H.R. 4200 - National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2005 1. Structured rule.
2. Provides two hours of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Armed Services.
3. Waives all points of order against consideration of the bill.
4. Provides that the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Armed Services now printed in the bill shall be considered as an original bill for the purpose of amendment and shall be considered as read.
5. Waives all points of order against the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Armed Services.
6. Makes in order only those amendments printed in the Rules Committee report accompanying the resolution, and amendments en bloc described in section 3 of the resolution.
7. Provides that amendments shall be considered only in the order specified in the report (except as specified in section 4 of the resolution), may be offered only by a Member designated in the report, shall be debatable for 10 minutes (unless otherwise specified in the report) equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment (except that the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Armed Services each may offer one pro forma amendment for the purpose of further debate on any pending amendment), shall be considered as read, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole.
8. Waives all points of order against the amendments printed in the Rules Committee report and those amendments en bloc as described in section 3 of the resolution.
9. Authorizes the Chairman of the Committee on Armed Services, or his designee, to offer amendments en bloc consisting of amendments printed in the Rules Committee report not earlier disposed of, which shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for 20 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Armed Services or their designees, and shall not be subject to amendment or demand for a division of the question in the House or the Committee of the Whole.
10. Provides that the original proponent of an amendment included in such amendments en bloc may insert a statement in the Congressional Record immediately before the disposition of the amendments en bloc.
11. Allows the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole to recognize for consideration of any amendment printed in the Rules Committee report out of the order printed, but not sooner than one hour after the chairman of the Committee on Armed Services or a designee announces from the floor a request to that effect.
12. Provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions.
--------- RESOLUTION Resolved, That at any time after the adoption of this resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of the bill (H.R. 4200) to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2005 for military activities of the Department of Defense, to prescribe military personnel strengths for fiscal year 2005, and for other purposes. The first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. General debate shall be confined to the bill and the amendments made in order by this resolution and shall not exceed two hours equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Armed Services. After general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule.
Sec. 2. (a) It shall be in order to consider as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five-minute rule the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Armed Services now printed in the bill. The committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be considered as read. All points of order against the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute are waived.
(b) No amendment to the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be in order except those printed in the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution and amendments en bloc described in section 3 of this resolution.
(c) Each amendment printed in the report of the Committee on Rules shall be considered only in the order printed in the report (except as specified in section 4 of this resolution), may be offered only by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole. Each amendment printed in the report shall be debatable for 10 minutes (unless otherwise specified in the report) equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent and shall not be subject to amendment (except that the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Armed Services each may offer one pro forma amendment for the purpose of further debate on any pending amendment).
(d) All points of order against amendments printed in the report of the Committee on Rules or amendments en bloc described in section 3 of this resolution are waived.
Sec. 3. It shall be in order at any time for the chairman of the Committee on Armed Services or his designee to offer amendments en bloc consisting of amendments printed in the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution not earlier disposed of. Amendments en bloc offered pursuant to this section shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for 20 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Armed Services or their designees, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole. The original proponent of an amendment included in such amendments en bloc may insert a statement in the Congressional Record immediately before the disposition of the amendments en bloc.
Sec. 4. The Chairman of the Committee of the Whole may recognize for consideration of any amendment printed in the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution out of the order printed, but not sooner than one hour after the chairman of the Committee on Armed Services or a designee announces from the floor a request to that effect.
Sec. 5. At the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment the Committee shall rise and report the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been adopted. Any Member may demand a separate vote in the House on any amendment adopted in the Committee of the Whole to the bill or to the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instructions.
