[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 52 (Thursday, March 26, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H4045-H4046]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM

  (Mr. CANTOR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York for 
the purposes of announcing next week's schedule.
  Mr. CROWLEY. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, on Monday the House will meet at 12:30 p.m. for morning-
hour debate and 2 p.m. for legislative business. On Tuesday, the House 
will meet at 10:30 a.m. for morning-hour debate and 12 p.m. for 
legislative business. On Wednesday and Thursday, the House will meet at 
10 a.m. for legislative business. On Friday, the House will meet at 9 
a.m. for legislative business.
  We will consider several bills under suspension of the rules. The 
complete list of suspension bills will be announced by the close of 
business tomorrow.
  In addition, we will consider Senate amendments to H.R. 1388, 
Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act; H.R. 1664, Pay 
for Performance Act; and the fiscal year 2010 budget resolution.
  Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the gentleman if the House will 
begin the process of deliberating on the budget on Wednesday. Is that 
the planned day that we will have the discussion on the budget here on 
the floor; and, does he expect that debate to stretch over 2 days? And, 
again, if he could elaborate as to when the final vote on the budget is 
expected.
  Mr. CROWLEY. If the gentleman would continue to yield.
  I haven't spoken to the majority leader about the specifics in terms 
of the schedule. The intention is to finish a vote on the budget by the 
end of business next week.
  Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. Speaker, I would ask the further question. Does he anticipate a 
weekend session possibility?
  Mr. CROWLEY. There is always the possibility that if we fail to 
resolve or come to agreement on the budget by the time we hope to 
before the close of business day next week, that we possibly could work 
into the weekend to pass that budget.
  Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. Speaker, further, I would ask the gentleman if he could tell us 
about the expected process of amendments, of substitutes.
  How many substitutes should we expect your side to offer? Will the 
Blue Dogs have a substitute? Does this budget replace the budget of the 
Progressive Caucus that we usually see come to the floor? Will they 
have a need for a substitute? Just trying to get some idea, Mr. 
Speaker.
  I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. CROWLEY. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I have not spoken, again, to the majority leader about this 
specifically or to the Rules Committee chairwoman about this. I do not 
know at this time how many substitutes we expect to make in order. Does 
the gentleman know how many on his side we can expect to be submitted?
  I do expect that we will complete the consideration of vote on the 
budget resolution next week, and that the leadership intends to be here 
until we can accomplish that objective. And, yes, again, that could 
mean extending into the weekend.
  Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman.
  And I could very easily tell him we will have one substitute from the 
minority side of the aisle, which is why I am asking how many we could 
expect from yours.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Again, I don't have an answer for you.
  Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I would reclaim my time.
  I would ask the gentleman from New York, in reference to the D.C. 
voting bill, what are the latest plans for floor consideration on that? 
And, will a second amendment protection be added to that bill? I yield.
  Mr. CROWLEY. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I know this is a priority for the leadership, and we continue to work 
on that. However, I do not expect it will be ready for the floor next 
week, nor do I know whether or not there will be a second amendment 
application in that bill as well.
  Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman.
  I would ask again, are we to expect a vote on D.C. voting next week 
as well?
  Mr. CROWLEY. As I just stated, I do not expect it will be ready for 
the floor next week.
  Mr. CANTOR. I apologize to the gentleman; I didn't quite discern 
that. I thank the gentleman.
  I would ask the gentleman, Mr. Speaker, about the FDA bill and the 
regulation of tobacco. And does he expect this bill to come to the 
floor next week? And in what form does he expect this bill to come, 
under a rule or as a suspension?
  I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. CROWLEY. I thank the gentleman.
  The gentleman will recall, this bill passed the House 326-102, with 
96 Republicans voting ``yes.'' The bill does have broad bipartisan 
support. We continue to work with Chairman Waxman to have this bill 
ready for the floor. I have not, again, spoken to the chairwoman of the 
Rules Committee yet as to how this bill will be brought to the floor. 
And it could be as early as next week, although we have no confirmation 
of that yet.
  Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman.
  I would like to yield to the gentleman from Indiana.

                              {time}  1245

  Mr. BUYER. I would ask of the gentleman, representing the views of 
the minority leadership of the Energy and Commerce Committee and the 
House Armed Services Committee, that there are some outstanding issues 
and that the dynamic has, in fact, changed, that there are bipartisan 
alternatives to Mr. Waxman's legislatkion. And so what we are asking is 
for there to be regular order for the House to be able to work its 
will.

