[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 146 (Friday, October 17, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H9677-H9679]
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 revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I take this time for the purpose of inquiring 
about the schedule.
  Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield to my friend the distinguished 
majority leader for the purpose of discussing the schedule for the 
coming week and perhaps the weeks thereafter.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman from Maryland 
yielding to me.
  Mr. Speaker, the House will convene on Monday at 12:30 p.m. for 
morning hour and 2 p.m. for legislative business. We will consider 
several measures under suspension of the rules. A final list of those 
bills will be sent to Members' offices by the end of today.
  On Tuesday, the House will convene at 9 a.m. for morning hour and 10 
a.m. for legislative business. We may consider additional legislation 
under suspension of the rules. We also hope to have the conference 
report on H.R. 6, the Energy Policy Act of 2003, ready for 
consideration.
  In addition to that, there is a chance that we could consider a 
number of appropriations conference reports, as well as the Department 
of Defense authorization conference report.
  Members should also be aware that we will likely move a continuing 
resolution next week, as the current one expires on October 31.
  Finally, I would like to make all Members aware that we may be 
working into the late evening on Tuesday as we work to complete these 
important pieces of legislation. I urge Members to plan accordingly.
  Mr. Speaker, I will be happy to answer any questions the gentleman 
may have.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I thank the majority 
leader for his information.
  Just to reiterate for the Members, am I correct that we will have 
votes starting at 6:30 on Monday?
  Mr. DeLAY. That is correct.
  Mr. HOYER. Then we will be going in at 9 a.m. on Tuesday?
  Mr. DeLAY. That is correct.
  Mr. HOYER. Which is different, a little earlier. I thank the 
gentleman for that.
  The continuing resolution, Mr. Leader, you point out there will be a 
continuing resolution that, perhaps, will be considered next week. The 
current one goes to October 31.
  Can you tell the Members what date you contemplate the continuing 
resolution going to?
  Mr. DeLAY. If the gentleman will yield further, we have not consulted 
with everyone yet, and certainly we will consult with the minority, but 
in talking to the other body, our goal would be to complete the first 
session by November 7. So, hopefully, the continuing resolution would 
match that timetable.
  Mr. HOYER. So am I correct then that the contemplation would be that 
the CR that we would consider next week would go until November 7? I 
know that is not firm, but is that your current thought, that that 
would be the objective?
  I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding further. 
We are talking to the committee now, and really have not decided what 
that would be. I would assume that, at the very least, the CR would be 
until November 7, but there may be other CRs under consideration.
  Mr. HOYER. Reclaiming my time, with respect to the appropriations 
conferences, I know the chairman is on the floor, but could the leader 
tell us which conference reports are most likely to be on the floor and 
will those be, I take it, single in nature, that is to say, a 
conference report on one of the appropriations bills, as opposed to an 
omnibus bill or a multiappropriation bill piece of legislation?
  Mr. DeLAY. If the gentleman will yield further, this is a very 
difficult thing to predict with any level of certainty. It does appear 
that the more likely candidates for conference reports are the four 
appropriation bills that are now in conference. Off the top of my head, 
I think they are Labor-HHS, Military Construction, Energy and Interior. 
The other body has not passed six of their remaining appropriations 
bills.
  Mr. HOYER. Reclaiming my time, I will certainly not ask you which 
party is in charge of the other body. That might not be an appropriate 
question on the floor of the House. But having said that, Mr. Leader, 
the chairman, again, being on the floor, I am on the Labor-HHS 
committee, and I have not attended any meeting of any conference 
committee on the Labor-HHS bill. You say it is in conference. Where?
  Mr. DeLAY. If the gentleman will yield, I am not advised as to any 
meetings that are going on. I am sure I can convey the gentleman's 
interest in going to meetings. I know of his love for meetings. But we 
have encouraged the Committee on Appropriations to get these conference 
reports done.

