[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 111 (Thursday, September 5, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H6071-H6072]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I take this time for the purpose of 
inquiring about the schedule for next week.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?
  Ms. DeLAURO. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Connecticut for 
yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that the House has completed 
its legislative business for the week.
  The House will next meet for legislative business on Monday, 
September 9, at 12:30 p.m. for morning hour, and 2 o'clock p.m. for 
legislative business. I will schedule a number of measures under 
suspension of the rules, a list of which will be distributed to 
Members' offices later today.
  Mr. Speaker, recorded votes on Monday will be postponed until 6:30 
p.m.
  For Tuesday, I am working with the Committee on Financial Services on 
the possibility of scheduling H.R. 1701, the Consumer Rental Purchase 
Agreement Act for consideration in the House. The Committee on the 
Judiciary has had that bill under consideration today.
  On Wednesday, September 11, along with the minority leader, the 
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Gephardt), I hope to bring a resolution to 
the floor in remembrance of the victims and heroes of September 11. A 
vote on that resolution will be postponed until 5 o'clock p.m. on 
Wednesday. No further legislation is expected on the floor on that day, 
Wednesday of next week.
  On Thursday I have scheduled H.R. 5193, the Back to School Tax Relief 
Act of 2002, which is being considered today in the Committee on Ways 
and Means.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman.
  If I can, I would like to just ask several questions.
  Will there be votes next Friday?
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for that inquiry.
  I must say we are working with the committees now. It is not clear 
that we

[[Page H6072]]

will not have votes. My best advice to all of us is to plan on votes 
next Friday; and as soon as it becomes evident that we will not have 
business to conduct on Friday, I will advise all the Members and the 
leadership on the gentlewoman's side of the aisle as soon as possible.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, does the gentleman anticipate and expect 
the bankruptcy conference report to come up next week?
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, again I want to thank the gentlewoman for the 
inquiry.
  I believe it is very possible we might be able to bring that to the 
floor next week, so I would expect Members to anticipate it being on 
the schedule. I have not worked out the final clearances on that bill, 
but I do think I will by the end of the day.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I would like to make an inquiry about the 
Labor-HHS bill. As our kids are back to school, education is the number 
one issue that faces the country. The bill that is before us cuts 
education about $7.2 billion below H.R. 1, the authorization bill the 
President signed last year; and it does not have an increase for 
inflation and no increase for school enrollment in it.
  When does the gentleman expect the Labor-HHS bill to come to the 
floor of the House?
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman again for the 
inquiry.
  The President's budget and our own budget allows us to bring that 
bill to the floor with a 5 percent increase over last year's 
appropriation. We will be working with the committee of jurisdiction on 
that, and it is my anticipation we can move so; but I do not see the 
possibility right now to announce any scheduling of it.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for the answer to the 
scheduling question, but I might add that there really is a freeze on 
education, so that is an elusive 5 percent.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, if the gentlewoman will yield further, I 
would just mention that the gentlewoman makes the debate entertaining 
and informative, and I do appreciate it.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman.
  This is an institution where rumors fly all of the time. This is 
about rumors of a lame duck session. Would it not be better if we tried 
to get the work that we need to get done, and I understand that there 
is a lot of work to get done, and that we get it done as we try to meet 
an October deadline? So my question is, will there be a lame duck 
session? Does the gentleman anticipate that is what we are going to be 
faced with?
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, again I thank the gentlewoman for her 
inquiry. At least I can speak for this Member and say in pointing out 
that any discussions of lame ducks are somewhat unnerving to this 
Member at least. Obviously, we are disconcerted a little bit for the 
failure of the other body to produce a budget and maintain some basis 
by which we might work out some of our differences.
  I, for one, am not ready to concede that a lame duck will be 
necessary or in fact will be part of our experience. I believe that at 
some point between now and, say, the middle of October, we will come to 
a point where we will be able to complete our work for the year and 
perhaps even for this Congress. So at this point I do not speak in 
terms of a high probability for what is referred to as a lame duck 
session.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I think we concur on the issue to avoid a 
lame duck session. But does the gentleman think we will go beyond 
October 4 in terms of adjournment?
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, again, if the gentlewoman will yield, it has 
been my experience in the years I have been here that it is most 
probable that we will in fact be in session for at least a week beyond 
the 4th. That is just a matter of sort of practical prognosis, given 
the experience.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman.

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