[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 10 (Thursday, January 25, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H900-H901]
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. Mr. Speaker, I would inquire of the distinguished 
majority leader of the schedule for today and the remainder of the week 
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 thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, this last vote marks the end of the legislative business 
for the week. Members are now free to return to their families and 
their districts. Next week the House will not be in session on Monday, 
January 29.
  On Tuesday, January 30, there is a possibility of a suspension day. 
Several items are under consideration, although none have been 
finalized at this time. Of course, we will consult with the minority 
and keep Members appraised of any additions to the schedule. Members 
should be advised, however, that there will be no recorded votes on 
Tuesday. In fact, we do not expect any recorded votes before Wednesday 
at 12 o'clock noon.
  On Wednesday there is a possibility that we will act on emergency 
legislation to fund certain farm programs. Because of the President's 
veto of the Balanced Budget Act which contained farm program funding 
and reforms, there is a great deal of uncertainty in farm country that 
need to be addressed. We are working with Members on both sides of the 
aisle and will continue to do so as this legislation develop.
  On Thursday, February 1, there will be a joint meeting of Congress at 
11:45 a.m. to receive the President of France. After the joint session, 
we anticipate bringing to the floor for consideration the President's 
most recent complete budget submission.
  We also plan to consider a sense-of-the-House resolution regarding 
Medicare, Medigrant, and welfare reform, directing the Committee on the 
Budget to report on a resolution regarding funding levels and policy 
priorities for these programs. We hope to have Members on their way 
home by a reasonable hour on Thursday evening.
  We will then begin a 3-week district work period, and reconvene the 
House on Monday, February 26.
  Mr. Speaker, I have just one more comment.

                              {time}  1945

  This one to my esteemed colleagues from Pennsylvania. I will see you 
next week with a smile on my face after our beloved Dallas Cowboys win 
the Super Bowl.
  Mr. BONIOR. I would say to my friend from Texas that the 
distinguished chairman of the Committee on the Budget, Mr. Kasich, is a 
fanatical Steelers fan, as you probably know. I was just wondering if 
your differences with respect to this football game are the reason why 
he would prefer that we go ahead with a clean debt ceiling bill, and 
you have expressed contrary views this past week.
  Mr. ARMEY. If the gentleman would yield, I have discussed this with 
Mr. Kasich, and as much as he loves the Steelers, he has not been 
prepared to bet the budget on it.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, will the majority leader yield?
  Mr. ARMEY. I am happy to yield.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and my suggestion 
would be that when you have all of your Dallas fans watching that game 
on Sunday, thank God they are not playing the Washington Redskins.
  Mr. ARMEY. If the gentleman would yield, we have 26 teams in the NFL; 
I am sure we could keep this up for a while.
  Mr. VOLKMER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. ARMEY. I yield to the gentleman from Missouri.
  Mr. VOLKMER. Mr. Speaker, I would like to discuss, if the gentleman 
from Texas would be so kind to do so, the statement in here about the 
farm bill and emergency legislation. What emergency legislation would 
that be?
  I am on the Committee on Agriculture, and I would like to know what 
we are going to be faced with.
  Mr. ARMEY. I appreciate the inquiry of the gentleman, and I would 
refer the gentleman to the chairman of the Committee on Agriculture. As 
the gentleman from Missouri has pointed out on many occasions, I am not 
personally an expert on farm policy.
  Mr. VOLKMER. Well, you have done enough to agriculture programs in 
your time.
  Mr. ARMEY. Pursuant to the recommendations of the gentleman, I have 
chosen to try as much as possible to leave this work in the hands of 
the committee. I know the committee and the members of the committee 
are very concerned.
  They are working on it; they are working with Members of the other 
body, and the details of their work, I am sure, are something that the 
gentleman can better determine from the chairman of the Committee on 
Agriculture.
  Mr. VOLKMER. Well, there is a great deal of uncertainty out there 
among all of the farmers. We have not done a farm bill. There was a 
welfare bill for big farmers put in the so-called Debt Ceiling 
Reduction Act that the President vetoed. It is my understanding that 
that bill, which the President said was one of the reasons he vetoed 
the provision on agriculture, one of the reasons he vetoed the bill, is 
going to be basically the same bill, so I have been told, that the 
Members want to take up in the Committee on Agriculture; and if that is 
the case, I do not know why we are doing it, because it will be vetoed 
again.
  Now, I just do not understand why we continue to do legislation down 
here that is not going anywhere.
  Mr. ARMEY. If the gentleman would yield, again let me refer the 
gentleman from Missouri to the chairman of the Committee on 
Agriculture. If in fact you want to have a debate on farm policy or you 
prefer to have a debate on welfare programs, I think you would better 
enjoy that debate in the Committee on Agriculture, and I would refer 
you to that committee.
  Mr. VOLKMER. Well, I object strongly that you blame the President for 
something that needs to be solved right here in this body and with the 
chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and with the Committee on 
Agriculture in the Senate, because that is where the work has not been 
done, not with the President.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, one other comment to my 
friend from Texas concerning the concerns that Secretary Rubin has with 
regard to the possibility of a default by the 1st of March: For 220 
years this government has paid its bills, and there is deep concern 
that our credit rating will in fact be destroyed.
  Just yesterday, as the gentleman from Texas knows, Moody's announced 
they may lower America's credit rating, and of course the impact that 
will 