[[Page H4046]]

  This bipartisan legislation is a completely different type of 
alternative approach to public health policy with tobacco. So while the 
gentleman was active with regard to what occurred in the last Congress, 
this is a very different Congress. So we are asking for regular order.
  And there is a particular issue that is highly sensitive to the House 
Armed Services Committee because the Waxman legislation mandates the 
inclusion of the military in the Roth program. So what we have is, the 
Energy and Commerce Committee is dictating military personnel policy. 
In order to protect this about 160 million over a 10-year, for that to 
remain in the personnel budget of the Armed Services Committee, the 
Armed Services Committee would need to have an amendment that goes 
through the Rules Committee. You see, if, in fact, you allow it to come 
on suspension, the suspension then denies the House Armed Services 
Committee's ability to fence off those dollars for it to remain in the 
personnel budget. It would also deny the bipartisan substitute and 
would also deny Dr. Burgess his amendments.
  So the dynamic, I just want to inform the majority, has changed. And 
we are very hopeful that you will take that under advisement and that 
that bill will be brought to the floor under a rule.
  Mr. CANTOR. I yield to the gentleman from New York.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Thank you for yielding.
  I appreciate Mr. Buyer's work and efforts on this legislation. I do 
know there are multiple jurisdictions on this. And it is my 
understanding that the chairs of the requisite committees are 
continuing to discuss the legislation. And again, it is a priority for 
Mr. Waxman, and we hope to have it on the floor, and they are hoping to 
work through some of these issues.
  Mr. CANTOR. I yield to the gentleman from Indiana.
  Mr. BUYER. We have been working very hard. And I would place the 
majority on notice that please do not bring this on suspension, because 
we have the votes to bring it down.
  Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman from Indiana.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the gentleman from New York about 
the schedule past the Easter recess and what we can expect to come to 
the floor following our return from recess.
  Mr. CROWLEY. The agenda for the next work period, I have not, again, 
spoken directly with the majority leader about the schedule after 
recess. But I would expect we will be working on a budget conference 
report after the Senate and House will have worked their will next 
week, in addition to some of the other items you have mentioned, 
including a D.C. vote as well as stem-cell legislation.
  Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman.
  I would like to ask the gentleman in reference to the budget that 
will be considered next week, that we now have a text of the bill out 
of committee, and the fact that really some of the implications of that 
bill still remain very unclear. Specifically, I would like to ask about 
the cap-and-tax scheme that seems to be continuing to circulate in the 
discussions in committee as well as publicly in the press, and whether 
the reconciliation instructions in the bill that came out of the Budget 
Committee refers to that, and whether we are going to be considering 
the impact of that scheme on the working families of this country, as 
they are having a difficult time as it is, as the gentleman knows, in 
his area, in particular, as it is hard-hit as the center of the 
financial world. Are our families going to have to expect that somehow 
the reconciliation tools will be used to impose a national energy tax 
that some have estimated will cost the average family $3,000 a year?
  I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. CROWLEY. I thank the gentleman for yielding and his observations 
about my district as well. The gentleman makes reference to cap-and-
trade as we know it on this side of the aisle.
  The budget resolution does not provide reconciliation instructions 
for cap and trade. And it is not our intention to use reconciliation in 
terms of the process for that legislation. However, it does provide for 
legislation encouraging alternative energy sources and reducing 
greenhouse gas emissions, which we intend to move through legislative 
process.
  In addition, we have heard repeatedly the minority's concern about 
the cost of the cap-and-trade proposal. You just reiterated some of 
those concerns. Again, the budget does not proscribe the contents of 
cap-and-trade legislation, which we have left to the relevant 
committees, including the committee that you and I both serve on, where 
a hearing at this very moment on cap and trade is taking place. At this 
point, both those estimates make certain assumptions about a bill that 
is, in effect, not yet written.
  We look forward to working with the minority, I personally with you, 
to address the costs of cap-and-trade legislation as it moves forward.
  Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. Speaker, at this time, I would like to yield time to the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette).
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I asked the whip to yield to me so I may inquire of the designee of 
the majority leader. Today, the House Financial Services Committee by a 
vote of 64-0 reported H. Res. 251. And as the gentleman is aware, the 
AIG bonus issue is something that has roiled both parties. Both parties 
are embarrassed that somebody slipped a paragraph into the stimulus 
bill. H. Res. 251 is a resolution of inquiry that directs the Secretary 
of the Treasury to provide not only the documents that he might have in 
his possession, but they also relate back to Secretary Paulson and his 
administration of the TARP program. So it clearly is a bipartisan 
measure. I think the vote of 64-0 speaks for itself.
  And I note that on next week's schedule the majority has scheduled 
the other bill that was just reported this morning out of the Financial 
Services Committee, and I would ask the gentleman if we are going to 
see H. Res. 251 next week. And if not, I would make my request that we 
do. And I would further make the request that since the vote was 64-0 
and we appear to have run out of post offices, perhaps it could be a 
suspension next week.
  Mr. CANTOR. I yield to the gentleman from New York.
  Mr. CROWLEY. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I haven't spoken to Chairman Frank about the legislation. I don't 
expect at this point that it would be on the suspension calendar or on 
the calendar for next week. Again, that does mean it will not be. I 
just simply have not had that conversation to affirm or negate that.
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman.
  At this time, I would like to again reiterate my thanks to the 
gentleman from New York, and I yield back.

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