[Congressional Record: December 18, 2007 (House)]
[Page H16788-H16792]
OPEN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 2007
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
Senate bill (S. 2488) to promote accessibility, accountability, and
openness in Government by strengthening section 552 of title 5, United
States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act),
and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
The text of the Senate bill is as follows:
S. 2488
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Openness Promotes
Effectiveness in our National Government Act of 2007'' or the
``OPEN Government Act of 2007''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) the Freedom of Information Act was signed into law on
July 4, 1966, because the American people believe that--
(A) our constitutional democracy, our system of self-
government, and our commitment to popular sovereignty depends
upon the consent of the governed;
(B) such consent is not meaningful unless it is informed
consent; and
(C) as Justice Black noted in his concurring opinion in
Barr v. Matteo (360 U.S. 564 (1959)), ``The effective
functioning of a free government like ours depends largely on
the force of an informed public opinion. This calls for the
widest possible understanding of the quality of government
service rendered by all elective or appointed public
officials or employees.'';
(2) the American people firmly believe that our system of
government must itself be governed by a presumption of
openness;
(3) the Freedom of Information Act establishes a ``strong
presumption in favor of disclosure'' as noted by the United
States Supreme Court in United States Department of State v.
Ray (502 U.S. 164 (1991)), a presumption that applies to all
agencies governed by that Act;
(4) ``disclosure, not secrecy, is the dominant objective of
the Act,'' as noted by the United States Supreme Court in
Department of Air Force v. Rose (425 U.S. 352 (1976));
(5) in practice, the Freedom of Information Act has not
always lived up to the ideals of that Act; and
(6) Congress should regularly review section 552 of title
5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of
Information Act), in order to determine whether further
changes and improvements are necessary to ensure that the
Government remains open and accessible to the American people
and is always based not upon the ``need to know'' but upon
the fundamental ``right to know''.
SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF FEE STATUS FOR NEWS MEDIA.
Section 552(a)(4)(A)(ii) of title 5, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``In this clause, the term `a representative of the news
media' means any person or entity that gathers information of
potential interest to a segment of the public, uses its
editorial skills to turn the raw materials into a distinct
work, and distributes that work to an audience. In this
clause, the term `news' means information that is about
current events or that would be of current interest to the
public. Examples of news-media entities are television or
radio stations broadcasting to the public at large and
publishers of periodicals (but only if such entities qualify
as disseminators of `news') who
[[Page H16789]]
make their products available for purchase by or subscription
by or free distribution to the general public. These examples
are not all-inclusive. Moreover, as methods of news delivery
evolve (for example, the adoption of the electronic
dissemination of newspapers through telecommunications
services), such alternative media shall be considered to be
news-media entities. A freelance journalist shall be regarded
as working for a news-media entity if the journalist can
demonstrate a solid basis for expecting publication through
that entity, whether or not the journalist is actually
employed by the entity. A publication contract would present
a solid basis for such an expectation; the Government may
also consider the past publication record of the requester in
making such a determination.''.
SEC. 4. RECOVERY OF ATTORNEY FEES AND LITIGATION COSTS.
(a) In General.--Section 552(a)(4)(E) of title 5, United
States Code, is amended--
(1) by inserting ``(i)'' after ``(E)''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, a complainant has
substantially prevailed if the complainant has obtained
relief through either--
``(I) a judicial order, or an enforceable written agreement
or consent decree; or
``(II) a voluntary or unilateral change in position by the
agency, if the complainant's claim is not insubstantial.''.
(b) Limitation.--Notwithstanding section 1304 of title 31,
United States Code, no amounts may be obligated or expended
from the Claims and Judgment Fund of the United States
Treasury to pay the costs resulting from fees assessed under
section 552(a)(4)(E) of title 5, United States Code. Any such
amounts shall be paid only from funds annually appropriated
for any authorized purpose for the Federal agency against
which a claim or judgment has been rendered.
SEC. 5. DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS FOR ARBITRARY AND CAPRICIOUS
REJECTIONS OF REQUESTS.
Section 552(a)(4)(F) of title 5, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) by inserting ``(i)'' after ``(F)''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(ii) The Attorney General shall--
``(I) notify the Special Counsel of each civil action
described under the first sentence of clause (i); and
``(II) annually submit a report to Congress on the number
of such civil actions in the preceding year.
``(iii) The Special Counsel shall annually submit a report
to Congress on the actions taken by the Special Counsel under
clause (i).''.
SEC. 6. TIME LIMITS FOR AGENCIES TO ACT ON REQUESTS.