                              {time}  1445

  All we can do on our side: our Members are ready to go. The other 
body has their own problems that I cannot discuss here, but as soon as 
we can get the two sides together, hopefully, they will have those 
meetings and the gentleman will be invited.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I am sure if it is up to 
the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations I will be; but in a 
nonhumorous, but still friendly way, we are very concerned on this 
side, Mr. Leader, when we hear you announce that there are conferences 
going on, that conference reports may come out and, to our knowledge, 
we have not been invited to any conferences. We have not sat down to 
try to resolve differences in the bills.
  As the gentleman knows, the labor-health bill in particular was very 
controversial on this side of the aisle. We want obviously to 
participate and try to resolve those differences and try to address 
those deficiencies that we see. Therefore, in light of the fact that we 
are going to be leaving tonight, tonight is Friday, not coming back 
until Monday night, and if we have a conference report, presumably that 
has to come out and the staff work is going to be done, because we 
cannot have a conference Tuesday morning or Monday night; no conference 
has been called as far as I know on the labor-health bill, and we 
cannot have the committee staff do its work between Tuesday

[[Page H9678]]

morning if we had a conference and Tuesday afternoon, that just will 
not work, for us to consider the conference report.
  So we have a concern on our side of the aisle, Mr. Leader, in terms 
of how conferences are being carried out and, frankly, the definition 
of what a conference is now-a-days. A conference seems to be the 
appointment of conferees on either side of the aisle, and then the 
ranking Republican, either of the committee or subcommittee, meeting 
with the ranking Republican or Chair of the committee or subcommittee 
in the other body; and that is now called a conference. That may be a 
meeting of your side of the aisle, but it is not our perception that 
that is a conference as we have historically known it.
  When we were in charge, frankly, I did attend on a regular basis 
conferences with both sides of the aisle, with my ranking member when I 
chaired the Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury and Independent 
agencies, and where the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) and his 
ranking member attended when they had conferences. I do not mean that 
they did not discuss things, but I think it is appropriate for us to 
voice that concern.
  Next, on the Iraq supplemental which we have just passed, do you 
expect a motion to go to conference next week on that? I yield to the 
leader.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I believe the other body is prepared to 
complete consideration of their bill, hopefully, this afternoon; and 
assuming they finish and request a conference, I would expect us to be 
able to appoint our conferees when we return next week.
  Mr. HOYER. The gentleman mentioned also, Mr. Leader, reclaiming my 
time, the energy conference report. How likely is it that we will have 
that on the floor next week? Is the gentleman pretty confident that 
that will be here? I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, from all of the numerous meetings that have 
been held, it is my indication that progress on that bill has been very 
encouraging. A lot of hard work has been done on the Energy Policy Act, 
and we have every expectation that we could consider that bill next 
week.
  If the gentleman will further yield, I would just point out to the 
gentleman, as the gentleman knows and the other Members, but especially 
to the new Members to this body, when we get into an end-of-the-session 
like this, these things are very hard to predict. Once a decision is 
made on a bill, it could usually come straight to the body for a vote, 
but sometimes these bills take quite a bit of time to work out the 
differences between the two Houses.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I thank the gentleman for 
that information. I would reiterate, having discussed with the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), who is, of course, the dean of 
this House and has 50 years of experience in this House, his concern 
that he is not sure what is going on in the conference on the energy 
bill. He is not sure what the schedule is on the energy bill. Neither 
his staff nor he know what product is going to be reported out.
  Again, we are meeting next week for maybe, if we go late into the 
night, maybe 10 hours, 15 hours next week, and without really having 
had the opportunity to be fully involved in that conference. As a 
result, if that happens, our conferees on our side are not going to 
have any time to consider that substantively, not to mention the 
Members who will not have time to consider it in a very substantive 
way.
  So I do not think there is any way to solve it now, because as far as 
we know, there have been no meetings of the conference scheduled. We 
have not been noted for conferences either Saturday, Sunday, or Monday. 
So that if something is going to happen, it apparently is going to 
happen without a formal meeting of the conference if that conference 
report comes to the floor on Tuesday.
  I do not know whether the gentleman wants to comment on that. That is 
just our concern, Mr. Leader.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield.
  Mr. HOYER. I am glad to yield.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman's concern is duly noted. And as 
the gentleman knows, at the end of a session like this, there are 
conferences and meetings going all over the place trying to get these 
bills wrapped up for the end of the session, and formal notices and 
appropriate notices will go out in a timely fashion so that Members 
will have time to understand what is in these bills before they vote on 
them.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I am not sure how that is 
going to happen, Mr. Leader. I hope it happens. I hope the gentleman's 
representation is carried out, but it is hard to see in the next 72 
hours how that can be effected, not counting the balance of today.

