Waiving Points of Order Against Conference Report on H.R. 4818, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 and Providing for Consideration of H.J. Res. 114

WAIVING POINTS OF ORDER AGAINST CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 4818, CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005 AND PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.J. RES. 114, MAKING FURTHER CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2005, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES -- (House of Representatives - November 20, 2004)

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 866 and ask for its immediate consideration.

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Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding me this time.

A lot of mischief can come from a bill that is a $388.4 billion bill, 14.75 inches thick, I measured it, which was filed sometime after midnight. I will guarantee my colleagues not one Member, including the gentleman from Florida, read this bill, even on the Internet.

One of the worst pieces of mischief that is included in this bill that we know of so far, there is probably a lot more, is the so-called Weldon gag rule. This rule, far from constituting a simple conscience clause as proponents claim, will amount to a broad noncompliance permit for companies that want to refuse to abide by the law. The bill could restrict States' autonomy and their right to self-governance, undermine States' abilities to enforce their own constitutional protections, block States' abilities to set the parameters of their own Medicaid programs, override Federal title X guidelines that ensure women receive full medical information, interfere with State and local governments' responsibility to oversee hospital mergers, set health care licensing and certification standards, interfere with, and even possibly override, current Federal laws like the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, which ensure that women in life-threatening circumstances receive the medical care they need and, just as importantly, deny low-income women key information about and referrals to abortion services.

This is wrong. It is the wrong way to do it. It is the wrong way to debate it; and as far as I know, given this massive spending bill that no one has read, as far as I am concerned, it is just the tip of the iceberg. Vote "no" on the rule, vote "no" on the bill.

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