(a) Time Limits.--
(1) In general.--Section 552(a)(6)(A) of title 5, United
States Code, is amended by inserting after clause (ii) the
following:
``The 20-day period under clause (i) shall commence on the
date on which the request is first received by the
appropriate component of the agency, but in any event not
later than ten days after the request is first received by
any component of the agency that is designated in the
agency's regulations under this section to receive requests
under this section. The 20-day period shall not be tolled by
the agency except--
``(I) that the agency may make one request to the requester
for information and toll the 20-day period while it is
awaiting such information that it has reasonably requested
from the requester under this section; or
``(II) if necessary to clarify with the requester issues
regarding fee assessment. In either case, the agency's
receipt of the requester's response to the agency's request
for information or clarification ends the tolling period.''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendment made by this subsection
shall take effect 1 year after the date of enactment of this
Act.
(b) Compliance With Time Limits.--
(1) In general.--
(A) Search fees.--Section 552(a)(4)(A) of title 5, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(viii) An agency shall not assess search fees (or in the
case of a requester described under clause (ii)(II),
duplication fees) under this subparagraph if the agency fails
to comply with any time limit under paragraph (6), if no
unusual or exceptional circumstances (as those terms are
defined for purposes of paragraphs (6)(B) and (C),
respectively) apply to the processing of the request.''.
(B) Public liaison.--Section 552(a)(6)(B)(ii) of title 5,
United States Code, is amended by inserting after the first
sentence the following: ``To aid the requester, each agency
shall make available its FOIA Public Liaison, who shall
assist in the resolution of any disputes between the
requester and the agency.''.
(2) Effective date and application.--The amendment made by
this subsection shall take effect 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act and apply to requests for information
under section 552 of title 5, United States Code, filed on or
after that effective date.
SEC. 7. INDIVIDUALIZED TRACKING NUMBERS FOR REQUESTS AND
STATUS INFORMATION.
(a) In General.--Section 552(a) of title 5, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(7) Each agency shall--
``(A) establish a system to assign an individualized
tracking number for each request received that will take
longer than ten days to process and provide to each person
making a request the tracking number assigned to the request;
and
``(B) establish a telephone line or Internet service that
provides information about the status of a request to the
person making the request using the assigned tracking number,
including--
``(i) the date on which the agency originally received the
request; and
``(ii) an estimated date on which the agency will complete
action on the request.''.
(b) Effective Date and Application.--The amendment made by
this section shall take effect 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act and apply to requests for information
under section 552 of title 5, United States Code, filed on or
after that effective date.
SEC. 8. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
(a) In General.--Section 552(e)(1) of title 5, United
States Code, is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by inserting after the first
comma ``the number of occasions on which each statute was
relied upon,'';
(2) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ``and average'' after
``median'';
(3) in subparagraph (E), by inserting before the semicolon
``, based on the date on which the requests were received by
the agency'';
(4) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) and (G) as
subparagraphs (N) and (O), respectively; and
(5) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the following:
``(F) the average number of days for the agency to respond
to a request beginning on the date on which the request was
received by the agency, the median number of days for the
agency to respond to such requests, and the range in number
of days for the agency to respond to such requests;
``(G) based on the number of business days that have
elapsed since each request was originally received by the
agency--
``(i) the number of requests for records to which the
agency has responded with a determination within a period up
to and including 20 days, and in 20-day increments up to and
including 200 days;
``(ii) the number of requests for records to which the
agency has responded with a determination within a period
greater than 200 days and less than 301 days;
``(iii) the number of requests for records to which the
agency has responded with a determination within a period
greater than 300 days and less than 401 days; and
``(iv) the number of requests for records to which the
agency has responded with a determination within a period
greater than 400 days;
``(H) the average number of days for the agency to provide
the granted information beginning on the date on which the
request was originally filed, the median number of days for
the agency to provide the granted information, and the range
in number of days for the agency to provide the granted
information;
``(I) the median and average number of days for the agency
to respond to administrative appeals based on the date on
which the appeals originally were received by the agency, the
highest number of business days taken by the agency to
respond to an administrative appeal, and the lowest number of
business days taken by the agency to respond to an
administrative appeal;
``(J) data on the 10 active requests with the earliest
filing dates pending at each agency, including the amount of
time that has elapsed since each request was originally
received by the agency;
``(K) data on the 10 active administrative appeals with the
earliest filing dates pending before the agency as of
September 30 of the preceding year, including the number of
business days that have elapsed since the requests were
originally received by the agency;
``(L) the number of expedited review requests that are
granted and denied, the average and median number of days for
adjudicating expedited review requests, and the number
adjudicated within the required 10 days;
``(M) the number of fee waiver requests that are granted
and denied, and the average and median number of days for
adjudicating fee waiver determinations;''.
