Waiving Requirement of Clause 6(a) of Rule XIII With Respect to Consideration of Certain Resolutions Reported From Committee on Rules
WAIVING REQUIREMENT OF CLAUSE 6(a) OF RULE XIII WITH RESPECT TO CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN RESOLUTIONS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (House of Representatives - October 07, 2004)
Mr. REYNOLDS. By direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 828 and ask for its immediate consideration.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Reynolds) for yielding me the 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, my friend from New York has introduced a martial law rule to allow the House to consider the FSC-ETI and corporate tax giveaway bill at some point today. This bill has been lingering in legislative limbo for months, and we could have fixed this problem a long time ago for a lot less money. But now, one day before we have been told by the Republican leadership that we are going to adjourn until after the election, we have been rushed to the floor to consider a martial law rule to debate and vote on a bill that has barely been filed.
Let me repeat that, Madam Speaker. We are considering a rule for a bill that was just filed. We are considering a rule for a bill that has been available for just a few minutes. The American people do not know what is in the bill, but we are here rushing it through at the eleventh hour.
I cannot say I am surprised by the Republican leadership's actions. Unfortunately, the outrageousness of the Republican leadership's actions in the 108th Congress, from the Medicare vote, to the energy bill, to the continued fiscal irresponsibility, just to name a few, has made transgressions like this one pale in comparison.
But this martial law rule is not a trivial matter. It is important for my colleagues and the American people to know and understand exactly what the Republican leadership is forcing this body to do today. Madam Speaker, what we are doing right now on the floor of this great institution is flying blind, and that is par for the course for what takes place under this Republican leadership.
We can read in the newspaper reports that this bill is loaded up with goodies for special interests and friends of the Republican leadership. The Washington Post today editorializes that this bill should be vetoed. But I ask you, Madam Speaker, who other than the Republican leadership has seen the final version of this bill? Can the Republican leadership provide a copy of this bill for every Member right now so they can actually read it before we start this process? Why are we starting this process before every Member has had the opportunity to read and examine this important conference report-so we make sure it is exactly what we expect it to be?
I will tell you why, Madam Speaker. Because the Republican leadership did not finish writing the conference report before they filed this martial law rule. They are rushing through this process when they should be doing this carefully and deliberately. Madam Speaker, we should follow the rules of this House. Let every Member read the conference report before we vote on it.
Madam Speaker, there is an arrogance in this House that permeates from the top down. It is an arrogance that flaunts the committee process and thumbs its nose at the 431 Members of Congress who do not happen to be part of the Republican leadership. This arrogant attitude has reached a point that it is now common practice for major pieces of legislation to be written behind closed doors by just a handful of Members of the Republican leadership and then shoved down the throats of this body.
This is not just election-year rhetoric. Let us look at the evidence. The energy bill was written in the back rooms of the Capitol and the White House to benefit big energy companies and wealthy corporate contributors. It was introduced with little time to examine the bill and then forced through this institution by a heavy-handed leadership.
The Medicare prescription drug bill was written by a handful of Republican Members of the House for the benefit of HMOs and the big drug industry. It was brought to the floor of this distinguished body in the dead of night and the vote was held open for over 3 hours while the Republican leadership did everything it could to twist arms to their breaking point in order to win the vote.
The bill to enact the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, a bill that should be among the most bipartisan bills considered in this Congress, was written in the Speaker's office. The 9/11 Commission held public hearings. The other body developed bipartisan legislation and openly debated their version on the floor this last week, yet the Republican leadership here in the House decided it was in their best interest to secretly craft this bill behind closed doors.
Important provisions that are approved by a bipartisan majority of this House and with recorded votes in this body are routinely stripped away behind closed doors. How many times, Madam Speaker, has this body voted in favor of amendments to close tax loopholes that benefit the Benedict Arnold companies that open up a post office box overseas so they can avoid paying taxes here in the United States? How many times has this body voted to allow the reimportation of prescription drugs from Canada only to have the Republican leadership kill these bills in the dead of night when no one is looking?
Instead of fostering debate and Democratic action, the Republican leadership has turned the rules of this House from a tool to guarantee orderly democratic process into a weapon that quashes informed democratic debate. It is indeed, in every sense of the word, a disgrace.
Madam Speaker, we all know the United States is the greatest democracy in history, and this House is a great and noble institution. But it is the people's House, not the leadership's House, and the Republican leadership should treat it as such.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to consider carefully their rights when they vote on this martial law rule. Members have the right to know and understand exactly what we will be debating and voting on, and in this case, I believe few of us will enjoy that right.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel), the ranking member on the Committee on Ways and Means and a conferee.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Let me just say to my friend from New York a couple of things. He began his opening statement talking in great detail about all the things that are in this legislation. Yet we have learned that it has not been filed. So until it is filed, we do not have the final product. He has now told us that it is on the Web page, documents are on the Web page that were made available about 3 minutes ago. I guess we should be grateful for that.
Let me ask the gentleman, is that supposed to replace the 3-day layover that conference reports are supposed to have under the rules of this House? That is the rules of this House, that we are supposed to have 3 days to look at this stuff. Instead, we do not have a bill that is filed; but we are told, be happy, don't worry, because there is all kinds of things coming over on people's Web pages and that is supposed to suffice.
What has us on this side frustrated is that you do not follow the rules. The leadership of this House on a regular basis breaks the rules. What we are simply saying is on a bill of this significance and a bill that has a whole bunch of goodies that have been added on, that you should follow the rules so that everybody in this House, not just a few select groups of the elite in the leadership, but there are 435 Members of this House, and every one of them is entitled to know what they are voting on before they go to vote.
Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I just want to pay a compliment to my colleague from New York, with whom I am on the Committee on Rules, for his eloquence in describing all the great things that are in the bill that has not been filed and nobody has read yet. I am looking at my watch, and it is almost 12:30, and the bill has not been filed. I would hold my breath, but I am afraid I would die waiting for this bill to be filed.
I am on the Committee on Rules, and we are supposed to meet on this later today. We have not gotten a copy of the bill. We do not even know when we are going to meet. This is not the way this process is supposed to work. And while I have nothing but the greatest respect for the gentleman from New York and I want to believe everything he says, that everything is great and there is nothing bad or sinister about this bill, I have learned long ago that I need to verify everything here. Every Member of this House has an obligation to know what they are voting on. And again, they have undermined this process, which I think does a great disservice not only to the Members of this House but to the people we represent.
Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel), a member of the Committee on Ways and Means.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, first I want to thank the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means for finally filing the bill. I am glad somebody is listening to us and has been responsive. But the fact of the matter is, and I will say this again, the rules of this House matter, at least they are supposed to, and we are supposed to have 3 days to review conference reports, the final product.
In the good old days, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) will tell you, the conference reports routinely laid over for 3 days. People had a chance to read them. Members of both sides of the aisle had a chance to read them.
The fact is that the Republican leadership continues to ignore and to violate and to break the rules of this House, and no matter how you try to sugarcoat it and change the subject, the facts are the facts.
Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, what I object to is the fact that the Republican leadership does not want to follow the rules of this House.
Madam speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, to close, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel), the ranking Democrat on the Committee on Ways and Means and also a conferee.
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The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bonilla). The question is on the resolution.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed.