Motion To Recommit

For the second time in a week, Republicans in the House won a surprise victory on the House floor, using a parliamentary maneuver to make changes in a bill backed by Democratic leaders.

Last week, Republicans made a series of changes with a last ditch "Motion to Recommit" on a bill that would provide grants and tax breaks for homeowners who make improvements that save energy.

That effort placed income limits of $250,000 on who could receive the federal assistance and specifically stated that the plan cannot have a negative net effect on the deficit.

Last week, Democrats accepted the changes and approved the "Cash for Caulkers" bill, but this time, Democrats yanked off the House floor a bill dealing with research and development, rather than give Republicans another victory.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer charged that Republicans "chose to play a political game with a gotcha amendment," as he vowed to bring the bill back for another vote next week.

The six page recommital motion struck out big chunks of the bill, but also added in some new penalties for federal employees who have been rapped for watching porn at work.

"None of the funds authorized under this Act may be used to pay the salary of any individual who has been officially disciplined....for viewing, downloading, or exchanging pornography, including child pornography, one a Federal Government computer or while performing official Federal Government duties."

That was in reference to a recent report that some employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission were spending time looking at porn on the web instead of trying to root out financial wrongdoing.

Another item from the GOP motion was a section that would prevent research and development money from going to colleges and universities that don't allow ROTC or military recruiting on campus.

Democrats vowed to get rid of all the changes and bring the bill back before the House next week.

But in the back of their mind, they know that the Republicans are ready to spring a parliamentary surprise, if given the chance.

For the second time in a week, Republicans in the House won a surprise victory on the House floor, using a parliamentary maneuver to make changes in a bill backed by Democratic leaders. Last week, Republicans made a series of changes with a last ditch "Motion to Recommit" on a ...