Doc Hastings

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 433 would grant H.R. 1695, the Ivanpah Valley Public Lands Transfer Act, an open rule. The rule waives all points of order against consideration of the bill and provides 1 hour of general debate, equally divided between the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Resources. The rule makes in order the Committee on Resources amendment in the nature of a substitute now printed in the bill as an original bill for the purpose of amendment, which shall be open for debate at any point. The rule also waives all points of order against the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute. The rule further provides that the amendment printed in the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying the resolution shall be considered as read and shall not be subject to a demand for a division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole. The rule authorizes the Chair to accord priority and recognition to Members who have preprinted 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 voting time to 5 minutes on a postponed question if the vote follows a 15 minute vote. Finally, the rule provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1695 has been introduced by the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons) in order to address a problem of increasing concern in his district. Southern Nevada is the fastest growing area in the United States. Both the rapidly expanding population and the area's growing popularity as a destination for travel and tourism have placed great strain on its existing commercial airport. This bill would make available land currently in Federal ownership for the construction of a second major airport to be known as the Ivanpah Valley Airport, which would serve as an alternative for cargo and charter flight operations. The site is in an ideal location for such a facility and is on land that is no longer needed by the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management. The bill requires the county to pay fair market value for this land. Because the Congressional Budget Office estimates that implementing H.R. 1695 would result in a net increase in spending of approximately $1 million over the years 2001 to 2004, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply. Those of us who represent districts in the West where so much of our land is owned by the Federal Government and that is not on the local tax rolls tend to be very supportive of proposals that move unneeded land out of Federal ownership, especially when it can be put to the kind of high-priority use as envisioned by the legislation of the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons). Members who have concerns about the provisions of this bill will be pleased that the Committee on Rules has reported an open rule so that any proposed amendments to H.R. 1695 that are consistent with House rules may be fully considered and debated. Accordingly, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the open rule for H.R. 1695. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hall), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. (Mr. HASTINGS of Washington asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 433 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon). (Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Calvert).

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 422 would grant H.R. 2086, the Network and Information Technology Research and Development Act, an open rule. The rule provides 1 hour of general debate, equally divided between the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Science. The rule provides that it shall be in order to consider as an original bill, for the purpose of amendment, the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Science now printed in the bill, modified by striking Section 8. The amendment in the nature of a substitute as modified shall be open for amendment by section. The rule allows the chairman of the Committee of the Whole to accord priority in recognition to Members who have preprinted their amendments in the Congressional Record and provides that those amendments shall be considered as read. The rule also allows the chairman of the Committee of the Whole to postpone votes during consideration of the bill and to reduce voting time to 5 minutes on a postponed question if the vote follows a 15- minute vote. Finally, the rule provides for one motion to recommit, with or without instructions. Mr. Speaker, the Networking and Information Research and Development Act, H.R. 2086, amends the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 to authorize funding for networking and information technology research and development programs of the National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Energy, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency for fiscal years 2000 through 2004. The bill was reported favorably by the Committee on Science by unanimous vote of 41 to 0. Mr. Speaker, the Federal Government has an enormous task in maintaining its position as the global leader in the information- technology field. This bill serves to reiterate our commitment to this agenda by emphasizing basic research and information-technology funding levels. This research has played an essential role in fueling the Information Revolution, advancing national security, and bolstering the U.S. economy by creating new industries and millions of new jobs. Information-technology now represents one of the fastest growing sectors of our economy, growing at an annual rate of 12 percent between 1993 and 1997 and generating over $300 billion of U.S. revenue in 1998. In order to maintain the economic growth the U.S. is currently experiencing, we must maintain our role as a technological leader. Although the private sector provides the bulk of information-technology research funding, the Federal Government has a responsibility to support long-term basic research to the private sector, but that is ill-suited to pursue. H.R. 2086 recognizes this by providing adequate funds for such activities. Specifically, over the next 5 years the bill would authorize $2.2 billion for the National Science Foundation, $602 million for the Department of Energy, $1.4 billion for NASA, $73 million for the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, $71 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and $22.3 million for EPA. Finally, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that appropriating the amounts authorized in H.R. 2086 would result in discretionary spending totaling $3.7 billion over the 5-year period. The Committee on Rules was pleased to grant the request of the gentleman from Wisconsin (Chairman Sensenbrenner) for an open rule on H.R. 2086, and accordingly I encourage my colleagues to support H. Res. 422 and the underlying bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Frost), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. (Mr. HASTINGS of Washington asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 422 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter) for noting that this is the last rule of this millennium. From my perspective, I had forgotten about that, and I thank the gentlewoman for bringing it up. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, H.Res. 387 would grant a rule waiving all points of order against the conference report to accompany H.R. 1180, the Ticket to Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999, and against its consideration. The rule further provides that the conference report shall be considered as read. Mr. Speaker, the conference report to accompany H.R. 1180 establishes a ticket to work program for recipients of Social Security disability benefits to seek vocational rehabilitation and employment services as well as enabling those individuals to work while keeping their health insurance. This legislation also creates new options for States to allow disabled individuals to purchase Medicaid insurance. The conference agreement also provides approximately $15.8 billion in tax relief over 5 years, $18.4 billion over 10 years, by extending certain tax credits. This tax extenders package includes renewal of several expiring tax credit provisions, including the R&D tax credit, the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, and the Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit as well as providing tax relief for individuals and families by protecting at least 1 million families from higher taxes over the next 3 years due to the AMT tax. Finally, the measure includes approximately $2.6 billion in revenue offsets over the next 5 years and $2.9 billion over the next 10 years. Mr. Speaker, I applaud the gentleman from Texas (Chairman Archer) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel), ranking member, for their leadership in resolving the many complex issues contained in this legislation and urge my colleagues to support both the rule and the conference report itself. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, for the purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. (Mr. HASTINGS of Washington asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 387 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to say very briefly that this is a bill that clearly moves us forward and recognizes e-trade and so forth. With that, I would urge the Members to support the rule and the underlying legislation. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that my name be removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 872. My name was added by mistake instead of that of my colleague, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings).

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of our time to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Peterson).

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, how much time remains on both sides?

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 11 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula), chairman of the Subcommittee on Interior. (Mr. REGULA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, how much time is remaining on both sides?

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Nethercutt).

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss), the vice chairman of the Committee on Rules. (Mr. GOSS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)