[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 199 (Thursday, December 14, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H14902-H14903]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM

  (Mr. BONIOR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BONIOR. I ask for this time to inquire of the distinguished 
majority leader about the schedule for today, tomorrow, the weekend, 
and next week.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BONIOR. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to preface my comments by adding 
my congratulations to those that have gone before me to the gentleman 
from Illinois. It is always a great thrill to be sworn in for the first 
time and to have your family here for the event.
  Mr. Speaker, there will be no more legislative business today. I 
would like to take this opportunity to discuss the upcoming schedule 
for the remainder of the week.
  Tomorrow, we plan to take up the conference report for H.R. 1530, the 
Department of Defense Authorization Act. There is also the possibility 
that the appropriations conference report for the District of Columbia 
will be ready for consideration tomorrow. We should know more about 
that possibly later today and will, of course, keep Members advised.
  As Members know, it has been 25 days since the House passed our last 
CR. For over 3 weeks now we have been waiting for the President to 
become engaged in substantive discussions and present his alternative 
plan to reach a balanced budget in 7 years. Mr. Speaker, we are still 
waiting. We are eager to examine his alternative and to commence 
serious negotiations with the President at the table.
  Mr. Speaker, if the President decides to get serious about these 
balanced budget negotiations, there may be a possibility of a short-
term continuing resolution for the weekend. Obviously, we will know 
more about that this afternoon after negotiations with the 
administration today and tomorrow.
  Mr. Speaker, I should note that I will be happy to engage in further 
discussions tomorrow regarding details of the schedule for next week.
  I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. BONIOR. I just say to my friend, the gentleman from Texas, I 
thank him for his patience in order for us to have this colloquy. I 
appreciate his patience, and I would also like to yield now to my 
friend, the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Lofgren], who I think has 
a concern about the weekend.
  Ms. LOFGREN. If I may inquire, I am a freshman Member of this body, 
and so perhaps this is the way things normally go, and I am certainly 
not opposed to working hard. But I, as do many parents in the Congress, 
have a little boy who believes in Santa Claus. I am wondering when I 
will get to take him to visit Santa Claus, and further, when all of the 
wonderful things that Santa Claus is going to bring him will actually 
arrive.
  He did point out to me the other day that we did not work last Friday 
and we did not work this Monday, and we did not start working until 
late on Tuesday, and now it is 2 o'clock and we are knocking it off for 
the day.
  My question is: Are we going to be working on Saturday to finish the 
appropriations bills not yet done? If not, why are we leaving now so 
that myself and the other parents might actually get their children to 
visit Santa Claus?
  Mr. ARMEY. If the gentleman will yield further, let me just thank the 
gentlewoman for her observations.
  It is a difficult time for all of us. I am amazed at how many Members 
have children and grandchildren that are dancing in the Nutcracker 
Suite this weekend all across this Nation, and it is a matter of 
enormous consequence to all of these families.
  My governing principle, Mr. Speaker, is to schedule work when it is 
ready, to move it as quickly as we can. We had had other work scheduled 
for today. Unfortunately, the bill that might have been under 
consideration at this time was withdrawn for reasons that are of the 
committee's concerns.
  The defense appropriations bill is obviously something we must move 
tomorrow, and can do so. If we have no work, that is, work that must be 
done on Saturday or Sunday, and I am sure the gentlewoman would agree 
with me, that should we approach an opportunity to complete the budget 
on Saturday or Sunday, I am sure she, as well as all the rest of the 
Members, would more prefer to stay here and do that and finish out the 
year.
  But short of that work on the weekend, especially if it appears that 
we will be here working next week, it would be my intention, under 
whatever parliamentary arrangements are possible, for us to have no 
work on the floor on Saturday and Sunday, so that those Members who are 
not otherwise engaged, perhaps in a conference or perhaps in the budget 
negotiations, could indeed grab a couple of days with their families 
before we come back and commence work on Monday.
  I wish I could be more specific and give Members a definitive answer 
right now. But I think I owe it to all of us to be certain that I have, 
in fact, explored every possibility of having that definitive work 
before us before I close the door on Saturday and Sunday and encourage 
people.
  So for now, I would suggest to the gentlewoman and to all of my 
colleagues, if you have plans to try to go home for the weekend, that 
is something that is, indeed, as these things are, very important to 
you and your family, do not cancel those plans. As soon as I can say 
something definitive, I will.
  Mr. BONIOR. We thank the majority leader for his understanding and 
his reading of what he sees possible this weekend. We appreciate his 
concern.
  Can the gentleman from Texas give us an indication, if we leave for 
this weekend or tomorrow, when we will resume on Monday next?
  Mr. ARMEY. If the gentleman will yield further, of course, again, if 
it is possible, that is to say, unless I am otherwise compelled by 
compelling work, I would try to enable the Members to have Saturday, 
Sunday, and, say, Monday until 5 free from any votes on the floor.
  Obviously, we all need this time. It is precious. And I would try to 
make it as extended a period of time as possible and would change from 
Monday at 5 only if compelled by some work that I thought would justify 
the inconvenience to the families.
  Mr. ROEMER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BONIOR. I yield to the gentleman from Indiana.
  Mr. ROEMER. Mr. Speaker, as the leader knows, this has been a very 
difficult year on the schedule and its impact upon families, on both 
sides of the aisle. And as we enter the holidays, Mr. Leader, I would 
hope that we would have some indication as to how late we are going to 
be going into the schedule next week. It is a very difficult time to 
get plane reservations to fly back home to our home districts and see 
families and spend time with families at the holiday.
  Do you have some kind of indication as to how long into the next week 
we will be proceeding on the budget?
  Mr. ARMEY. Again, let me make the observation, we are in very 
difficult, very serious, and extremely important negotiations with 
heartfelt differences between the Congress and the White House, and 
while I am confident that everybody is trying to do their very, very 
best, and have my own hopes that the week could be shorter instead of 
longer, I simply could not with any degree of reliability give any 
intimation to the Members other than to advise you to be prepared to 
stay for a long, hard work week throughout all of next week, with the 
hope that perhaps we could reach some agreement that would allow me to 
come on this floor and enjoy your appreciation with my bringing of the 
good news, and I would hope that would happen.
  Mr. ROEMER. As the leader knows, I want a balanced budget. I have 
been 

