[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 124 (Thursday, September 29, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H8626-H8627]
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 gentleman from Missouri (Mr. 
Blunt), the leader, for the purpose of informing us of the schedule for 
the week to come.
  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland for 
yielding to me, and while I am the temporary majority leader, I am 
still the whip and always am glad to be called the whip and to refer to 
the gentleman as the whip.
  Mr. Speaker, the House will convene Thursday at 10 a.m. for 
legislative business. We will consider several measures under 
suspension of the rules, and a final list of those bills will be sent 
to Members by the end of this week.
  We will also consider two measures under a rule, H.R. 2360, the 
Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act for fiscal year 
2006, and the Gasoline for America's Security Act of 2005.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished majority whip and 
acting leader.
  Mr. Leader, so that Members can be certain as to the schedule for 
next Thursday and Friday, on Thursday the House will begin business at 
10 a.m., I understand, with no votes to occur before 2 p.m., and we 
will consider suspension bills and the conference report on the 
Homeland Security appropriations bill, and then the House will meet on 
Friday at 9 a.m. to consider the energy bill. Is that accurate?
  Mr. BLUNT. If the gentleman will continue to yield, that is accurate 
at this point. We have not finalized the absolute sequence of bills, 
but that is our plan at this time. And the one reason we are starting 
at 10 a.m. on Thursday is to try to finish our work, even though it is 
an abbreviated workweek, in a reasonable amount of time.
  Mr. HOYER. Reclaiming my time and thanking the gentleman, Mr. 
Speaker, if the gentleman could tell us, because we have discussed with 
our Members from California, from Washington State, Oregon, and others, 
if they take a 7:40 a.m. plane, they do not get here much before 4 or a 
little after 4. Therefore, if those votes are started at 2 p.m., that 
requires some of our Members to leave the night before.
  Some of our Members, as you know, because of their religious 
observance, cannot leave until after sundown, requiring them to take 
the red-eye. I discussed this with the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay) 
last week, and I am wondering whether or not, because I am sure Members 
on your side, well, I guess they do not, now that I think about it, 
have similar problems. But the fact of the matter is that it causes 
some difficulty for our Members traveling. I wonder if there is a 
possibility of starting at 10, continuing debate, but rolling votes 
until after 5 rather than after 2.
  Mr. BLUNT. I think the gentleman did have extensive discussion on 
this last week. I know this week really created a number of challenges 
for us because of those religious holidays. I believe we have 
accommodated those in the best way we can and still get Members out of 
here at a reasonable hour on Friday. And for that reason I think those 
votes that could be as early as 2 are important in our efforts to get 
Members on the road Friday.
  And, again, our California Members always have so many of the 
challenges in travel, but I think this plan accommodates that. I 
certainly wish we could have perhaps not even come in for these days, 
but I think the work we have to do on these 2 days is so significant 
that we do need to come back. And if we do not get started early on 
Thursday, we will have another problem on Friday with Members who want 
to get back for what turns out to be a holiday weekend for many of 
them.
  Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HOYER. I yield to the gentleman from Hawaii.
  Mr. ABERCROMBIE. When we talk about all the Members from California, 
occasionally some Members there think the western-most county is 
Hawaii, of California, but I think those of us either from California, 
the far west in general, and even further west, out in Hawaii, have 
seldom, if ever, complained about having to make the votes in late 
afternoon on a Monday or a Tuesday or a Thursday or whatever. But I 
would just plead for this, and I appreciate the gentleman's yielding to 
me, but if the gentleman could give those of us west of the Mississippi 
the opportunity to come and vote, say after 4:30, or about 4:30 or 5, 
we can do it.
  Other than that, it really changes the entire day and night, in my 
instance the night before, because I come directly from the plane to 
vote, and many Members of the California, Oregon, Washington, and even 
some of the other western States who have interconnections they have to 
make north and south before they come east have to do that.
  That is the only reason we ask about that. Maybe we could start a 
little earlier on Friday and still accommodate what needs to be done. 
But it is not self-indulgent, it is really a practical question of 
scheduling.
  Mr. HOYER. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
his comments, and perhaps the gentleman and I can discuss this after 
the colloquy.
  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, I would be glad to discuss it further. At the 
same time, I do think that this particular week and the way the 
holidays fell in this week have created a unique set of circumstances, 
and our planning for those have been a challenge, there is no question 
about that.
  Mr. HOYER. I appreciate those problems. Perhaps we will discuss that. 
I

[[Page H8627]]

believe that starting at 10 makes sense. I understand we want to use 
all of the time that is available that day, so I am not suggesting that 
we change that. It is the time when we start votes, and then I am sure 
there will be a series of votes at some point in time that evening, as 
we have every Tuesday when we return at night.
  But perhaps we can discuss it a little further after the colloquy, 
and then perhaps, if there is any change, inform Members of that 
change.
  Regarding the energy bill, under what type of rule would the 
gentleman expect that to be considered; and how late would the 
gentleman expect votes to go on Friday? First of all, the energy bill 
and the kind of rule the gentleman expects on the energy bill.
  And I say that to my friend in the context, as the gentleman knows, 
that the bill was introduced Monday of this week. It is my 
understanding there were 16 hours of markup yesterday, going until 1 
a.m. this morning. So there has been little time, really, to review 
this bill.
  Obviously, there will be over the week, and we will not get back 
until Thursday, so there will be that time. But can the gentleman tell 
us what kind of rule he might expect on that bill? I yield to my 
friend.
  Mr. BLUNT. I appreciate the gentleman yielding, and I appreciate the 
question. In fact, I serve on that committee and that committee was 
voting until after midnight last night.
  The bill is available and will be available for Members to look at 
during the week. In terms of the rule, we will have to defer that, I 
think, to the Committee on Rules, and I expect they will go through 
their normal evaluation of the bill and determine the rule at that 
time.
  In terms of Friday, we are really trying to move to the earliest 
possible conclusion on Friday, which is one of the reasons, again, to 
try to be sure we are getting our work done on Thursday. Another reason 
for Thursday, not only the 10 a.m. start but the effort for Members to 
return, is I know a number of chairmen are hoping to take advantage of 
that day in their committees as well. And our friends from the west 
coast would want to be and I hope are able to be part of that.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for that information, and I am sure 
the Members will be pleased about that objective as well.
  The week of October 17. I know that is some time away, but we will 
not be having a scheduling colloquy next Friday, probably. Can you give 
us any indication as to what bills may be on the floor?
  Mr. BLUNT. We have not finalized our plan for the week of October 17 
yet, Mr. Speaker, but there are a number of litigation reform bills 
coming out of the Judiciary Committee. I think those are likely 
candidates for that week, and there may be some other legislation 
develop. But those bills from the Committee on the Judiciary are likely 
to be ready and be coming to the floor that week.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for that information.

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