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 677 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Hastings). All time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only.

I yield myself such time as I may consume and ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on House Resolution 677.

Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 677 provides for consideration of H.J. Res. 52, making continuing appropriations for the fiscal year 2008, and for other purposes.

The rule provides 1 hour of general debate controlled by the Committee on Appropriations. The rule waives all points of order against the joint resolution and against its consideration except for clause 9 or 10 of rule XXI.

The rule also provides that the joint resolution shall be considered as read. The rule provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions.

Mr. Speaker, every Congress has a constitutional responsibility to be good stewards of the money sent to us by the American people. And I am proud to say that we here in the House of Representatives have fulfilled our fiscal responsibility to the American people by passing all of our appropriations bills on time.

We, in the new majority, have been absolute in our promise to construct and pass spending bills with broad bipartisan support, and I am proud to say that we have delivered on those promises.

Of the 12 fiscal year 2008 appropriations bills that passed the House this year, we have garnered an average of 50 Republican votes. In a spirit of working together, we have successfully pushed ahead our bold and new agenda and passed legislation that prioritize veterans, health care, education and energy independence.

Mr. Speaker, H. Res 677 provides for consideration of H.J. Res. 52, as I said before, for continuing appropriations for the year 2008.

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

I have no requests for time.

Mr. Speaker, I feel obliged to say simply for the record that there are no earmarks in this bill and that everybody knows it.

The material previously referred to by Mr. Hastings of Washington is as follows:

Amendment to H. Res. 677 Offered by Mr. Hastings of Washington

At the end of the resolution, add the following:

Sec. 4. That immediately upon the adoption of this

resolution the House shall, without intervention of any point

of order, consider the resolution (H. Res. 479) to amend the

Rules of the House of Representatives to provide for

enforcement of clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House

of Representatives. The resolution shall be considered as

read. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on

the resolution to final adoption without intervening motion

or demand for division of the question except: (1) one hour

of debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and

ranking minority member of the Committee on Rules; and (2)

one motion to recommit.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlelady and chairman of the Rules Committee for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, in just 5 days, fiscal year 2007 will come to an end and a new fiscal year will begin. I am disappointed that this rule and the underlying continuing resolution are on the floor today. Not one, let me repeat that, not one spending bill has been sent to the President for his signature this year.

Congress has a responsibility to fund the priorities of the government, and here we are, just days before the start of a new fiscal year, and not one of the 12 spending bills that must be signed into law have been signed.

So, Mr. Speaker, I will support the underlying continuing resolution because I recognize the government must continue to be funded. It is my strong hope, however, that within the next 6 weeks, 12 separate conference reports will come before the House of Representatives.

I do not believe that omnibus bills are the best vehicles for spending billions and billions of taxpayer dollars, and I truly hope that that will not be what we end with on November 16.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of the time.

Mr. Speaker, this is a disappointing day for the American people. Here we are, nearly 9 months into this Congress controlled by the Democrat majority, and still the majority has failed to live up to their promises by denying every American taxpayer accountability when it comes to transparency of earmarks.

Just yesterday, a challenge was made to an earmark slipped into a bill 299 pages long that had not been disclosed. The Democrat majority certified the bill was ``earmark free,'' but then denied all accountability and scrutiny of this earmark.

It is vital that the House act today to allow the House to debate openly and honestly the validity and accuracy of earmarks contained in all bills, such as the SCHIP bill yesterday, and not just on appropriation bills. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I will be asking Members to oppose the previous question so that they may amend the rule to allow for immediate consideration of House Resolution 479, the Earmark Accountability bill.

By defeating the previous question, the House will be able to consider the continuing resolution today, but will also be able to address earmark enforceability in order to restore the credibility of this House.

By considering and approving House Resolution 479, we will send a strong message to the American taxpayers that this House will no longer turn its head the other way when it comes to transparency of earmarks.

So, Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to have the text of the amendment and extraneous material inserted into the Record prior to the vote on the previous question.

With that, I urge my colleagues to oppose the previous question, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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