Legislative Program

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman, and I appreciate that information.

I would simply observe, Mr. Speaker, and then I will have a couple of questions of the majority leader, but last week we did something that was, I think, critically important, and we did it in a bipartisan fashion: we made sure that the government was open, and we made sure that America pays its bills.

Today, in an overwhelming bipartisan fashion, we passed the Water Resources Reform and Development Act, which will, as I heard the majority leader saying and I said as well, be helpful in growing our economy, growing jobs, and investing in America's growth.

I would simply observe that there are other things, Mr. Speaker, that I think we can act on in a bipartisan fashion as well and be successful in seeing enacted, which would make a real difference on behalf of our country.

I would therefore, Mr. Speaker, ask the majority leader whether or not there is any thought about bringing to the floor before the end of the year the immigration bill, and I will yield to my friend for the purpose of a response.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for that information, Mr. Speaker, and I would say of course the Senate has passed a bill in an overwhelming bipartisan fashion, an immigration bill, and if in fact we bring an immigration bill to the floor, whether I vote for it or not, and we move that bill through the House, that will give us an opportunity to do what my Republican friends, Mr. Speaker, have been talking about--negotiating, sitting down, talking, going to conference. I think that will be a step forward.

We are on this side of the aisle very, very strongly in favor of moving immigration reform. We are obviously hopeful that the budget conference that has been convened will reach an agreement. We hope it will reach an agreement, frankly, before Thanksgiving so we will not again have to address on a crisis basis either the keeping of government open and funding of government for the balance of the fiscal year, but also ensuring that we do not have another time when we come very close to not approving the payment of our bills by what ought to be the most creditworthy nation on Earth, and I think it is the most creditworthy nation on Earth, so I am pleased to hear that information.

Mr. Speaker, let me ask the majority leader whether or not he has any information which might lead us to having some confidence that we might have progress on the conference on the farm bill.

I yield to my friend, the majority leader.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I think Mr. Cantor and I are in absolute agreement. If both sides take that attitude, then we can make some progress. Hopefully, that will be the case.

Mr. Speaker, the majority leader has said, I said, Hal Rogers of the Appropriations Committee has said, and others have said that the sequester will not work, that the sequester will, in fact, undermine the ability of America to invest in its growth and its opportunities and its ability to compete globally so that we can create jobs here in America. The majority leader has made an observation, Mr. Speaker, that he didn't think the sequester was the way to go. I share that view, and I share very strongly the view of Mr. Rogers that, in fact, the sequester could not be implemented in a way that was consistent with the interests of our country.

I want to ask the majority leader, Mr. Speaker, focusing on what we can agree on and not what we disagree on, whether or not he shares my view that one of the conference's objectives should be replacing the sequester with a formula that gets us to a place where we are bringing down our expenditures and at the same time making sure that we protect the mandatory expenditures that Mr. Ryan talks about and others talk about to make sure that our most vulnerable in America are protected and that we do so, frankly, before Thanksgiving, Mr. Speaker.

I am urging the majority leader to hopefully take that course so that we do not once again confront a crisis prior to Christmas when we are scheduled to adjourn for the Christmas and Hanukkah holidays, but also to preclude coming into the first of January with a deadline confronting us and disrupting the confidence of our people and, frankly, the people around the world.

I yield to my friend.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for his comments.

Mr. Speaker, we have two bills: the Senate bill, which was passed some 6 months ago, and the House bill, which was passed about 6 months ago. We have been hoping to go to conference during those past 6 months. That hasn't happened. We are now going to conference. That is a positive step forward. My belief is that the conference will discuss both the Senate bill and its priorities and the House bill and its priorities, and we will come to a resolution, hopefully, on a compromise so that we can get from where we are to where we need to be.

I am not going to get into a debate at this point in time. At some point in time that will be appropriate with the gentleman. We seem to hoe this road a lot, but the fact of the matter is we ought to look at those who have made recommendations, worked on this to figure out how we can get from where we are to where we need to be.

Without going further into the specifics, as we talk about next week, let me ask the gentleman if he can give our Members some view of his thoughts on scheduling and subject matters for consideration for the balance of the year. I know we talked about a couple of items, and I know Members are interested in what their planning should be for the balance of the year, which is coming up pretty soon.

I yield to the majority leader.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source