Sue Myrick

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 426 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for purposes of debate only. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Committee on Rules met and granted a structured rule providing for consideration of the bill, H.R. 3129, the Customs Border Security Act of 2001. The rule waives all points of order against consideration of the bill, and provides for 1 hour of general debate, equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking member of the Committee on Ways and Means. Finally, the rule provides for one motion to recommit, with or without instructions. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 426 is an appropriate and fair rule, and it is consistent with previous rules that our committee has reported and the House has adopted on bills from the Committee on Ways and Means. This rule gives the chairman of the committee 10 minutes to debate his manager's amendment, while it provides 60 minutes for the minority substitute, plus the chance to offer a motion to recommit. Mr. Speaker, the Customs Border Security Act of 2001 would authorize the budget for the U.S. Customs Service, the International Trade Commission, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. It also includes a number of critical new tools for fighting terrorism, drugs, and child pornography. H.R. 3129 will help the Customs Service close the gaps in our border that allow illegal money to be taken out of the country. This legislation will also significantly help the Customs Service's ability to stop the flow of illegal drugs from crossing our borders and getting into our children's hands. This legislation also addresses an issue that is very important to North Carolina, and near and dear to my heart. In the last year, 60,000 textile workers have lost their jobs, 20,000 of them in North Carolina, and a large percentage of those in my district. The industry has done its best through technology modernization to compete, but they have not had a level and fair playing field in our international markets. This bill will help fight that problem, and it will fight illegal textile transshipments. Transshipments are illegal because some countries ship their goods through another country illegally to avoid the quotas, and they also give a false declaration, which allows them to circumvent the law. Ninety percent of all illegal transshipments originate out of China, so without extra agents to enforce these laws, they get away with it. H.R. 3129 provides the Customs Service with $9.5 million for transshipment enforcement operations. These funds must be used to hire 72 new employees who will be stationed both here, at home, and abroad to enforce our textile trade laws. Our textile workers are hurting, and they are hurting bad, so I am pleased that the government is beginning to take action. H.R. 3129 also directs the Comptroller General to conduct an audit of the system established and carried out by the Customs Service to monitor textile transshipment. I look forward to their report, and will be interested in their recommendation for improvements to the transshipment monitoring system. So to that end, I urge my colleagues to support this rule and to support the commonsense underlying legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida for bringing up the fact that there were those 25 extremists who came in through the ports in shipping containers. It just drives home again the need for this bill and additional enforcement. I thank him for that. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mrs. MYRICK. 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.

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to welcome Dr. Stadler from Weddington, North Carolina, to the House of Representatives. He is one of those people who is very dynamic and a true leader in our city and our area today. It may be hard to believe, but he used to be a rock musician. That was before he decided that ambition left him spiritually empty, and he decided to pursue the call of Christ in his life. He graduated from Duke University Divinity School and Asbury Theological Seminary, and he served in the Western District of the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church for 23 years. He is joined in his ministry by his wife, Shanna, and their children, Shalen and LenPaul. He has been a senior pastor in Weddington since 1989. Under his leadership, the church has become one of the fastest growing Methodist churches in the southeastern part of the United States. He is very straightforward and powerful in his preaching, and he always is challenging his parishioners to rediscover the joy of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I thank him for being here with us today.

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions), another member of the Committee on Rules.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Thornberry).

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter).

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire if the gentleman from Texas' time has expired.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I just wanted to issue a point of clarification. It is my understanding that a Federal lawsuit has been filed on this issue, because I also support that. It is very inappropriate for Congress to get involved in this in the middle of the lawsuit. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon). (Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Just a point of clarification, Mr. Speaker. There is a Tauscher amendment that is allowed and there were 10 Democrat amendments, 3 bipartisan, and 12 Republican. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Jo Ann Davis).

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter).