SUMMARY OF THE AMENDMENTS MADE IN ORDER UNDER THE RULE
1. Goode: Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to assign members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, under certain circumstances and subject to certain conditions, to assist the Department of Homeland Security in the performance of border protection functions. (20 minutes)
2. Davis, Susan (CA): Repeals the prohibition on servicewomen and female military dependents from using their own funds for abortions at overseas military hospitals. (20 Minutes)
3. Hunter: Expresses the sense of Congress concerning the abuse of persons in custody in Iraq. (20 Minutes)
4. Weldon, Curt (PA)/Murtha: Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense should assist the Iraqi Government in destroying the Abu Gharib prison and replacing it with a modern detention facility. Includes findings on the history of Abu Gharib prison. (20 Minutes)
5. Meek: Moves mission-critical information from the commissioning authority up to the highest levels in short order when that information portends events or situations detrimental to our strategic plan. Requires that the Secretary give guidance to all Department of Defense personnel with authority to commission assessments, evaluations, or investigations on what types of information would be necessary to pass up the chain of command. The guidance would specifically target those items of such potentially volatile nature as to given even the layman a reason to raise a red flag. (20 Minutes)
6. Hastings, Alcee (FL): Expresses the sense of Congress that no funds available to any department or agency of the United States Government may be used to provide assistance for the reconstruction of Iraq unless the President certifies to Congress that the United States Government has entered into an agreement with the Iraqi Governing Council or a transitional government in Iraq under which Iraq agrees that it will expend a significant portion of its revenues generated from oil production for reconstruction activities in Iraq. (20 Minutes)
7. Jones, Walter (NC): Adds the United States Coast Guard Academy and the United States Merchant Marine Academy to the list of institutions covered under section 556 of H.R. 4200 regarding prayer at military service academies. (20 Minutes)
8. Kennedy, Mark (MN): Eliminates the 2-year BRAC delay contained in H.R. 4200. Requires certain reports be submitted to Congress approximately six months before any potential vote to disapprove the recommendations of the BRAC Commission in order to review and hold hearings on the report. (20 Minutes)
9. Tauscher/Markey/Skelton/Dicks/Allen/Spratt: Transfers $36,557,000 from the Department of Energy's Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator and Advanced Concepts programs to increase both intelligence capabilities to get at hard and deeply buried targets and improved conventional bunker-busting capabilities. (20 Minutes)
10. Hunter: Provides that individuals that support programs of the “Employer Support of the Guard and the Reserve,” as authorized by the Secretary of Defense, are to be considered federal employees for the purposes of protection under various federal laws, requires a report before the Secretary implements a new program for the transportation of household goods of members of the Armed Forces, and their dependents, increases the transfer authority contained in the FY 2004 Defense Authorization Act from $2.5 billion to $3.0 billion, increases funding, with offsets, for Patriot missile procurement, requires a report from the Secretary of Defense on amounts remitted and reimbursed under section 1007 of the FY 2004 Defense Authorization Act, makes the provisions in Title 15 in HR 4200, as reported, effective upon enactment, and makes a technical cite correction. (10 Minutes)
11. Wamp: Makes following changes to Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program: (1) Eliminates pay cap for physicians and lets the market set the rate; (2) Eliminates restrictions on hiring authority, allowing Department of Energy to hire a federal or contractor employee; (3) Eliminates the requirement that an application can only go to Panel if a State agreement is in place, but still authorizes State agreements which Department of Energy will still use for data and information exchanges. (10 Minutes)
12. Dicks: Clarifies provisions in the bill relating to tanker procurement. Recommends a deadline of March 1, 2005 for the Department of Defense to resolve contract negotiations on tankers. (10 Minutes)
13. Hastings, Doc (WA): Restores $100 million to the Department of Energy's Defense Site Acceleration Completion account for a total of $350 million (the President's budget request level) for “Waste Incidental to Reprocessing.” Offsets with a reduction in Air Force Operation and Maintenance Account of $100 million, to be derived from the transportation capital fund. (10 Minutes)
14. Slaughter/Capito/Solis/Brown-Waite: Requires the Secretary of Defense to develop a comprehensive policy for the Department of Defense on the prevention of and response to sexual assaults involving members of the Armed Forces, based on the recommendations of the DoD Task Force on Care for Victims of Sexual Assaults and on such other matters as the Secretary considers appropriate. Requires DoD to take related measures to address sexual assaults involving members of the Armed Forces, such as reporting on improvement of capability to respond to sexual assaults, application of the comprehensive policy to the military departments, modification of policies and procedures of military departments, annual assessment of policies and procedures, and annual reports. (10 Minutes)
15. Maloney: Directs the Secretary of Defense to eliminate the backlog in forensic evidence collection kits and to provide an adequate supply of forensic evidence collection kits at all domestic and overseas U.S. military installations, military academies, and theaters of operation. (10 Minutes)
16. Chabot: Requires that sureties would be treated in the same manner as financing institutions when contractors default. (10 Minutes)
17. Manzullo: Allows procurement officials within the Department of Defense to include the creation of jobs in the United States as an evaluation factor. (10 Minutes)
