I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3082

To review, reform, and terminate unnecessary and inequitable Federal 

payments, benefits, services, and tax advantages. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2003

Mr. HOEFFEL (for himself, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, and Mr. BROWN of 

Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and 

Means, Rules, and the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To review, reform, and terminate unnecessary and inequitable Federal payments, benefits, services, and tax advantages.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Corporate Welfare Re5 form Commission Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the cost of corporate welfare is estimated to 

2 be equivalent to nearly 2 weekly paychecks from 

3 every working man and woman in the United States; 

4 (2) various private organizations have estimated 

5 that the annual cost of corporate welfare to the Fed6 eral Government is between $60 and $125 billion, 

7 yet no comprehensive public estimate of that cost is 

8 available; 

9 (3) corporate welfare may discourage private 

10 sector competition and may even have detrimental 

11 consequences to the environment which outweigh the 

12 benefits to the corporate welfare recipient; 

13 (4) some corporate welfare benefits which were 

14 initially provided for valid goals have, over the years, 

15 become redundant or unnecessary; 

16 (5) rather than diminishing, special interest tax 

17 provisions which benefit small numbers of taxpayers 

18 are increasing; 

19 (6) corporate income tax revenues as a percent20 age of GDP dropped from 1.6 percent in 1992 to 

21 1.4 percent in 2002, while revenues from individual 

22 income taxes increased over the same period from 

23 7.7 percent of GDP to 8.3 percent; 

24 (7) there has been no congressionally-directed 

25 systematic review of the multitude of corporate wel-
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1 fare benefits which have been institutionalized in 

2 Federal tax provisions or incorporated into other 

3 Federal programs; and 

4 (8) an advisory commission is needed to rec5 ommend to the Congress whether some corporate 

6 welfare provisions need to be revised or terminated. 

7 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

8 The purpose of this Act is to establish a congressional 

9 advisory committee to identify and evaluate inequitable 

10 Federal payments. 

11 SEC. 4. DEFINITION. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this Act, the term 

13 ‘‘inequitable Federal payment’’ means a payment, benefit, 

14 service, or tax advantage that—

15 (1) is provided by the Federal Government to 

16 any corporation, partnership, joint venture, associa17 tion, business trust, or industry other than—

18 (A) a nonprofit organization described 

19 under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 

20 Code of 1986 that is exempt from taxation 

21 under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue 

22 Code of 1986; or 

23 (B) a State or local government or Indian 

24 Tribe or Alaska Native village or regional or vil25 lage corporation as defined in or established 
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1 pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settle2 ment Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.); 

3 (2) is provided without a reasonable expecta4 tion, demonstrated with the use of reliable perform5 ance criteria, that actions or activities undertaken or 

6 performed in return for such payment, benefit, serv7 ice, or tax advantage would result in a return or 

8 benefit, quantifiable or nonquantifiable, to the public 

9 at least as great as the payment, benefit, service, or 

10 tax advantage; and 

11 (3) provides an unfair competitive advantage or 

12 financial windfall. 

13 (b) EXCEPTION.—Such term shall not include a pay14 ment, benefit, service, or tax advantage that—

15 (1) is awarded for the purposes of research and 

16 development that—

17 (A) is in the broad public interest on the 

18 basis of a peer reviewed or other open, competi19 tive, merit-based procedure; 

20 (B) is for a purpose consistent with the 

21 mission of the agency; 

22 (C) supports competing technologies at lev23 els appropriate to their potential, as determined 

24 by an appropriate priority setting process; and 
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1 (D) the private sector cannot reasonably be 

2 expected to undertake without Federal support 

3 at a level or in a timeframe consistent with the 

4 payment, benefit, service, or tax advantage’s po5 tential to provide broad economic or other pub6 lic benefit; 

7 (2) primarily benefits public health, safety, the 

8 environment, or education; 

9 (3) is necessary to comply with international 

10 trade or treaty obligations; or 

11 (4) is for the purpose of procurement of prop12 erty or services by the United States Government. 

