[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11419-11420]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1545
                          LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM

  (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise for the purpose of inquiring of the 
majority leader the schedule for the week to come, and I yield to my 
friend, the majority leader, Mr. Cantor.
  Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland, the 
Democratic whip, for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, on Monday the House will meet in pro forma session at 10 
a.m. 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.
  Mr. Speaker, 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 also vote to delay, for a year, both the employer 
mandate and the individual mandate under ObamaCare. As the Speaker and 
the gentleman know, the administration declared last week that they 
would delay the enforcement of the mandate on businesses for a year, 
but not the mandate on working families and individuals. We will 
respond next week to correct this injustice.
  In addition, Mr. Speaker, the House may consider H.R. 5, the Student 
Success Act authored by Chairman John Kline. The bill represents a 
solid, commonsense approach to education to provide our next generation 
with the education they need to keep America competitive in the world 
economy.
  Finally, the House may consider the Department of Defense 
appropriations bill for fiscal year 2014 drafted by Representative Bill 
Young for the resources necessary for our troops.
  I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for his information on the schedule. 
As the gentleman knows, we just passed a farm bill and I'm wondering 
how soon he might expect to move to go to conference on that bill.
  I yield to my friend.
  Mr. CANTOR. I would say to the gentleman, the chairman, the Speaker, 
and other members of leadership are in discussions about how to 
expedite an agreement on the farm bill. Certainly it is our intention 
to act with dispatch to bring to the floor a bill dealing with the SNAP 
program, that portion of what was traditionally the farm bill. We 
intend to be bringing that vehicle to the floor at some time in the 
near future. It is our intention to do so.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for that information, and I am glad 
to hear that we will go to conference as soon as possible so we can 
consider that important piece of legislation. As the gentleman knows, 
there are substantial differences between the House and the Senate, and 
the sooner we get that bill done and whole, I think the better we will 
be.
  You mentioned the Defense appropriations bill is coming to the floor. 
Does the gentleman expect that to be coming to the floor with an open 
rule?
  And I yield to my friend.
  Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I will respond to the gentleman, as he 
knows, this Congress, as was the last Congress, has been a Congress 
that is as committed to the open process as any in recent history. I 
would say to the gentleman that the Speaker continues to insist that we 
strive toward that open process to allow for as much debate and 
exchange of ideas as possible to benefit the American people as well as 
the outcome of legislation.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman. Was that a ``yes''?
  Mr. CANTOR. I would tell the gentleman again that the Rules 
Committee, as the gentleman knows when he was in the position of 
majority leader, determines the structure of debate, and I would remind 
the gentleman that the discourse and debate on this floor has been a 
lot more open than in years past, and I would remind him of that.
  Mr. HOYER. Well, the good news is I don't have time to discuss that 
today, but perhaps at some time we will.
  Immigration. Obviously, the Senate, as the gentleman so well knows, 
has passed a major piece of legislation, passed it 68-32. That bill is, 
I believe, now with us. Can the gentleman tell us when we might be 
expecting immigration legislation on the floor?
  Mr. CANTOR. I'd say to the gentleman, it is not correct to say that 
we

[[Page 11420]]

have that bill. There was a tax, I believe, that was added to the bill 
so we do not have that. I would say to the gentleman, though, as he 
knows, our conference members met yesterday to discuss the path forward 
so far as immigration reform is concerned. I would say to characterize 
the agreement on our side, we all believe we need to fix a broken 
system of immigration and we need to rebuild the trust of the American 
people and the operation of government in terms of securing our borders 
and enforcing the law, at the same time balancing that with the history 
and tradition of our country as one that is built on immigrants.
  Mr. HOYER. I'm pleased to hear that. Of course, former President 
George Bush said, as the gentleman knows, just a few days ago, that we 
have a problem. The laws governing the immigration system aren't 
working, the system is broken, and he urged us to pass a bill. The 
chairman of the Budget Committee, Paul Ryan, has said the same thing 
that I think the gentleman just said. We are very hopeful that we will 
bring a comprehensive, which we believe is absolutely essential, 
immigration bill to the floor and to realization so we can fix a broken 
system. And, yes, give a pathway to citizenship for those who meet the 
criteria that we would set forth.
  But I thank the gentleman for his comments; and if he would like to 
respond further, I'd yield.
  If not, I yield back the balance of my time.

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