[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 67 (Thursday, May 13, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H2988-H2990]
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.)
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the distinguished majority leader 
for the purposes of informing us of the schedule for the week to come.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland for 
yielding to me.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to make all the Members aware that the 
House has completed voting for the day and the week.
  Regarding next week's schedule, 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 this 
week. Any votes called on these measures will be rolled until 6:30 p.m.
  For Tuesday and the balance of the week, we may consider additional 
legislation under suspension of the rules. We also plan to consider 
several bills that would amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act 
of 1970: H.R. 2728, the Small Business Day in Court Act; H.R. 2729, the 
Review Commission Efficiency Act; H.R. 2730, the Independent Review of 
OSHA Citations Act; and H.R. 2731, the Small Employer Access to Justice 
Act. In addition, we expect to consider H.R. 2432, the Paperwork and 
Regulatory Improvements Act; and H.R. 4200, the National Defense 
Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2005.
  Finally, I would like to make all Members aware that we plan to 
consider H.R. 4359, the Child Credit Preservation and Expansion Act, 
which would make the full $1,000 per child credit permanent and expand 
the number of families eligible for the credit.
  I will be happy to answer any questions the gentleman may have.
  Mr. HOYER. On the last issue, the Child Credit Preservation and 
Expansion Act to which the gentleman referred, and he indicates that it 
will expand the number of families eligible for the credit, we had 
discussed this last week. Am I correct in presuming that that means 
that those under $26,000 will be covered as well as those over $26,000. 
As was the case with the Senate amendment that came over to the House?
  Mr. DeLAY. I really hesitate to comment on what the content of the 
bill will be as we bring it to the floor next week. My understanding, 
as I have been advised, is the child tax credit that was to be given in 
2006 will be accelerated to 2005, so that should cover the gentleman's 
concerns.

                              {time}  1645

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, if it does we will be 
pleased, and I presume the Senate would be ready to approve that, 
assuming that it is paid for.
  Under the procedures of these bills, in terms of the OSHA legislation 
and the paperwork reduction, can the gentleman tell us under what 
procedures they will be considered, and will substitute amendments be 
allowed?
  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's yielding.
  The chairman of the Committee on Rules has just made announcements 
for the four OSHA bills, the regulatory accounting bill, and I believe 
the DOD authorization bill. So on these I believe the Committee on 
Rules is inclined to make multiple amendments in order for those bills.
  Mr. HOYER. I am sorry. Declined or inclined?
  Mr. DeLAY. Inclined.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman. I was not quite sure whether it was 
an ``in'' or a ``de.''
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, will the House be in order? The gentleman 
cannot hear.
  Mr. HOYER. The articulation I missed. That was the problem.
  With respect to the budget, do we expect to see a budget next week? 
It is not on the list, and I know we have been waiting with bated 
breath for many weeks now for the budget, as has the leader. Can the 
leader comment on the status of the budget?
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HOYER. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I know the gentleman has been waiting with 
bated breath, and I know he checks every day to see the status of the 
budget, and I appreciate his concern for getting this budget to the 
floor. I wish I had more news than I did last week. There continues to 
be discussions between the two bodies, and I hope and expect to have a 
conference report ready for the House to consider sometime next week.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for that information. 
Clearly, all of us know that the pay-as-you-go provision has been 
apparently the stumbling block in the reaching of an agreement between 
the two Houses. There was, as I understand it, our expectation was that 
there would be a freestanding bill coming to the floor on the pay-go 
issue. Can the leader tell us whether that is still contemplated or 
whether we might see that at any time in the near future?
  I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's yielding. Yes, 
we do have a bill that was marked up in the Committee on the Budget 
that we are looking forward to considering in