18. Davis, Danny (IL): Authorizes landscaping services and pest control for inclusion in the Comp Demonstration program. (10 Minutes)
19. Weldon, Curt (PA): Permits the firefighter's Federal Excess Property Program, administered by the U.S. Forest Service, to screen Department of Defense excess property at the same level of law enforcement, defense contractors, defense-related organizations, and humanitarian services for combating forest fires and other fire suppression purposes. (10 Minutes)
20. Brown, Henry (SC): Expands the Department of Defense Excess Personal Property Disposal Program to include health agencies. Provides that property transfer could only take place if the property in question was excess to the needs of DoD and suitable for use in providing fire and emergency services or responding to health or environmental emergencies. (10 Minutes)
21. Brown, Henry (SC): Requires the Secretary of Defense, when submitting a budget request for construction of a military medical treatment facility, to certify that the facility was evaluated, with the consultation of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, for the feasibility of establish a joint DOD-VA medical facility. Also requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, when proposing construction of a new or replacement medical facility, to certify that the facility was evaluated, with the consultation of the Secretary of Defense, for the feasibility of establishing a joint DoD-VA medical facility. (10 Minutes)
22. Johnson, Timothy (IL): Provides authority for removal of remains of certain persons interred in United States Military Cemeteries overseas. Provides that applications made to the Department of Defense may be approved only if the application presents sufficient evidence that at the time of the initial disposition decision, there was a misunderstanding or error related to that disposition decision that the Secretary finds warrants approval of the application. Provides that no costs associated with the removal and transportation of remains provided for may be paid by the United States. Provides a two-year time limit to submit an application from the date of enactment. (10 Minutes)
23. Baird: Requires the Secretary of Defense to study various aspects - including availability, accessibility, cost and effectiveness - of mental health services available to U.S. military personnel deployed to combat theaters. Requires Secretary of Defense to submit results of the study, including a section detailing changes that should be made and problems/obstacles that need to be addressed, within 90 days of enactment. (10 Minutes)
24. Hefley: Specifies that the Board of Visitors to the United States Air Force Academy shall be made up of the Chairman of the Committee on Armed Services of the US Senate or his designee; 3 persons (2 Senators and 1 nonmember of the Senate) to be designated by the Vice President or the President Pro Tempore of the Senate; the Chairman of the Committee on Armed Services in the House or his designee; 4 persons (3 U.S. Representatives and 1 nonmember of the U.S. House) to be designated by the Speaker of the House; 6 persons designated by the President of the United States (2 of whom shall be U.S. Air Force Academy Graduates). Provides the Board Chairman the discretion to remove Board members for failing to attend two consecutive meetings without good cause or advanced notice. Recommends the Board meet at least four times annually. Requires the Secretary of the Air Force and the Superintendent to provide the Board necessary access to Academy grounds, the cadets, faculty, and staff to fulfill its duties. Requires the Board to submit a written report within 30 days of any meeting to the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Air Force, and both the House and Senate Committees on Armed Services. (10 Minutes)
25. Ryun, Jim (KS)/Bordallo: Requires the Secretary of Defense to initiate senior officer official educational programs with Taiwan. Specifies that the exchanges would focus on the defense of Taiwan against a potential submarine attack and potential missile attack, and would also include activities related to civil-military relations, including parliamentary relations. (10 Minutes)
26. Flake/Weldon (PA)/Bordallo/Simmons/Franks/Jones (NC)/Wilson (SC): Corrects an Army regulation that requires South Korea-based combat troops to be involved in 5 firefights in order to qualify for their combat recognition medals (the Combat Infantry Badge and the Combat Medical Badge). For troops everywhere else, the requirement is 1 firefight. Normalizes the rules without respect to where the troops are serving. (10 Minutes)
27. Shimkus: Allows the Secretary of the Army to establish a Combat Service Recognition Ribbon to recognize participation in combat by members of the Army, regardless of branch. Qualifications would be similar to that of the Navy Combat Action Ribbon, but would be made by the Secretary of the Army. Sets up a recognition ribbon for every member of the Army that is involved in combat that meets the criteria to receive the Combat Service Ribbon; currently only infantrymen and medics are eligible to receive a combat badge in the Army. (10 Minutes)
28. Smith, Adam (WA): Allows the Department of Defense, Nisqually Tribe, and Bonneville Power Administration to complete their agreement to move power lines currently crossing the Nisqually Indian Reservation to land on the Fort Lewis Army base. Provides that the Tribe will purchase 416 non-federal land holdings on the base and transfer those lands to the Defense Department, while DoD will transfer 168 acres of land into trust to the Secretary of the Interior for the Nisqually Indian Tribe. (10 Minutes)
TEXT OF THE AMENDMENTS MADE IN ORDER UNDER THE RULE(.pdf)
9. Tauscher/Markey/Skelton/Dicks/Allen/Spratt #45
14. Slaughter/Capito/Solis/Brown-Waite
26. Flake/Weldon (PA)/Bordallo/Simmons/Franks/Jones (NC)
UNANIMOUS CONSENT PROPOUNDED - MAKING IN ORDER ADDITIONAL AMENDMENTS AND MODIFICATION TO AMENDMENT 13 DURING FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 4200, NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2005
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