[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 13557-13559]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1115
                          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

[[Page 13558]]

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 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

[[Page 13559]]

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.

                              {time}  1130

  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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