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“LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H6681-H6682 on June 20, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM
(Mr. FAZIO of California asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)
Mr. FAZIO of California. Mr. Speaker, I take this time for the purpose of inquiring of the distinguished majority whip about the schedule for next week. I would be happy to yield for whatever description of the schedule he would like to provide.
Mr. DeLAY. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, the House has concluded its legislative business for the week. On Monday, June 24, we will meet in pro forma session Of course, there will be no legislative business and no votes that day.
On Tuesday, June 25, the House will meet at 10:30 a.m. for morning hour, and 12 noon for legislative business. Members should note that we do expect recorded votes close to 1 p.m. Please be advised that we will have a full day planned for Tuesday, June 25.
The House will first debate H.R. 2531, the House Parent Exemption Act, which is on the corrections day calendar. We will then take up under suspension of the rules H.R. 3604, the Safe Drinking Water Act. After consideration of the suspension on Tuesday, the House will consider the rule for H.R. 3666, the VA-HUD appropriations, and the bill itself.
On Wednesday, June 26, and the balance of the week, the House will consider the appropriation bill for the Department of Transportation, and possibly for the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to remind Members that we may take up a resolution holding the President's aides in contempt of Congress. It is our hope that the President will be forthcoming with the subpoenaed Travelegate documents before next week. However, in the event that these key documents are not provided, we may need to act on the contempt resolution.
Mr. Speaker, we hope to finish legislative business and start the July 4th district period by 2 p.m. on Friday, June 28. Members should be prepared to return to Washington on Tuesday, July 9. We expect recorded votes to be held that day after 5 p.m.
Mr. FAZIO of California. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the whip for assuring members that 5 o'clock is still the time for votes on that Tuesday return after the Fourth of July break.
Is it likely that given the fact that the Labor-HHS bill is not yet marked up and probably will not be until the end of Tuesday of next week, that we probably are not likely to see it on the floor? Is it realistic that it will be the two appropriations bills, Transportation, VA-HUD?
Mr. DeLAY. Well, the reason I said possibly consideration of the Labor-HHS appropriations bill is that hopefully we can work some sort of agreement out between the ranking member, Mr. Obey, and the chairman, Mr. Livingston, so that we could go to that bill. If that is not possible, then we may not do the bill next week.
Mr. FAZIO of California. Mr. Speaker, I have another question. Could the gentleman tell me when the first reconciliation bill is likely to hit the floor. I know many thought it would be before us in the next week. I know also that the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Gephardt], the Democratic leader, has written to the Speaker asking for some sort of clarification as to the intent of the majority with regard to welfare, Medicaid, and taxes, whether they would be tied together or come separately, would they or would they not be part of the reconciliation, and what requirements might the Committee on Rules impose as to how we could construct a viable Democratic alternative.
Is the gentleman in a position to give us any understanding about when that might come and how it might come?
{time} 1800
Mr. DeLAY. If the gentleman would continue to yield, those decisions have not been made as yet, and we are consulting with as many Members as possible to decide which is the best way to proceed.
We expect that the first reconciliation bill, if indeed we split up the reconciliation bill, would come soon after the July 4th break. We have every intention of working with the minority's leadership to make sure that the minority will have plenty of time in which to craft any substitute that they may want to offer.
Mr. FAZIO of California. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentleman's assurance, and I look forward to finalizing the arrangements, because I want to maintain, very clearly, that the minority is very anxious to participate in the discussions, whether we take them up as a package or individually, and we look forward to providing an alternative.
I want to find out from the majority whip, if he can tell us, what will be the fate of the so-called reform week, which we understood was coming that week on our return. We now have backed up several key appropriations bills, we have just heard about the need to bring up the reconciliation bills, and we pick up anecdotally that many of the reforms are falling by the wayside.
I am wondering, is reform week still in our future, or has it perhaps been drifting off into oblivion?
Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman will continue to yield, I would say to him that we want to continue the reputation that we have established in the 104th Congress of being the reform Congress. We have every intention of continuing with our plans for a reform week.
We intend to do a campaign finance reform bill. Unfortunately, we are slipping the schedule on our appropriations bills, and our first priority is to get through the 13 appropriation bills and use the precious floor time for them, but we have every intention of honoring our commitments on reforms, to continue the reforms that we have been working on, sometime in July.
Mr. FAZIO of California. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, I would once again ask the gentleman, as I have the gentleman from California, Chairman Thomas, and others who may have jurisdiction, if we could be given some understanding about what will be coming to the floor during that week, whenever it is.
It is our experience that when we have task force government in the legislative process, we do not always have an opportunity to participate until, all of a sudden, the legislation is before us. So, I am wondering when we may be informed about what will be the composition of reform week in some detail. Could the gentleman inform us?
Mr. DeLAY. As soon as we know, we will let the gentleman know.
Mr. FAZIO of California. I consider that a very candid comment, and I appreciate the response.
One last question, and I will not prolong this. I know a good deal of attention is suddenly being focused on the MFN for China. Could the gentleman tell us when that very important debate, which is really bipartisan in nature, might well come before the body?
Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Chairman, I would advise the gentleman that we are trying to work with both sides on the MFN issue. We are going to have a leadership meeting next week and we have been in discussion with our leadership team. There is a possibility that we would do MFN next week if we can get the floor time for it and do it.
We would like to get it on to the floor and moving as quickly as we can, and we think we can do that. Although, we cannot, for certain, say it is going to be next week, there is a possibility it will be brought up next week.
Mr. FAZIO of California. Does the gentleman have any idea how long we might have to debate that, how extensive the time commitment to MFN would likely be?
Mr. DeLAY. If we do it next week, it would be several hours, but it would not be the 20 hours as required. We will consult with the minority leadership to make sure that every Member's requests are taken care of, but understanding that floor time is very precious.
Mr. FAZIO of California. Mr. Chairman, I will try to wrap this one up and yield further.
If it is possible, after the first two appropriations bills, VA-HUD and Transportation, are dealt with, if Labor-HHS is not ready, we may well then go to Thursday afternoon, Friday morning consideration of MFN; is that correct?
Mr. DeLAY. I would say that that is a real possibility.
Mr. FAZIO of California. And Friday is firm, until 2, next week?
Mr. DeLAY. Friday we will be out by 2 p.m. no matter what.
Mr. FAZIO of California. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate very much the input of the majority whip, and if the Speaker would forbear for just a second, I have been asked by the White House to indicate for those going to the picnic tonight that they are urging people to take Independence Avenue to 17th street, right on 17th, cross Constitution and take the first right turn onto the Ellipse.
There is a tremendous potential for a traffic snarl there tonight. Parking is available on the Ellipse and east toward East Executive Drive. If any Members who are listening to this have some concerns about it, call the cloakrooms of the two parties and we will help try to ease transportation.
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