[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 110 (Friday, July 30, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H6738-H6739]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM

  (Mr. FROST asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas to 
inquire about next week's schedule.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that we have completed 
legislative business for the week.
  The House will next meet on Monday, August 2, at 12:30 p.m. for 
morning hour and at 2 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 this afternoon.
  Mr. Speaker, subject to last night's unanimous consent agreement, we 
will also complete consideration of H.R. 2606, the Foreign Operations 
Appropriations Act, on Monday. Debate on Foreign Operations amendments 
will not begin before 4 p.m.

[[Page H6739]]

  Members should note that there will be recorded votes after 6 p.m. on 
Monday, August 2.
  On Tuesday, August 3, and the balance of next week, the House will 
take up the following measures:
  H.R. 2031, The 21st Amendment Enforcement Act;
  H.R. 987, The Workplace Preservation Act;
  H.J. Res. 58, Regarding the Jackson-Vanik Waiver for Vietnam;
  The VA-HUD Appropriations Act; and
  The Commerce, State, and Justice Appropriations Act.
  Mr. Speaker, we also expect a number of conference reports to be 
available next week for consideration in the House.
  Mr. Speaker, because this will be our last week of legislative 
business before the Summer District Work Period, Members should expect 
late nights throughout the week. That includes, Mr. Speaker, Friday, 
August 6, which may stretch beyond 2 p.m. and into the evening.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the Members for their attention and I wish all 
my colleagues safe travel back to their districts.
  Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I have several questions for the majority 
leader at this point. Will we complete action on the Juvenile Justice 
bill next week?
  Mr. ARMEY. I thank the gentleman for his inquiry. We just went to 
conference, Mr. Speaker, on Juvenile Justice this morning. We are 
obviously encouraging the conferees, we are anxious to have that, and 
the floor schedule will accommodate the conference report if they can 
bring it back. We will encourage them. I am sure the gentleman from 
Texas and his leadership will do the same on their side of the aisle.
  Mr. FROST. I would further ask my friend from Texas, I do not see the 
Patients' Bill of Rights on the schedule. Is there any possibility that 
that will come up next week or when can we expect it to be brought to 
the floor?
  Mr. ARMEY. If the gentleman will yield further, Mr. Speaker, we have 
three committees of jurisdiction that are working on the Patient 
Protection Act. That work is in progress. It is, of course, very 
important work. As soon as our committees complete their work and are 
able to make the bill available to the floor, we will have it on the 
floor, but I do not anticipate that next week.
  Mr. FROST. I would further ask the gentleman from Texas, does he 
expect the tax conference report to be on the floor next week?
  Mr. ARMEY. I thank the gentleman for asking that.
  If the gentleman will continue to yield, Mr. Speaker, yes, we do in 
fact expect that we will go to conference on the tax bill sometime 
Monday, and we anticipate having that conference report back before we 
complete business next week.
  Mr. FROST. The only other question I would have to the gentleman from 
Texas is he has indicated that we will be working late, probably each 
night. Does the gentleman have any idea how late that will be?
  Mr. ARMEY. As the gentleman from Texas knows, when we do 
appropriations bills, we do those under the 5-minute rule. We try to 
make unanimous consent requests as we did last night to expedite the 
consideration of a bill in consideration of all the Members with their 
amendments. We will still work under that 5-minute rule, hope to have 
those kinds of accommodations between Members, but one must anticipate 
that late in the evening will mean precisely that in perhaps the most 
rigorous terms.
  Mr. FROST. As the gentleman knows, in some cities where they play 
baseball at night, there is a rule that no inning can begin after a 
certain hour. I was just wondering if there is any possibility we could 
go to that in our night sessions.
  Mr. ARMEY. The gentleman makes a fine point. I can only assure him 
that at or around dinner time, we will provide a seventh inning stretch 
that will be sufficient to nourish our bodies so we can continue on 
into the evening.
  Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, if I could ask the gentleman one final 
question. Is there any possibility that we will be here next Saturday? 
The gentleman indicated the real possibility that we will be here after 
2 p.m. on Friday. Could it also be that we would be here next Saturday?
  Mr. ARMEY. I thank the gentleman for that question. I think that is 
really a key concern. We are all anxious to get on with our work in our 
districts for the District Work Period.
  I think this is the best, most reliable answer: A prudent, 
experienced Member understands that the getaway day before a District 
Work Period of this length is tenuous. We should expect to work late in 
the evening, but if that prudent Member were to make their plane 
reservations for Saturday morning, I am confident that they could make 
those planes. But I do think late in the evening on Friday night could 
go beyond that point at which people could reasonably expect a Friday 
night plane. I think it would be just prudent for all of us to plan our 
travel for Saturday.
  Mr. FROST. I would respond to my friend from Texas, that based on my 
21 years of experience in the House of Representatives, I never book a 
flight on the day that we are scheduled to leave. I always book my 
flight for the following day.
  Mr. ARMEY. I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman would yield for one final point on that 
point. The point is very important to the Members and if I may make 
this point. We will monitor the process of the week's schedule as 
closely as we can as we see the work developing, and we will try to 
maintain a constant posture where when we know things with greater 
degrees of certainty about that Friday and those travel arrangements, 
we will announce that to the House.
  Mr. FROST. I thank the gentleman.

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