[Page H5718]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  LIMITATION ON AMENDMENTS DURING FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 4611, 
   AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2001

  Mr. SKEEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that during the 
further consideration of H.R. 4461 in the Committee of the Whole 
pursuant to House Resolution 538, that no further amendments to the 
bill shall be in order except, one, pro forma amendments offered by the 
chairman or ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations 
or their designees for the purpose of debate; two, the following 
additional amendments, which shall be debatable for 10 minutes:
  The amendments printed in the portion of the Congressional Record 
designated for that purpose in clause 8 of rule XVIII and numbered 9, 
29, 32, 37, 48, 61 and 68.
  Each additional amendment may be offered only by the Member 
designated in this request, or a designee, or the Member who caused it 
to be printed, or a designee, and shall be considered as read. Each 
additional amendment shall be debatable for the time specified, equally 
divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, and shall not 
be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for a 
division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Mexico?
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, for the 
purpose of discussion, I want to just clarify, because we have some 
Members on this side who have brought amendments up just recently and 
we had not expected those. I wanted to make sure that those Members 
understood that under this unanimous consent agreement, which I will 
ultimately support, I do not believe that they would be able to bring 
their amendments up. I wanted to clarify that.
  The only amendments that would be allowed would be those that have 
already been printed in the Record?
  Mr. SKEEN. If the gentlewoman will yield, that is correct.
  Ms. KAPTUR. And available to the committee?
  Mr. SKEEN. That is correct.
  Ms. KAPTUR. For example, we have a Member here who may want to be 
recognized at this point to ascertain whether her amendments would be 
in order under this unanimous consent agreement. I would not want to 
preclude the gentlewoman from being at least able to inquire as to 
whether those amendments would be allowed.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?
  Ms. KAPTUR. I yield to the gentlewoman from California.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire as to whether or not 
the three amendments that are being referenced are included in this 
group that is being agreed upon? These are three amendments that we had 
prepared. We did not realize that there would be perhaps a reduction or 
closing off of the opportunity to present amendments. I would certainly 
ask my colleagues to include these three amendments in this group.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I believe these would be 
the only three amendments on this side that currently are not allowed 
under the unanimous consent request. They all concern serious issues of 
civil rights and litigation related to that at the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture.
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, could I ask the gentleman from New Mexico 
(Chairman Skeen) a question under the reservation of objection of the 
gentlewoman from Ohio? Could I ask whether or not, since it is my 
understanding that the amendments of the gentlewoman from California 
are subject to points of order, is it possible under the unanimous 
consent request that the gentleman is proposing, for those to be 
handled under the pro forma procedure laid out in the unanimous consent 
request?
  Mr. SKEEN. If the gentlewoman will yield, yes.
  Mr. OBEY. So the gentlewoman would be able to offer those amendments, 
even though they would be subject to a point of order? The gentlewoman 
cannot get a vote on the amendment, obviously, but we could strike the 
last word so that she can make the point that she wants on each of the 
three amendments?

                              {time}  2015

  Mr. SKEEN. Mr. Speaker, I will move to strike the last word and then 
yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) at the 
appropriate time.
  Mr. OBEY. So the gentleman will rise to strike the last word and 
recognize the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters)?
  Mr. SKEEN. Mr. Speaker, that is correct.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman so much for that 
allowance. We realize it is in the nature of an unusual request, but we 
were unprepared as well until very recently. I also thank the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters).
  Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Walden of Oregon). Is there objection to 
the request of the gentleman from New Mexico?
  There was no objection.

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