13 SEC. 5. COMMISSION. 

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an inde15 pendent commission to be known as the ‘‘Corporate Wel16 fare Reform Commission’’ (hereafter in this Act, referred 

17 to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

18 (b) DUTIES.—The Commission shall—

19 (1) examine the programs and tax laws of the 

20 Federal Government and identify programs and tax 

21 laws that provide inequitable Federal payments; 

22 (2) review inequitable Federal payments; and

23 (3) submit the report required under section 6 

24 to the Congress. 

25 (c) LIMITATIONS.—
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1 (1) CREATION OF NEW PROGRAMS OR TAXES.—

2 This Act is not intended to result in the creation of 

3 new programs or taxes, and the Commission estab4 lished in this section shall limit its activities to re5 viewing existing programs or tax laws with the goal 

6 of ensuring fairness and equity in the operation and 

7 application thereof. 

8 (2) ELIMINATION OF AGENCIES AND DEPART9 MENTS.—The Commission shall limit its rec10 ommendations to the termination or reduction of 

11 payments, benefits, services, or tax advantages, rath12 er than the termination of Federal agencies or de13 partments. 

14 (d) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The Commission shall 

15 be considered an advisory committee within the meaning 

16 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.). 

17 (e) APPOINTMENT.—

18 (1) MEMBERS.—The Commissioners shall be 

19 appointed for the life of the Commission and shall 

20 be composed of 5 members of whom—

21 (A) one shall be appointed jointly by the 

22 Speaker of the House of Representatives and 

23 the majority leader of the Senate; 

24 (B) one shall be appointed by the Speaker 

25 of the House of Representatives; 
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1 (C) one shall be appointed by the minority 

2 leader of the House of Representatives; 

3 (D) one shall be appointed by the majority 

4 leader of the Senate; and 

5 (E) one shall be appointed by the minority 

6 leader of the Senate. 

7 Such appointments shall be made not later than 90 

8 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

9 (2) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—The Speaker 

10 of the House of Representatives, the minority leader 

11 of the House of Representatives, the majority leader 

12 of the Senate, and the minority leader of the Senate 

13 shall consult among themselves prior to the appoint14 ment of the members of the Commission in order to 

15 achieve, to the maximum extent possible, fair and 

16 equitable representation of various points of view 

17 with respect to the matters to be studied by the 

18 Commission under subsection (b). 

19 (3) CHAIRMAN.—The Chairman of the Commis20 sion shall be the member appointed as provided in 

21 paragraph (1)(A). 

22 (4) BACKGROUND.—The members shall rep23 resent a broad array of expertise covering, to the ex24 tent practical, all subject matter, programs, and tax 

25 laws the Commission is likely to review. 
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1 (f) TERMS.—Each member of the Commission in2 cluding the Chairman shall serve until the termination of 

3 the Commission. 

4 (g) MEETINGS.—

5 (1) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 180 

6 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

7 Commission shall conduct its first meeting. The first 

8 nonadministrative business of the Commission shall 

9 be to establish criteria for evaluating whether a pay10 ment, benefit, service, or tax advantage is an inequi11 table Federal payment for purposes of this Act. 

12 (2) OPEN MEETINGS.—Each meeting of the 

13 Commission shall be open to the public. In cases 

14 where classified information, trade secrets, or per15 sonnel matters are discussed, the Chairman may 

16 close the meeting. All proceedings, information, and 

17 deliberations of the Commission shall be available, 

18 upon request, to the chairman and ranking member 

19 of the relevant committees of Congress. 

20 (h) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Commission—

21 (1) shall be filled in the same manner as the 

22 original appointment not later than 30 days after 

23 the Commission is given notice of the vacancy, and 

24 (2) shall not affect the power of the remaining 

25 members to execute the duties of the Commission. 
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1 (i) PAY AND TRAVEL EXPENSES.—

2 (1) PAY.—Notwithstanding section 7 of the 

3 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), 

4 each Commissioner, other than the Chairman, shall 

5 be paid at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the 

6 minimum annual rate of basic pay for level IV of the 

7 Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, 

8 United States Code, for each day (including travel 

9 time) during which the member is engaged in the ac10 tual performance of duties vested in the Commis11 sion. 

12 (2) CHAIRMAN.—Notwithstanding section 7 of 

13 the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 

14 App.), the Chairman shall be paid for each day re15 ferred to in paragraph (1) at a rate equal to the 

16 daily payment of the minimum annual rate of basic 

17 pay payable for level III of the Executive Schedule 

18 under section 5314 of title 5, United States Code. 

