[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 59 (Friday, April 11, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H3334]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM

  (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I am extraordinarily pleased 
that I found the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay).
  Mr. Leader, I would appreciate and I know all Members would: We were 
here late last night. We have been working hard. I know the conference 
committee has been working very hard.
  If the gentleman would bring us up to date for what he sees as the 
balance of the day and the balance of the week.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HOYER. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding to me, 
and I also appreciate being found.
  As the gentleman and Members know, a very important conference 
committee is meeting on the war supplemental. Very intensive 
discussions are going on. We anticipate, hopefully anticipate that the 
conference can be wrapped up later on this evening, but there is 
absolutely no way that we can assure the Members that we can vote on 
that bill today. We will have no more votes this afternoon, and 
anticipate coming back to consider the war supplemental tomorrow at 
noon.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Leader, it is my understanding there has not been an 
agreement yet, but if there were an agreement and, from our 
perspective, if the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) and our 
conferees believe that the conference report was something that they 
could sign off on, it is my understanding that it is possible, if there 
were agreement, that we would not have to have a vote tomorrow on that 
piece of legislation; is that correct?
  Mr. DeLAY. If the gentleman would continue to yield, it would be 
beneficial to all Members if we could come to some agreement on the 
bill. I know that the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) and the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) have worked very, very hard to 
protect the interests of the House and this institution, and they are 
remaining firm. And we should congratulate the gentleman from Wisconsin 
(Mr. Obey) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) for the work they 
have done.
  If it works to the satisfaction of those two Members and this body, 
it would be very preferable to work out some sort of agreement that we 
could voice the vote; but I must warn Members that it does not 
guarantee that there will not be a vote.
  Mr. HOYER. Reclaiming my time, I would reiterate and share the view 
of the majority leader, but at this point in time, we do not know and 
cannot guarantee Members that there will not be a vote tomorrow.
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HOYER. I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin.
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, let me simply say that I think it is fair to 
say that there have been virtually no political differences between 
either side of the aisle on this side of the Capitol; and I think it is 
fair to say that the House conferees are virtually unanimous in their 
view about what has to happen in order for us to get out of here.
  I do not know yet whether we are going to get the full cooperation 
that we are going to need from the other side of the Capitol, but it is 
certainly our intent on both sides that we come out of here as one. It 
would be very good for the House if we had a bill that had 100 percent 
support. We could go home with a feeling of unity, and I know that both 
sides are going to try to accomplish that.
  Mr. HOYER. Reclaiming my time, I want to echo the comments of the 
majority leader. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) and the 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) have worked diligently not only on 
the substance of what is in the supplemental, but also in upholding the 
position of the House as it relates to the balance of power between the 
executive department and the legislative department as set forth in the 
Constitution of the United States.
  As a matter of fact, when we started our consideration of the 
supplemental, the first thing the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) 
did was to read article I and appropriate provisions of the 
Constitution. I think all of us in this body can be appreciative of the 
fact that the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) and the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) have taken the position that I think is 
appropriate for our institution, as well as for our country, and I 
share the majority leader's view.
  We appreciate their efforts.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HOYER. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. DeLAY. I appreciate and agree with the gentleman's remarks. I 
want to tell Members that, as they know, at this point in time in the 
session it is very difficult to communicate with Members, so I urge 
Members to stay in touch with their offices because we will be giving 
all Members updates on an hourly to 2-hour basis as to what is going on 
with the conference committee and what the future may hold for another 
session tomorrow.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Leader, am I correct it would be our hope 
collectively, both sides of the aisle, to be able to give definitive 
information to the Members at least by 5 p.m. as to what they might 
expect for tomorrow?
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman would continue to yield, I 
would hope we can give it sooner than that. In talking to the gentleman 
from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young), 
we should have some sort of sense as to what direction the conference 
will be going in the next hour or two.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Leader, in the event there is a vote tomorrow, would I 
be correct in assuming we would give to Members a minimum of an hour's 
notice and no vote will be held before noon tomorrow? Is that your 
thought at this point in time?

                              {time}  1315

  Mr. DeLAY. Of course. And we would like to give them even more notice 
than that, but at least an hour before we would actually ring the bells 
and go back into session would we give Members notice.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I am not sure what I am being told, but the 
gentleman indicated that he may give us, and may be contemplating, more 
notice than 1 hour. I am not sure what that has to do with the 
committee, but in any event Members will have a minimum of 1 hour's 
notice before they would be called back to vote on any legislation 
tomorrow?
  Mr. DeLAY. The gentleman is correct.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for that. Let me ask the gentleman 
another question that I was asked by another Member. Am I correct that 
the only votes, if we have votes tomorrow, would be on the 
supplemental?
  Mr. DeLAY. Correct. The only votes we would have, if required, would 
be on the rules leading up to the supplemental and on the supplemental.
  Mr. HOYER. So there may be two votes tomorrow if they were required?
  Mr. DeLAY. If the gentleman would yield, it could be three. A same-
day rule, a rule for the conference report, and the conference report.
  Mr. HOYER. Reclaiming my time, in other words, Members should 
understand that, although we are saying there may be votes tomorrow or 
there may not be, but there may be multiple votes tomorrow; so it would 
be more than one vote required. I thank the gentleman.

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