John Spratt

What we are calling for is purely and simply regular order. What we are asking for in this motion to recommit is to follow the procedures that this House, this Congress has laid down for our own internal processes that have been observed…

I rise in support of the textile enforcement initiative contained in the Treasury-Postal Service appropriations bill for fiscal year 1997. This bill includes $18 million earmarked to the Customs Service for enforcement of textile and…

I oppose most-favored-nation status for China. It is not in the best interests of China, not its people nor its despotic rulers, not in the best interests of the United States. I oppose MFN for China for three reasons. First, China has no…

in the last 18 months, 40 churches have been burned to the ground, 5 of them in my State. And despite mounting concern, eight churches have burned in the last 2 weeks, four within the last 2 days. It is time, past time, for Congress to…

I began my last statement by saying I am a supporter of ballistic missile defense, and in years past when our side was in the majority, on several occasions I came to the floor when my own committee had cut the request for national missile…

the Solomon amendment purports to condition Nunn-Lugar funding. In fact, we all know what it would do. It would stop it, stop it dead in the water, and I think that is a tragic mistake, and I strongly oppose it. Nunn-Lugar has three…

Mr. Chairman, this authorization bill may be the last of the big time spenders. It does plus up the President's request by a substantial amount, $12.9 billion, but it takes up defense spending next year by only $2.6 billion over the…

I rise to oppose the rule. I recall when we opened this Congress the colleagues on the other side told us we were going to have open rules and free and open debate, and this is a protestation, a rule that has been mostly honored in the…

I proudly sponsor this resolution because Ron Brown was a friend and a rare American. He was African-American, but he transcended race and color. He was a party leader, and one of the best because he resurrected our party, but there was…

when I spoke in favor of sustaining the President's veto of this bill, I said that 1 week of earnest negotiation could produce an acceptable bill. I want to give credit to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. They were flexible on…

As soon as practicable, and there is plenty of time between now and then to go back to the ABM Treaty once we have ratified START-II and to deal with the issues that we have to deal with, plenty of time to develop a system and then work…

Reclaiming my time, this is for a demonstration of the validity of the system. It is an R&D and development program. There is no money for deploying such a system. We have not reached that decision. We have not funded it. Out of a total…

I want to respond quickly to the statements made about the Arrow missile defense system in the well just a few minutes ago by my colleague, the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Weldon]. That system is being funded in this budget at $56.5…

let me make clear to my friend, as I think he knows, I am for building and deploying a ground-based system that is treaty-compliant to start with. I candidly acknowledge that before we are finished with it, we will probably want to go back…

I voted for this bill when it passed the House. I thought the parts of it I objected to would be cured in conference. Some were, some were not. So I decided reluctantly to vote against the conference report, and today I vote reluctantly to…

I will admit that this draft that we have before us does smooth the sharpest edges off the original earlier drafts that dealt with ballistic missile defense and the ABM Treaty. But this bill would require the President to renegotiate the…

I have been here for 7 terms now, and I have seen the cycles rise and cycles fall with respect to defense procurement policy making. In one period we get very prescriptive about the rules we make, and the next period we realize that we…

Mr. Chairman, we have three basic principles at issue before us. About 10 years ago, in the midst of all kinds of procurement excesses, Congress amended procurement law and established in the Competition and Contracting Act a vigorous…

Mr. Chairman, read this substitute. Coburn huffs and puffs for three long pages, and then, and then it blows out of steam. It does not even decree a report. In a long convoluted sentence, what it does is say it is the policy of the United…

the important inherent safety features of this reactor means that it does not depend for its safety on an alert, astute operator, who is wide awake. Nor does it depend upon backup systems and a power system to supply these systems. It is…

I do not like to rain on anybody's parade, but I have to predict, as the parts of this contract which were passed separately are pieced together, I am afraid we are going to find that all the pieces do not fit. Particularly I think there…

The Walker amendment then passed on a voice vote. This amendment expands the scope of H.R. 1022 far beyond what I think most Members appreciated, because there was no time to explain it when it came before us. Basically, this Walker…

The provision that is printed in the Record ends by saying ``These negotiations should be suspended until the 104th Congress has had the opportunity to review these matters.'' I would ask the gentleman, Mr. Chairman, does he have in mind…

What the gentleman is seeking is just a hearing with the relevant parties and interests before the committee so we could better understand what is going on and express our opinion?

Let me introduce an objective source. We passed in 1991 the Missile Defense Act calling for the deployment of a limited defense system by 1996. It originated in the Senate. It also called for a study by the Strategic Defense Initiative…