Waiving a requirement of clause 6(a) of rule XIII with respect to consideration of certain resolutions reported from the Committee on Rules.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 632 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Matsui), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.

(Mr. PUTNAM asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 632 is a same-day rule that waives clause 6(a) of rule XIII, which requires a two-thirds vote to consider a rule on the same day it is reported from the Rules Committee against certain resolutions reported from the Rules Committee. It applies the waiver to any special rule reported on the legislative day of December 18, 2005.

H. Res. 632 allows the House to consider a rule and underlying legislation that may be reported today.

Mr. Speaker, it is imperative that we pass this same-day rule. This resolution will lay the foundation for the House to complete its business and send outstanding legislation to the Senate and eventually the President for his signature. We are working to move the process along towards adjournment of the first session of the 109th Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this same-day rule so we can move forward to serious consideration of the remaining legislation for which we are staying here and working through the weekend to complete.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman is correct when she characterizes this as an unusual time. It is almost 2 o'clock on a Sunday afternoon and the Congress is in session. These are very unusual times as we approach the end of this first session of the 109th Congress. I do not think anybody would dispute that. I certainly know that our wives and husbands and families who are scattered around the country manning Christmas parties and Christmas pageants as single parents while we are here doing the people's business over the weekend would agree that these are highly unusual times.

I would note that this same-day rule has passed the committee two times on a voice vote, and these concerns were not elevated to the point of even demanding a role call vote.

These are unusual times, I would certainly agree. And in order for us to bring this unusual session that has been marked by cataclysmic events throughout our country which were unforeseen, this unusual session that has seen an unusually productive legislative agenda pass both the House and the Senate and be signed into the law by the President, as we mark the end of this year and do everything we can to pass the legislation that will directly benefit our troops, both at home and abroad through the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill, as we do everything we can in an unusual way on a Sunday night and probably into the wee hours of Monday morning, to do everything we can to guarantee that our friends and neighbors on the gulf coast in Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama and south Florida who were hit by Katrina and Rita and Wilma will have the relief that has been promised them and that is so important as so many of them struggle to bring their lives back together, yes, we will continue to operate in this unusual scenario on a Sunday afternoon and Sunday night to do our job, to finish the work that is on our plate.

The House has very successfully moved its appropriations legislation in a very timely manner. But, frankly, while we finished prior to the July 4 recess, Katrina hit during the August recess. Wilma and Rita hit after that. So while we were following the regular order that both sides of the aisle should be very proud of, both sides of the aisle should be very appreciative of our hardworking appropriators who made that happen, it all went out the window when you get hit by a category 5 and then another category 5 and then another category 4 while we were on August recess alone.

So certain unusual factors have impacted this unusual year, which lead us to the unusual situation of being here on a Sunday passing a same-day rule so that we can move forward on the important items that remain.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, while I would love to engage the gentleman in his theory that big oil companies caused Hurricane Katrina on the rule about consideration of legislation on the same legislative day, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, these are unusual times as we struggle through the important deliberations of this Congress to make sure that our troops are cared for through the Department of Defense appropriations process and that our gulf coast friends and neighbors receive the assistance that they need and have been promised and are owed by their countrymen in the wake of the devastation wrought by these hurricanes.

This rule lays the foundation for us to move that important legislation in a timely way. And martial law around the world means troops on the streets, tanks on the streets, the military setting mandatory curfews where people cannot act in a free and virtuous way.

Only in America would the opportunity for 535 elected representatives to come from around the country to haggle and debate and fight and compromise over ways to help their fellow countrymen and move forward with an agenda for liberty and prosperity and security, only in America do we take for granted our liberties such that we would call such a process ``martial law.''

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

The previous question was ordered.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is important for the American people to know that under martial law, anything can be brought up and put into any bill; and it will take weeks, months or longer before many people even understand what happened.

But I want to demonstrate a knowledge of one thing that every Member of Congress must be aware of, that the Defense appropriations bill has folded into it a provision which will permit drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Every Member of Congress must be aware of that. No one can say after it happens that they did not know. And according to all news reports up to this moment, it is the intention of the majority to put that provision into the Defense appropriations bill.

It is a very interesting admission. Drilling for oil is linked to our warfighting capabilities. If we do not drill for more oil in this refuge, perhaps we can, instead, explore our peacemaking capabilities. There is no question that our presence in Iraq was, in part, linked to a quest for domination of oil resources. I mean, let us be frank. The first objective, when our troops went in, they were told by their leaders in the administration to get control of the Iraqi oil ministry. Everyone remembers that. And Americans remember, too, the high oil prices that this country has suffered in the last year.

