[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 120 (Thursday, September 12, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H5530-H5531]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
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LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM
(Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I yield to the majority leader, Mr. Cantor,
for the purposes of inquiring of the schedule for the week to come.
Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman from Maryland, the Democratic whip,
for yielding.
Madam Speaker, on Monday, the House will meet in pro forma session at
2 p.m., and no votes are expected. On Tuesday, 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 Wednesday and Thursday, the House will
meet at 10 a.m. for morning-hour and noon for legislative business. On
Friday, the House will meet at 9 a.m. for legislative business. Last
votes of the week are expected no later than 3 p.m.
Madam Speaker, Members are advised that, pending ongoing discussions
on the continuing resolution, the House may need to be in session
during the week of September 23 and possibly into the weekend. Members
should expect an announcement next week regarding when the House would
meet during the week of September 23. This is a change from the
previously announced schedule.
Madam Speaker, next week, the House will consider a few bills under
suspension of the rules, a complete list of which will be announced by
the close of business tomorrow.
The House will likely consider H.R. 1526, the Restoring Healthy
Forests for Healthy Communities Act, sponsored by the chairman of the
Natural Resources Committee, Representative Doc Hastings. In addition
to improving forest health and helping to prevent catastrophic
wildfires, this legislation contains a short-term extension of the
Secure Rural Schools program.
In addition, I expect the House to consider H.R. 761, the National
Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2013, authored by
Representative Mark Amodei; and H.R. 687, the Southeast Arizona Land
Exchange and Conservation Act of 2013, drafted by Representative Paul
Gosar. These bills, both from the Natural Resources Committee, will
foster economic growth and create jobs for the middle class.
The House will also consider the Nutrition Reform and Work
Opportunity Act, authored by Agriculture chairman, Representative Frank
Lucas. This legislation restores the intent of the bipartisan welfare
reforms adopted in 1996 to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program. It also refocuses the program on those who need it most. No
law-abiding beneficiary who meets the income and asset tests of the
current program and is willing to comply with the applicable work
requirements will lose his benefits under the bill.
Finally, Madam Speaker, Members should be prepared to vote on the
continuing resolution as the new fiscal year approaches.
Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for that information. I would
reiterate to Members, in case they weren't listening, that the majority
leader has said that we ought to be clearing our calendars for the week
of the 23rd of September. That's the last week of the month.
Originally, we were scheduled to be off that week, but in light of the
fact that we have been unable yet to pass a continuing resolution or
appropriations bills to fund the government's activities after the end
of the fiscal year on September 30, I am pleased to see the majority
leader is putting the House on notice. I have been telling my Members
for the last 2 months to reserve that time in the contingency of which
the majority leader speaks.
Mr. Majority Leader, before we left in July, we had a bill on the
floor to fund Transportation and the Housing and Urban Development
Department as well as other items. That bill was pulled. Subsequent to
that bill's being pulled, Hal Rogers, the chairman of the
Appropriations Committee, sent a notice out to a lot of people. I
presume the gentleman had an opportunity to read it.
It read:
I am extremely disappointed with the decision to pull the
T-HUD bill--as it's referred to--from the House calendar
today. The prospects for passing this bill in September are
bleak at best given the vote count on passage that was
apparent this afternoon.
He then made this statement, Mr. Leader:
With this action, the House has declined to proceed on the
implementation of the very budget it adopted 3 months ago.
Thus, I--Hal Rogers speaking--believe that the House has made
its choice. Sequestration and its unrealistic and ill-
conceived discretionary cuts must be brought to an end.
Mr. Leader, as you know, he went on to say this:
The House, Senate and White House must come together as
soon as possible on a comprehensive compromise that repeals
sequestration, takes the Nation off this lurching path from
fiscal crisis to fiscal crisis, reduces our deficits and
debt, and provides a realistic, top-line, discretionary
spending level to fund the government in a responsible and
attainable way.
That was his statement--the chairman from Kentucky, a conservative
Republican--on July 31, 2013.
I want to tell my friend, the majority leader, that I agree with Mr.
Rogers. The sequester level is unattainable and unrealistic. That's the
chairman of your Appropriations Committee, who is responsible--and has
been for many years--for judging what are the appropriate expenditures
for our government to maintain programs important to our country, to
our economy, and to our national security.
Mr. Leader, we have another issue beyond the continuing resolution
which will also, as the gentleman knows, have a very substantial effect
on the fiscal credibility of America, on the fiscal stability of
America and on the growth of our economy, and of the confidence of our
people and of people around the world, and that is the extension of our
debt limit. This is going to be a shorter colloquy than we usually have
because the issues that confront us are so very, very important.
