107TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 107–128

FOR THE RELIEF OF RABON LOWRY OF PEMBROKE, NORTH

CAROLINA

JULY 10, 2001.—Referred to the Private Calendar and ordered to be printed

Mr. SENSENBRENNER, from the Committee on the Judiciary,

submitted the following

R E P O R T

[To accompany H.R. 807]

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill

(H.R. 807) for the relief of Rabon Lowry of Pembroke, North Carolina, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without

amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

CONTENTS

Page

Purpose and Summary ............................................................................................ 1

Background and Need for the Legislation ............................................................. 1

Hearings ................................................................................................................... 2

Committee Consideration ........................................................................................ 2

Committee Oversight Findings ............................................................................... 2

Performance Goals and Objectives ......................................................................... 2

New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures ...................................................... 2

Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate .......................................................... 3

Constitutional Authority Statement ...................................................................... 3

Markup Transcript .................................................................................................. 4

PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

H.R. 807 would pay Mr. Lowry $1,000,000 for damages he incurred as a result of a breach of the contract he entered into with

the Department of the Army.

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION

Pembroke Machine Company (PMC) was a small Native American owned company which produced precision machined parts for

U.S. Government agencies. Mr. Lowry was the owner of that company. PMC entered into a major contract (over 60% of the comVerDate 11-MAY-2000 01:49 Jul 11, 2001 Jkt 089007 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6601 E:\HR\OC\HR128.XXX pfrm02 PsN: HR128
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pany’s work) with the Department of the Army to produce M55

projectiles. In 1988, PMC and the Army entered into a dispute over

machining of the base radius, 20 MM projectile. Four months later,

the dispute was still not resolved and PMC was forced to file Chapter 11. After several attempts to resolve the dispute, in February

1989, PMC filed a claim with Army for work stoppage in the

amount of $1,458,698.00. In July 1989, Army denied the claim in

its entirety. In July 1994, after several appeals and denials, the

Under Secretary of Defense suggested private bill relief as a means

to settle the issue. The first private bill for Mr. Lowry was introduced by Congressman Rose in the 104th Congress. In August

1998, 3 years later, the Army sent a report to the Committee opposing the private bill. In the 106th Congress, Congressman McIntyre reintroduced a private bill for Mr. Lowry.

In November 1999, Congressman McIntyre sent a letter to the

Secretary of Defense asking for a reexamination of the Army’s unfavorable position on the legislation. In January 2000, the Department of Defense responded to Congressman McIntyre request stating that ‘‘As a consequence of your request, we made a careful review of the facts surrounding the dispute between the Department

of the Army and Pembroke Machine Company and we now withdraw our previous objections to the bill. We no longer object to its

enactment.’’

HEARINGS

The Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims held

no hearings on H.R. 807.

COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

On June 6, 2001, the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims

met in open session and ordered favorably reported the bill H.R.

807, without amendment, by voice vote, a quorum being present.

On June 20, 2001, the Committee on the Judiciary met in open

session and ordered reported favorably the bill H.R. 807, without

amendment, by voice vote, a quorum being present.

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

In compliance with clause 3(c)(l) of rule XIII of the Rules of the

House of Representatives, the Committee reports that the findings

and recommendations of the Committee, based on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the descriptive portions of this report.

PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

This bill is based on the breach of contract by the Army. The

Committee hopes that in the future the Army will pay closer attention to the contracts it enters into.

NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY AND TAX EXPENDITURES

Clause 3(c)(2) of House Rule XIII is inapplicable because this legislation does not provide new budgetary authority or increased tax

expenditures.

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CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the

House of Representatives, the Committee sets forth, with respect to

the bill, H.R. 807, the following estimate and comparison prepared

by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section

402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974:

U.S. CONGRESS, CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, Washington, DC, June 22, 2001.

Hon. F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, Jr., Chairman,

Committee on the Judiciary,

House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 807, a bill for the relief

of Rabon Lowry of Pembroke, North Carolina.

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark Grabowicz, who

can be reached at 226–2860.

Sincerely,

DAN L. CRIPPEN, Director.

Enclosure

cc: Honorable John Conyers Jr.