  In any event, can the gentleman tell me if the gentleman expects the 
conference report to include the Clear Skies initiative? Does the 
gentleman have knowledge?
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, is the gentleman asking me if the Clear Skies 
initiative is going to be in the energy conference report?
  Mr. HOYER. Yes, sir. Does the gentleman know that?
  Mr. DeLAY. If the gentleman will yield.
  Mr. HOYER. I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I have no knowledge and have not been advised 
as to what is in the conference report that has not been completed. So 
when I know, the gentleman will probably know.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I do not know, but I do know that our 
conferees again who have not been included in the discussions are very 
concerned about an issue that is rumored to be included in the 
conference report that has not been debated at all by either the 
conferees or by the House. So I raise that concern and would hope that 
the gentleman would raise that concern with the Chair of the conference 
committee.
  I know today is the day the congressional Republican leaders have 
articulated as the day that they would complete the conference on the 
Medicare prescription drug bill. Could the majority leader bring us up 
to date on the status of that and when, if the gentleman expects 
between now and November 7, for that conference report to be brought 
back to the House. I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding. On the 
Medicare conference, a lot of meetings have been held. Progress is 
being made. But as the gentleman knows, this is a very, very 
complicated issue with a whole lot of different, moving parts; and it 
is a very difficult issue to bring together. But even with the time 
frame that we have and have laid out, as far as timing as to when we 
might be able to finish that, I really cannot tell the gentleman with 
any degree of, any level of certainty. Work is going on. Those that 
want a bill are working very hard to get one, and we just hope that 
they can get it done before the end of this session.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, of course, as the 
gentleman knows, we all would like to have a bill; but there are, 
obviously, differences of opinions as to what ought to be included in 
that bill, which always makes the legislative process difficult and 
time consuming. But this is another example, Mr. Leader, whereon Mr. 
Breaux and Mr. Baucus on the Senate side have been included, to some 
degree, in the conference. However, on this side, none of our Members 
have been included in meetings related to the policies that ought to be 
included in the conference report.
  I have mentioned now the appropriation bills, the energy bill, and 
now the prescription drug bill. It is of great concern to us that there 
is an obvious pattern of not including the minority, who are appointed 
conferees by the Speaker, not including them in discussions. And in 
light of the fact that there are no meetings formally of conferences 
and are not noted for conference meetings, it is impossible for us to 
know, A, what is going on; B, to have input; and, C, reach any kind of 
an agreement which might make the passage of prescription drugs, child 
care tax credits, an energy bill, appropriations bills, or any other 
legislation on behalf of the American public, made easier. I do not 
know if there is anything further the leader can say on that.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield, the Members will

[[Page H9679]]

have every one of their rights protected when it is time for the 
conference to formally act on a bill. Certainly they will be included. 
As the gentleman knows, around here, the meetings that are being held 
in different areas and in different subsets of Members are being held 
with Members that want a bill and are trying to get a bill done, rather 
than to obstruct a bill. And Members' rights are always protected 
whenever they want to change a bill, substitute it, or whatever; and in 
the formal meetings of a conference, they can do so. But it wastes 
everybody's time, quite frankly; the reason for a conference committee 
is to be small with just a few Members so that we can work it out and 
get it done in an expedited manner. So those meetings are being held 
with Members who want to get a bill to the floor and to the President.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I do not want to be very 
confrontational, and I do not think these colloquies ought to be 
confrontational; I think it is a good discussion, but I think the 
gentleman needs to know honestly our view on this.
  Let me remind the gentleman of the Patients' Bill of Rights. It 
passed the 106th Congress of this House with some 60-plus Republicans. 
However, the gentleman indicates that conferences are being held with 
people who want to pass a bill. The Speaker, as the gentleman knows, 
appointed over two-thirds of the Republican conferees who voted against 
the bill, and that bill never came out of conference. We were not 
surprised. In the 107th Congress, we were precluded from having a 
bipartisan bill because the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood) 
concluded that he was going to withdraw from discussions with the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) on that.

