Members of Congress who are unable to advance anti-environment proposals on their own merits have frequently sought to attach these proposals as unrelated "riders" to must-pass spending bills. This practice often compels members who otherwise would oppose the provisions to vote for them as part of a much larger, widely supported bill. 

When the House debated H.R. 350, the Mandates Information Act (see House votes 10 and 11), Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) offered an amendment that would have expanded opportunities for open debate over bills that weaken or roll back health, safety, or environmental protections. The Waxman "Defense of the Environment" amendment would have created a new parliamentary procedure guaranteeing members of Congress the right to openly debate and independently vote on anti-environment provisions and making it more difficult to pass major legislation with unrelated and undebated anti-environment riders attached. 

On February 10, 1999, the House rejected the Waxman amendment 203–216. YES is the pro-environment vote.