[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 142 (Wednesday, November 1, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H11748]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM

  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire of the majority the 
schedule for today and the remainder of the week.
  Mr. Speaker, I inquire of the majority, whomever may want to respond, 
about the schedule. Members are confused with respect to when we will 
finish today, if we will finish today, if we will meet on Friday and 
Thursday, or on the weekend.
  We would like to know on our side of the aisle, and I imagine Members 
on their side of the aisle would like to know, as well. If there is 
someone over there who could apprise us where we are in terms of the 
schedule, we would appreciate it.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas) if 
he could help us with the schedule for today and the remainder of the 
week.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that we are here 
tonight, that we have a functional CR for tomorrow and that that will 
be good until Thursday. So clearly, we will be here tonight, we will 
work all day Thursday, and we may very well be here on Friday.
  My understanding is that the House will convene at 6 p.m. tomorrow, 
and we will continue to work.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, can the gentleman tell me whether he 
anticipates the Committee on Appropriations meeting on the Labor, HHS 
bill and if there will be any other conferences meeting?
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I will tell the gentleman that the answer to 
that question probably lies more on his side of the aisle than ours.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, our people are ready. They are right here.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, we are ready.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman tell us the room number 
and we will be there. In fact, we will even bring the coffee, the 
pizza, the pop, whatever they want.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I will tell the gentleman, as we move 
forward tonight, I will try to get that room number for him and we will 
continue to work the rest of the evening. We will be here tomorrow 
convening at 6 p.m., and we will work through Thursday evening and 
possibly into Friday morning.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his comments. May I 
ask him one other question.
  The gentleman said possibly into Thursday or Friday or Saturday. That 
is not clear yet, I anticipate, whether we are going to work the 
weekend. Is that correct?
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I say to the gentleman, all things are 
possible if we only believe. That will be determined, I assume, as we 
continue our work schedule. As the gentleman knows, we have been 
functioning with 1-day CR's, and it has been difficult to predict 
beyond the 1 day.
  I have provided information which I believe the leadership would back 
up all the way through tomorrow to midnight or perhaps slightly beyond. 
That is stretching the 1-day CR to more than 1 day. And then we will 
make decisions after that.
  One day at a time I believe was the request that the President had 
made, and we have been following that.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. 
Obey).
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Thomas) could answer this question: Could he tell us what legislation 
is expected to be on the floor yet today and what legislation is 
expected to be on the floor tomorrow?
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I will tell the gentleman that I do 
appreciate the attention I am receiving and that I could run off a list 
of legislation for him if that would make him feel more comfortable; 
but, frankly, it would not be worth squat right now.
  We believe that WRDA will be up. That is something that was sent over 
to us by the Senate. And we believe, if we could move forward on that 
piece of legislation as we have done on a daily basis that that would 
be a continuing and significant step forward.
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior) 
will continue to yield, does the gentleman expect WRDA to be up today 
or tomorrow after 6.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, our belief is it will be up at the latest 
tomorrow after 6.
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, since my understanding is that the House is 
not going into session until 6 o'clock tomorrow, how can it be up 
before 6 o'clock?
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I said at the latest 6 o'clock. That means 6 
o'clock may very well be the time at which it comes up or later.
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, does the gentleman mean the earliest?
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman prefers ``earliest,'' I 
will say ``earliest.''
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, no, that is what I thought the dictionary 
said.
  If I could say to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior), it is 
obvious to me that there is no game plan which the majority wishes to 
disclose to the minority at this time.
  Good luck and Godspeed. May they find one before the day is over.
  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BONIOR. I yield to the gentleman from New York.
  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I would ask the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Thomas) that, if we do not reach any agreement, will some method 
be arranged so that we will have the opportunity to go home to vote on 
Tuesday?
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I will tell the gentleman, that functions 
under a 24-hour continuing resolution and the answer to the question of 
the gentleman will probably work its way to the surface sometime over 
the next 24 hours.
  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, but it is his present thinking and that of, 
for lack of a better word, the leadership that we could be working here 
until the election?
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, well, I understand we are here on the 24-
hour continuing resolution at the request of the President; and if 
there is any other suggested work schedule, maybe he can telephone us 
from California or send us an e-mail from California to let us know we 
could be doing something else.
  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, the President is trying desperately hard not 
to close down the Government and this is why he is signing these 
resolutions.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I will tell the gentleman, if he is 
searching for the Government in Kentucky and in California, he could 
find quite a bit of it right here in Washington, D.C.
  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, well, since he is the President of all of 
these United States and the leader of the free world, I think that we 
should give him some flexibility.
  But I want to thank the gentleman for his concise answers.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I will tell the gentleman that the problem 
with the flexibility is that the taxpayers are funding the need to pass 
the CR and take it to wherever he happens to be. It would certainly be 
a more convenient procedure if he were at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue so 
we could operate on a daily basis.
  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I cannot begin to tell my colleague how 
thankful we are for how helpful he has been to us this evening.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, we are here to serve.




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