Christopher Shays

Mr. SHAYS

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. section 108 of House Resolution 6, the previous question is ordered. The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill. The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time and was read the third time.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I would conclude and not use all of my time, but would thank the Members for their graciousness, and particularly thank the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Hoyer] for taking the place of the gentleman from New Hampshire, Dick Swett, in this important debate. I thank him from the bottom of my heart for treating it with such seriousness. I say to my Members that behind the Speaker is the flag of the United States. The American people revere that flag, but that flag is a symbol. It is a piece of cloth that represents so much. Our Founding Fathers established in the Constitution this body, the people's body. My hope and prayer is that the American people will respect Congress as much as they respect the American flag.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Boehner].

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California [Mr. Royce]. (Mr. ROYCE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. Ganske]. (Mr. GANSKE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Fox]. (Mr. FOX asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado [Mr. Allard]. I point out to Members here that he was a member of the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress that championed this legislation.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California [Mr. Riggs], and I welcome him back to this Chamber.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume, and say to the Members of this Chamber that the Congressional Accountability Act is not one person's bill, it was authored 2 years ago by a colleague of mine, Dick Swett. There were four original cosponsors, Roscoe Bartlett, Jay Dickey, David Mann, and Paul McHale. The cochairman of the Freshman Bipartisan Task Force on Congressional Reform Tillie Fowler, Peter Torkildsen, Karen Shepherd, Eric Fingerhut and 100 freshmen cosponsored this bill. The presidents of the freshman class last year, Eva Clayton and Buck McKeon, cosponsored this bill. The Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress headed by Lee Hamilton and David Dreier, Republicans and Democrats throughout, championed this bill through their committee. The chairmen and ranking members of the Committee on House Administration and Committee on Rules that marked up H.R. 4822 on which this bill is based, Republicans and Democrats, were essential to its work: Charlie Rose, Bill Thomas, Joe Moakley, Jerry Solomon. Other leaders who have been working on this issue for years and years and years, Bill Goodling and Harris Fawell and others, in particular Barney Frank, who encouraged the Speaker of the House in this past time to move forward with this bill, was essential to its passage last time with John Boehner. Mr. Speaker, this bill has had bipartisan support. It moved forward in this Chamber last year with bipartisan support. Republicans and Democrats have made their mark on this bill. I also want to thank the former Speaker Tom Foley for guaranteeing a vote and moving it to the Senate and for Newt Gingrich, our present Speaker, for championing this bill wherever he went, and to thank Steny Hoyer for his work. The bottom line to this is that this is our bill, it belongs to all of us, and it is a strong bill. It includes all the laws that we are presently exempted from. It covers all the instrumentalities, the Library of Congress, the GAO, it gives them the protection, and it allows employees for the first time to go to court, civil action if they choose to, de novo, or to have a court appeal. In the whole process of deliberation on this bill, Mr. Speaker, we had 3 guiding principles that Dick Swett and I worked on with so many other Members. If a law is right for the private sector, it is right for Congress. Congress will write better laws when it has to live by the same laws it imposes on the private sector and the executive branch and we must as well respect the separation of powers embodied in the Constitution. Mr. Speaker, I do not quite know how long this bill will take in debate, it may be a full hour, but it is truly our bill. It passed this Chamber with overwhelming support, and it is my hope that the Senate will act shortly on this legislation, maybe tomorrow, and that we will have a conference and finalize this bill possibly by next week. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Upton], an original cosponsor of the bill.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California [Mr. McKeon] who was president of the Republican freshman class last year and a technical cosponsor.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida [Mrs. Fowler], who was also just an essential part of the passage of this bill last year as cochairman of the freshman bipartisan task force on congressional reform.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Torkildsen], who was the cochairman of the Freshman Bipartisan Task Force on Congressional Reform, so important to the passage of this bill.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to my friend, the gentleman from Arkansas [Mr. Dickey], one of the six original cosponsors, a member of the freshman class that was so important to passage of this bill.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Bartlett], an original cosponsor of this legislation.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, as the designee of the majority leader and pursuant to section 108 of House Resolution 6, I call up the bill (H.R. 1) to make certain laws applicable to the legislative branch of the Federal Government, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois, Mr. Harris Fawell, who has really been a champion of this legislation for years. (Mr. FAWELL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, there are speakers on both sides. There will not be a vote right this second. I yield myself 30 seconds to correct one point that was made during the debate on the rule and now here on the issue of Republicans killing it in the Senate. To correct the Record, Mr. Speaker, this bill passed with bipartisan support in this Chamber. It died in the Senate with bipartisan support. The Senate Government Affairs Committee held a hearing on June 29. They then reported out and marked up the bill on September 20, after the break. They reported the bill out on the third and filed their report. The report was not printed until October 6, the day it was to be voted on. So any Member could object to it being brought up. I say to the House it passed here with bipartisan support; it died there with bipartisan support. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Goodling], chairman of the Economic and Educational Opportunity Committee, who is truly the father of this legislation. (Mr. GOODLING asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Massachusetts, Mr. Peter Blute.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I yield a minute and a half to my colleague, the gentleman from California [Mr. Cunningham].

Mr. SHAYS

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks, and include therein extraneous material, on H.R. 1, the bill just passed. Point of Order