[[Page H14903]]
working hard for the last 11 months to achieve one, and certainly if we 
see progress, which I hope we see more of in the ensuing days, we are 
willing to work hard next week to achieve that final outcome in a 
bipartisan manner.
  But as the leader knows, we also, if he could indicate to us, if that 
is going to be December 24 or 23, that is helpful for us as we make 
plans. It is also helpful for us in many ways as we try to plan out our 
work schedule and our family schedules.
  Mr. ARMEY. If the gentleman will yield further, I appreciate the 
point the gentleman makes.
  If I may, Mr. Speaker, what I see and what we see expressed here, we 
have 435 people here that share a commitment to their families and a 
commitment to the Nation through their work here, and we are all caught 
in a period of dire consequences and serious stress, trying to find a 
way, as the gentleman from California [Mr. Dellums] said so eloquently 
a few years back, to get home and love our children, and I can only say 
that insofar as I can do anything to accommodate the Members and their 
families while also accommodating to their sincere desire to complete 
the year's work in a responsible fashion, I will make that effort, and 
I will try to keep the Members as advised and as current as I can 
possibly do with any certainty at any time.
  Mr. BONIOR. I thank the gentleman for that, Mr. Leader. I just have 
one final question.
  Two days ago the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct conducted 
a rule change concerning the book royalty issue. It is a long-overdue 
reform. It was unanimously approved by the committee. The chairwoman 
has clearly indicated that the bill would be considered before the end 
of this session.
  We are concerned by press reports we saw in the paper this morning 
indicating that the leadership on your side of the aisle may be 
blocking the committee's unanimous recommendation, and I guess my 
question to you this afternoon is will the Committee on Standards of 
Official Conduct recommendation for immediate action be honored by the 
Republican leadership? And can we see this bill within the next week?
  Mr. ARMEY. I thank the gentleman for your inquiry.
  As the gentleman knows, a bill has been drafted and has been 
submitted, assigned to the Committee on Rules. The Committee on Rules 
has the bill under consideration, and I cannot tell you with any degree 
of certainty what will be the dispatch of that bill by the committee, 
but I am confident that the Committee on Rules will act on this bill in 
full regard to its own fine traditions as a committee and the kind of 
consideration that such legislation takes, and I have to tell you I 
have had only a very, very brief discussion with the chairman of the 
Committee on Rules and a discussion in which he has assured me that the 
bill would get all the serious consideration in the due course of time 
that is appropriate within the traditions of this fine committee.
  Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BONIOR. I yield to the gentlewoman from Colorado.
  Mrs. SCHROEDER. So I guess the other question is, though, when will 
this be acted on? Because the hope had been, by this unanimous decision 
of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to move on this, that 
it would be done before we went home. And since we have all of this 
extra time and the budget has not been solved, is there anything 
blocking this from coming up right now?
  Mr. ARMEY. If the gentleman will yield further, I will just say to 
the gentlewoman, the bill is in the committee of jurisdiction. The 
committee of jurisdiction has the jurisdiction. It is not at all 
unusual, I dare say, every individual Member who drops a bill in the 
hopper does so with the sincere hope that it will be acted on 
immediately. That rarely is the case, and there are procedures known 
best to the committee, and I do not think it is appropriate for me as a 
Member or as the majority leader to second-guess how a committee will 
exercise its jurisdiction.
  I think we have committees, and each committee has its own manner of 
operating, and I do not think that it would be appropriate for me to 
speculate on the manner in which this committee nor any other committee 
would dispense with a bill.

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