Congressional Record United States of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 106Th CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION
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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 106th CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 146 WASHINGTON, FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 2000 No. 81 House of Representatives The House met at 9 a.m. lic for which it stands, one nation under God, gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. The Chaplain, the Reverend Daniel P. indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. DEGETTE) had been disposed of and the Coughlin, offered the following prayer: f bill was open for amendment from page Almighty God, at times as true be- 35, line 8, through page 35, line 14. ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER lievers we seem aliens in a hostile land. Pursuant to the order of the House of Confirm us in our calling to be Your The SPEAKER. The Chair will enter- that day, no further amendment to the people. tain 1-minutes at the end of the legisla- bill shall be in order except pro forma As sojourners on our way to Your tive day today. amendments offered by the chairman eternal dominions, we can be so pre- f and ranking member of the Committee occupied ourselves that we are not as on Appropriations or their designees GENERAL LEAVE attentive as You would have us be to for the purpose of debate and amend- the human dramas that surround us Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask ments printed in the CONGRESSIONAL each day. unanimous consent that all Members RECORD on or before June 22, 2000, At other times we are so distracted may have 5 legislative days within which may be offered only by the Mem- by flash bulbs and public opinion and which to revise and extend their re- ber who caused it to be printed or his so captivated by passing things that we marks on H.R. 4690, and that I may in- designee, shall be considered read, lose our way on the path of integrity clude tabular and extraneous material. shall not be subject to amendment (ex- and truth. Purify us by Your Holy Spir- The SPEAKER. Is there objection to cept pro forma amendments for the it. the request of the gentleman from Ken- purpose of debate), and shall not be Keep away from us all worldly de- tucky? subject to a demand for a division of sires that wage war against the soul of There was no objection. the question. this Nation. During this our earthly f Before consideration of any other pilgrimage deepen our commitment to amendment, it shall be in order to con- DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, truly know one another and assist each sider the amendment offered by the JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE JUDI- other along the way. gentleman from California (Mr. WAX- CIARY, AND RELATED AGENCIES Raise us up beyond self-doubt and MAN) to section 110, which shall be de- APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2001 batable only for 40 minutes, equally di- suspicion with informed and good con- vided and controlled by the proponent science that we may be freed to move The SPEAKER. Pursuant to House and an opponent. on accomplishing Your holy will in or- Resolution 529 and rule XVIII, the dinary deeds. You live and love in us Chair declares the House in the Com- AMENDMENT OFFERED BY MR. WAXMAN now and forever. Amen. mittee of the Whole House on the State Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment. f of the Union for the further consider- ation of the bill, H.R. 4690. The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will des- THE JOURNAL ignate the amendment. b 0904 The text of the amendment is as fol- The SPEAKER. The Chair has exam- lows: ined the Journal of the last day's pro- IN THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE Accordingly, the House resolved Amendment offered by Mr. WAXMAN: ceedings and announces to the House Page 37, line 11, after the period, insert the his approval thereof. itself into the Committee of the Whole following: Pursuant to clause 1, rule I, the Jour- House on the State of the Union for the The preceding sentence shall not apply to nal stands approved. further consideration of the bill (H.R. litigation filed before January 1, 2000, that f 4690) making appropriations for the De- has received funding under section 109 of partments of Commerce, Justice, and Public Law 103-317 (28 U.S.C. 509 note). PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE State, the Judiciary, and related agen- The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the The SPEAKER. Will the gentle- cies for the fiscal year ending Sep- order of the House of Thursday, June woman from California (Ms. WOOLSEY) tember 30, 2001, and for other purposes, 22, 2000, the gentleman from California come forward and lead the House in the with Mr. HASTINGS of Washington in (Mr. WAXMAN) and a Member opposed Pledge of Allegiance. the chair. each will control 20 minutes. Ms. WOOLSEY led the Pledge of Alle- The Clerk read the title of the bill. The Chair recognizes the gentleman giance as follows: The CHAIRMAN. When the Com- from California (Mr. WAXMAN). I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the mittee of the Whole rose on Thursday, Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Chairman, I yield United States of America, and to the Repub- June 22, 2000, the amendment by the myself 4 minutes. b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H5039 . VerDate 23-JUN-2000 02:40 Jun 24, 2000 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A23JN7.000 pfrm02 PsN: H23PT1 H5040 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð HOUSE June 23, 2000 I am offering this amendment with least deserving industry in America, money you gave us from the taxpayers. the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. for an industry that has targeted our We don't care what you thought when EVANS), the ranking member of the children, for an industry that manipu- you passed the statute. That is the at- Committee on Veterans' Affairs; the lated nicotine to keep smokers ad- titude of the Justice Department. gentleman from Utah (Mr. HANSEN); dicted, for an industry that has de- Since the section was enacted, so- the gentleman from Massachusetts ceived and lied to the public for dec- called 109, they have received roughly (Mr. MEEHAN); and the gentlewoman ades. $324 million in reimbursements, almost from Michigan (Ms. STABENOW). This is Our amendment is drawn very nar- all of which has been for just two mas- the third time this week we have of- rowly. It does not allow the Justice De- sive lawsuits, the A±12 airplane case I fered an amendment to an appropria- partment to seek funding from other mentioned, and the Winstar Savings tions bill to allow the Department of agencies to sue the gun industry, the and Loan cases where Justice was de- Veterans Affairs and the Justice De- gambling industry, or any other indus- fending the Government against $33 partment to continue their tobacco try. All our amendment says is that billion in claims. Clearly, section 109 is lawsuit. The first time we offered our this new policy should not be applied an important tool to protect the Gov- amendment to the VA±HUD bill, we retroactively to halt pending litigation ernment and the taxpayer and should lost on a close vote of 197±207. The sec- that commenced in reliance on the cur- stay on the books. Without it, Justice ond time we offered the amendment, rent law. In effect, the amendment is would not have been able to mount we reached an agreement with the gen- nothing more than a savings clause credible defenses in critical cases and tleman from New York (Mr. WALSH), that would allow the tobacco suit to the Government could have suffered the subcommittee chairman, and pre- continue. Our amendment raises ex- billions of dollars in losses. vailed on a voice vote. I thought that actly the same issue we debated on What we do in the bill is clarify Con- this issue had been resolved. I thought Monday and decided on Tuesday. gressional intent. We say, Look, what the House had determined that the vet- Today, as we did on Tuesday, we should we meant when we gave you that au- erans and America's taxpayers de- stand with our veterans and our sen- thority in 1995 was to defend the Gov- served their day in court. The Federal iors, not the tobacco companies. ernment against these massive claims, lawsuit would be decided by a judge I urge my colleagues to support the not to initiate lawsuits. And the bill and a jury in a court based on the mer- amendment. does ensure that the money would be its of the case, not by Congress through Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance used for defensive litigation which was legislative riders. of my time. the justification provided by the Jus- Unfortunately, I was wrong. The bill The CHAIRMAN. Is the gentleman tice Department when it sought from before us today, the Commerce-State- from Kentucky opposed to the amend- us this special authority and the un- Justice appropriations bill, would undo ment? derstanding of Congress when we pro- the agreement we reached on Tuesday. Mr. ROGERS. I am, Mr. Chairman. vided that authority. It is the reason- Once again, it contains a rider that The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman able approach, and it is the right thing would defund the Federal tobacco law- from Kentucky is recognized for 20 to do.