19 (3) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Members shall receive 

20 travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsist21 ence, in accordance with section 5702 and 5703 of 

22 title 5, United States Code. 

23 (j) DIRECTOR OF STAFF.—

24 (1) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Chairman shall ap25 point a Director who has not served in any of the 
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1 entities or industries that the Commission intends to 

2 review during the 12 months preceding the date of 

3 such appointment. 

4 (2) PAY.—Notwithstanding section 7 of the 

5 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), 

6 the Director shall be paid at the rate of basic pay 

7 payable for level IV of the Executive Schedule under 

8 section 5315 of title 5, United States Code. 

9 (3) REPORTS.—On administrative and per10 sonnel matters, the Director shall submit periodic 

11 reports to the Chairman of the Commission and the 

12 chairman and ranking member of the Committee on 

13 Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Com14 mittee on Government Reform and Oversight of the 

15 House of the Representatives. 

16 (k) STAFF.—

17 (1) ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL.—Subject to para18 graphs (2) and (4), the Director, with the approval 

19 of the Commission, may appoint and fix the pay of 

20 additional personnel. 

21 (2) APPOINTMENTS.—The Director may make 

22 such appointments without regard to the provisions 

23 of title 5, United States Code, governing appoint24 ments in the competitive service, and any personnel 

25 so appointed may be paid without regard to the pro-
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1 visions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 

2 53 of that title relating to classification and General 

3 Schedule pay rates. 

4 (3) DETAILEES.—Upon the request of the Di5 rector, the head of any Federal department or agen6 cy may detail any of the personnel of that depart7 ment or agency to the Commission to assist the 

8 Commission in accordance with an agreement en9 tered into with the Commission. 

10 (4) RESTRICTIONS ON PERSONNEL AND

11 DETAILEES.—The following restrictions shall apply 

12 to personnel and detailees of the Commission: 

13 (A) PERSONNEL.—No more than one-third 

14 of the personnel detailed to the Commission 

15 may be on detail from Federal agencies that 

16 deal directly or indirectly with the Federal pay17 ments the Commission intends to review. 

18 (B) ANALYSTS.—No more than one-fifth of 

19 the professional analysts of the Commission 

20 may be persons detailed from a Federal agency 

21 that deals directly or indirectly with the Federal 

22 payments the Commission intends to review. 

23 (C) LEAD ANALYST.—No person detailed 

24 from a Federal agency to the Commission may 

25 be assigned as the lead professional analyst 
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1 with respect to an entity or industry the Com2 mission intends to review if the person has been 

3 involved in regulatory or policy-making deci4 sions affecting any such entity or industry in 

5 the 12 months preceding such assignment. 

6 (D) DETAILEE.—A person may not be de7 tailed from a Federal agency to the Commission 

8 if, within 12 months before the detail is to 

9 begin, that person participated personally and 

10 substantially in any matter within that par11 ticular agency concerning the preparation of 

12 recommendations under this Act. 

13 (E) FEDERAL OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE.—

14 No member of a Federal agency, and no officer 

15 or employee of a Federal agency, may—

16 (i) prepare any report concerning the 

17 effectiveness, fitness, or efficiency of the 

18 performance on the staff of the Commis19 sion of any person detailed from a Federal 

20 agency to that staff; 

21 (ii) review the preparation of such re22 port; or 

23 (iii) approve or disapprove such a re24 port. 

25 (F) LIMITATION ON STAFF SIZE.—
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1 (i) Subject to clause (ii), there may 

2 not be more than 50 persons (including 

3 any detailees) on the staff at any time. 

4 (ii) The Commission may increase 

5 personnel in excess of the limitation under 

6 clause (i), 15 days after submitting notifi7 cation of such increase to the Committee 

8 on Governmental Affairs of the Senate and 

9 the Committee on Government Reform and 

10 Oversight of the House of Representatives. 

11 (G) LIMITATION ON FEDERAL OFFICER.—

12 No member of a Federal agency and no em13 ployee of a Federal agency may serve as a Com14 missioner or receive additional compensation by 

15 reason of being a member of the staff. 