[[Page H2989]]

the near future. There has been a lot of discussion about that bill. 
The process by which we would consider it has been widely discussed. 
However, I believe that the chairman of the Committee on the Budget 
would prefer to wait until the budget resolution conference report has 
been completed and passed before we consider that bill. So it is very 
difficult for me to give the gentleman any sort of time frame, but as 
soon as the budget is passed, I think we can anticipate within a matter 
of weeks the Budget Enforcement Act coming to the floor.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for that information.
  If one assumes that perhaps we do not adopt a budget resolution, 
would it still be the intent of the majority to bring forth an 
enforcement bill, the one that has been considered in committee, or is 
it a condition for that bill coming to the floor that the budget pass?
  I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's yielding. I just 
speak for this gentleman that I would like to see a Budget Enforcement 
Act come to this floor. I think it is vitally needed for fiscal 
discipline in this Congress, and I would anticipate, whether the budget 
passes or not, that we would see a budget enforcement bill come to the 
floor.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for that information. I 
share his view on that issue that whether or not we have a budget or 
not, the enforcement bill ought to come to the floor.
  Can I ask him another question about that particular bill? Would the 
gentleman know or be inclined to assure us that we would have an 
alternative? As he knows, the dispute on the pay-as-you-go is whether 
it affects taxes as well as spending. We believe that is a very 
substantive issue that ought to be considered and voted upon by all the 
Members. Would the majority leader be inclined to ensure that that 
alternative will be in order for us to offer at the time, if it is not 
included in the bill that is reported out of committee, at the time it 
is considered on the floor?
  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's yielding to me.
  I think it is way too early in the process on this particular bill to 
be talking about even process or amendments or substitutes or even 
trying to speculate what the Committee on Rules would do. We do not 
even know what form the bill would come out of the Committee on Rules 
at this particular time. There is a lot of work that is being done on 
the bill. But I can assure the gentleman that we would give his side of 
the aisle every consideration for amendments and/or substitutes to this 
very important bill.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the leader for that representation.
  Lastly, Mr. Speaker, we passed some weeks ago the transportation 
reauthorization bill. I think both sides feel that is a critical piece 
of legislation. We have noted that there seems to be some disagreement 
between the White House and the House and the Senate on this piece of 
legislation, but we are very concerned that it has not moved forward. 
We believe that this is, as the gentleman knows, the single most 
important piece of jobs legislation that we have under consideration by 
this Congress. And I am wondering if he can give us some thought as to 
when that bill may come to the floor and under what form it will come 
to the floor. We would very much like to see it on the floor, and we 
think, frankly, that given the votes on the bill as it passed the 
House, with well over 300 voting for it and with a very substantial 
vote in the other body, that clearly we have the votes to pass a bill, 
whether it is at 275, 318, or, frankly, the gentleman from Alaska's 
(Mr. Young) 375.
  But I would like to have some information because we think this is, 
and I know the gentleman does as well, a very critical piece of 
legislation which is now 6 months, 7 months, 8 months, I guess, past 
the date that we hoped to pass it on and we are in 60-day extensions, 
which we have a very distinguished Governor on the floor. I do not know 
whether I am in order by saying this, but I am going to say it anyway. 
I want to acknowledge the presence of our former colleague, Governor 
Ehrlich, on the floor, but I know he is very concerned about it because 
he and I have worked on a lot of transportation issues in our State, 
and I am sure that as soon as we finish the colloquy, he would like to 
talk to the gentleman about this bill.
  I yield to the gentleman on his response to where the bill is.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's yielding to me. 
And I am looking forward to talking to the Governor of Maryland, a 
former very distinguished member of this body, Bob Ehrlich. He is a 
very close friend of ours, and we are very glad to see him, but he also 
knows the rules of the House, that one cannot lobby on the floor House, 
because he served here.
  As to the highway bill, the gentleman is very correct. This is a very 
important jobs bill. It is very important to all of us here in the 
House. It is very important to us because it is not just the most 
important jobs piece of legislation, it is a vital part of our economic 
agenda, along with tax relief and our 21st century careers initiative 
and competitiveness packages and all the other things that we are 
trying to do, energy bills. So we really want to see this bill, and we 
want to see it enacted into law. We are having a little trouble with 
the other body. The other body has repeatedly asked to go to 
conference. Unfortunately, there is a group over there that will not 
let them go to conference, and we are having a difficult time in the 
other body going to conference. We can always go to conference here, 
but we would like to see the Senate go to conference first so that we 
can get the process moving.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I appreciate the leader's 
observation. It is my understanding that the Senate, certainly on the 
minority side, will agree to go to conference as soon as we are given a 
number as to what we are going to conference. My understanding is, 
however, that the gentleman's side of the aisle cannot agree with the 
White House on what that number ought to be. So in fairness, there 
seems to be a disagreement on the number that the President will sign, 
and, I think accurately, that is the reason for the hold-up because I 
think, frankly, the Senate could agree to the 318 and I would hope we 
can agree to the 318. I would be for a higher number personally, but I 
would hope that we could agree to that. The problem is, I understand, 
the executive does not.
  But I would suggest to the leader, with all due respect, that this 
body can and should act independently and send the legislation that it 
deems to be appropriate and if the executive disagrees, he has the 
option of vetoing that bill and sending it back to the House. As one of 
the Senators on the gentleman's side of the aisle observed, that is the 
way the process is supposed to work. And I would think, because we 
share the view that this is very important, we believe it is a jobs 
bill, that we could pass a bill relatively easily with overwhelming 
votes and certainly votes significant enough to show the President that 
at least two-thirds of the Members of this body and the other body 
believe it is an appropriate bill to pass forthwith.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HOYER. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. DeLAY. His understanding may be a little late because as of 
almost over a week now, both the Republicans in the House and the 
Republicans in the Senate have given up trying to come up with a number 
agreed to by the President and have decided to go to conference. The 
minority on the Senate side has been informed of that fact. We are 
ready to go to conference to work out whatever the number may be within 
conference, to work out all the other disagreements between the two 
bodies, and they are ready to go to conference. I do not want to speak 
for the other body, but it is the minority that is refusing to allow 
the majority over there to go to conference.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, quoting the majority 
leader of last week, I do not see it that way. Clearly, as the 
gentleman has just pointed out, there is not agreement. I think we 
could get agreement if we could allow the minority to have some

