Joe Barton: “I have no greater respect for any Member of the House than I do for my distinguished friend from Michigan. However, I…”

“I have no greater respect for any Member of the House than I do for my distinguished friend from Michigan. However, I rise to insist on this point of order to maintain the prerogatives of the Committee on Commerce for which the former chairman served with distinction for so many years. The pending amendment that he has just put forward violates clause 7 of rule 16 of the Rules of the House of Representatives which requires that an amendment be germane to the matter that it is amending. It is not germane to the bill because it has a different subject than the underlying bill and the amendment concerns matters entirely within the rule 10 jurisdiction of the Committee on Commerce. First, the purpose of H.R. 3822 is to direct the President to reduce, spend or terminate foreign assistance in arms export authority for countries determined to be engaged in oil price-fixing. The Dingell amendment, however, reauthorizes the Energy Policy and Conservation Act for the fiscal year 2003. These provisions address an entirely separate question from the one in the underlying bill which renders the amendment nongermane under the rules.”