[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 13439-13440]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM

  (Ms. PELOSI asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise for the purpose of determining the 
schedule for next week, and I am pleased to yield to the distinguished 
majority leader.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?
  Ms. PELOSI. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding; and Mr. 
Speaker, I am pleased to announce that the House has completed its 
legislative business for the week.
  The House will next meet for legislative business on Monday, July 22 
at 12:30 p.m. for morning hour and 2 o'clock p.m. for legislative 
business. I will schedule a number of measures under suspension of the 
rules, a list of which will be distributed to Members' offices 
tomorrow. Recorded votes on Monday will be postponed until 6:30 p.m.
  On Tuesday and the balance of the week, I have scheduled the 
following measures for consideration in the House.
  For Tuesday, H.J. Res. 101, disapproving the extension of the trade 
act waiver authority with respect to Vietnam; on Tuesday, H.R. 5117, 
the Defense and Homeland Security Supplemental Appropriations Act 
Conference Report; and on Tuesday, complete consideration for H.R. 
5120, the Treasury and Postal Operations Appropriations Act.
  Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, we would expect to do H.R. 4965, the 
Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2002. We would also expect on 
Wednesday to do, or possibly Thursday to do, H.R. 4628, the 
Intelligence Authorization Act, and on Wednesday, we would expect to 
begin consideration of H.R. 5005, the Homeland Security Act of 2002.
  I would like to thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I thank the 
distinguished gentleman. I just want to clarify certain things.
  On Tuesday, Vietnam, the supplemental Treasury-Postal. On Wednesday, 
late-term abortion, intelligence and beginning of the Homeland Security 
Act.
  What will be the procedure for the consideration of the homeland 
security legislation?
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, if the gentlewoman would continue to yield, I 
thank the gentlewoman again for her inquiry. It would be our suggestion 
that pursuant to the colloquy that the gentlewoman and I had earlier 
related to the agreement between the Speaker and the minority leader to 
propose a rule to the Committee on Rules, it would be my hope that they 
could make their proposal in such time that the Committee on Rules 
could meet on Tuesday evening and issue a rule for consideration of 
that bill, that I would anticipate to be a fairly open rule.

                              {time}  1800

  And that having that rule for consideration and available on 
Wednesday, it would be my expectation that we could then have some way 
of measuring the coordination of the bill, but to have ample time on 
Wednesday, Thursday and even Friday, if it is necessary, to consider 
that bill and any amendments proposed thereto.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to hear the gentleman say that 
he anticipates that the rule will be an open rule so that we can have a 
debate on many of the issues of concern of many Members here on both 
sides of the aisle.
  Mr. ARMEY. Let me just remind the gentlewoman, according to our 
colloquy, that this would be a proposal made to the Committee on Rules 
by the Speaker and the minority leader. I, for one, would not deign to 
speak for them. They clearly will speak for themselves. But that is my 
anticipation; that it would be one that would be more on the open side.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, as one who engaged in the colloquy at the 
time of consideration of our select committee, the anticipation was 
that the Speaker and the minority leader would agree to an open rule, 
and I look forward to that discussion.
  Does the gentleman anticipate late nights next week? It sounds like 
it from this schedule, but I did not know if the gentleman had any 
insights he could share with us about the scheduling.
  Mr. ARMEY. I thank the gentlewoman for her inquiry, and I especially 
want to say I appreciate the gentlewoman from California for all the 
late nights she has already worked this week. Unfortunately, I would 
have to advise the gentlewoman and the body that we should expect to 
work late nights Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of next week.
  Ms. PELOSI. Now, Mr. Leader, will we be perhaps working on Saturday 
of next week as well?
  Mr. ARMEY. I thank the gentlewoman, and, again, if the gentlewoman 
will continue to yield, it is my most fervent hope not. But, obviously, 
the week before a recess period, a week that has under consideration 
extremely important work that will be of interest to the entire body, 
is a week in which we must recognize that possibility. While I do so, I 
do not anticipate that possibility.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I just have one other concern that I wish to 
discuss with the distinguished majority leader.
  As the gentleman knows, and we have discussed before, there is a 
crisis in our country, and it is the confidence in our markets that we 
want to restore. One way we can do that is by taking up the Sarbanes 
accounting reform bill and the conference report before going home for 
recess. I would hope that this bill would be coming to the floor next 
week.
  Does the majority leader have any plans to bring the conference 
report to the floor?
  Mr. ARMEY. Well, again, I want to thank the gentlewoman for that 
inquiry, and as the gentlewoman knows, we will always make available 
time on the floor for conference reports as soon as we can obtain them. 
I have had, just

[[Page 13440]]

in the past hour, a very encouraging conversation with Chairman Oxley 
about that conference. It meets tomorrow morning at 10:30.
  It is clear that the conferees from both bodies are committed to 
getting this work done as quickly as possible, and I daresay we might 
hope and expect possibly to see that work. It will certainly be, I 
believe I am clear in my understanding, the desire of these conferees 
to complete that work as soon as possible. They are quite concerned and 
committed to it.
  Ms. PELOSI. Of course, Mr. Speaker, one important option that we 
have, in order to restore confidence to the markets and diminish the 
crisis, is to bring the Sarbanes accounting reform bill directly to the 
floor for consideration. I hope that the majority leader will consider 
that option, because time is of the essence. We must move quickly.
  As the gentleman knows, every day is a problem for America's families 
with their savings, hopes and aspirations for their children and the 
retirement of their parents. So I appreciate the gentleman saying it 
may be possible we would bring a conference report. I hope it is also 
possible we would bring the Sarbanes bill directly to the floor.

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