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes), my neighbor. (Mr. HAYES asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, for purposes 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. Speaker, yesterday the Committee on Rules met and granted a structured rule for H.R. 4546, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003. The rule provides for 1 hour of general debate, equally divided between the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Armed Services. Mr. Speaker, this is a fair rule. It is a traditional structured rule for defense authorization and it provides for debate on a number of pertinent issues, including nuclear policy, missile defense, quality-of-life issues for our servicemen and women, and a number of noncontroversial concerns. H.R. 4546 is a good bill. This legislation firmly shows our commitment to restoring the strength of our Nation's military. This is the fifth straight year of real increases to defense spending after 13 consecutive years of real cuts to defense budgets, and the largest increase in military manpower since 1986. With U.S. personnel risking their lives on the front lines of the war on terrorism, H.R. 4546 is more than just a signal to our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines that this is a Nation that recognizes their sacrifices. It is the means by which we meet our commitment to providing them a decent quality of life, by providing an across-the- board 4.1 percent pay increase for military personnel, as well as improving benefits and continuing to build new housing and working facilities. The housing conditions have been deplorable, and certainly they deserve better. I commend my colleagues, the chairman of the Committee on Armed Services, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Stump), and the ranking minority member, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton), for crafting legislation that will make America a safe place. It improves our defense against terrorists, rogue nations, against chemical and biological warfare and nuclear weapons. However, there is one amendment the Committee on Rules made in order that I strongly oppose, the Sanchez amendment. It would allow abortions on our military bases overseas. Military treatment centers, which are dedicated to healing and nurturing life, should not be forced to facilitate the taking of the most innocent human life, the child in the womb. For the past 5 years, the House has voted to keep abortion on demand out of military medical facilities. I urge my colleagues to stay on this course and vote against this amendment. That said, this is a fair rule. So let us pass this rule and pass the underlying defense authorization bill. At the end of the day, we will be making our homeland safer and we will be supporting our sons and daughters who are serving us in the military. We will be preparing for war, if necessary, thereby ensuring victory. At this crucial time in our history, this bill is most important. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier), the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Rules.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 415 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Hastings), a member of the Committee on Rules. (Mr. HASTINGS of Washington asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the proceedings had during the recess be printed in the Congressional Record and that all Members and former Members who spoke during the recess have the privilege of revising and extending their remarks.

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mrs. MYRICK

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 402 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, for the purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings); 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. Yesterday, the Committee on Rules met and granted a structured rule providing for consideration of the bill H.R. 2871, the Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Act of 2001. The rule waives all points of order against consideration of the bill and provides for 1 hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking member of the Committee on Financial Services. The rule further provides the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Financial Services now printed in the bill shall be considered as an original bill for the purpose of amendment and shall be considered as read. It waives all points of order against the bill as amended and makes in order only those amendments printed in the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying the resolution. H. Res. 402 provides that the amendments printed in the report shall be considered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to an amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole. The rule also waives all points of order against the amendments printed in the report and provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions. Finally, it provides that after the passage of H.R. 2817, it shall be in order to take from the Speaker's table S. 1372, consider it in the House, and move to strike all after the enacting clause and insert the text of H.R. 2871 as passed by the House. It waives all points of order against consideration of the Senate bill and the motion to strike and insert. If the motion is adopted and the Senate bill, as amended, is passed, then it shall be in order to move that the House insist on its amendments and request a conference. H. Res. 402 is a bipartisan, fair rule; and it allows for four Democrat amendments. Mr. Speaker, the Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Act of 2001 reauthorizes the bank for 4 years and has important provisions that encourage small business transactions; and it allows other key changes that will improve the operations of Ex-Im. The mission of Ex-Im is to support export financing of U.S. goods and services. Ex-Im is designed to help U.S. exporters match competition from foreign export credit agencies in Japan, Germany, France, and other countries. By law, Ex-Im is intended only to fill gaps in commercially available financing for U.S. exports by serving as a lender of last resort and not competing with private lenders. Ex-Im is also required by law to work towards securing international agreements to reduce government- subsidized export financing, thereby promoting free and fair trade. I want to commend my colleague, the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bereuter), for responding to concerns about the dumping of steel products on the U.S. markets. He has included a provision that directs Ex-Im to reevaluate the adverse-impact test it performs. This bill now seeks to ensure the bank takes into account the interest of U.S. industries before approving a transaction. H.R. 2871 is a strong piece of legislation that will help American manufacturers, American workers, and the American economy. This bill was crafted with substantial Democrat input and was reported out of the Committee on Financial Services on a bipartisan vote. I urge my colleagues to support this rule and to support the commonsense legislation that it underlies. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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