Transcripts For CSPAN US House Of Representatives Special Or

The chair on this vote the yeas are 175 and the nays are 247 the amendment is no adopted. ThUnfinished Business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 24 printed in the house record 114259 by the gentleman from coloro, mr. Polis, on whh the proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed byoice vot the clerk amendment number 24, printed inrouse report house report 114359 offereby mr. Polis of colorado. The chair a recorded vote has been requted. All those in favor of taking this vote by the yeasnd nays will rise and remain standing unt counted. Those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise anbe counted. A sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. Members will record their votes by electroc device. This is a twominute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the csedcaptioned coverage of the house proceedingfor political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibitedy the. S. House of representatives. ] the cha on tte the yeas are 206 and the nayare 216. The amendments not adopted. The Unfinished Business is the request r a recoed vote on amendment number 25 printed in house report 114359 by the gentlen from texas, mr. Barton, onhich the oceedings we postponed and on which the yeas prevailed by voice vote. The clerkills remain dis will redesignate the amendment. The clerk amendment number 25 offered by mr. Barton of exas. The chair a recorded vo has been requested. Those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. A sufficient number having arisen, a record vote is ordered. Members will record their votes bectron device. This is a twominute vote. [captioning made possible by the nationalaptioning institute, inc. In cooperation with thenid stat housef reprsentatives. Any e of the closedcaptioned coverage of the house proceedis for politil or commercial purposes is expressly prohibity e u. S. House of representives. ] the chair on this vote the eas ar 254 the chair vote the are 254 the chr on this vote th yeas are 5, the nays are 168. Amendment is adopted. Or what purpo does the mrupton i move the n rise . Committee do now ris the chair the question is on the mion th the committee ri. The in favor say aye. Those opsed, no. The ayes have it. E motiois apted. Accordiny,he committee rises. The committee of the whole house on the state of the union, having had under consideration h. R. 8, directs me to report that it has come to no resolution thereon. The speaker pro tempore the chair of the committee of the whole house on the state of the Union Reports that the committee has had under consideration h. R. 8 and has come to no resolution thereon. He house will be in order. The house will be in order. Members, please take your seats. For what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise . I ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute for the purpose of making an announcement. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Sessions madam speaker, today the rules committee issued a Dear Colleague letter outlining the amendment process for h. R. 2310, the red river private Property Protection act. An amendment deadline has been set for monday, december 7, 2015, to 12 00 p. M. Amendments should be drafted to the text as reported by the committee on Natural Resources and is posted on the rules committee website. Please feel free to contact me or my staff for any questions. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore without objection, fiveminute voting will continue. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the Unfinished Business is the question of adoption on the conference report on the bill s. 1177 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. The clerk will report the title of the bill. The clerk senate 1177, an act to reauthorize the elementary and secondary education act of 1965, to ensure that every child achieves. The speaker pro tempore the question is on the adoption of the conference report. Members will record their votes by electronic device. This is a fiveminute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the closedcaptioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u. S. House of representatives. ] on this vote, the yeas are 359, the nays are 64. The conference report is adopted. Without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. The speaker pro tempore the chair lays before the house the ollowing enrolled bills. The clerk senate 11 0, an act to amend title 39 United States code to extend the authority of the United States Postal Service to issue a semipostal to raise funds for Breast Cancer research nd for other purposes. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman rom north dakota rise . I ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourns today it adjourn to meet at 9 00 a. M. Tomorrow. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Pursuant to House Resolution 542 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the further consideration of h. R. 8. Would the gentlewoman from tennessee, mrs. Black, kindly esume the chair. The chair the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of h. R. 8 which the clerk will report by title. The clerk a bill to modernize Energy Infrastructure, build a 1st Century Energy work force, bolster American Energy and diplomacy and for other purposes. The chair when the committee of the whole rose earlier today, amendment number 25 printed in house report 114359 offered by the gentleman from texas, mr. Barton had been disposed of. It is now in order to consider amendment number 26 printed in out report 114359. For what purpose does the gentleman from north dakota seek recognition . Mr. Cramer i have an amendment at the desk. The chair the clerk will report the amendment. The clerk amendment number 36 printed in house report 114359, offered by mr. Cramer of north dakota. The chair the gentleman from north dakota, mr. Cramer, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from north dakota. Mr. Cramer this amendment authorizes the voluntary, and i stress voluntary, Vegetation Management within 150 feet of the exterior boundary of the right of way near structures on u. S. Forest service land. You know, the former Energy Regulator and utility commissioner, i know there are many threats to power lines running across this country and most of the time this comes down to vegetation, as odd as that might seem, but especially in areas where there are a lot of trees and remote areas that are hard to get to. Right of way Vegetation Management on these lands are the responsibility of the United States Forest Service but for any number of reasons, they arent conducting this critical work to ensure the reliability of our electricity. Utility companies dont want to do the work off their right of way due to the lack of clarity in their legal liability. Or a striket liability standard this amendment provides that Legal Certainty and holds the utilities accountable for gross negligence or criminal misconduct. Lastly, its important to note that this bill, this amendment, demonstrates that this is not, and i stress, is not a back door to logging and prevents the sale of the vegetation by the utility and clarities clarifies it shall be the property of the United States. Madam speaker, i would also emphasize that the Edison Electric institute and the American Public Power Association support this amendment. I reserve the balance of my time. I yield to the chairman. Mr. Upton i want to emphasize that this is voluntary Vegetation Management, and limits legal liability. I think its a good amendment. I urge my colleagues to support it and yield back to the gentleman from north dakota. I reserve. The chair the gentleman from north dakota reserves. For what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition . I rise in opposition to the amendment. The chair the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. Mr. Pallone thank you. Thank you madam chair. The managers amendment to h. R. 8 already includes a provision which would hand over management of vast swaths of u. S. Public lands to private corporations and other utility providers under the guise of preventing forest fires. This provision was inserted in the dead of night and the full house wont get to vote on it and this is a terrible way to treat our public lands. As if this werent enough, this amendment would go even farther, allowing electric utilities to clear cut a swath of forest adjacent to utility right of way. It would also shift liability for fire damage from the utilities to american taxpayers and thats not right. The Forest Service and b. L. M. Are already working with utilities to improve right of way maintenance. Both agencies testified that Prior Agency Approval is not necessary for emergency vegetation maintenance work. Mr. Huffman offered a commonsense amendment atmarkup which would have required proactive planning by utilities in coordination with land managers to aeent to identify and address potential fire threats. Every republican voted against it. Instead theyre supporting legislation which would lead to less responsible stewardship of americas peoples forests. According to the natch interagency fire center, power lines were responsible for closing only 0. 03 of forest fires in the past five years. If republicans are serious about preventing and fighting forest fires, theyll work with us to adequately fund the Forest Service and work on the problem of fire borrowing which burned up 52 of the agencys budget. But this isnt about solving a problem, its about control. Its regrettable that House Republicans seek to give away the peoples land to private interest. Its outrageous that this would happen. Madam speaker, i urge a no vote on the amendment. I yield back i reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman from new jersey reserve. The gentleman from north dakota is recognized. Mr. Cramer i want to correct a couple of statements made sincerely by the opposition to this. I want to be clear that the cost of this is born not by the taxpayers, but by the utility themselves. And the reason that theyre not able to do it now, of course, is because of liability, lack of clarity in the Liability System of this clears that part of it up. And again, i want to get back to, i was a regulator for nearly 10 years and some people may remember not so many years ago, a major rolling brownout that led to blockouts in the northeastern part of this country. All of that was caused by trees growing into transmission lines. It has a cascading effect. Yes, when those trees, if its a large forest, those trees are in transition lines can transmission lines can create forest fires. This is a very basic approach. Most of the arguments the gentleman raised are to the underlying bill, not this amendment. This amendment is very straightforward. I urge a yes vote and i reserve. The chair the gentleman from north dakota reserves. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone i yield back, madam speaker. The chair the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from north dakota is recognized. Mr. Cramer i urge a yes vote and yield back. The chair the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from north dakota. