[House Report 109-579]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



109th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     109-579

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



 
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 5684, UNITED STATES-OMAN FREE TRADE 
                      AGREEMENT IMPLEMENTATION ACT

                                _______
                                

   July 19, 2006.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Hastings of Washington, from the Committee on Rules, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                       [To accompany H. Res. 925]

    The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration 
House Resolution 925, by a record vote of 7 to 3, 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. 5684, the 
United States-Oman Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, 
under a closed rule. The rule provides two hours of debate in 
the House equally divided and controlled by the chairman and 
ranking minority member of the Committee on Ways and Means.
    The rule waives all points of order against consideration 
of the bill. The rule provides that pursuant to section 151 of 
the Trade Act of 1974, the previous question shall be 
considered as ordered on the bill to final passage without 
intervening motion.
    Finally, the resolution provides that during consideration 
of the bill, notwithstanding the operation of the previous 
question, the Chair may postpone further consideration of the 
bill to a time designated by the Speaker in consonance with 
section 151 of the Trade Act of 1974.

                         EXPLANATION OF WAIVERS

    The waiver of all points of order against the consideration 
of the bill includes a waiver of section 302(f) of the 
Congressional Budget Act (prohibiting the consideration of 
legislation providing new budget authority for any fiscal year 
that would cause the applicable allocation of new budget 
authority made pursuant to section 302(a) or (b) to be 
exceeded). The bill violates section 302(f) because its direct 
spending will exceed the Committee on Ways and Means' 
allocation by $1 million over the first year.
    In addition, the waiver against all points of order against 
consideration of the bill includes a waiver of clause 3(c)(4) 
of rule XIII (requiring the inclusion of a statement of general 
performance goals and objectives in the committee report).

                            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. 233

    Date: July 19, 2006.
    Measure: H.R. 5684, United States-Oman Free Trade Agreement 
Implementation Act.
    Motion by: Mrs. Slaughter.
    Summary of motion: To make in order and provide the 
appropriate waivers for the amendment offered by Mr. Cardin, 
which would establish that the U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement 
may not be entered into effect until the United States 
withdraws its commitment to allow Omani companies to operate 
``landside aspects of [U.S.] port activities, including 
operation and maintenance of docs; loading and unloading of 
vessels directly to or from land; marine cargo handling; 
operation and maintenance of piers; ship cleaning; stevedoring; 
transfer of cargo between vessels and trucks, trains, 
pipelines, and wharves; and waterfront terminal operations.''
    Results: Defeated 3 to 7.
    Vote by Members: Hastings (WA)--Nay; Putnam--Nay; Capito--
Nay; Cole--Nay; Bishop--Nay; Gingrey--Nay; Slaughter--Yea; 
McGovern--Yea; Matsui--Yea; Dreier--Nay.

Rules Committee record vote No. 234

    Date: July 19, 2006.
    Measure: H.R. 5684, United States-Oman Free Trade Agreement 
Implementation Act.
    Motion by: Mr. McGovern.
    Summay of motion: To make in order and provide the 
appropriate waivers for the amendment offered by Mr. Cardin, 
which would ensure that the agreement will not come into effect 
until Oman has enacted and implemented all of the changes to 
its labor laws set forth in the legal documents and letters 
provided by the Government of Oman in relation to the free 
trade agreement, so that workers on the ground in Oman are 
provided with their rights under the basic standards of the 
International Labor Organization.
    Results: Defeated 3 to 7.
    Vote by Members: Hastings (WA)--Nay; Putnam--Nay; Capito--
Nay; Cole--Nay; Bishop--Nay; Gingrey--Nay; Slaughter--Yea; 
McGovern--Yea; Matsui--Yea; Dreier--Nay.

Rules Committee record vote No. 235

    Date: July 19, 2006.
    Measure: H.R. 5684, United States-Oman Free Trade Agreement 
Implementation Act.
    Motion by: Mr. Hastings of Washington.
    Summary of motion: To report the rule.
    Results: Agreed to 7 to 3.
    Vote by Members: Hastings (WA)--Yea; Putnam--Yea; Capito--
Yea; Cole--Yea; Bishop--Yea; Gingrey--Yea; Slaughter--Nay; 
McGovern--Nay; Matsui--Nay; Dreier--Yea.

                                  
