[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 16 (Thursday, February 26, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H646]
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.)


                        Tribute to Marti Thomas

  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, I will inquire shortly of the distinguished 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey) regarding the schedule.
  Before I yield to my friend, the gentleman from Texas, I would just 
like to take this opportunity to let the Members know, those who are 
not already in knowledge, of the leaving of one of our real fabulous, 
super persons who have worked this floor for 9 years, Marti Thomas of 
the staff of the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Gephardt), who has been a 
real inspiration to a lot of people around here.
  She is leaving. She is not going very far, just down to the Treasury 
Department. We will see her from time to time. I just want her to know 
that on behalf of all the Members of the House, and I think the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey) might elaborate on this, who also was 
honored here last night at a party, we want her to know how much we 
will miss her, how much we appreciate all the hard work she gave to 
this institution, and we look forward to seeing her from time to time 
as she comes back with her new responsibilities.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BONIOR. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, if I may just speak for a moment, perhaps I 
may make a comment about Marti and how much we, too, have enjoyed 
working with her. She has always been pleasant, even when she was being 
stubborn. But we have always enjoyed it, and we, too, will miss her.
  I would think we may want to hear from the gentleman from Missouri 
(Mr. Gephardt) on this subject before we talk about the schedule.
  If I might just say, Marti, from my point of view, I will miss you. I 
wish you Godspeed wherever you go, and I believe you owe me a lot, so I 
will be getting in touch with you later on that.
  Mr. GEPHARDT. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BONIOR. I yield to the distinguished gentleman from Missouri.
  Mr. GEPHARDT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for his 
comments. I have known a lot of staff people here, and we rarely thank 
and recognize our staff for the great work they do. One of the reasons 
this place works is that we have wonderful human beings who come here 
to work for us, and work behind the scenes without any celebration or 
without any sufficient recognition, to make this place work.
  I know of no one that we have ever had on staff who has such 
unanimous acclaim as Marti Thomas. Everybody likes her, everybody loves 
her, everybody respects her, and everybody wishes her well in her new 
assignment with the Treasury Department.
  Finally, I believe that she has such acclaim because she basically 
treats other people the way she would like to be treated.
  That is her credo, and that is the way she conducts herself. So, 
Marti, we are going to miss you very, very much, and we know you are 
going to be a great success. And the only solace I have in this as her 
direct employer is that she has promised to come back here soon.
  Mr. BONIOR. I yield to my friend, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Armey).
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that we have finished 
legislative business for the week. The House will reconvene for pro 
forma session on Monday, March 2 at 2:00 p.m. Of course there will be 
no legislative business and no votes on that date.
  On Tuesday, March 3, the House will meet at 12:30 p.m. for morning 
hour and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business.
  We will consider a number of bills under suspension of the rules, a 
list of which will be distributed to Members' offices. Members should 
note that we do not expect any recorded votes on suspensions before 
5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 3.
  On Wednesday and Thursday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. to 
consider the following bills, all of which will be subject to rules: 
H.R. 856, the United States-Puerto Rico Political Status Act; H.R. 
3130, the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act for 1998; and 
H.R. 2369, the Wireless Privacy Enhancement Act of 1997.
  Mr. Speaker, we hope to conclude legislative business for the week by 
6:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 5. There will be no votes on Friday, March 
6.
  I want to thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.
  Mr. BONIOR. I thank my colleague from Texas for his remarks and the 
information that he has given us. Can I ask the gentleman from Texas 
when we can expect the Puerto Rico bill to be coming to the floor?
  Mr. ARMEY. I thank the gentleman for asking. We anticipate having 
that bill on the floor on Wednesday.
  Mr. BONIOR. Wednesday. I thank my friend.
  And, finally, the concern we had here is when we will be able to see 
the list of bills on suspension.
  Mr. ARMEY. I thank the gentleman for that inquiry. We have had some 
late requests. We are trying to get the list together, and we should 
have them in your offices later today.
  Mr. BONIOR. I thank my colleague and wish him a good weekend.

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