[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 2641-2642]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        MAKING IN ORDER MOTIONS TO SUSPEND THE RULES ON TOMORROW

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Speaker be 
authorized to recognize motions for suspension of the rules tomorrow as 
though clause 1 of rule XV were in place. In other words, I'm asking 
for authority to have a suspension calendar tomorrow. Absent the 
unanimous consent, we would simply go to the Rules Committee and get a 
rule to do that.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Maryland?
  Mr. BLUNT. Reserving the right to object, Mr. Speaker, I would like 
to clarify. The only work done between now and the end of the day 
tomorrow would be the anticipated eight bills, one tonight and seven 
tomorrow that we had expected to get done this week on the suspension 
calendar; is that right?
  Mr. HOYER. The gentleman is absolutely correct. There are eight 
suspension bills, the Andean today, and we will do the balance of seven 
tomorrow. I believe it will be a relatively early day.

[[Page 2642]]


  Mr. WAMP. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BLUNT. I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee.
  Mr. WAMP. I just wanted to make our colleagues aware that besides the 
Smith bill, which I'm pleased to hear the Rules Committee will take 
time to hear, there is another bipartisan alternative that Mr. Hill of 
Indiana and myself have offered as well where there is substantial 
bipartisan support for a third alternative that's not a Democratic or 
Republican bill, but when we are considering matters of the House, it 
is truly a bipartisan compromise. And the gentleman is on his feet from 
Indiana as well, and I thank you for the time.
  Mr. HOYER. I yield to my friend.
  Mr. HILL. I have been working on this issue for over a year. I filed 
a bill that would, in my view, be true reform.
  Mr. BLUNT. Madam Speaker, I believe I have the time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Loretta Sanchez of California). The 
gentleman is absolutely correct.
  Mr. BLUNT. I would be happy to yield to Mr. Hill.
  Mr. HILL. As my friend, the majority leader, knows, I filed a bill 
last year that, in my view, required real reform on ethics. I 
campaigned on this issue extensively in the year 2006, and it is a bill 
that I actually talked about in that election year in 2006, and it fell 
on friendly ears for people who listened to it.
  It is a proposal that would allow former Members of Congress to 
comprise the ethics commission. They would have full subpoena powers. 
The Republicans on this commission would be appointed by the Democrats, 
and the Democrats would be appointed by the Republicans.
  This bill is now changing because it is now gaining bipartisan 
support.
  Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I will tell you, Members have expressed 
great concern that they didn't know about the proposals that were being 
made. My suggestion on both sides of the aisle is that we listen to 
these proposals as carefully as you are going to want to discuss them 
in the future.
  Mr. HILL. Madam Speaker, I will try to be brief. What happened today 
is my friend from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp) had some ideas that were similar 
to mine, and so we joined forces today to try to make this a bipartisan 
bill. So it is a third alternative. I hope people will take a look at 
it. I think it's something that both Republicans and Democrats can 
support, and I believe that it is a real reform.
  Mr. BLUNT. Madam Speaker, I would yield to the gentleman from Ohio.
  Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, I just wanted to take a moment to thank 
the majority leader for his consideration of the Members on both sides 
of the aisle that had concerns about the way we were proceeding.
  I think all of us have, as I said upstairs in the Rules Committee, 
have the same objective: to have a fair process that clearly enforces 
the rules of the House. The American people have the right to expect 
the highest ethical standards of all of us, and how we achieve that 
objective is where the debate is. I think all of us have the same goal.
  But I just want to rise to say thank you to the majority leader for 
giving us time to try to resolve the differences that we might have.
  Mr. BLUNT. Madam Speaker, I withdraw my objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Maryland?
  There was no objection.

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