I want to tell the majority leader that we have not had any
discussions about a possible compromise; nor have we had any
discussions with Mr. McCarthy about a possible compromise; nor have I
or the leader had any substantive conversations with the Speaker about
a substantive compromise, in our view, consistent with what your
chairman of the Appropriations Committee rightfully, in my
[[Page H5531]]
view, observed of the fiscal realities confronting our country. You
have said and Mr. Boehner has said--I believe and Ms. Pelosi believes--
that not extending the debt limit is unthinkable; and if we fail to do
so, it would have very, very serious, adverse consequences on our
country.
So rather than discuss other further scheduling issues, except to the
extent that the gentleman wants to respond, let me say to the gentleman
that, with these two items in particular, I stand ready to work with
your side, and my side stands ready to work with your side on a
compromise; but I will tell the gentleman, with all sincerity, that we
will not pursue what Mr. Rogers correctly observed is an unsustainable
and damaging process. To that extent, we will not compromise on that
issue because your chairman is correct--it's harmful to our country.
So, in that context, Mr. Leader, I am hopeful that, as we move
forward, as you've just been required to have another week added to the
calendar because we've been unable so far to do our work--and this
week, of course, is 1 of 2 weeks that we were supposed to meet in
September, and we haven't done much. That's unfortunate. So we have
used 50 percent of the time that we had for not much. I would ask the
gentleman if he thinks that there is a possibility to compromise. I
have observed and the world has observed the difficulty the gentleman
and Mr. Boehner, the Speaker, have had in getting agreement in your own
party, but we need to get agreement between the two parties and the
Senate and the President of the United States so that this country can
be funded and can meet its obligations and stabilize our economy.
I yield to my friend.
Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman, Madam Speaker.
First, I would say I'm glad he received the news that we may very
well be in session in the last week of September the way he has because
I do think it reflects the seriousness with which both sides take the
pending fiscal issues and deadlines that we are about to confront both
in the continuing resolution as well as in the debt ceiling, itself.
Now, Madam Speaker, I've set aside the statement that my friend, the
Democratic whip, has indicated about not doing anything this week,
because we just voted on a bipartisan bill enforcing accountability on
ObamaCare.
As the Democratic whip knows, ObamaCare is growingly unpopular in
this country. In fact, in the latest public poll out today, nearly 60
percent of Americans reject ObamaCare and the direction in health care,
and we are serious and committed on this side of the aisle for a better
future for health care. The President, himself, has said that it's not
ready for prime time and has issued waivers for businesses, for
insurance companies. We need to have a waiver and a delay for all
people of ObamaCare.
The bill that we passed today says that the administration is hoping
that all of the income subsidies that are still in effect will go
forward in a transparent and accountable way. That's really impossible
to guard against fraud given that the administration has already
exempted corporate America and the businesses from having to comply
with the verification of someone's eligibility for subsidies. So there
is no way that this law can work; and our side is committed to
discussing how we go forward, which is, first and foremost, a delay of
ObamaCare.
I'd say to the gentleman that I'm glad that he is willing to sit down
and talk, and I would hope that he could impose that upon the
administration, because as late as August 27, 2013, Treasury Secretary
Jack Lew said:
The President has made it clear: we are not going to
negotiate over the debt limit.
I would say, Madam Speaker, history has shown us that in periods of
divided government there have always been discussions around the fiscal
issues of this country; and in fact, the issue of the debt ceiling has
provided a forum for resolution on some of those fiscal issues. Going
back to Gramm-Rudman-Hollings that was negotiated and settled around a
debt ceiling discussion, as was the Congressional Review Act, as was,
Madam Speaker, as we know 2 years ago, the Budget Control Act. So I
hope that the gentleman could take his dedication to trying to work
things out to the White House and say it's time for all of us to sit
down and resolve these issues.
Now, as far as the sequester is concerned, I would say to the
gentleman he knows I don't think that the sequester is the right way
and the best way to go about reducing spending. I mean, just by its
very nature, a blunt, across-the-board cut treats programs that you
might want to get rid of in the same way that it treats programs that,
perhaps, are really doing a great job. That indiscriminate type of cut
is something on which we could really do better. We could do a lot
better than doing those kinds of cuts, which is exactly our point. We
need to sit down and discuss with this administration how we are going
to effect the reforms that we need on the entitlement side and effect
the delay of ObamaCare. That's what we've got to do, Madam Speaker.
Mr. HOYER. The problem has again been expressed. We have a single
focus of the majority party, Madam Speaker, on defunding the Affordable
Care Act.
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So many Republicans have said it is an unreasonable and irrational
expectation to expect, after an election has occurred in which that was
one of the principal issues in the election, for the President or,
frankly, the Senate, to agree to the objectives of the Republican Party
that lost in America on this issue. There was a poll taken November
2012. The President of the United States won that poll. Your myopic
focus on that one issue threatens to shut down government and put at
risk the creditworthiness of the United States of America. That is not
what the American people expect.
Unless the gentleman wants to respond, I yield back the balance of my
time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Walorski). The Chair would remind
Members to direct their remarks to the Chair.
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