I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1845
To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for congressional review
of civil aviation agreements.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 18, 1999
Mr. LIPINSKI (for himself, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr.
EVANS, Mr. RUSH, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. DAVIS
of Illinois, Ms.
SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. PHELPS, Mr. BORSKI, Mr. HOLDEN,
and Mr. MCGOVERN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to
the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for
congressional review of civil aviation agreements.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Aviation Bilateral Ac-
countability Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. CIVIL AVIATION AGREEMENTS.
Section 40105 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(e) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A civil aviation agreement
that is entered into under this section after the date
of enactment of this subsection shall enter into force
with respect to the United States only if—
‘‘(A) the Secretary involved transmits to
Congress a document containing a copy of the
final text of the agreement, together with an ex-
planation of the agreement; and
‘‘(B)(i) a disapproval resolution is not in-
troduced in either House of Congress on or be-
fore the last day of a 20-day period of contin-
uous session of Congress following the date on
which Congress receives the agreement under
subparagraph (A);
‘‘(ii) if a disapproval resolution is intro-
duced in either House, the disapproval resolu-
tion is not enacted on or before the last day of
a 90-day period of continuous session of Con-
gress following the date on which Congress re-
ceives the agreement under subparagraph (A)
and is not vetoed by the President; or
‘‘(iii) if the President vetoes the dis-
approval resolution, both Houses of Congress
do not vote to override the veto on or before the
later of the last day of the 90-day period re-
ferred to in clause (ii) or the last day of a 30-
day period of continuous session of Congress
following the date Congress receives the veto
message from the President.
‘‘(2) COMPUTING NUMBER OF DAYS.—For pur-
poses of paragraphs (1) and (6), the continuity of a
session of Congress is broken only by an adjourn-
ment of the Congress sine die, and the number of
days on which either House is not in session because
of an adjournment of more than 3 days to a day cer-
tain are excluded in the computation of the period
specified.
‘‘(3) RULES OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AND
SENATE.—This subsection is enacted by
Congress—
‘‘(A) as an exercise of the rulemaking
power of the House of Representatives and the
Senate, respectively, and as such these provi-
sions are deemed a part of the rules of each
House, respectively, but applicable only with re-
spect to the procedure to be followed in that
referred to the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure and a disapproval resolution intro-
duced in the Senate shall be referred to the Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
‘‘(6) AUTOMATIC
DISCHARGE.—If the com-
mittee of either House to which a disapproval resolu-
tion has been referred has not reported the resolu-
tion on or before the 45th day after its introduction,
the committee shall be automatically discharged
from further consideration of the resolution.
‘‘(7) AMENDMENTS PROHIBITED.—No amend-
ment to a disapproval resolution shall be in order in
either the House of Representatives or the Senate;
and no motion to suspend the application of this
subsection shall be in order in either House, nor
shall it be in order in either House for the Presiding
Officer to entertain a request to suspend the appli-
cation of this paragraph by unanimous consent.
‘‘(8) PRIOR
ACTION
BY
OTHER
HOUSE.—If
prior to the passage by one House of a disapproval
resolution of that House, that House receives the
same disapproval resolution from the other House,
then—
‘‘(A) the procedure in that House shall be
the same as if no disapproval resolution had
been received from the other House; but
‘‘(B) any vote on final passage shall be on
the disapproval resolution of the other House.
‘‘(9) FLOOR CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE.—
‘‘(A) MOTION TO PROCEED.—A motion in
the House of Representatives to proceed to the
consideration of a disapproval resolution that
has been reported by the Committee on Trans-
portation and Infrastructure or received by the
other House shall be highly privileged and not
debatable. An amendment to the motion shall
not be in order, nor shall it be in order to move
to reconsider the vote by which the motion is
agreed to or disagreed to.
‘‘(B) DEBATE.—Debate in the House of
Representatives on a disapproval resolution
shall be limited to not more than 5 hours,
which shall be divided equally between those fa-
voring and those opposing the resolution. A mo-
tion further to limit debate shall not be debat-
able. It shall not be in order to move to recom-
mit a disapproval resolution or to move to re-
consider the vote by which a disapproval resolu-
tion is agreed to or disagreed to.
‘‘(C) MOTIONS TO POSTPONE.—Motions to
postpone, made in the House of Representatives
with respect to the consideration of a dis-
approval resolution, and motions to proceed to
the consideration of other business, shall be de-
cided without debate.
‘‘(D) APPEALS.—All appeals from the deci-
sions of the Chair relating to the application of
the Rules of the House of Representatives to
the procedure relating to a disapproval resolu-
tion shall be decided without debate.
‘‘(E) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER RULES.—
Except to the extent specifically provided in the
preceding provisions of this subsection, consid-
eration of a disapproval resolution shall be gov-
erned by the Rules of the House of Representa-
tives applicable to other bills and resolutions in
similar circumstances.
‘‘(10) FLOOR
CONSIDERATION
IN
THE
SEN-
ATE.—
‘‘(A) MOTION TO PROCEED.—A motion in
the Senate to proceed to the consideration of a
disapproval resolution that has been reported by
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation or received by the other House
shall be privileged and not debatable. An
amendment to the motion shall not be in order,
nor shall it be in order to move to reconsider
the vote by which the motion is agreed to or
disagreed to.
‘‘(B) DEBATE.—Debate in the Senate on a
disapproval resolution, and all debatable mo-
tions and appeals in connection therewith, shall
be limited to not more than 10 hours. The time
shall be equally divided between, and controlled
by, the majority leader and the minority leader
or their designees.
‘‘(C) APPEALS.—Debate in the Senate on
any debatable motion or appeal in connection
with a disapproval resolution shall be limited to
not more than 1 hour, to be equally divided be-
tween, and controlled by, the mover and the
manager of the resolution, except that in the
event the manager of the resolution is in favor
of any such motion or appeal, the time in oppo-
sition thereto, shall be controlled by the minor-
ity leader or his designee. Such leaders, or ei-
ther of them, may, from time under their con-