(b) Applicability to Agency and Each Principal Component of
the Agency.--Section 552(e) of title 5, United States Code,
is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (5) as
paragraphs (3) through (6), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
``(2) Information in each report submitted under paragraph
(1) shall be expressed in terms of each principal component
of the agency and for the agency overall.''.
(c) Public Availability of Data.--Section 552(e)(3) of
title 5, United States Code, (as redesignated by subsection
(b) of this section) is amended by adding at the end ``In
addition, each agency shall make the raw statistical data
used in its reports available electronically to the public
upon request.''.
SEC. 9. OPENNESS OF AGENCY RECORDS MAINTAINED BY A PRIVATE
ENTITY.
Section 552(f) of title 5, United States Code, is amended
by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:
``(2) `record' and any other term used in this section in
reference to information includes--
[[Page H16790]]
``(A) any information that would be an agency record
subject to the requirements of this section when maintained
by an agency in any format, including an electronic format;
and
``(B) any information described under subparagraph (A) that
is maintained for an agency by an entity under Government
contract, for the purposes of records management.''.
SEC. 10. OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION SERVICES.
(a) In General.--Section 552 of title 5, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(h)(1) There is established the Office of Government
Information Services within the National Archives and Records
Administration.
``(2) The Office of Government Information Services shall--
``(A) review policies and procedures of administrative
agencies under this section;
``(B) review compliance with this section by administrative
agencies; and
``(C) recommend policy changes to Congress and the
President to improve the administration of this section.
``(3) The Office of Government Information Services shall
offer mediation services to resolve disputes between persons
making requests under this section and administrative
agencies as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation and, at
the discretion of the Office, may issue advisory opinions if
mediation has not resolved the dispute.
``(i) The Government Accountability Office shall conduct
audits of administrative agencies on the implementation of
this section and issue reports detailing the results of such
audits.
``(j) Each agency shall designate a Chief FOIA Officer who
shall be a senior official of such agency (at the Assistant
Secretary or equivalent level).
``(k) The Chief FOIA Officer of each agency shall, subject
to the authority of the head of the agency--
``(1) have agency-wide responsibility for efficient and
appropriate compliance with this section;
``(2) monitor implementation of this section throughout the
agency and keep the head of the agency, the chief legal
officer of the agency, and the Attorney General appropriately
informed of the agency's performance in implementing this
section;
``(3) recommend to the head of the agency such adjustments
to agency practices, policies, personnel, and funding as may
be necessary to improve its implementation of this section;
``(4) review and report to the Attorney General, through
the head of the agency, at such times and in such formats as
the Attorney General may direct, on the agency's performance
in implementing this section;
``(5) facilitate public understanding of the purposes of
the statutory exemptions of this section by including concise
descriptions of the exemptions in both the agency's handbook
issued under subsection (g), and the agency's annual report
on this section, and by providing an overview, where
appropriate, of certain general categories of agency records
to which those exemptions apply; and
``(6) designate one or more FOIA Public Liaisons.
``(l) FOIA Public Liaisons shall report to the agency Chief
FOIA Officer and shall serve as supervisory officials to whom
a requester under this section can raise concerns about the
service the requester has received from the FOIA Requester
Center, following an initial response from the FOIA Requester
Center Staff. FOIA Public Liaisons shall be responsible for
assisting in reducing delays, increasing transparency and
understanding of the status of requests, and assisting in the
resolution of disputes.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 11. REPORT ON PERSONNEL POLICIES RELATED TO FOIA.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Office of Personnel Management shall submit to
Congress a report that examines--
(1) whether changes to executive branch personnel policies
could be made that would--
(A) provide greater encouragement to all Federal employees
to fulfill their duties under section 552 of title 5, United
States Code; and
(B) enhance the stature of officials administering that
section within the executive branch;
(2) whether performance of compliance with section 552 of
title 5, United States Code, should be included as a factor
in personnel performance evaluations for any or all
categories of Federal employees and officers;
(3) whether an employment classification series specific to
compliance with sections 552 and 552a of title 5, United
States Code, should be established;
(4) whether the highest level officials in particular
agencies administering such sections should be paid at a rate
of pay equal to or greater than a particular minimum rate;
and
(5) whether other changes to personnel policies can be made
to ensure that there is a clear career advancement track for
individuals interested in devoting themselves to a career in
compliance with such sections; and
(6) whether the executive branch should require any or all
categories of Federal employees to undertake awareness
training of such sections.