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. Mr. Mr. Pallone i ask for the yeas and nays. The chair in the opinion of the chair the ayes have it. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from north dakota will e postponed. It is now in order to consider amendment number 27 printed in house report 114359. For what purpose does the gentleman from wisconsin seek recognition . Mr. Duffy i have an amendment. The chair the clerk will report the amendment. The clerk amendment number 27, offered by mr. Duffy of wisconsin. The chair the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. Duffy, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from wisconsin. Mr. Duffy today i rise to talk about my commonsense amendment, an amendment that takes aim at excessive bureaucratic rule making at the e. P. A. The e. P. A. Has long been known to issue onerous and costly rules with little regard to the impact on american businesses and the families who run those businesses. According to some estimates, 17 of the e. P. A. s major rules implemented between 2000 and 2013 have imposed an annual Economic Impact of 90 billion. A 90 billion annual impact per year. Which means real jobs and a real impact on our economy. Adding to the frustration, it often ignores longstanding executive orders requiring them to improve their own regulatory coordination planning and reviews. These executive orders were issued under the clinton and Obama Administrations, two administrations that have a very positive outlook toward the e. P. A. By no by no stretch of the imagination do we consider them conservative. These require departments departments, but not agencies like the e. P. A. , to follow guidelines on rules that would have an impact on state, local or tribal goth or private expenditures in the aggregate of more than 900 million a year. Those big rules have big impacts. The mercury rule is a prime example of that. It was going to cost 10 billion. The u. S. Supreme court struck down that rule because the e. P. A. Unreasonably failed to consider the cost. My amendment would require the e. P. A. To follow existing requires requirements to improve regulatory planning, coordination, and reviews. American businesses and families cant afford the e. P. A. To continue with duplicative and overreaching regulations. The e. P. A. Should have to follow the same rules other departments must follow. I reserve. Mr. Upton i want to say, this amendment requires the e. P. A. To satisfy regulatory planning, review requirements, comply with y both the competing executive orders. Lets avoid this possibility by defeating the executive mendment. Mr. Duffy lets have the e. P. A. Implement ruelings with no comment, no transparency and no input from the American People. Thats not what our founders envisioned. They envisioned a form of government where it was transparent. We all had a say in the process. These arent radical ideas. This is common sense. Listen, a quote, regulation shall be adopted through a process that involves public participation. That wasnt from ronlt reagan or george bush. That was barack obama. Each agency where feasible and appropriate shall seek the views of those who are likely to be affected. Not ronald reagan. Not george bush. But barack obama. This stuff makes sense. Open the process up. Let the American People see the impact and the rules that are being proposed. Just like in every other government agency. The e. P. A. Shouldnt get special treatment. Transparency, Good Government, american involvement from the people and the process is what this amendment is about. I would encourage all of my colleagues to support Good Government and a great amendment and i would reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone madam chair, let me just say that this process with the e. P. A. Is very transparent. They do consider cause and i disagree with the gentleman. I would urge opposition to this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from wks is recognized. Mr. Duffy i yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from wisconsin. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. The amendment is agreed to. It is now in order to consider amendment number 28 printed in house report 114359. For what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition . The clerk will designate the amendment. The clerk amendment number 28 printed in house report 114359 offered by mr. Gosar of arizona. The chair pursuant to House Resolution 552, the gentleman from arizona, mr. Gosar, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona. Mr. Gosar thank you, madam chair. I rise today to offer a commonsense amendment to h. R. 8. He gosarbriden gosarbridenstineyoho amendment limits attorneys fees for such challenges in order to discourage frivolous lawsuits and foster American Energy production. This amendment will streamline the process and encourage production of natural gas, hydropower, clean coal, geothermal, solar, oil, biomass and all other sources of energy that are produced on federal lands. Specifically this amendment requires the u. S. District courts to hear and determine covered civil action challenges as expediently as practical. And that all covered civil actions be filed within 90 days of the final federal Agency Action. This amendment is responsible, commonsense step that a government accountable to the people should take to show proper stewardship of