[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 10602-10604]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM

  (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, before I inquire of the majority leader about 
the schedule for the week to come, I want to say, at the outset, I have 
now and have had great respect for the majority leader.
  The majority leader is a person of significant intellect. He cares 
about this institution. He cares about our country and works hard on 
behalf of the principles which he believes in and which his party 
believes in, and I have enjoyed having the opportunity to work with 
him. We obviously, as people have seen from the colloquies from time to 
time, have not always agreed on what we ought to be doing.
  The gentleman from the State of Virginia (Mr. Cantor) served in his 
House of Delegates, in his general assembly,

[[Page 10603]]

for 8 years. He served there with distinction and then was elected to 
the House of Representatives in 2000, succeeding a good friend of mine, 
the former mayor of Richmond, Tom Bliley, who Mr. Cantor chaired his 
campaign for at least three cycles--obviously successfully.
  He has served in the House of Representatives since 2001 and was 
selected early on as the chief deputy whip and then became the whip; 
and then after one Congress serving as whip, his party took the 
majority, and he was elected as the majority leader.
  It has been my experience during that period of time that he has 
worked hard, has been attentive to his Members, and attentive, also, to 
the interests of our country.
  Again, because we do not agree with one another on how to get to a 
destination, it does not diminish in any way the commitment of either 
side to the welfare and best interests of their country and the people 
that we serve.
  So I wanted to say at the outset that I have enjoyed working with Mr. 
Cantor, and at times--not always--we have worked very productively and 
in tandem with one another for the interests of our country.
  I want to say to the Members of the House of Representatives that I 
expect Mr. Cantor to continue to be, over the next 5 months, an 
influential and effective Member of the Congress of the United States.
  I want to say to my Members, to his Members, and, Mr. Speaker, to 
those who might be listening, that I intend to continue to work over 
the next 5 or 6 months with Mr. Cantor on things that he and I can 
agree on because I believe that he will remain an influential and 
effective Member of the Republican Conference and a person dedicated to 
the best interests of this country.
  I want to also say to his wife, Diana, it is tough being a spouse. I 
lost my spouse, Judy, 17 years ago; and the gentleman from Virginia is 
blessed by having an extraordinarily wonderful wife, not only 
extraordinary in terms of her partnership with Mr. Cantor, but also 
extraordinary in terms of her own talents and intellect and successes 
that she has had in business and in life.
  They have three wonderful children who follow in their parents' 
success: Evan, a recent graduate of the University of Virginia, he 
could have gone to the University of Maryland, but he chose Virginia--
such is life; Jenna, who is a senior at the University of Michigan; and 
Michael, a second-year student at the University of Virginia.
  I know that their father will be continually successful, as he has 
been thus far in life, and will continue to contribute to his country 
in whatever capacity he might serve.
  I congratulate him on his service in this House. I thank him for the 
opportunity to work with him as a partner from time to time and as a 
respectful opponent from time to time, always realizing that there are 
435 of us elected around this country by our people.
  They elect us because they have some faith and trust that we will 
represent their views and the best interests of their communities, our 
States, and our country. So I thank him for his service.
  I am now pleased to yield to the gentleman from Virginia, the 
majority leader.
  Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, before I talk about today's schedule, I just 
want to thank the gentleman from Maryland for his very kind and 
generous remarks.
  I, too, have enjoyed the ability to get to know the gentleman from 
Maryland. Steny Hoyer, the Democratic whip, is a tenacious advocate for 
his cause. I know that these colloquies have, at times, become heated 
and long, much to the dismay of some who would like to make their word 
known on the floor.
  I do want to say that it has been a privilege. I respect the 
gentleman from Maryland as a friend and as a colleague who has been 
elected over the years by his constituents to be here to advocate on 
their behalf and for the good of the country.
  As the gentleman from Maryland said, Mr. Hoyer and I do not always 
agree, but I think we do share a love of this country. I think there 
are plenty of things, frankly, that we have found the ability to work 
towards in the fashion that I believe is the best way forward for this 
institution, which is to look for ways to set aside differences to find 
areas that we have in common, so that we can produce results for the 
American people.
  Again, the Democratic whip, Mr. Hoyer, my friend from Maryland, has 
been a very engaged individual on the issues, and it has been my and my 
team's honor to get to work with Steny and his team on some of the 
issues that come before this House that have to be addressed, and I 
thank him for that.
  I look forward to a continuing relationship here, as I intend to stay 
as the majority leader until the end of July and then for the rest of 
my term as a Member. Again, I want to thank him for the courtesies, and 
I look forward to continuing to nurture the relationship.
  Mr. HOYER. Reclaiming my time, the gentleman mentioned his staff. I 
am not going to mention them by name because I would leave out 
somebody, perhaps, but I will say, Mr. Speaker, that Mr. Cantor's staff 
and my staff--no matter what the differences might have been--have been 
able to work together in a collegial, effective, and productive manner 
on behalf of this House, I think.
  I want to thank the members of Mr. Cantor's staff for that. They have 
always been receptive to our discussions. We haven't always agreed, as 
no one would expect, but they have always been cordial and effective 
and have worked closely with my staff, and we appreciate that, and I 
appreciate that.
  I will now yield to the majority leader for the schedule.
  Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, 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 Tuesday and Wednesday, the House will meet at 10 a.m. for morning-
hour and noon for legislative business.
  On Thursday, the House will meet at 9 a.m. for legislative business. 
Last votes of the week are expected no later than 3 p.m.
  On Friday, no votes are expected.
  Mr. Speaker, the House will consider a few suspensions next week, a 
complete list of which will be announced by the close of business 
today.
  In addition, the House will consider H.R. 4413, the Customer 
Protection and End User Relief Act, sponsored by Chairman Frank Lucas 
of the Committee on Agriculture.
  Members are advised that debate on the bill and the eight amendments 
made in order by the rule will occur Monday night after the 6:30 p.m. 
vote series. However, votes on amendments and passage will occur on 
Tuesday afternoon.
  For the remainder of the week, the House will consider three bills to 
lower the price of gas and lessen the middle class squeeze caused by 
higher energy prices. These three bills are: H.R. 6, the Domestic 
Prosperity and Global Freedom Act, authored by Representative Cory 
Gardner; H.R. 3301, the North American Energy Infrastructure Act, 
sponsored by Chairman Fred Upton; and H.R. 4899, the Lowering Gasoline 
Prices to Fuel an America That Works Act of 2014, authored by Chairman 
Doc Hastings.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, this is the last colloquy that I think I will 
be having with the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cantor), which is why I 
spent the time to recognize him, because the American public, I am 
sure, thinks that we are all at one another's throats all the time, and 
that is very discouraging and very depressing for them.