SEC. 12. REQUIREMENT TO DESCRIBE EXEMPTIONS AUTHORIZING
DELETIONS OF MATERIAL PROVIDED UNDER FOIA.
Section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code, is amended
in the matter after paragraph (9)--
(1) in the second sentence, by inserting after ``amount of
information deleted'' the following: ``, and the exemption
under which the deletion is made,''; and
(2) in the third sentence, by inserting after ``amount of
the information deleted'' the following: ``, and the
exemption under which the deletion is made,''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Missouri (Mr. Clay) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Davis) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri.
General Leave
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have
5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Missouri?
There was no objection.
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise today in support of final passage of S. 2488, the Openness
Promotes Effectiveness in Our National Government Act of 2007, or the
OPEN Government Act.
This bill is a companion measure to legislation that I introduced
earlier this session, H.R. 1309, the Freedom of Information Act
Amendments of 2007, which was passed by the House in March. After
months of negotiations between both Chambers, S. 2488 provides a
strong, reasonable and bipartisan approach to streamlining the FOIA
process and increasing transparency in government.
Two key provisions within the OPEN Government Act include expanding
access to attorneys' fees for citizens who successfully challenge an
agency's denial of information, along with the creation of a new FOIA
tracking system for pending requests.
In addition, the bill will require agencies to disclose the type of
FOIA exemptions used to redact specific information sought after in
many requests.
Lastly, the bill will establish a government-wide ombudsman to help
reduce the number of requests that are eventually resolved through
costly and time-consuming litigation.
S. 2488 provides actual access to government information to which the
American people are entitled. I want to thank all of the Members and
staff who have contributed to the development of this legislation. I
urge my colleagues to support its passage.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 2488, legislation to
reform the process for the public to request and receive information
under the Freedom of Information Act.
For 40 years, FOIA has ensured the public's access to government
records. The 1966 act replaced the old need-to-know standard with
today's right-to-know practice, placing the burden on the government to
justify any need for secrecy.
However, the FOIA process has recently struggled to keep up with the
public's demand for documents. Since 2002, FOIA requests have increased
dramatically. This additional volume has delayed processing and created
backlogs.
Legislation designed to streamline and improve the FOIA process was
championed last Congress by Mr. Smith from Texas. His bill moved
through subcommittee to the full committee with the assistance of the
chairman of the Government Management Subcommittee, Mr. Platts.
In addition, President Bush issued an executive order in December
2005 which adopted many of the process improvements contained in Mr.
Smith's legislation, making FOIA operations more citizen-centric and
results oriented.
This Congress, the majority took this bill and made additional
changes but moved beyond process reforms and into substantive changes
to FOIA policy. Although I had a number of concerns
[[Page H16791]]
with the House legislation, I supported it in an effort to improve FOIA
overall. In the intervening months since the House passed its version,
we have been able to work with the Senate and the administration to
improve the House bill and make it more balanced. I urge my colleagues
to support this compromise legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from
Virginia, the ranking member, for working with the majority on this
important piece of legislation and getting this product to the floor.
At this time, Mr. Speaker, I would also like to thank our esteemed
chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Mr. Waxman,
for his leadership on shepherding this bill through the Congress and
would like to recognize the gentleman from California for such time as
he may consume.
Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me and
I want to congratulate him on this accomplishment. This is a very good
bill. Many people have played an important role in getting this bill to
us today, and none any less than the chairman of the subcommittee who
has shepherded it through to this point.
I rise in support of the OPEN Government Act. The bill contains
important provisions to improve public access to government records.
This year the House of Representatives passed a series of good
government bills to improve openness and accountability in the
executive branch. These bills include legislation to increase access to
Presidential records, improve contractor accountability, strengthen
whistleblower protections, disclose information about donors to
Presidential libraries, and enhance the independence of agency
inspectors general.
This bill, S. 2488, is the first part of this reform agenda that
Congress will enact into law.
The Senate bill is not as strong as the House-passed bill. It does
not include a provision which I thought was a key one establishing a
presumption that government records should be released to the public
unless there is a good reason to keep them secret. But the legislation
does include important reforms to the Freedom of Information Act, our
Nation's best-known and most widely used open government law.
The provisions in this bill will help FOIA requesters obtain
responses to their requests, reduce backlog at all agencies, and
increase transparency in agency compliance, improve access to
attorneys' fees for requesters who are improperly denied information,
and provide an alternative to litigation for requesters who are facing
delay or denials.
