[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 33 (Thursday, March 1, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H1114-H1115]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1100
                          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 majority leader, the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cantor), for the purpose of inquiring of 
the majority leader the schedule of the week to come.
  Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman, Mr. Speaker, the Democratic whip, 
the gentleman from Maryland. Thank you for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, on Monday, the House will meet at noon for morning hour 
and 2 p.m. for legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 
p.m. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the House will be meet at 10 a.m. for 
morning hour and noon for legislative business. On Thursday, the House 
will meet at 9 a.m. for legislative business. The last votes of the 
week are expected no later than 3 p.m. No votes are expected in the 
House on Friday.
  Mr. Speaker, the House will consider a few bills under suspension of 
the rules, including a bipartisan bill dealing with countervailing 
duties against nonmarket economies like China. A complete list of 
suspensions will be announced by the close of business tomorrow.
  In addition, Mr. Speaker, the House will consider two bills focused 
on job creation and our creating an environment for that to happen. The 
first is H.R. 2842, the Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower 
Development and Rural Jobs Act, sponsored by Representative Scott 
Tipton of Colorado; and H.R. 3606, the Jumpstart Our Business Startups 
Act, the JOBS Act, sponsored by Representative Stephen Fincher from 
Tennessee. Both bills are bipartisan, and I would note that the 
President and many outside entrepreneurs like Steve Case have endorsed 
the Fincher bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I'd hope that Senator Reid would move expeditiously in 
passing the JOBS Act once this House sends it to the Senate at the end 
of next week.
  I thank the gentleman from Maryland, the Democratic whip, for 
yielding, and I yield back.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for his information, and I would say 
with respect to the bills that he will be offering, we have, as the 
gentleman knows, considered four of those bills on the floor. They 
passed overwhelmingly. I think they're good bills, and I look forward 
to supporting them again.
  There are two bills which are new. One of the bills was considered 
when it was sponsored by Mr. Himes. It was a good bill then, and it's a 
good bill now. I believe our side certainly is going to join in 
supporting these bills, which we think will have some positive effect 
on small business entrepreneurs, business formation, and capital 
formation. I have had the opportunity of talking to Mr. Steve Case, a 
good friend, and I want to thank Steve Case, as I know you do, for his 
role working with the White House and working with us on moving these 
bills forward. I think they are a positive contribution, and as

[[Page H1115]]

the gentleman knows, four of the bills received over 400 votes when 
they were first passed on the House floor not too long ago. We think 
those are positive steps.
  So, I look forward to next week being a week in which we can vote 
together on something. I'm sure America does as well. Again, I want to 
congratulate Steve Case for the work that he has done with respect to 
this package.
  I do want to, however, say that we do look forward to additional 
legislation dealing with jobs creation. We've talked about the 
President's jobs bill or other jobs bills that might be offered. We 
would look forward to those coming forward, as well.
  Let me ask the gentleman: one of the jobs-related bills that we're 
talking about, of course, is infrastructure, in this case, the highway 
bill, the infrastructure bill. The gentleman did not mention that for 
next week. And I know he's concerned about it. We're all concerned 
about the March 31 date on which the highway program will run out of 
authorization. As the gentleman knows, there is a severe funding 
shortage, and it is our fear, our concern, that literally hundreds of 
thousands of people will lose their jobs if we do not act.
  Can the gentleman tell me when he thinks we might be acting on either 
a big bill or an extension? I'll yield to my friend.
  Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman for the question.
  As the gentleman knows, there's been a lot of discussion about the 
way forward given the fiscal reality of the transportation trust fund, 
and talks are continuing to ensue as we continue to watch what the 
other body does on this issue as well, knowing full well the March 31 
deadline that we're facing.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for that information. I want to 
assure him that our side of the aisle looks forward to working with his 
side of the aisle towards hopefully coming together with a bipartisan 
bill which will certainly keep the program going. But from our 
perspective, it is more than an investment in infrastructure, which 
this country needs to remain competitive, but it is also an investment 
in job creation, which we think this bill will do as well.
  The Export-Import Bank authorization, as the gentleman also knows, 
will be coming to a close, and Financial Services has shared 
jurisdiction with that. Can the gentleman tell me what the status of 
the Export-Import Bank is? As the gentleman knows, I think we have a 
joint agenda, because I think a lot of things on there are supported by 
both sides of the aisle, what we call a Make It in America agenda. We 
believe this is very important for Make It in America--encouraging 
manufacturing and job creation here in America. Can the gentleman tell 
me the status of the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank? I yield 
to my friend.
  Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman, Mr. Speaker. I think the gentleman 
knows that both his staff and mine are in constant communication on 
this bill as late as I think last night and have met to discuss the 
options as to how we proceed forward. Again, we are very mindful of the 
expiration, or looming expiration, or need for, if you will, of the 
passage of this bill and look forward to continuing to work with him 
and his team to make sure that we get the resolution right and are able 
to proceed.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for those comments, and we look 
forward to continuing to work together.
  The next question I would like to ask is, clearly, we're coming up on 
March 15 in the not-too-distant future. It's my understanding from 
Chris Van Hollen, who is the ranking member of the Budget Committee, 
that he believes that the committee will markup a budget on the 19th 
with the possibility of reporting a budget to the floor on the 26th of 
this month.
  Can the gentleman tell me, is that a schedule that he contemplates, 
and is that information accurate? I yield to my friend.
  Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is correct. He stated this 
sort of series of events that we anticipate, and we look to making sure 
that we're doing everything to facilitate that and have the budget on 
the floor, hopefully, by the end of this month.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, let me say that Mr. Cantor and I had the 
opportunity to speak on the floor today. We spoke on behalf of a 
resolution that was passed overwhelmingly, unanimously, that spoke to 
commemorating the march that both the majority leader and I have 
participated in in the past, and I'll be participating in again this 
weekend, a march commemorating the march across the Edmund Pettus 
Bridge from Selma to Montgomery.

                              {time}  1110

  Today was a day of unity on the floor of this House in which Mr. 
Lungren and Mr. Lewis and others expressed their thoughts, as did so 
many of the rest of us, about how this is a great lesson on the fact 
that we have not always been where we promised to be as a Nation, but 
that we've made progress, and a reminder that there is still progress 
yet to be done.
  I want to thank the majority leader for his comments that he made on 
the floor today and for his focus on this issue.
  I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman and would say that the 
gentleman has been a huge supporter and participant in the pilgrimage 
to Alabama marking that event, that day in history, and I look forward 
to his participation in the process of making sure that the House 
Historian has the necessary information to accurately reflect the 
House's role, the Members of the House's role, and certainly the 
gentleman's role in the pilgrimage to Alabama celebrating that event. 
Frankly, as he indicates, Mr. Speaker, a reminder to us all that this 
country didn't always get it right, but we are continuing to work 
together to make sure that we are that land of equal rights and 
opportunities for all.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for his comments, and as he 
observes, House Members have participated in this.
  There is a wonderful organization known as Faith & Politics. We 
believe strongly in the separation of church and State, but as I tell 
people, we do not believe in the separation of the values our faiths 
teach and the policies that we pursue. There is that discussion, and 
multifaiths are represented in those discussions.
  As the majority leader and I are of different faiths, we are of one 
mind with respect to ensuring that the values of our respective faiths 
are realized in our public policies.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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