Joe Barton

Mr. BARTON of Texas

Mr. BARTON of Texas. I withdraw my reservation on the gentleman's unanimous consent request.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. I would be happy to yield.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield, we have, just from the Energy and Commerce Committee on the minority side, a request for 25 speakers, plus several of our leadership. So if this unanimous consent request were to be agreed to, it would give each committee on both sides of the aisle an additional 15 minutes. I am sure there are many Members on the majority side, as on the minority, that wish to speak. I will offer it later on if you want to check on it.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Reclaiming my reservation, my understanding was that the Energy and Commerce Committee was going to go first, and then the Ways and Means Committee was going to go in the second hour. That is why Mr. McCrery is reserving his 30 minutes.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. I yield to my friend from California to explain to me why they don't want to use some of their time right now.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Reserving the right to object, Mr. Speaker, I will not object if the gentleman from California will explain to me why we are fighting over what was in a pre-agreed-upon time arrangement. We have got six or seven speakers from the Energy and Commerce Committee. We are simply trying to do it in a balanced way. The gentleman from California has 17 minutes; the gentleman from Michigan has, I believe, 21 minutes. We just wish that the time go down in a balanced way. I don't understand why that should be a problem.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to proceed out of order and engage in a colloquy with Mr. Stark and Mr. Dingell for purposes of trying to understand what is going on.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. I object to that.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to another distinguished member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Pitts of Pennsylvania.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Then I yield 1 minute to a member of the committee, Mr. Terry of Nebraska.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Then I suggest the absence of a quorum, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Parliamentary inquiry. What is House Resolution 594? Is that the closed rule?

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Parliamentary inquiry. I thought a motion to adjourn was in order at any time.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Who objected, Mr. Speaker? The gentleman has to be on his feet to object.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I renew my unanimous consent for 1 additional hour of time equally divided between the majority and the minority.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished leader of the Republican Study Committee, Mr. Hensarling of Texas.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the CBO baseline score shows that Medicare cuts total $157 billion over the 10-year period. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Staten Island, a member of the committee, Mr. Fossella.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to a distinguished member of the committee from the great State of Illinois (Mr. Shimkus), the winning pitcher on the congressional baseball team. (Mr. SHIMKUS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, could I inquire of the time remaining on each side on this part of the bill?

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman of the committee from the great State of Florida (Mr. Stearns). (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BARTON of Texas. So Mr. Dingell controls the time?