Roy Blunt

Mr. BLUNT

Mr. BLUNT. Yes.

Mr. BLUNT. Are there any specifics to a bill yet? I mean, I know what the House passed. I roughly know what the Senate passed, but I have absolutely no idea how we're working out the combination of those two things. There's no conferences, as I understand it.

Mr. BLUNT. So there's no conference. This is a multi-billion dollar bill, and I believe your indications are we'd be dealing with this currently non-existing bill early next week?

Mr. BLUNT. And, in fact, late in the last Congress we had that; and as I recall, we brought a tax bill to the floor and gave our friends on your side, the minority at that time, an opportunity to have a recommital or some kind of motion that would change or improve that bill. I wonder if, at the very least, we could expect that same kind of treatment when a conference is not decided to be possible by the majority.

Mr. BLUNT. I do agree with that.

Mr. BLUNT. So on the 5th and 19th Members can definitely schedule things in their districts?

Mr. BLUNT. And also I would ask as a final question of the majority leader, it appears we are now going to miss the anticipated deadline, and I know we almost always do. But could you give us any more information about the fall schedule, dates that you have already determined we will likely now be working in that period of time but maybe dates where Members could plan to do things in their districts? And I yield for a response.

Mr. BLUNT. In discussing the Senate calendar now, which also anticipates the November 16 date, I think the Senate leaders said if they do work beyond November 16, they won't be working in Washington the week of Thanksgiving or the following week. I'm wondering how quickly the leader thinks he may be able to give our Members some direction on that issue on the basis that the Senate has already given that specific direction.

Mr. BLUNT. I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. BLUNT. Except you would be definitive about the week of Christmas, I'm sure, if it comes to that?

Mr. BLUNT. I would assure my friend that our Members would be even more dissatisfied with you if we are here on Christmas. I said that was the last question, but I was just handed a note and I'll bring up one more topic. The Senate just passed a resolution condemning Moveon.Org's ad in the New York Times that suggested that General Petraeus might be General ``Betray Us.'' Since that has now passed the Senate, when could we expect to see a resolution like that on the House floor?

Mr. BLUNT. Maybe we should encourage them by passing this as well.

Mr. BLUNT. Well, I would suggest on this topic that the way that the children's health care program is likely to continue at the end of this month will be a continuation of the current program. A bill that has not been debated, a bill that's treated like a conference bill, with the exception of not having the conference on this big a topic, is a bill that's not likely to become law between now and September 30, I would think.

Mr. BLUNT. I thank my friend for that. I would encourage you to look at it and would hope that we could see a similar action taken on the House floor.

Mr. BLUNT. Yes.

Mr. BLUNT. I appreciate that. And, in fact, while you may not want to articulate it, I thought you did very well. If you want to take that out of the just-entered-into Congressional Record of our proceedings, I'm sure I could cosponsor exactly the comments you just made and would like to see us have a chance to do that. I thank my friend for the information.

Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, I would ask if my friend has a sense of the time of that. Are we looking at what time frame that that CR would last for?

Mr. BLUNT. I would.

Mr. BLUNT. I thank my friend for that information. Of course that is, as he would know, frustrating for us. I'm familiar with the process where the minority in the Senate won't go to conference.

Mr. BLUNT. I appreciate that information. On Iraq legislation, would we have any reason to anticipate that legislation next week or, in your opinion, in the following week?

Mr. BLUNT

Mr. BLUNT. I would yield.

Mr. BLUNT. I would yield.

Mr. BLUNT. I thank the gentleman. I also thank the gentleman for his accommodation to the schedule. I know I want to go and many other Members will want to attend the memorial service for our good friend Paul Gillmor who did so much work for his constituents in this House, and I know in an already short week that was a real challenge to be able to figure out what we should do and how we should do it. My understanding now is, just to repeat some of what you said, that in addition to the 9/11 commemoration resolution on Monday, everything else on Monday on the floor will be a suspension vote.

Mr. BLUNT. On the appropriation bills, again, as I reminded the majority leader earlier today, the Republicans voting for the appropriations bills, most of them had a number of Republicans that would sustain a Presidential veto if that turns out to be the result. I would anticipate that we need to be thinking about how we move this as quickly as possible. In that regard, the Senate has already produced a fall calendar for their Members. Our Members would benefit as early as possible to having a sense to where, if we are not going to be here in the fall, I think the Senate intends not to be here the week of Columbus Day and maybe the week of Thanksgiving and maybe the week after that. I wonder if the leader can give us any sense of when to expect a fall calendar or your views on that at this point as Members make their plans for the fall. It appears the Senate, by the way, it appears our friends on the other side are scheduling as if they intend to be here for quite some time.

Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, I yield to my good friend, the majority leader, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), to give us the information about next week's schedule.