16 (5) ASSISTANCE.—

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller Gen18 eral of the United States may provide assist19 ance, including the detailing of employees, to 

20 the Commission in accordance with an agree21 ment entered into with the Commission. 

22 (B) CONSULTATION.—The Commission 

23 and the Comptroller General of the United 

24 States shall consult with the Committee on 

25 Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 
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1 Committee on Government Reform and Over2 sight of the House of Representatives on the 

3 agreement referred to under subparagraph (A) 

4 before entering into such agreement. 

5 (l) OTHER AUTHORITY.—

6 (1) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Com7 mission may procure by contract, to the extent funds 

8 are available, the temporary or intermittent services 

9 of experts or consultants pursuant to section 3109 

10 of title 5, United States Code. 

11 (2) LEASING.—The Commission may lease 

12 space and acquire personal property to the extent 

13 that funds are available. 

14 (m) FUNDING.—

15 (1) COMMISSION.—There are authorized to be 

16 appropriated to the Commission such funds as are 

17 necessary to carry out its duties under this Act. 

18 (2) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—There are au19 thorized to be appropriated to the Comptroller Gen20 eral of the United States such funds as are nec21 essary to carry out its duties under subsection 

22 (k)(5). 

23 (n) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 

24 on the 90th day after the date that the Commission sub25 mits its report under section 6(a)(1).
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1 SEC. 6. REPORT; CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION. 

2 (a) REPORT OF COMMISSION.—

3 (1) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

5 after the date of the first meeting of the Com6 mission, the Commission shall submit to each 

7 House of Congress a report containing—

8 (i) the Commission’s findings, and 

9 (ii) recommendations agreed to by at 

10 least 3 Commission members for the termi11 nation, reduction, or retention of each of 

12 the inequitable Federal payments reviewed 

13 by the Commission.

14 (B) SPECIFICATIONS.—Such findings and 

15 recommendations shall specify—

16 (i) all actions, circumstances, and con17 siderations relating to or bearing upon the 

18 recommendations; and 

19 (ii) to the maximum extent prac20 ticable, the estimated effect of the rec21 ommendations upon the policies, laws and 

22 programs directly or indirectly affected by 

23 the recommendations. 

24 (2) REVIEW OF PRELIMINARY REPORT BY

25 COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 

2 days before the submission of the report under 

3 paragraph (1), the Commission shall submit the 

4 most recent version of such report to Comp5 troller General of the United States. 

6 (B) ANALYSIS BY COMPTROLLER GEN7 ERAL.—Not later than 60 days after receiving 

8 the version of the report referred to in subpara9 graph (A), the Comptroller General of the 

10 United States shall submit to the Commission 

11 a report containing a detailed analysis of such 

12 version of the report. 

13 (b) SUBMISSION OF RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE

14 SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—

15 (1) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—The rec16 ommendations submitted to the Congress under sub17 section (a) shall be submitted to the Senate and the 

18 House of Representatives on the same day, and shall 

19 be delivered to the Secretary of the Senate if the 

20 Senate is not in session, and to the Clerk of the 

21 House of Representatives if the House is not in ses22 sion. 

23 (2) FEDERAL REGISTER.—Any recommenda24 tions and accompanying information submitted 
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1 under subsection (a) shall be printed in the first 

2 issue of the Federal Register after such submission. 

3 (c) INTRODUCTION.—

4 (1) DATE OF INTRODUCTION.—Not later than 

5 75 days after the date the report under subsection 

6 (a) is submitted to the Congress, the majority leader 

7 of the Senate or his designee, and the Speaker of 

8 the House of Representatives, or his designee, shall 

9 introduce a bill (or bills as provided under para10 graph (2)) that implements the recommendations 

11 submitted under subsection (a). 

12 (2) MULTIPLE BILLS.—The majority leader of 

13 the Senate, or his designee, or the Speaker of the 

14 House of Representatives, or his designee, shall in15 troduce a bill or separate bills ensuring that all such 

16 recommendations will be implemented. 

