[House Report 108-590]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



108th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     108-590

======================================================================



 
     PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 4755, LEGISLATIVE BRANCH 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005

                                _______
                                

July 7, 2004.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                       [To accompany H. Res. 707]

    The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration 
House Resolution 707, by a nonrecord vote, report the same to 
the House with the recommendation that the resolution be 
adopted.

                SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF THE RESOLUTION

    The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 4755, the 
Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2005, 
under a structured rule. The rule provides one hour of general 
debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and 
ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations.
    The rule waives all points of order against consideration 
of the bill. The rule provides that the bill shall be 
considered as read. The rule waives points of order against 
provisions in the bill for failure to comply with clause 2 of 
rule XXI (prohibiting unauthorized appropriations or 
legislative provisions in an appropriations bill). The rule 
makes in order only those amendments printed in this report.
    The rule provides that the amendments printed in this 
report may be offered only in the order printed in this report, 
may be offered only by a Member designated in this report, 
shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time 
specified in this report equally divided and controlled by the 
proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, 
and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the 
question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole. The 
rule waives all points of order against the amendments printed 
in this report.
    Finally, the rule provides one motion to recommit with or 
without instructions.
    The waiver of all points of order against consideration of 
the bill includes a waiver of clause 4(c) of rule XIII 
(requiring a three-day availability of printed hearings on a 
general appropriation bill), and it includes a waiver of 
section 401(a)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 
(prohibiting consideration of legislation, as reported, 
providing new contract authority or new borrowing authority 
that is not limited to amounts provided in appropriations 
acts). The waiver of clause 2 of rule XXI (prohibiting 
unauthorized appropriations or legislative provisions in an 
appropriations bill) is necessary because there are numerous 
legislative provisions included in the bill.

                            COMMITTEE VOTES

    Pursuant to clause 3(b) of House rule XIII the results of 
each record vote on an amendment or motion to report, together 
with the names of those voting for and against, are printed 
below:

Rules Committee record vote No. 304

    Date: July 7, 2004.
    Measure: H.R. 4755, Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 
2005.
    Motion by: Mr. McGovern.
    Summary of motion: To make in order the amendment offered 
by Representative Sherman which provides that none of the funds 
in the heading ``Allowances and Expenses'' may be used for 
mailing expenses of any committee in an aggregate amount 
exceeding $25,000.
    Results: Defeated 2 to 5.
    Vote by Members: Linder--Nay; Myrick--Nay; Sessions--Nay; 
Reynolds--Nay; Frost--Yea; McGovern--Yea; Dreier--Nay.

           SUMMARY OF AMENDMENTS MADE IN ORDER UNDER THE RULE

    (Summaries derived from information provided by sponsor.)
    1. Holt: Adds $30 million to the salaries and expense 
account of the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) to 
establish within GAO a Center for Science and Technology 
Assessment. Reduces by $15 million the general administration 
account from the Architect of the Capitol. Also reduces by $15 
million the congressional printing and binding account of the 
Government Printing Office. (10 minutes)
    2. Hefley: Provides that each amount appropriated or 
otherwise made available in the Act that is not required to be 
appropriated or otherwise made available by a provision of law 
is reduced by 1%. (10 minutes)

                    TEXT OF AMENDMENTS MADE IN ORDER

1. Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Holt of New Jersey, or His 
                Designee, To Be Debatable for 10 Minutes

  Page 20, line 7, after the dollar amount insert ``(reduced by 
$15,000,000)''.
  Page 33, line 21, after the dollar amount insert ``(reduced 
by $15,000,000)''.
  Page 38, line 4, after the dollar amount insert ``(increased 
by $30,000,000)''.

2. Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Hefley of Colorado, or His 
                Designee, To Be Debatable for 10 Minutes

  At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the 
following new section:
  Sec. ___. Each amount appropriated or otherwise made 
available by this Act that is not required to be appropriated 
or otherwise made available by a provision of law is hereby 
reduced by 1 percent.

                                  
