[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 49 (Thursday, March 16, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H3313]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM

  (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I ask for this time in order that I might 
yield to my good friend, the chairman of the Committee on Rules, the 
gentleman from New York [Mr. Solomon], for the purposes of enlightening 
us on the coming schedule.
  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HOYER. I yield to the gentleman from New York.
  Mr. SOLOMON. On behalf of the majority leader, I will be happy to try 
to enlighten you, my good friend.
  The House will not be in session on Monday, March 20.
  On Tuesday, the House will meet at 12:30 p.m. for morning hour and 2 
p.m. for legislative business. We will take up the rule and general 
debate on H.R. 4, the Personal Responsibility Act.
  Members are advised we expect no votes to be held before 5 p.m. on 
Tuesday.
  On Wednesday the House will meet at 11 a.m. to continue consideration 
of the welfare reform bill.
  On Thursday and Friday of next week the House will meet at 10 a.m. to 
complete consideration of H.R. 4. We expect to complete this 
legislation on Friday, and it is our hope to have Members on their way 
home to their districts and their families by at least 3 p.m. on that 
Friday.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for his enlightening us on next 
week's schedule.
  I take it then the week will be concerned with the consideration of 
the rule and the bill on welfare reform?
  Mr. SOLOMON. We would at this time not expect any other business. As 
the gentleman knows, that is a very, very important piece of 
legislation. After consulting with the minority leader, the gentleman 
from Missouri [Mr. Gephardt] and others, we want to make sure that 
ample time is given to that issue, and we would expect to devote the 
whole week to it.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for that clarification.
  I would like to ask the gentleman from New York, on Tuesday, it is my 
understanding that the only vote we expect is the vote on the rule. Am 
I correct on that?
  Mr. SOLOMON. Yes. And it is the expectation right now that there 
would not be a vote on that rule, if we have an agreement with the 
minority. The rule passed by unanimous vote in the Committee on Rules. 
It is simply providing for 5 hours of general debate at which time, if 
the rule does pass, then we would go into that 5 hours of general 
debate, and there would be no vote that day at all.

                              {time}  1445

  But we cannot make that promise, as the gentleman knows. We do not 
expect a vote and we do not expect the gentleman's side to ask for a 
vote either.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, it was our understanding--and I was just 
checking to make sure with our minority leader's staff to make sure--we 
do not expect any Member to ask for and we do not plan to ask for a 
vote on the rule, as the gentleman suggests.
  In light of that, I ask the gentleman, is it possible, therefore, for 
us to notify Members that pursuant to an agreement between the majority 
and the minority that there would be no votes on Tuesday, so that 
Members, if they need to, could return either late Tuesday or Wednesday 
morning?
  Mr. SOLOMON. Let me just say it is very important, because we will 
have completed the rule in the Committee on Rules on the welfare reform 
bill. We would want the opportunity to explain that rule to our Members 
who will be returning Tuesday night and therefore we would want them 
early Wednesday morning. We do not intend to ask for a vote at this 
time and we do not expect to on Tuesday.
  Mr. HOYER. So that the gentleman feels relatively confident that 
Members, if they were here early Wednesday morning, they would not miss 
any votes?
  Mr. SOLOMON. We would want to discuss that further with the 
gentleman, but, yes, we feel very comfortable with that.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for his information and look forward 
to next week.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back.
  

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