17 (d) COMMITTEE REFERRAL AND ACTION.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Any committee to 

20 which a bill or bills introduced under subsection 

21 (c) is referred shall report such bill no later 

22 than 120 calendar days after the date of refer23 ral. No amendment during committee consider24 ation of a bill or bills introduced under sub25 section (c) shall be in order unless that amend-
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1 ment is confined to terminating or reducing an 

2 inequitable Federal payment as defined in sec3 tion 4 of this Act. Any such reported bill shall 

4 be referred to the Committee on Governmental 

5 Affairs of the Senate or the Committee on Gov6 ernment Reform and Oversight of the House of 

7 Representatives, as applicable. 

8 (B) COMMITTEES ON FINANCE AND WAYS

9 AND MEANS.—

10 (i) IN GENERAL.—Any bill referred to 

11 the Committee on Finance or the Com12 mittee on Ways and Means that contains 

13 revenue increases may be amended to in14 clude reductions in revenues in the form of 

15 tax cuts in an amount up to the amount 

16 of the revenue increases. 

17 (ii) SCORECARD.—If the bill referred 

18 to in clause (i) is enacted into law, any 

19 amount of revenue reductions not made by 

20 the bill as provided in clause (i) shall be 

21 credited to the pay-as-you-go scorecard 

22 under section 252 of the Balanced Budget 

23 and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 

24 1985 and may only be offset by legislation 

25 reducing revenues.
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1 (2) DISCHARGE.—If a committee does not re2 port a bill within the 120-day period as provided 

3 under paragraph (1), such bill shall be discharged 

4 from the committee and referred to the Committee 

5 on Governmental Affairs of the Senate or the Com6 mittee on Government Reform and Oversight of the 

7 House of Representatives, as applicable. 

8 (3) REPORT TO FLOOR; CONSOLIDATION.—

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—No later than the first 

10 day the Senate or the House of Representatives 

11 (as applicable) is in session following 10 cal12 endar days in session after the end of the 120-

13 day period described under paragraphs (1) and 

14 (2), the Committee on Governmental Affairs of 

15 the Senate and the Committee on Government 

16 Reform and Oversight of the House of Rep17 resentatives, as applicable, shall—

18 (i) consolidate all bills referred under 

19 paragraphs (1) and (2) into a single bill 

20 (without substantive amendment) and re21 port such bill to the Senate or the House 

22 of Representatives; or 

23 (ii) if only 1 bill is referred under 

24 paragraph (1) or (2), report such bill 
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1 (without amendment) to the Senate or 

2 House of Representatives. 

3 (B) LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR.—The bill re4 ported under subparagraph (A) shall be placed 

5 on the legislative calendar of the appropriate 

6 House. 

7 (e) PROCEDURE IN SENATE AFTER REPORT OF COM8 MITTEE; DEBATE; AMENDMENTS.—

9 (1) DEBATE ON BILL.—Debate in the Senate 

10 on a bill reported by the Committee on Govern11 mental Affairs under subsection (d)(3), and all 

12 amendments thereto and debatable motions and ap13 peals in connection therewith, shall be limited to not 

14 more than 30 hours. The time shall be equally di15 vided between, and controlled by, the majority leader 

16 and minority leader or their designees. 

17 (2) DEBATE ON AMENDMENTS.—Debate in the 

18 Senate on any amendment to the bill shall be limited 

19 to 1 hour, to be equally divided between, and con20 trolled by, the mover and the manager of the bill, 

21 and debate on any amendment to an amendment, 

22 debatable motion, or appeal shall be limited to 30 

23 minutes, to be equally divided between, and con24 trolled by, the mover and the manager of the bill, ex25 cept that in the event the manager of the bill is in 
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1 favor of any such amendment, motion or appeal, the 

2 time in opposition thereto shall be controlled by the 

3 minority leader or his designee. 

4 (3) LIMIT OF DEBATE.—

5 (A) A motion to further limit debate is not 

6 debatable. A motion by the majority leader or 

7 his designee to extend debate is not debatable. 

