[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 107 (Friday, July 27, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H4761]
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.)
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to inquire from the distinguished 
majority leader the schedule for the remainder of the week and next 
week.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BONIOR. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that the House has now 
completed its legislative business for the week. On behalf of all of us 
in the House, I would like to thank the Committee on Appropriations for 
its hard work on the VA-HUD appropriations bill that has been under 
consideration yesterday and today.
  I would like to thank them in particular for the unanimous consent 
agreement reached earlier today. We will now be able to complete the 
consideration of that bill on Monday, once again due to their 
willingness to work on that night for that purpose and in that manner, 
Mr. Speaker, so it will become no longer necessary for us to worry 
about our weekend.
  Mr. Speaker, the House will next meet for legislative business on 
Monday, July 30, at 12:30 p.m. for morning hour and 2 o'clock p.m. for 
legislative business.
  The House will consider a number of measures under suspension of the 
rules, a list of which will be distributed to Members' offices later 
today.
  On Monday, no recorded votes are expected before 6 o'clock p.m. 
Following suspension votes, the House will complete consideration of 
H.R. 2620, the VA-HUD Appropriations Act.
  On Tuesday and the balance of the week, the House will consider the 
following measures:
  The Legislative Branch Appropriations Act;
  H.R. 2505, the Human Cloning Prohibition Act;
  The Jordan Free Trade Agreement; and
  H.R. 4, the Secure America's Future Energy Act of 2001.
  Members should also be prepared to consider HMO reform legislation 
and trade promotion authority next week as they become available. 
Obviously, Members should expect another busy and productive week in 
the House with the possibility of several late nights.
  Mr. Speaker, as is the tradition of this House, we must advise 
Members that we can give no firm guarantee for 2 o'clock getaway on 
Friday, the day we break for such a long work period. But I must say, 
Mr. Speaker, given the cooperative nature of this body, I have every 
confidence if we are willing to work late evenings, we will be able to 
get away for our district work period at the designated time next week.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for informing us of the 
schedule for next week.
  If I might inquire of him a couple of questions. Is it his 
anticipation to finish up this bill we have just completed today, or at 
least finished working on today, on Monday evening?
  Mr. ARMEY. If the gentleman will continue to yield, yes. In 
accordance with our unanimous consent request propounded earlier by the 
bill managers, we believe we can finish it Monday night after we take 
the suspension votes.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, we expect a late night on Monday, then. 
Would the gentleman care to venture how late we might be going Monday, 
and then the other evenings during the week?
  Mr. ARMEY. If the gentleman will continue to yield, Mr. Speaker, my 
impression is that there is little work remaining on the bill, so we 
should not be extraordinarily late on Monday.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, the HMO bill, the Patients' Bill of Rights, 
do we have a time when that might be coming to the floor next week?
  Mr. ARMEY. If the gentleman will continue to yield, Mr. Speaker, I 
thank the gentleman for his interest.
  We are continuing to work with several Members on that bill. At this 
point, I can only say that we would expect it sometime from Wednesday 
through Friday.
  Mr. BONIOR. The energy bill, can the gentleman give us a day when 
that may, in fact, reach the floor?
  Mr. ARMEY. Again, we would expect that probably on Wednesday, but in 
that time frame, from Wednesday to Friday.
  Mr. BONIOR. On the energy bill, can the distinguished majority leader 
give us an idea what kind of rule we are going to have on that? Are we 
going to have an open rule? Is it going to be closed? What are the 
feelings at this point with respect to the ability to bring that bill 
to the floor?
  Mr. ARMEY. I am informed that the Committee on Rules is meeting next 
week. They have just announced a filing deadline for Monday. I 
understand that there are a great many Members with some very, what 
should I say, controversial amendments over which they are concerned; 
but I can only say that every conversation I have had leads me to 
believe that the Members should expect the Committee on Rules to be 
very understanding and generous with the rule.
  Mr. BONIOR. And the fast track legislation? The gentleman is 
suggesting we will definitely see that, we might see that, or is it 50/
50 we could see that? Where are we with fast track?
  Mr. ARMEY. I thank the gentleman for his inquiry. If the gentleman 
will continue to yield, I am confident we will see it before we retire 
from work for our recess on Friday. I am just sorry I cannot give a 
more specific time.
  Mr. BONIOR. I thank my colleague. I wish him a good weekend.
  Mr. ARMEY. I thank the gentleman.

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