                              {time}  1245

  Frankly, it is a problem for us here in the House because we don't 
like that atmosphere, either.
  But I wanted him to know that there is respect on each side, I think, 
for the other in many--in most instances. I hope that is the case. But 
I do have respect and appreciation to Mr. Cantor for his service.
  But because it is the last colloquy, not for the purposes of 
necessarily debate or discussion, but simply I want to articulate some 
of those things that

[[Page 10604]]

I know we need to address and I hope we address in the coming weeks 
before the August break. We clearly need to fund the highway trust fund 
with a sustainable funding source. Running out of money--I think every 
Member of the House does not want that to happen, does not want to have 
Governors around this country shutting down the letting of contracts 
for needed infrastructure improvement.
  We need to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. We still believe very 
strongly that we need to pass comprehensive immigration reform, which 
we think will be a positive for our economy and the morally right thing 
to do. We are still very concerned, Mr. Speaker, with unemployment 
insurance and the minimum wage. The Senate has passed an Employment 
Non-Discrimination Act that we would like and hope would be considered 
on this floor. The terrorism risk insurance will expire in the not-too-
distant future. We think both for our economy and for the private 
sector's growth we need to pass that. And, of course, we want to 
complete the appropriations bills before the end of the fiscal year.
  Lastly, let me say, Mr. Speaker, we will celebrate next week the 50th 
anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. And we will 
celebrate this summer with that which is being called Freedom Summer to 
celebrate that move towards a freer and more just nation. We are very 
hopeful that we can pass in the not-too-distant-future the Voting 
Rights Amendment Act, which will deal with ensuring that all people in 
our country not only have the right to vote but have access to voting 
and are facilitated in casting their vote.
  Again, we don't need to debate those issues, but I did want to set 
them forth, Mr. Speaker, because this is our last colloquy before our 
July Fourth break.
  Again, I want to close, unless the gentleman wants to say something, 
with thanks to Mr. Cantor for his service and for his working together 
when we saw that as possible, and when we disagreed to disagree as 
coworkers on behalf of this country.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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