[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 8540-8541]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2300
                          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 Texas (Mr. 
DeLay) for the purposes of informing the body as to the schedule for 
the coming week.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. 
Hoyer) yielding to me.
  Mr. Speaker, the House will convene on Monday at 12:30 p.m. for 
morning hour and 2 p.m. for legislative business. We will consider 
several measures under a suspension of the rules and a final list sent 
to Members' offices by the end of the week.
  We may also consider a motion to go to conference on the Armed 
Services Tax Fairness Act and any votes called on these measures, 
though, will be rolled until 6:30 p.m.
  On Tuesday we expect to consider several additional bills under 
suspension of the rules, as well as S. 380, which is virtually 
identical to the Postal Service Reform Bill that we had scheduled for 
consideration tonight.
  For Wednesday and the balance of the week we have several measures 
that we will consider under a rule. These include the gun manufacturers 
liability Reform Bill that was reported by the Committee on the 
Judiciary earlier today, the comprehensive energy policy bill, the FY 
2004 Budget Resolution Conference Report, and the Conference Report on 
the FY 2003 War Supplemental.
  I would note for Members that we plan to stay in session into the 
weekend if necessary in order to complete the supplemental before our 
spring recess.
  I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I am happy to answer any 
questions.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his information. 
First, if I might, Mr. Leader, you indicate that we may also consider a 
motion to go to conference on the Armed Services Tax Fairness Act on 
Monday. Do you know whether that is more definite now? The reason I ask 
that is we may want to have a motion to instruct on this side.
  I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. DeLAY. I appreciate the gentleman yielding and I wish I could 
give him a more definite answer. We are trying to consider how we would 
approach this very important bill and we want to get it out before the 
Easter break. And the best I can tell the gentleman is it looks like we 
are going to conference on it or we want to go to conference on it. But 
I do not want to mislead him. There may be other alternatives available 
to us after we consider work with the Senate.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for that information, and I would 
appreciate as soon as you know how you are going to handle this if you 
would let us know.
  Mr. DeLAY. Absolutely, I will let the gentleman know, so he will have 
plenty of time to write a motion to instruct.
  Mr. HOYER. Thank you, Mr. Leader. Will there definitely be votes next 
Friday?
  Mr. DeLAY. If the gentleman would yield, ``definitely'' is a very 
tough word in this business and on this floor. I would think, looking 
at the work ahead of us, that the probability of having votes on Friday 
is more to the affirmative than to the negative.
  Mr. HOYER. The gentleman certainly has outlined some very significant 
pieces of legislation that may be on the floor.
  Mr. DeLAY. If the gentleman would yield, I do want to repeat that it 
is very possible that we could have votes on Friday and we intend to 
pass the War Supplemental Conference Report and send it to the 
President before we break for the break. And if things get a little 
difficult, we could actually be here through the weekend.
  Mr. HOYER. Reclaiming my time, I thank the gentleman for his comment 
and I hear him talking about the supplemental. Does the leader believe 
that the budget conference report is a necessary piece of legislation 
for us to pass before we leave? I know you mentioned that you might 
want to try to do that, but does your side believe that is necessary 
before we leave next week?
  Mr. DeLAY. If the gentleman would yield, I have not personally 
consulted with the Speaker or the rest of the leadership, but it is my 
own understanding that the conference report on the budget is as 
important as doing the supplemental. But the word that I have is things 
are progressing with that conference report. There are very few issues 
to resolve, and we have the greatest expectation that that conference 
report will be on the floor sometime next week and will not slow down 
our ability to go into the Easter break.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for that comment.
  Related to the budget conference, Mr. Leader, do you expect that we 
will have a debt limit vote on the floor either as a part of the 
conference report or as a freestanding bill of some type or other in 
the week to come?
  Mr. DeLAY. If the gentleman would yield, the gentleman is very well 
aware that we reinstituted a very important rule called the Gephardt 
rule that includes in the budget conference report the number that is 
needed in order to raise the debt ceiling. So the vote on the 
conference report as far as the House is concerned is the vote on the 
debt ceiling.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for reminding me. Is that the same 
Gephardt rule that the minority, when the Democrats were in control, 
thought was undemocratic, masked the desire of Democrats to raise the 
debt limit and spend more money; is that the same rule you are talking 
about reinstituting and you have reinstituted and are going to apply? I 
just want to clarify and make sure that is the same awful rule that you 
attacked so vigorously when you were in the minority.
  Mr. DeLAY. I think it is a different rule. I think it is the Hastert 
rule now.
  Mr. HOYER. A rule by any other name, my friend.
  The energy bill, Mr. Leader, do you have a pretty good estimate as to 
which day of the week that bill might come to the floor?
  Mr. DeLAY. If the gentleman would yield, as the gentleman knows, this 
is a very complicated piece of legislation that has had at least four 
committees consider. All four committees have reported, and we have to 
get together with the minority to pull this bill together and bring it 
to the floor, and we hope to schedule that bill for some time on 
Wednesday; if not Wednesday, on Thursday of next week.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for that information.
  May I also ask him, and I see the chairman of the Committee on Rules 
on the floor, you correctly observed, Mr. Leader, this is a complicated 
bill, a lot of different subjects, very important subjects, very 
consequential subjects. What, if you know, perhaps the chairman of the 
Committee on Rules

[[Page 8541]]

knows, do you contemplate an open rule such as the rule we had on the 
floor today?
  Mr. DeLAY. The discussion in the Committee on Rules has not been 
forthcoming, and certainly we would hope that a rule would be fashioned 
to give every Member of the House the greatest opportunity to express 
himself on a very important and complicated piece of legislation like 
the energy bill.
  Mr. HOYER. Reclaiming my time, we share the leader's hope.
  I yield to the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Rules.
  Mr. DREIER. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I would say that the 
majority leader has outlined the goal that the Committee on Rules has 
on every piece of legislation. We demonstrated that this evening, 
allowing an opportunity for Members to consider a wide range of issues. 
And we know, as has been said by everyone, that the energy bill is 
going to be a very complex piece of legislation. There are a number of 
committees that have been involved in the process, and we anxiously 
look forward to resolving some of those questions in the Committee on 
Rules, and then we will come forward with an opportunity for a wide 
range of considerations.
  Mr. HOYER. Reclaiming my time, I would say again in all sincerity to 
my friend, the chairman of the Committee on Rules, and the leader, this 
is the kind of legislation, which you are absolutely correct, which is 
very serious, very complicated, and ought to have the fullest airing on 
the floor of this House. Obviously, it has had a full airing in a 
number of committees.

                              {time}  2310

  We would urge and very strongly hope that the goal that the gentleman 
has expressed as his will, in fact, be followed so that alternatives 
can be offered by committee or individual Members on this side of the 
aisle as well as that side of the aisle when this bill comes to the 
floor.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HOYER. I yield to the gentleman from California.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I would just say that we will certainly take 
the recommendation of our friend, the minority whip, into consideration 
as we proceed; and I thank my friend for yielding.

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