Bill Thomas

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, the Chair has ruled. How can the gentleman from Wisconsin speak on the point of order when the Chair has ruled?

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Wisconsin is not speaking to the legislation in front of us, and he knows it.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I have a point of order.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Hoekstra], a cosponsor of the legislation.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Weller], a cosponsor of the legislation.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California [Mr. Riggs].

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the bill is fairly self-evident; that is, if you commit a felony in the line of duty, you lose your pension. All of the amendments that were offered in committee were accepted by the committee. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Washington [Mr. Tate], the primary sponsor of the bill.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4011, as indicated, the Congressional Pension Forfeiture Act of 1996, a piece of legislation introduced by my colleague, the gentleman from Washington [Mr. Tate], the gentleman from California [Mr. Riggs], the gentleman from Arkansas [Mr. Dickey], and others, does provide that if a Member of Congress is convicted of a felony directly related to that Member's duties, the Member forfeits retirement benefits based on his or her service as a Member. During its meeting on September 19, 1996, the Committee on House Oversight approved two amendments, which are included in the bill. The first amendment identifies the specific felonies which will result in the forfeiture of the pension. The second amendment clarifies that vested Thrift Savings Plan contributions, both the Member's contributions and the Federal employer's matching amounts, will be returned to the individual. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4011) to amend title 5, United States Code, to provide that if a Member of Congress is convicted of a felony, such Member shall not be eligible for retirement benefits based on that individual's service as a Member, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the conference report on H.R. 3666, the VA/HUD appropriation for 1997. In particular, as chairman of the Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Ways and Means, I want to point out that two legislative provisions contained in the conference report amend Public Law 104-191, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which falls within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means. The rule, which the House just passed, waives the necessary points of order allowing the conference report to be considered with these legislative items. First, title VI of the conference report, titled ``Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act of 1996,'' would introduce new rules which must be met by group health plans subject to the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. These rules would prevent group health plans from restricting certain benefits for hospital care in connection with childbirth. Second, title VII of the conference report, titled ``Parity in the Application of Certain Limits to Mental Health Benefits,'' would introduce new rules which also must be met by group health plans subject to the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. These rules establish certain requirements concerning application of lifetime or annual limits to mental health benefits, if mental health benefits are included in the group health plan. The conferees have noted in their report language that, in order for this provision to be fully implemented, the Internal Revenue Code must be appropriately amended. Such amendments would permit enforcement of these new requirements through the tax penalty structure that was recently enacted in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act applicable to group health plans. In other words, we are adding new requirements to only the Public Health Service Act and ERISA--Employee Retirement and Income Security Act--portions of the underlying law without being able at this time, to make the necessary conforming requirements to the Internal Revenue Code due to procedural constraints on this appropriations bill. It is our intention on the Committee on Ways and Means to move the conforming tax provisions as soon as possible. It is also important to note that the maternal stay provision has been scored as having a negative income and payroll tax revenue effect of $112 million over the period 1997-2002. The mental health parity provision has a negative revenue effect of $431 million over the same period. These revenue losses are clearly a matter of concern and responsibility for the committee with jurisdiction over tax matters. The legislative language needed to accomplish full implementation of the maternal stay and mental health provisions in the framework of the underlying Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is reflected in the text of H.R. 4135, introduced today by myself and Mr. Stark, the ranking minority member of the Subcommittee on Health. We are entering the text of H.R. 4135 in the Congressional Record to indicate the changes the Committee on Ways and Means intends to pursue. Finally, we have exchanged letters regarding these jurisdictional matters with the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations and I understand that these letters will be placed in the Congressional Record.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on House Oversight and the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities be discharged from further consideration of the resolution (H. Res. 504) approving certain regulations to implement provisions of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 relating to labor-management relations with respect to employing offices and covered employees of the House of Representatives, and for other purposes, and asked for its immediate consideration.