The Bush administration has an obsession with secrecy. Over the last
7 years, it has systematically undermined our open government laws,
while radically expanding its powers to operate in secret. Government
today has more power than ever to peer into the private lives of
American citizens; yet American citizens know less and less about what
their government is actually doing.
It will take a concerted effort over many years to peel back this
curtain of secrecy. We need to restore the presumption that government
records belong to the taxpayer. We need more certain deadlines and
stronger penalties if this legislation makes little headway in reducing
FOIA delays. And we still need to enact the other good government
reforms that this body has already passed but that remain stalled in
the Senate.
But this bill is a good first step. I am proud that this Congress is
fighting for the public's right to know and urge adoption of this
legislation.
Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, before I yield to my friend from
Texas, I also want to thank Mr. Clay, the subcommittee chairman, for
helping to mold this and bring it to the floor; Mr. Turner from Ohio,
who is the ranking member; Mr. Platts; and of course Chairman Waxman
for his leadership on this issue.
Let me also add, on the majority staff, Anna Laitan has taken a lead
role, and we appreciate the work of she and other staff members. And on
the minority staff, Mason Allinger, Chas Phillips and Ellen Brown for
their work on this.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from Texas (Mr. Smith).
Mr. SMITH of Texas. I thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Davis)
not only for yielding me time, but also for his favorable mention a few
minutes ago when he was speaking.
Mr. Speaker, I strongly support the Openness Promotes Effectiveness
in our National Government Act of 2007.
This legislation gives the public more information and better insight
into the workings of the government by strengthening the Freedom of
Information Act, called FOIA. FOIA performs a vital check and balance
on the Federal branch. It protects our open system of government and
ensures that the government responds as it should to the American
people. Unfortunately, the process for obtaining information is overly
burdensome and Federal agencies have become less and less responsive to
the requests for information. This deters citizens from obtaining
information to which they are entitled.
Taxpayers should have the opportunity to obtain information from the
Federal Government quickly and easily. This legislation contains
several provisions similar to those in a bill I introduced last March.
These include provisions regarding recovery of attorneys' fees,
penalties for agencies that do not comply within the specified FOIA
time limits, and additional agency reporting requirements.
I am pleased that the bill under consideration today creates a more
open government without threatening national security or invading
personal privacy. The ability to obtain records from the Federal
Government is one of the fundamental rights of the American people.
When the government closes the doors on information, the people cannot
monitor their government. Democracy is based on the people's right to
know. That is why I support the Freedom of Information Act.
Mr. Speaker, this bill rightly makes it easier for citizens to get
answers to their requests for information, and that's why I hope all of
my colleagues will support it.
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 1715
Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I want to just take a moment to
highlight some of the improvements that have been made to this
legislation since the House-passed version last March.
First, we clarified the definition of news media for purposes of fee
waiver requests. New methods for gathering and delivering news are
constantly developing. The definition of news, indeed, the definition
of a journalist is evolving rapidly. We provided a balanced framework
for making that determination, one that we think makes sense in the era
of new media.
Second, this legislation raises the threshold for the recovery of
attorneys' fees, compared to what was included in the House-passed
bill. The new threshold is a step in the right direction, but I
remained concerned the threshold in S. 2488 is still too low. I hope
we'll continue to take a close look at the substance of this provision
because ultimately attorneys' fees come out of the taxpayers' pockets.
Finally, I am pleased to note the provision repealing the so-called
Ashcroft memorandum was eliminated, and I know this was also of concern
to the gentleman from Texas. The Ashcroft memorandum established that
the administration would defend agency decisions to withhold records
under a FOIA exemption if the decision was supported by a sound legal
basis, replacing the pre-9/11 Janet Reno standard of always releasing
information absent foreseeable harm. I think preservation of the
Ashcroft policy is the right policy to adopt in the current
environment.
As I've stated since we began work on this legislation, improving the
procedural aspects of FOIA should be our goal. It's something we all
agree on, and this bill moves us closer to that. Although the debate on
the appropriate balance between open access and protected records will
go on, I trust we'll continue to try to balance national security with
the vital principles of open government.
Once again, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. I again
want to commend the gentleman from Missouri for his work on this.
[[Page H16792]]
Mr. Speaker, I yield back.
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, in closing, let me thank all of my colleagues
too for the work that they did to craft this piece of legislation that
I think goes a long way in improving FOIA. And S. 2488 provides a
strong, reasonable, and bipartisan approach to streamlining the FOIA
process and increasing transparency in our government. It also provides
actual access to government information to which the American people
are entitled.
Again, let me thank all of my colleagues for their support and help
and effort on this legislation. And I urge my colleagues to support its
passage.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the Senate bill, S. 2488.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the Senate bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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