Alan Mollohan

Mr. MOLLOHAN

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. Roybal-Allard), who also has been a real leader on this issue.

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton).

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters).

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Sawyer), who has been such a leader on this issue, again ensuring that the 2000 census is a fair one.

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman talked about the President saying how we are going to conduct the census, and then he said that it is the Congress' job to do that. I totally agree it is the Congress' job to do that, and we have defined in 13 USC section 141, in pertinent part, the Congress, in this law, has given the Secretary of Commerce the responsibility to conduct a ``decennial census in such form and content as he may determine, including the use of sampling procedures and special surveys.''

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 15 seconds to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Knollenberg).

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Mr. Chairman, on point, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Skaggs), a member of our subcommittee.

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Indeed, the gentleman has referenced the source, the dictionary. Has the gentleman referenced any court decisions on the subject? Mr. Chairman, the real meaning of the Constitution is defined through our court process, through the appeal process. And every court decision on the subject has ruled sampling constitutional, with all due respect to the gentleman's dictionary interpretation.

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Mr. Chairman, I simply want to point out here that the only shutdown associated with this issue is the shutdown that is contained in this bill, the shutdown that is threatened by the language which limits the appropriation for census to midyear. That is the only shutdown we are talking about. The President had an agreement with the Republican majority. That agreement was untenable. That agreement is not even a part of this debate. I do not know why we have even alluded to it. The fact is the only shutdown that we are looking at is the language in this bill that would shut down the census at midyear next year and that threatens a viable census. I think it is important to understand that, that the threat to the 2000 census is contained in the bill, and the Mollohan amendment would free that up, allow it to be funded for the whole year.

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) was standing and was not recognized.

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Mr. Chairman, where are we? What are we doing right now?

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Reserving the right to object, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Mr. Chairman, parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. MOLLOHAN. I object, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Reserving the right to object, Mr. Chairman. I have been advised on my side that we would probably agree with that proposal and do not have any requests for time, at least if it were agreed upon by the other side.

Mr. MOLLOHAN. That we would not have any amendments on the Conyers amendment that would become a part of the time agreement?

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Mr. Chairman, we would not want to make the agreement if it were to include time limit on any potential amendments on the Conyers amendment.

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Are there any amendments to the Conyers amendment in order?

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. MOLLOHAN. I think we can agree to that on the Conyers amendment, 15 on each side.

Mr. MOLLOHAN

Mr. MOLLOHAN. Reserving the right to object, Mr. Chairman, would the gentleman from Kentucky please restate?