8 A motion to recommit is not in order. 

9 (B) No amendment to the bill reported by 

10 the Committee on Governmental Affairs under 

11 subsection (d)(3) shall be in order unless—

12 (i) that amendment is confined to ter13 minating or reducing an inequitable Fed14 eral payment as defined by section 4 of 

15 this Act; 

16 (ii) that amendment is germane to the 

17 bill reported by the Committee on Govern18 mental Affairs; and 

19 (iii) for the purposes of such bill, 

20 ‘‘germane’’ means only amendments which 

21 strike language from such bill, or restore 

22 language in the bill or bills introduced 

23 under subsection (c). 

24 (4) CONFERENCE REPORTS.—
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1 (A) MOTION TO PROCEED.—A motion to 

2 proceed to the consideration of the conference 

3 report on a bill subject to the procedures of this 

4 section and reported to the Senate may be 

5 made even though a previous motion to the 

6 same effect has been disagreed to. 

7 (B) TIME LIMITATION.—The consideration 

8 in the Senate of the conference report on the 

9 bill and any amendments in disagreement there10 to, including all debatable motions and appeals 

11 in connection therewith, shall be limited to 5 

12 hours, to be equally divided between, and con13 trolled by, the majority leader and minority 

14 leader or their designees. Debate on any debat15 able motion, appeal related to the conference re16 port, or any amendment to an amendment in 

17 disagreement, shall be limited to 30 minutes, to 

18 be equally divided between, and controlled by, 

19 the mover and the manager of the conference 

20 report (or a message between Houses). 

21 (f) PROCEDURE IN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

22 AFTER REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE; DEBATE.—

23 (1) MOTION TO CONSIDER.—When the Com24 mittee on Government Reform and Oversight of the 

25 House of Representatives reports a bill under sub-
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1 section (d)(3) it is in order (at any time after the 

2 fifth day (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal 

3 holidays) following the day on which any committee 

4 report filed on a bill referred under subsection (d)(1) 

5 to the Committee on Government Reform and Over6 sight has been available to Members of the House) 

7 to move to proceed to the consideration of the bill 

8 reported to the House of Representatives. The mo9 tion is highly privileged and is not debatable. An 

10 amendment to the motion is not in order, and it is 

11 not in order to move to reconsider the vote by which 

12 the motion is agreed to or disagreed to. 

13 (2) DEBATE.—General debate on the bill in the 

14 House of Representatives shall be limited to not 

15 more than 10 hours, which shall be divided equally 

16 between the majority and minority parties. A motion 

17 further to limit debate is not debatable. A motion to 

18 postpone debate is not in order, and it is not in 

19 order to move to reconsider the vote by which the 

20 bill is agreed to or disagreed to. 

21 (3) TERMS OF CONSIDERATION.—Consideration 

22 of the bill by the House of Representatives shall be 

23 in the Committee of the Whole, and the bill shall be 

24 considered for amendment under the 5-minute rule 

25 in accordance with the applicable provisions of rule 
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1 XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

2 for the 107th Congress. After the committee rises 

3 and reports the bill back to the House, the previous 

4 question shall be considered as ordered on the bill 

5 and any amendments thereto to final passage with6 out intervening motion. 

7 (4) LIMIT ON DEBATE.—Debate in the House 

8 of Representatives on the conference report on a bill 

9 subject to the procedures under this section and re10 ported to the House of Representatives shall be lim11 ited to not more than 5 hours, which shall be divided 

12 equally between the majority and minority parties. A 

13 motion further to limit debate is not debatable. A 

14 motion to recommit the conference report is not in 

15 order, and it is not in order to move to reconsider 

16 the vote by which the conference report is agreed to 

17 or disagreed to. A motion to postpone is not in 

18 order. 

19 (5) APPEALS.—Appeals from decisions of the 

20 Chair relating to the application of the Rules of the 

21 House of Representatives to the procedure relating 

22 to the bill shall be decided without debate. 

23 (g) RULES OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REP24 RESENTATIVES.—This section is enacted by Congress—
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1 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

2 the Senate and the House of Representatives, re3 spectively, but applicable only with respect to the 

4 procedure to be followed in that House in the case 

5 of a bill under this section, and it supersedes other 

6 rules only to the extent that it is inconsistent with 

7 such rules; and 

8 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional 

9 right of either House to change the rules as far as 

10 relating to the procedure of that House at any time, 

11 in the same manner, and to the same extent as in 

12 the case of any other rule of that House.

Æ