[[Page H901]]
have on homeowners, on mortgage interest rates, on student loans and on 
automobile loans could be devastating to your constituents and mine. I 
am just wondering when we will be able to see a clean debt ceiling bill 
come to the floor of this House.
  Mr. ARMEY. If the gentleman would yield further, I thank the 
gentleman for the question. I do know that the President and the 
Speaker have discussed this issue by phone and we will continue to work 
with the White House to determine the time frame for the debt limit 
extension.
  It is also my belief that we can reach an agreement on a suitable 
downpayment for the balanced budget at that time.
  As the gentleman will recall, the President was presented with a debt 
ceiling extension in November which he vetoed pursuant to the advice of 
the Secretary of the Treasury. The Secretary of the Treasury assured 
the President that he could manage affairs without that debt ceiling 
extension that the President vetoed at that time, and the Secretary of 
the Treasury has assured us that he can continue to do so until March 
1. In the meantime, we are talking with the White House about the 
conditions under which we can send forward a debt ceiling increase that 
also is accompanied by a suitable downpayment on the balanced budget.
  Mr. BONIOR. I just wish to advise my friend from Texas and his 
esteemed colleague on the other side of the aisle that we have filed a 
discharge petition, and we have Members who have signed it, to bring a 
clean debt ceiling to this floor. We invite responsible Members of the 
other side of the aisle who want to make sure that this does not happen 
to this country, that our credit rating is not besmirched, to join us 
so that we can bring this bill to the floor and we can get on with the 
business of this country without the threat hanging over our head that 
now looms there.
  I thank my colleague.
  Mr. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BONIOR. I yield to the gentleman from Missouri.
  Mr. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan, the 
distinguished minority whip, permitting me to inquire of the 
distinguished majority leader.
  Next Thursday, February 1, is the occasion of the annual National 
Prayer Breakfast, and traditionally we are accommodated so that we do 
not have votes in the House before, say, 10:30 or 11 o'clock, because 
most Members like to participate in this event, which is held off the 
Hill.
  After inquiring of the distinguished majority leader's staff, I am 
advised that you have allocated for that in the schedule, and I just 
wanted to confirm that.
  Mr. ARMEY. The gentleman is absolutely correct. We are scheduling no 
votes before, probably, 12 o'clock on Thursday morning, and I guess I 
could encourage, and I am sure the gentleman would agree, that it is a 
wonderful opportunity for all of us to share that time together at the 
National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday morning. The schedule will surely 
accommodate that.

                          ____________________