[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 29 (Wednesday, March 7, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H683]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM

  (Mr. ARMEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. ARMEY. Madam Speaker, I ask to speak out of order for the purpose 
of making an announcement about the schedule.
  Madam Speaker, I would like to advise the Members that we will have 
this vote in just a few minutes, and after that vote the House will go 
into recess until approximately 5:30 this evening.
  When we reconvene between 5:30 and 6:00, we will begin the debate on 
the ergonomics legislation. The rule calls for 1 hour's debate, so the 
body could expect then to have a vote on the floor between 6:30 and 
7:00 this evening.
  Those Members who would desire to be involved in that debate on that 
legislation would be advised to be prepared to be here by 5:30 this 
evening to begin that debate.
  Mr. BONIOR. Madam Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. ARMEY. I yield to the gentleman from Michigan.
  Mr. BONIOR. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for informing us of 
the schedule for the rest of the day.
  Madam Speaker, let me suggest to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey) 
that since the other body debated this most important worker safety 
provision, probably one of the more important ones we have had in a 
decade, for 10 hours, why we cannot in the interim between now and 5:30 
extend the time so that Members who wish to speak on this on both sides 
of the aisle would have proper time to develop their arguments.
  It seems to me that an hour is far too insufficient to deal with the 
issue of this magnitude.
  Madam Speaker, I would request the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey), 
the majority leader, to give us some extra time so we can debate this 
fully.

                              {time}  1415

  Mr. ARMEY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his inquiry. Let 
me say, Madam Speaker, one of the fascinating aspects of the other body 
is that a 10-hour period of debate is known in the other body as 
expedited procedure. They adhere to that minimum amount of time under 
which they can consider legislation.
  We have a rule, a rule that has been passed by the House, that calls 
for an hour's debate. The House, having expressed its will on that 
rule, clearly has committed itself to that course of action, voted on 
by the House; and that time will begin between 5:30 and 6.
  Mr. BONIOR. Will the gentleman continue to yield?
  Mr. ARMEY. I am happy to continue to yield to the gentleman from 
Michigan.
  Mr. BONIOR. I would say to my friend from Texas, number one, we were 
not notified when we did the colloquy, the gentleman and I here last 
week, that this bill was coming up on the floor this week. It is a 
significant bill. It means a lot to many people in this country. You 
know the numbers as well as I do. It affects 110 million workers. We 
were not told that it would be before us this week, number one.
  Secondly, we think an hour, 60 minutes, on such a significant bill, 
divided 30 minutes on your side and 30 minutes on ours, is far too 
inadequate to deal with something of this major proportion, especially 
given that this review act is new.
  Mr. ARMEY. Madam Speaker, I really do not believe that it is valuable 
to continue this discussion much longer, but let me say that the 
gentleman is correct in observing that there was no discussion about 
this bill during the colloquy of last week because we did not know then 
that the Senate would send this bill to us.
  The Senate has sent this bill to us. It is considered to be an 
important bill, as witness the fact that this body, just a few hours 
ago, voted a rule with clear anticipation of bringing this legislation 
up tonight. So the body has expressed its will on the rule, and the 
purpose of my announcement is to inform this body that we will indeed 
take up this work, the rule for which you passed; and it will be taken 
up under the conditions of that rule between 5:30 and 6.
  Mr. BONIOR. Madam Speaker, if the gentleman will continue to yield, 
we are trying to do this in a civil way. I understand the gentleman's 
point. I wish Members on their side of the aisle would listen and try 
to understand our position because we are trying to make a point. I 
have heard the gentleman's explanation. Some I agree with; some I do 
not agree with. There is no necessity to bring this bill up just 
because the Senate, the other body, acted on it recently, especially in 
lieu of the fact that as I said earlier, we were not given notice that 
this bill was coming up.
  We are prepared to deal with it today, but we are not prepared to 
deal with it at 5:30 with an hour debate when we go into recess when we 
have got plenty of time to give Members on the floor of the House to 
express themselves. We will not have a proper debate on one of the most 
important pieces of legislation we will have before us this year. Why 
we cannot get an extra hour for debate is beyond me between now and 
this hiatus of 5:30. If it is in order, I would like to move and ask 
unanimous consent that we add another hour of debate to the rule that 
was passed just recently.
  Mr. ARMEY. Madam Speaker, I believe I control the time. The gentleman 
is going to ask me to yield him time for the purpose of a unanimous 
consent request.
  Mr. BONIOR. Madam Speaker, that is correct.
  Mr. ARMEY. I yield to the gentleman from Michigan.

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