Now, let me ask each Member of Congress, is there any connection between high oil prices and the growing monopolies within the energy industry? The fewer oil companies we have it seems the prices keep going up and up.

Now, what are the oil companies afraid of? They are afraid of alternative energy. They are afraid of energy from the sun, from wind, geothermal, biomass, green hydrogen, because the oil companies know that it will cut into their profits. So, naturally, the oil companies want to keep on drilling. They so badly want to keep on drilling that they are going to drill in Alaska, or in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, if the Defense appropriations bill passes.

Every American should know that that is not going to mean lower oil prices; it is going to mean higher oil prices because it will once again show the domination of the oil companies on our political process.

We could talk about our economy, and we should. High oil prices are bad for our economy. Is that not a message that we should be going towards alternative energy? Reliance on nonrenewable resources inevitably will lead to war. Is that not an argument for renewable energy? Is that not an argument for breaking up the energy monopolies? Oil companies do not want alternative energy. They want us to keep on drilling. They want to grab access to oil whether it is in Iraq or ANWR or anywhere else.

Wherever we are depending on more oil, they get more profits.

This is a time for us to take a direction towards conservation. In that way I consider myself a conservative. Waste not, want not. It is time for us to take a stand for protection of the environment. The administration has spurned any efforts to cause America to join with the world community in signing the Kyoto Climate Change Treaty, and at the same time we see billions of dollars wasted because of the tremendous suffering that has been caused in our gulf coast region, but I would say that we have wasted the gulf coast region because we did not have an alternative energy policy years ago. We act like there is no connection between climate change and our energy consumption patterns.

Wake up, America. Understand that all these things are interrelated, that we are interdependent and interconnected, that the choices we make today on our energy policy will echo through the years as to the direction the country will go in.

It is time for us to take a stand today for the protection of human rights. The Gwich'in Tribe is this humble tribe that depends on the porcupine caribou for its subsistence, and drilling in that Alaskan refuge is going to destroy the calving grounds of the porcupine caribou.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume.

(Ms. MATSUI asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, today we consider H. Res. 632, a martial-law rule allowing the House to bring bills to the floor on the same day that the Rules Committee meets to report that bill.

But significantly, the martial-law rule does not specify which bills may be brought up. Instead, it is a blank check for the majority party to bring up virtually any bill in Congress up until the speaker gavels this legislative day to a close.

Mr. Speaker, this is a highly unusual procedure. I would like to take a moment to explain to the American people exactly how out of the ordinary it is.

This is the first time that a totally open-ended blanket martial-law rule has been brought to the House floor. Every other rare use of this procedure has specified at least a category of legislation. This rule is unprecedented for the power it grants the majority.

Mr. Speaker, some Members may argue that the blanket nature of this rule allows them to conduct business efficiently by allowing them to bring up the first thing that is ready to pass.

I, however, take a different view. This will tarnish the honor of this institution by restricting the democratic process. It will allow bills to come up with absolutely no prior notice to Members. Members may not have time to examine what is in the bill. They may not have even heard of the bill before.

There is a risk that last-minute language could be written incorrectly, or that it could have unintended consequences. There is the risk that controversial provisions could be inserted without proper review.

And by not giving Members this review time, we will be forced to simply hope that this did not occur. Mr. Speaker, I believe that Members need more of a guarantee than that before we cast our votes.

Mr. Speaker, such a harsh rule impedes the democratic process. It did not have to be that way. The House leadership chose not to conduct floor business on Friday of last week, or on Monday of this week. This type of schedule has been commonplace all year long.

So I must conclude that we are here not out of necessity, but because the Republican leadership is unable to govern. Once again, it seems as though the majority cannot be trusted with conducting the business of the American people in an open manner.

I urge my colleagues to reject this blanket martial-law rule. Members should have adequate time to review bills before they vote for them.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich).

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to say that I urge my colleagues to reject this blanket martial-law rule. Members should have adequate time to review the bills before they vote for them.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the House vacate the ordering of the yeas and nays on adoption of House Resolution 632 to the end that the Chair may put the question on the resolution de novo.

Mr. Speaker, I will propound the request again.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the House vacate the ordering of the yeas and nays on adoption of House Resolution 632 to the end that the Chair may put the question on the resolution de novo.

I object.