IV
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 212
To express the sense of the House of Representatives that the provisions
of S. 4 (the Line Item Veto Act), as passed by the House, should
apply to all fiscal year 1996 appropriation bills and to the reconciliation
bill required by H. Con. Res. 67.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AUGUST 4, 1995
Mr. ORTON (for himself, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. CONDIT, Mr. ROSE, Mr. HALL of
Texas, Mr. MINGE, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr.
PETE GEREN of Texas, Mr. BROWDER, Ms. DANNER, Mr. BAESLER, Mr.
MCHALE, Mr. GORDON, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. LUTHER, Mr.
PAYNE of Virginia, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. JOHN-
SON of South Dakota, Mr. WARD, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. PARKER, Mr.
WYNN, Mr. MONTGOMERY, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. CHAPMAN, Ms. RIVERS,
Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. ROEMER, Mr.
BALDACCI, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr. VOLKMER, Mr. MASCARA, Mr.
TAUZIN, Mr. RICHARDSON, Mr. WILSON, Mr. WYDEN, Mrs. LINCOLN,
Mr. KLECZKA, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. DOYLE, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. MENENDEZ,
Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. HAYES, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. MANTON,
Mr. POMEROY, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. ED-
WARDS, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. MCCARTHY, Mr.
DOOLEY, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. POSHARD, Ms. HARMAN, Mr.
CLEMENT, Mr. FORD, and Mr. BARCIA) submitted the following resolu-
tion; which was referred to the Committee on Rules
RESOLUTION
To express the sense of the House of Representatives that
the provisions of S. 4 (the Line Item Veto Act), as
passed by the House, should apply to all fiscal year
1996 appropriation bills and to the reconciliation bill
required by H. Con. Res. 67.
•HRES 212 IH
Resolved,
SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ON THE APPLICATION OF S. 4 (THE LINE ITEM
VETO ACT) TO FISCAL YEAR 1996 APPROPRIA-
TIONS AND RECONCILIATION BILL.
(a) FINDINGS.—The House of Representatives finds
that—
(1) the line item veto was a major plank in the
House of Representatives majority’s ‘‘Contract With
America’’ and has received strong bipartisan support
in the 104th Congress;
(2) the House of Representatives on February
6, 1995, passed H.R. 2, the Line Item Veto Act, on
a vote of 294–134;
(3) the Senate on March 23, 1995, passed S.
4, the Separate Enrollment and Line Item Veto Act
of 1995, on a vote of 69–29;
(4) the House of Representatives passed S. 4,
with the text of H.R. 2 inserted, by voice vote on
May 17, 1995, 50 days after passage by the Senate;
(5) notwithstanding the failure of the House of
Representatives to request a conference, the Senate
disagreed with the House of Representatives amend-
ments, requested a conference and appointed con-
ferees on S. 4 on June 20, 1995;
•HRES 212 IH
(6) as of August 4, 1995, it has been 134 days
since the House of Representatives and the Senate
have each passed a line item veto bill and the Speak-
er has not yet moved to appoint conferees;
(7) with the passage of time it increasingly ap-
pears that the Congress may pass and send to the
President not only the appropriation bills for fiscal
year 1996 but also the reconciliation bill required by
H. Con. Res. 67 (the concurrent resolution setting
forth the congressional budget for fiscal years 1996,
1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002) without
first passing and sending to the President a line
item veto bill;
(8) the House of Representatives majority lead-
ership has repeatedly refused to apply line item veto
to fiscal year 1996 appropriation bills on a bill-by-
bill basis; and
(9) the House of Representatives majority lead-
ership has publicly cast doubt on the prospects for
a conference on S. 4 this year.
(b) SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—
It is the sense of the House of Representatives that—
(1) the Speaker of the House of Representa-
tives should move to appoint conferees on S. 4 im-
mediately, so that the House of Representatives and
•HRES 212 IH
Senate may resolve their differences on this impor-
tant legislation; and
(2) no conference report on any appropriation
bill or the reconciliation bill required by H. Con.
Res. 67 should be considered by the House of Rep-
resentatives unless—
(A) that conference report makes the pro-
visions of S. 4, as passed by the House, applica-
ble to that bill; or
(B) Congress has considered the con-
ference report on S. 4.
Æ