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, on July 9, 1996, the Board of Directors of the Office of Compliance adopted final regulations to implement the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations statutes under section 220(d) of the Congressional Accountability Act. House Resolution 504 approves the regulations applicable to the House, to the extent that such regulations are consistent with the act. The resolution further directs the Board to adopt supplemental regulations to implement the requirement in section 220(c)(1) of the act that all matters relating to Federal Labor Relations be referred to a hearing officer. Regulations relating to section 220(e) of the act have not yet been adopted by the Board.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, this is the Administrative Reform Technical Corrections Act. We passed it back in March, March 19, as a matter of fact. The Senate passed the bill June 28. They added one amendment to section 107 of the bill. The purpose of this unanimous-consent request is to agree to that Senate amendment.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 2739) to provide for a representational allowance for Members of the House of Representatives, to make technical and conforming changes to sundry provisions of law in consequence of administrative reforms in the House of Representatives, and for other purposes, with Senate amendments thereto and concur in the Senate amendments.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield, my understanding is that this change removes the item that was added dealing with the particular drug used in the treatment of arthritis which would have created an equity under the Patent Code with another drug that had been given privileged treatment in an earlier piece of legislation that had passed. My understanding is that the attempt to provide this particular drug with equity under the patent law had been tried in a previous Democratic Congress, including a number of measures, and they all failed. The assumption was, this would be an appropriate route. I will tell the gentleman, apparently with the concurrent resolution in front of us, there was a conclusion on the Senate side that it was not the appropriate route.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I offer a concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 208) directing the Clerk of the House of Representatives to make a correction in the enrollment of H.R. 3103, and I ask unanimous consent for its immediate consideration.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on House Oversight and the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities be discharged from further consideration of the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 207) approving certain regulations to implement provisions of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 relating to labor-management relations with respect to covered employees, other than employees of the House of Representatives and employees of the Senate, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, House Concurrent Resolution 207 accomplishes the same purpose as the resolution just agreed to with respect to regulations applicable to the Capitol Guide Board, the Capitol Police Board, CBO, the Architect, the Attending Physician, and the Office of Compliance. The concurrent resolution was agreed to. A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the Senate concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 47) to provide for a Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, Senate Concurrent Resolution 47 provides for a Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies which will be authorized to make the necessary arrangements for the inauguration of the President-elect and Vice President-elect of the United States on January 20, 1997. The Senate concurrent resolution was concurred in. A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the Senate concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 48) authorizing the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol to be used on January 20, 1997, in connection with the proceedings and ceremonies for the inauguration of the President-elect and the Vice President-elect of the United States, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, Senate Concurrent Resolution 48 authorizes use of the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol to be used on January 20, 1997, in connection with proceedings and ceremonies for the inauguration of the President-elect and Vice-President-elect of the United States. Mr. Speaker, I also want to indicate that a resolution introduced by the gentleman from New York [Mr. Rangel] regarding a commemorative for the late Ham Fish, former Member of the House, will be handled by the Joint Committee on Printing. And as the Chair, I will indicate that it will be handled by the committee and there needs to be adjustments in the language to make sure that the number of copies are an appropriate number based upon the family and the Members of the House that would wish to receive it.

Mr. THOMAS. I yield to the gentleman from New York.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me the time. I just want to take a minute because very often we forget that the legislation in front of us, although worked out in general by Members, is always finalized, structured, coordinated and made correct by staff. Chief of staff on the Committee on Ways and Means, Phil Moseley, and those competent staff under him on our side, Jim Clark, Paul Auster, Tim Hanford, John Harrington, and Norah Moseley, and the Joint Committee on Taxation under Ken Kies, have worked a number of hours, along with minority staff, to make sure that what is in front of us is done accurately. I want to make sure that they got credit because they certainly put in the hours.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. I tell the gentleman that H.R. 3103 does not adversely affect Hawaii's current exception, which is in fact the Health Care Act of 1974. In addition to that, the whole question of MSA's that has been discussed is a tax question, and that also does not affect Hawaii's system. The new MSA pilot program is an opportunity and not a mandate affecting employer or individual health insurance plans. I am pleased to say that Hawaii can go its own way.