[House Report 105-355]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



105th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 1st Session                                                    105-355
_______________________________________________________________________


 
PROVIDING FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2493, FORAGE IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 
                                  1997

                                _______
                                

  October 28, 1997.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

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   Mr. McInnis, from the Committee on Rules, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                       [To accompany H. Res. 284]

    The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration 
House Resolution 284, by a non-record vote, report the same to 
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. 2493, 
the ``Forage Improvement Act of 1997'' under a modified open 
rule. The rule provides for one hour of general debate, with 30 
minutes divided equally between the chairman and ranking 
minority member of the Committee on Resources and 30 minutes 
divided equally between the chairman and ranking minority 
member of the Committee on Agriculture. The rule limits the 
amendment process to three hours. It makes in order the 
Resources Committee amendment in the nature of a substitute as 
an original bill for the purpose of amendment.
    The rule makes in order, before the consideration of any 
other amendment, a manager's amendment offered by Rep. Smith of 
Oregon or his designee, which is printed in this report, is 
debatable for 10 minutes equally divided between the proponent 
and an opponent, is not subject to a demand for a division of 
the question, and if adopted will be considered as part of the 
base text.
    The rule provides priority in recognition to members who 
pre-print their amendments in the Congressional Record. It 
allows the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole to postpone 
votes during consideration of the bill, and to reduce votes to 
five minutes on a postponed question if the vote follows a 
fifteen minute vote. Finally, the rule provides one motion to 
recommit with or without instructions.

                            COMMITTEE VOTES

    Pursuant to clause 2(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. 72

    Date: October 28, 1997.
    Measure: H.R. 2493, Forage Improvement Act of 1997.
    Motion by: Mr. Moakley.
    Summary to motion: To permit any amendment printed in the 
Congressional Record to be offered, and debated for 10 minutes, 
even if the time allotted for amendments has expired.
    Results: Rejected, 3 to 8.
    Vote by Members: Dreier--Nay; Goss--Nay; Pryce--Nay; Diaz-
Balart--Nay; McInnis--Nay; Hastings--Nay; Myrick--Nay; 
Moakley--Yea; Hall--Yea; Slaughter--Yea; Solomon--Nay.

                  AMENDMENT MADE IN ORDER BY THE RULE

  The Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Smith of Oregon or a 
                                Designee

    Page 27, line 6, strike ``appurtenant to'' and insert 
``associated with''.
    Page 27, lines 18 and 19, strike ``to which a Federal 
allotment is appurtenant'' and insert ``with which a Federal 
allotment is associated''.
    Page 27, beginning on line 20, strike paragraph (4) (and 
redesignate subsequent paragraphs accordingly).
    Page 31, beginning on line 4, strike section 103.
    Page 31, line 15, insert ``resource'' after ``of''.
    Page 31, beginning on line 16, strike ``of forage and 
related resources''.
    Page 32, beginning on line 9, strike subsection (c), and 
insert the following new subsection:
    (c) Types and Use of Data Collected.--
          (1) Use of previously collected data and 
        information.--In addition to using data collected from 
        monitoring conducted under the authority of this 
        section, the Secretary concerned shall consider data 
        and information collected before the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, if available, so long as the 
        historical data and information is objective and 
        reliable.
          (2) Application of criteria and protocols.--The 
        Secretary concerned shall not accept monitoring data 
        that does not meet the requirements of subsection (a) 
        or (b).
          (3) Use of data.--The data and information collected 
        from such monitoring shall be used to evaluate--
                  (A) the effects of ecological changes and 
                management actions on resources over time;
                  (B) the effectiveness of actions in meeting 
                management objectives contained in applicable 
                land use plans; and
                  (C) the appropriateness of resource 
                management objectives.
    Page 33, beginning on line 14, strike subsection (b) and 
insert the following new subsection:
    (b) Treatment of Lease or Sublease of Base Property.--The 
leasing or subleasing of the entire base property, or lease of 
a quantity of base property sufficient to meet the base 
property requirement of the Secretary concerned, of a person 
issued a grazing permit or lease shall not be considered a 
sublease of a grazing permit or lease under subsection (a). The 
grazing preference associated with such base property may be 
transferred to the person controlling the leased or subleased 
base property if the transfer is approved by the Secretary 
concerned. All terms and conditions of the existing grazing 
permit or lease shall bind the person controlling the leased or 
subleased base property.
    Page 34, line 5, strike ``developed'' and insert ``or a 
grazing permit or lease.''.
    Page 34, strike lines 18 through 21 and insert the 
following: ``management plan or a grazing permit or lease''.
    Page 35, line 3, insert after ``plans'' the following: 
``and in that person's grazing permit or lease''.
    Page 35, strike lines 4 through 9, and insert the 
following:
    (c) Inclusion of Performance Goals.--A written agreement 
authorized under subsection (a) shall contain performance goals 
that--
    Page 35, after line 19, insert the following new subsection 
(and redesignate the subsequent subsection accordingly):
    (d) Application of Other Laws.--All requirements of law 
applicable to an allotment management plan and a grazing permit 
or lease under section 402(d) of the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1752(d)), including the 
prohibition against extending the term of an existing grazing 
permit or lease, shall apply to a written agreement entered 
into under subsection (a).
    Page 36, beginning on line 16, strike paragraph (2).
    Page 39, beginning on line 9, strike section 108.
    Page 46, line 10, insert after ``take effect on'' the 
following: ``the first day of the first grazing season 
beginning after''.

                                
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