Ranking Member

H.R. 807—A bill for the relief of Rabon Lowry of Pembroke, North

Carolina

H.R. 807 would direct the Secretary of the Treasury to pay

$1,000,000 to Rabon Lowry as compensation for damages he incurred as a result of a breach of contract by the Department of the

Army. Assuming enactment of the bill later this year, CBO expects

the payment to be made in fiscal year 2002. Because H.R. 807

would affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures would

apply.

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mark Grabowicz, who

can be reached at 226–2860. This estimate was approved by Robert

A. Sunshine, Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House

of Representatives, the Committee finds the authority for this legislation in article 1, section 8 of the Constitution.

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MARKUP TRANSCRIPT

BUSINESS MEETING

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2001

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY,

Washington, DC.

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 11:07 a.m., in Room

2141, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. F. James Sensenbrenner [Chairman of the Committee] presiding.

Chairman SENSENBRENNER. The Committee will be in order. The

Chair would like to announce what our game plan is for today.

Mr. Conyers has got some back-to-back speeches at noon, so we

will go through the schedule in the order which it appears, with

one exception, until noon, and then we will recess for an hour and

a half for lunch, and I would ask the Members to be back promptly

at 1:30. The exception to the schedule, again, at Mr. Conyers’ request, is that we will move H.R. 1407, which is the airline antitrust

bill, up third on the agenda, ahead of the two patent bills. So we

will do the two private bills, the airline bill, the two patent bills,

the flag amendment and then the DOJ Authorization Act, and we

will stay here until we are done with this complete schedule.

So the Chair now recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania,

the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims, to

make a unanimous consent request on two private bills. And without objection, the unanimous consents will be considered en bloc.

Mr. GEKAS. Mr. Chairman, the Subcommittee on Immigration

and Claims reports favorably the bill S. 560, and moves its favorable recommendation to the full House.

Chairman SENSENBRENNER. Would you make a unanimous consent request on the other one, too.

Mr. GEKAS. And on the similar request on H.R. 807, and ask

unanimous consent that they be considered together en bloc.

Chairman SENSENBRENNER. Without objection, so ordered.

[H.R. 807 follows:]

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Chairman SENSENBRENNER. Generally, we have dealt with private bills by unanimous consent. Is there any objection, while we

do not have a reporting quorum present, without objection, the previous question is ordered on both bills pending the arrival of a reporting quorum.

Hearing none, so ordered.

The Chair now notes the presence of a reporting quorum. The

Committee now returns to the pending unfinished business, upon

which the previous question was ordered on H.R. 807 and S. 560,

which have been considered en bloc.

The previous question has already been ordered. All of those in

favor of reporting the bill favorably will signify by saying aye.

Those opposed, no.

The ayes appear to have it. The ayes have it, and the motion to

report favorably is agreed to. All Members will be entitled to place

statements in the record on the two private bills.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chairman?

Chairman SENSENBRENNER. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from Texas seek recognition?

Ms. JACKSON LEE. To strike the last word.

Chairman SENSENBRENNER. We have no pending question before

the Committee.

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Ms. JACKSON LEE. Well, parliamentary inquiry. I wanted to

comment—— Chairman SENSENBRENNER. State your inquiry.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. The inquiry is on bill S. 560. That is a private

bill and the bill that we just passed, which was another private

bill, and I am losing the number right now.

Chairman SENSENBRENNER. H.R. 807 is the number.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. 807, correct. When you called it up, I was delayed, and I want to make sure that the support, in addition to

one’s vote, can be acknowledged by submitting statements into the

record.

Chairman SENSENBRENNER. The Chair just said that without objection all Members may insert statements in the record relative to

the two private bills just—— Ms. JACKSON LEE. Then I add my support for those bills and will

submit statements into the record.

[The prepared statement of Ms. Jackson Lee follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE SHEILA JACKSON LEE, A REPRESENTATIVE

IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS

I support private bill, H.R. 807 which provides $1M of relief to Rabon Lowry, the

president of Pembroke Machine Company, Inc., due to the Department of the

Army’s breach of contract.

Pembroke entered into a major contract with the Department of the Army to

produce M55 projectiles. In 1988, there was a contract dispute. As a result, Pembroke was forced to file Chapter 11. In 1989, Pembroke filed a claim for work stoppage in the amount of $1,485,698.00. The Army denied the claim. In 1994, the

Under Secretary of Defense suggested private bill relief as a means to settle the

issue.

The facts of this case have shown that a private bill is necessary to provide relief

as a means to settle the issue.

Thank you.

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