[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 98 (Thursday, July 15, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H5895-H5896]
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 my friend, the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. DeLay), the majority leader, for the purposes of informing 
us of next week's schedule.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished whip, the gentleman 
from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), for 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 these 
measures will be sent to Members' offices by the end of the week. Any 
votes on these measures will be rolled until after 6:30 p.m.
  On Tuesday and the balance of the week, we expect to consider 
additional legislation under suspension of the rules. We also plan to 
consider several bills under a rule: the fiscal year 2005 District of 
Columbia appropriations bill; H.R. 4837, the fiscal year 2005 Military 
Construction appropriations bill; H.R. 4842, the U.S.-Morocco Free 
Trade Agreement; H.R. 3574, the Stock Option Accounting Reform Act; and 
H.R. 3313, the Marriage Protection Act.
  Finally, I would like to note that we are expecting a very busy week 
heading into the August recess. Members should expect to work some late 
nights and possibly into Friday evening as we resolve these important 
pieces of legislation.
  I thank the gentleman for yielding, and will be happy to answer any 
questions he may have.

[[Page H5896]]

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his information.
  Mr. Speaker, the majority leader mentioned two appropriations bills, 
the District of Columbia and the Military Construction bill. Can the 
gentleman give me an estimate, if he knows, of what days those two 
bills will be considered?
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield.
  Mr. HOYER. I yield to my friend.
  Mr. DeLAY. I would expect to see the stock options bill legislation 
and the D.C. and Military Construction appropriations bills earlier in 
the week. The U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement and the Marriage 
Protection Act would be Thursday or Friday.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman said the Morocco Free Trade 
will be early or later?
  Mr. DeLAY. Later.
  Mr. HOYER. Later.
  Mr. DeLAY. Thursday or Friday.
  Mr. HOYER. The gentleman anticipated my two questions, I see.
  The conference reports, will we be considering the DOD appropriations 
conference report next week?
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield.
  Mr. HOYER. I yield to my friend.
  Mr. DeLAY. I have every expectation that the DOD conference will be 
finished and ready to go and voted on sometime next week, but I am not 
advised as to when during the week that we might anticipate voting on 
it.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Leader, there has been a lot of discussion, and I have 
read some things in the newspaper and heard discussions, about the 
child tax credit bill which has been pending for some time in 
conference.
  Can the gentleman tell me whether or not there is an intention to 
move that out of conference; and, if so, what condition will it be in 
in terms of what will there be in the bill, if the gentleman knows, in 
addition to the originally passed child tax credit? I yield to the 
gentleman.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding. We have 
been working to extend the child tax credit, the 10 percent tax 
bracket, and the marriage penalty tax relief provisions from the 2001 
and 2003 tax bills. I would anticipate that the bill, well, I cannot 
say what else might be in the bill. The conference has yet to be called 
into a meeting, but in discussions with the other body, it seems to be 
that most want to keep this bill as simple as possible; and I hope we 
can find a way to send these tax measures to the President before the 
August recess.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, does the gentleman have a view that if there 
was some disagreement and an agreement could not be reached on the 
other matters above and beyond the child tax credit, would the 
gentleman's expectation be that the child tax credit might be moved 
independently? Could the gentleman see a scenario that would result in 
that? I yield to my friend.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, that is speculation and I hate to speculate, 
but I know that this House has voted several times on these issues, and 
I know that the House wants to see a 10 percent tax bracket, the 
marriage penalty, and the child tax credit provisions to be extended 
and funded; and I would tend to think that the bill would have to come 
back with at least those provisions in it.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3313, what day does the gentleman 
anticipate we will consider this bill? That is the Defense of Marriage 
Act. I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding. I expect 
that that will come on Thursday. As the gentleman knows, sometimes 
these appropriations bills take longer than we anticipate. If they do, 
then it could be pushed over into Friday, but our intention is to bring 
that bill to the floor on Thursday.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I would hope that during 
the consideration of the child tax credit, assuming the conference is 
going to meet, that our conferees be included in that conference. As 
the gentleman knows, we feel pretty strongly about the fact that if 
conferences are held, those Democratic conferees that have been 
appointed by the Speaker need to be invited and to be able to 
participate in those. So I would urge that to occur when and if that 
conference is convened.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield.
  Mr. HOYER. I am glad to yield.
  Mr. DeLAY. I would have every reason to believe that if we can get 
the other body to call the meeting, then, surely, the Democrats on the 
conference committee, along with the Republicans, would all have 
invitations to that meeting.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman, and I yield back the balance of my 
time.

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