[[Page H2990]]

sense that they knew the parameters of where we were going, and I think 
that is all the minority is asking for. I think that is a fair request. 
But in any event, I think we ought to move this bill, and the 
gentleman's side is in charge and we would hope that would happen.
  Mr. DeLAY. If the gentleman would yield, we can move this bill and 
move to conference as quickly as we want to. Unfortunately, in the 
other body, the minority wants certain concessions before they even go 
to conference. The reason for conference is everybody getting in a room 
between the two bodies and work out their differences, not make side 
deals or those kinds of deals outside the conference before they allow 
their body to go to conference. So when the minority decides to go to 
conference over in the Senate, we will go to conference and we will 
have a highway bill.
  Mr. HOYER. Reclaiming my time, I want the leader to know how happy I 
am to hear that that is the purpose of conferences and that nobody 
would want to reach outside deals outside of the configuration of a 
conference. He will recall, I think, we had months of discussion about 
the prescription drug conference to which no Democrats on this side 
were invited. That is the concern. Mr. Daschle was not invited. Mr. 
Reid was not invited. Other Members were not invited. There were a 
couple of people who participated. But that is our concern. We could go 
back and forth.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HOYER. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, on that point I would just say this is a 
different issue. Both Democrats and Republicans want this highway bill, 
and in the case of the Medicare bill that the gentleman describes, the 
names that he listed, none of those names wanted the Medicare bill.
  Mr. HOYER. Reclaiming my time just for a minute for accuracy's sake, 
all of them wanted a Medicare prescription bill. They wanted a 
different kind of bill. That is what he says conference is trying to 
iron out. That is my point. I think he makes it.
  Mr. DeLAY. They wanted a bill that was impossible to pass, and there 
was no use in wasting our time.
  Mr. HOYER. As was yours almost, as I recall.
  Mr. DeLAY. Ours passed.
  Mr. HOYER. The hope is that we will, in fact, move this piece of 
legislation and that there will be a bipartisan attempt made to move 
this legislation which is critical to our country, and a bipartisan 
agreement would be reached, as the leader points out, with the 
minority, giving them confidence that they will play a full role in the 
conference. I am hopeful that that happens.
  I thank the gentleman for his observations.

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