  So with all due respect, Mr. Leader, if you make a judgment that you 
are not going to include people that you think do not have the same 
view that you have or that your chairmen have or that your Chairs of 
subcommittees have, then calling them conferences, we believe, is not 
appropriate. They may be meetings; they may be meetings of the Members 
of your side of the aisle who have responsibilities for the bills, but 
they are not conferences in any classic sense of bringing together the 
two Houses and all of the conferees who were appointed by the Speaker, 
not by us.
  Conferees are appointed by the Speaker. We are not given any notice 
of hearings, we do not attend any hearings. And for the gentleman to 
say that people are meeting, we do not doubt that. We think the 
gentleman is absolutely right. We hear about those meetings. We read 
about those meetings. We read about the large conference on the energy 
bill when the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin) and Mr. Domenici 
get together and talk. We think that is appropriate. They ought to do 
that. They need to do that. It is their responsibility. But it is not a 
conference from our perspective. And there is not an opportunity for us 
to sit down and represent the point of view that we bring to the table, 
that we have been elected to put forth.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HOYER. I am glad to yield to my friend.
  Mr. DeLAY. I would just remind the gentleman, again, that formal 
conferences are held. When the formal work of the House, through its 
conference committees are to be done, at that particular time, Members 
that oppose the bill will have all of their rights protected, and they 
can go to those meetings and participate in the conference process.
  But in order to get a bill, particularly a bill as complicated as an 
energy bill or the Medicare bill, it has never been, even when the 
gentleman's party was in the majority, it has never been the practice 
of having big, huge conference meetings and debates on a daily basis or 
a regular basis. These things are worked out with those who want a bill 
and then presented to the full conference in the light of day so that 
people can express themselves, and it is brought to this floor for 
further debate.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I thank the gentleman for 
his observation; and, obviously, he and I disagree as to how this 
process occurred when we were in charge and how it is occurring now. 
But the gentleman and I have both had the privilege of being on the 
Committee on Appropriations for many years.

                              {time}  1500

  Mr. HOYER. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay) is now, as the 
majority leader, not on the committee because he has been elevated to 
his present position. But the gentleman and I have sat in many 
conferences together, he on one side of the aisle, me on the other side 
of the aisle, in which we had probably 30 members of the Committee on 
Appropriations from our side, usually eight or nine from the majority 
side, 12 or 15, so 20 to 25 Members, and discuss issue by issue and go 
through it. That is what we expect the conference to be, because that 
is what we expect the democratic process provides in a conference 
committee to resolve differences that might exist.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, would the gentleman yield? I just remind the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) in that particular case the 
gentleman is absolutely right. But everyone sitting at that table, at 
the time, wants a bill. And they work hard to get the bill rather than 
try to kill a bill. So, it is very easy to work in that configuration 
as the appropriators usually do.
  And when everybody comes together and everybody knows that they are 
trying to get a bill and want a bill to be brought to the House, they 
are included. And it is no different than any other conference.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I want to assure the 
majority leader we want a prescription drug bill. We have been fighting 
for a prescription drug bill, but that does not necessarily mean we 
want your prescription drug bill. We want a bill that has the support 
of the majority, the American people, and that we believe we can have. 
We are fighting for such a bill.
  We want an energy bill. We think this country needs an energy bill, 
certainly in light of the August 14 blackout in the northeast. We think 
we need to address that issue.
  So let me assure the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay) that we want to 
see these bills passed. But let me also assure the gentleman that if 
the condition preceding to having a conference in which we are included 
is saying that we will agree to it as it passed the House, if we oppose 
it, that is neither a reasonable request on your part, I believe, nor 
is it the expectation of either side that they be included in a 
conference only on a condition that they will agree to what the 
leadership wants to do.
  I think we have probably discussed this sufficiently, but it is a 
real concern that we are not including both sides in these conferences. 
Because on the energy bill, I do not believe there has been a 
conference nor does the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) as we 
understand a conference. But we have a different view, perhaps.
  Mr. Speaker, unless the majority leader wants to make additional 
comments, I would yield back the balance of my time.

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