescissions of budget authority or any proposed repeal of a 
targeted tax benefit, as applicable, if supported by 49 other 
Members. At the conclusion of the consideration of the bill for 
amendment, the Committee shall rise and report the bill to the 
House. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on 
the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without 
intervening motion. A motion to reconsider the vote on passage 
of the bill shall not be in order.
  (3) Appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating to the 
application of the rules of the House of Representatives to the 
procedure relating to a bill described in subsection (a) shall 
be decided without debate.
  (4) It shall not be in order to consider more than one bill 
described in subsection (c) or more than one motion to 
discharge described in paragraph (1) with respect to a 
particular special message.
  (5) Consideration of any rescission/receipts disapproval bill 
under this subsection is governed by the rules of the House of 
Representatives except to the extent specifically provided by 
the provisions of this title.
  (e) Consideration in the Senate.--
          (1) Any rescission/receipts disapproval bill received 
        in the Senate from the House shall be considered in the 
        Senate pursuant to the provisions of this title.
          (2) Debate in the Senate on any rescission/receipts 
        disapproval bill and debatable motions and appeals in 
        connection therewith, shall be limited to not more than 
        ten hours. The time shall be equally divided between, 
        and controlled by, the majority leader and the minority 
        leader or their designees.
          (3) Debate in the Senate on any debatable motions or 
        appeal in connection with such bill shall be limited to 
        one hour, to be equally divided between, and controlled 
        by the mover and the manager of the bill, except that 
        in the event the manager of the bill is in favor of any 
        such motion or appeal, the time in opposition thereto 
        shall be controlled by the minority leader or his 
        designee. Such leaders, or either of them, may, from 
        the time under their control on the passage of the 
        bill, allot additional time to any Senator during the 
        consideration of any debatable motion or appeal.
          (4) A motion to further limit debate is not 
        debatable. A motion to recommit (except a motion to 
        recommit with instructions to report back within a 
        specified number of days not to exceed one, not 
        counting any day on which the Senate is not in session) 
        is not in order.
  (f) Points of Order.--
          (1) It shall not be in order in the Senate to 
        consider any rescission/receipts disapproval bill that 
        relates to any matter other than the rescission of 
        budget authority or veto of the provision of law 
        transmitted by the President under this title.
          (2) It shall not be in order in the Senate to 
        consider any amendment to a rescission/receipts 
        disapproval bill.
          (3) Paragraphs (1) and (2) may be waived or suspended 
        in the Senate only by a vote of three-fifths of the 
        members duly chosen and sworn.
SEC. 506. REPORTS OF THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE.

  Beginning on January 6, 1996, and at one-year intervals 
thereafter, the Comptroller General shall submit a report to 
each House of Congress which provides the following 
information:
          (1) A list of each proposed Presidential rescission 
        of discretionary budget authority and veto of a 
        targeted tax benefit submitted through special messages 
        for the fiscal year ending during the preceding 
        calendar year, together with their dollar value, and an 
        indication of whether each rescission of discretionary 
        budget authority or veto of a targeted tax benefit was 
        accepted or rejected by Congress.
          (2) The total number of proposed Presidential 
        rescissions of discretionary budget authority and 
        vetoes of a targeted tax benefit submitted through 
        special messages for the fiscal year ending during the 
        preceding calendar year, together with their total 
        dollar value.
          (3) The total number of Presidential rescissions of 
        discretionary budget authority or vetoes of a targeted 
        tax benefit submitted through special messages for the 
        fiscal year ending during the preceding calendar year 
        and approved by Congress, together with their total 
        dollar value.
          (4) A list of rescissions of discretionary budget 
        authority initiated by Congress for the fiscal year 
        ending during the preceding calendar year, together 
        with their dollar value, and an indication of whether 
        each such rescission was accepted or rejected by 
        Congress.
          (5) The total number of rescissions of discretionary 
        budget authority initiated and accepted by Congress for 
        the fiscal year ending during the preceding calendar 
        year, together with their total dollar value.
          (6) A summary of the information provided by 
        paragraphs (2), (3) and (5) for each of the ten fiscal 
        years ending before the fiscal year during this 
        calendar year.

SEC. 507. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

  (a) Expedited Review.--
          (1) Any Member of Congress may bring an action, in 
        the United States District Court for the District of 
        Columbia, for declaratory judgment and injunctive 
        relief on the ground that any provision of this title 
        violates the Constitution.
          (2) A copy of any complaint in an action brought 
        under paragraph (1) shall be promptly delivered to the 
        Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of 
        Representatives, and each House of Congress shall have 
        the right to intervene in such action.
          (3) Any action brought under paragraph (1) shall be 
        heard and determined by a three-judge court in 
        accordance with section 2284 of title 28, United States 
        Code.
Nothing in this section or in any other law shall infringe upon 
the right of the House of Representatives to intervene in an 
action brought under paragraph (1) without the necessity of 
adopting a resolution to authorize such intervention.
  (b) Appeal to Supreme Court.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, any order of the United States District Court 
for the District of Columbia which is issued pursuant to an 
action brought under paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall be 
reviewable by appeal directly to the Supreme Court of the 
United States. Any such appeal shall be taken by a notice of 
appeal filed within 10 days after such order is entered; and 
the jurisdictional statement shall be filed within 30 days 
after such order is entered. No stay of an order issued 
pursuant to an action brought under paragraph (1) of subsection 
(a) shall be issued by a single Justice of the Supreme Court.
  (c) Expedited Consideration.--It shall be the duty of the 
District Court for the District of Columbia and the Supreme 
Court of the United States to advance on the docket and to 
expedite to the greatest possible extent the disposition of any 
matter brought under subsection (a).