[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 157 (Tuesday, November 9, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H11827]
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.)
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, I rise for the purposes of inquiring from 
the Majority Leader the schedule for the remainder of the evening and 
the rest of the week.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey).
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman taking this time. 
Mr. Speaker, as my colleagues know, we are in that part of the year 
where we are all working in different rooms, in different projects, 
trying to come to agreement on different matters.
  At this point in the evening, what I am going to suggest we do is 
have the body retire to some special orders for a while, some 
discussion. We will have a few minutes to sort things out, at which 
time we can get back in touch with the Members, either by announcement 
of the floor or through the whip organizations.
  We do anticipate that we will in very short order be able to resume 
work, having more votes on issues related to the appropriations and 
budget cycle. But it is just one of these times where we sort of have 
to fall back, regroup, and assess things, and make sure we have precise 
information to exchange between the two sides so we can reach agreement 
to proceed.
  If the body would indulge us in that regard, we would be back in 
touch with Members, who we would ask to stay close to an information 
source, I am sure within the next 30 minutes at the outset.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, let me just say to the gentleman from Texas 
that we understand how difficult at the end of a session it is to put 
the various pieces together and to wrap things up. But we also 
understand the need to utilize the time of the membership in the best 
possible way.
  I was wondering if not, in a cooperative spirit, if we, indeed, are 
going to go to a CR that may, in fact, take us into next week, that we 
could do that at a relatively early hour this evening so Members could 
finish their business and leave and go home and ready and fresh for 
tomorrow's work. A lot of my colleague are asking about the action of 
even rolling the vote until tomorrow.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey) for a 
response.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, again, I thank the gentleman from Michigan 
for yielding to me. I think at this point in the evening, we need to 
reserve the opportunity for Members to have one or more recorded votes 
this evening on important legislative matters. If in fact that does not 
come to pass, I will communicate that as quickly as can I to the 
Members.
  I do understand we have families, and we would like to be home or 
with our families. I can promise the Members that I will get this 
sorted out as quickly as possible and advise the Members.
  We will be here working tomorrow. We will have votes tomorrow. Even 
as we proceed during the day tomorrow, I am sure there will be 
opportunities where we will just have to take a moment, sort things 
out, make sure we have the appropriate matters in the appropriate time 
sequencing, and make similar announcements to the body.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, when the gentleman from Texas spoke earlier, 
he mentioned 30 minutes as I recall; is that correct.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, again, if the gentleman will yield, as soon 
as I leave the floor, I will get to the key people with whom we have to 
consult, get the information sorted out, set the plan for the rest of 
the night, and then make that announcement to the Members.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, can the gentleman from Texas give me the 
prognosis for next week, or is that all contingent upon the discussions 
the gentleman has just referred to?
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield, as the song from 
My Fair Lady goes, ``with a little bit of luck'', we will not be here. 
Other than that, we would just have to assess things up, and that would 
be one of those announcements that I could give with some degree of 
clarity and reliability tomorrow.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. 
Obey).
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan for 
yielding to me.
  Mr. Speaker, I would just like to make clear I have been told by the 
majority side on the Committee on Appropriations that there is a 
possibility that the committee will be asked to go to the Committee on 
Rules tonight to get a rule under which we could then consider the 
continuing resolution.
  I would like to make it clear that we see no reason to tie all 
Members up for the remainder of the evening. If what is being 
contemplated is a simple, straight continuing resolution with no funny 
business, we are perfectly happy to provide unanimous consent so that 
we can take it up without wasting Member's time, and I would think we 
could voice it very quickly.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BONIOR. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, obviously the body appreciates the fine 
generous offer from the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey). I want to 
give the gentleman from Wisconsin every assurance that there will be a 
straight continuing resolution with no funny business. But it is just 
one of the things I want to be very clear about before I stand before 
my colleagues and say, yes, that is the request we make of them.
  So I want to be able to make the precise request for my colleagues' 
agreement that we can define through the appropriate discussions with 
our colleagues. That should be done in just a few minutes.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, we vote against any funny business on our 
side, and we hope the gentleman will concur.

                          ____________________