Eric Cantor

Mr. CANTOR

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York for the purposes of announcing next week's schedule.

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, further, I would ask the gentleman if he could tell us about the expected process of amendments, of substitutes. How many substitutes should we expect your side to offer? Will the Blue Dogs have a substitute? Does this budget replace the budget of the Progressive Caucus that we usually see come to the floor? Will they have a need for a substitute? Just trying to get some idea, Mr. Speaker. I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman from Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the gentleman from New York about the schedule past the Easter recess and what we can expect to come to the floor following our return from recess.

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, I would ask the further question. Does he anticipate a weekend session possibility?

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman. I would ask again, are we to expect a vote on D.C. voting next week as well?

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I would reclaim my time. I would ask the gentleman from New York, in reference to the D.C. voting bill, what are the latest plans for floor consideration on that? And, will a second amendment protection be added to that bill? I yield.

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the gentleman if the House will begin the process of deliberating on the budget on Wednesday. Is that the planned day that we will have the discussion on the budget here on the floor; and, does he expect that debate to stretch over 2 days? And, again, if he could elaborate as to when the final vote on the budget is expected.

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman. At this time, I would like to again reiterate my thanks to the gentleman from New York, and I yield back.

Mr. CANTOR. I yield to the gentleman from New York.

Mr. CANTOR

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman. As the gentleman knows, certainly there are procedures in place to waive the rules so that we can, on the minority side, have a voice in the passage of this legislation consistent with what President Obama has continued to say, which is that we should change the way this town works and continue to allow all sides to have a voice in what Congress does. I think, as we saw over the last week, evidence or results of rushing things through the House and disallowing our side to have a say in legislation may very well end up with wrong results. So I am saddened to hear that we will not be having an opportunity to offer an amendment to that bill.

Mr. CANTOR. Yes.

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, I would ask the gentleman further on that note about a markup in the Financial Services Committee. I take it to mean that the Financial Services Committee will be working on a piece of legislation, not necessarily aimed at a bank fix and making sure we can get the impaired assets out of the market, but instead, from what I hear the gentleman say, that it is a bill aimed at providing a structure for those businesses, those institutions receiving TARP funds. I yield.

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman. And one additional question along those lines, Mr. Speaker, could we expect then the following week for that bill to be coming to the floor?

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, we heard an announcement from the President of a plan to support small businesses. And as the gentleman knows, the Republican plan for stimulus was focused like a laser on the job creators, which are the small businesses of this economy. We know that 70 percent of the jobs come from small businesses, entrepreneurs and the self-employed. So we were very delighted to see the announcement--and I know the gentleman himself had some public comments to make, as well--lauding the move towards finally saying, if we are going to create jobs, we had better focus on small business. But my concern is, Mr. Speaker, that when you're talking about small business and the SBA, truly nine out of 10 small businesses in this country have not had any encounter with the SBA, nor do they intend to or want to. I will tell the gentleman, in my district, I had a small business forum last week. I spoke to 25 small business people. What they are asking for is access to credit. They are looking for the banking system to work. They want their own community banks, not necessarily government strings attached to loans. They also are looking for relief from the tax code. As we have noted on the floor several times, Mr. Speaker, the budget that was proposed by the White House actually impacts small businesses more than anyone else. In fact, 50 percent of those receiving a tax hike in accordance with the President's budget are small businesses. So with that in mind, and given that the gentleman has applauded the move on the part of the White House to help provide relief to small businesses, I would ask the gentleman if there are any plans to include tax relief for small businesses in the majority's budget as it works its way through committee and then to the floor next week? I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, how I would respond to that is let's take a step back and look at sort of the events that transpired that led up to the need for today's vote on the AIG bonus payments, okay. I think that the events if we follow them teach us a lesson. The stimulus bill that included a provision prohibiting the government from disallowing the bonus payments was in that 1,100-page bill. I think it is fair to say, Mr. Speaker, no one in this House read the bill in its entirety. Nor did the public have its right to know realized. I think that ought to give us the sense that we need to be much more deliberative and open about this process. These ideas, Mr. Speaker, that the gentleman is proposing to help small business, most of which we probably do agree on, but, frankly, the better way to ensure success and a positive result is to have an open process where we all have the ability to offer our ideas, that the ideas and the policies are not just handed down from the majority leader or the Speaker's office and imposed upon the will of the people of this country. So I would just reiterate to the gentleman that if we can see our way forward to allow the minority the ability to offer up real, positive alternatives if we disagree, it would all behoove us to work in that fashion. We can end up avoiding the type of result that came from the rushed way that so-called stimulus bill passed this house.

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman. How I would just respond before I yield back my time is that there was a stronger bipartisan vote in favor of our substitute than there was in support of the actual bill that passed. I think that we can take that as a signal that this House ought to be open, ventilated, and available for debate. With that, I yield back the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the gentleman.

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask further questions of the gentleman, as we have been told that the budget will be marked up next week, and I am wondering from the gentleman, number one, if he expects the budget on the floor the following week? In addition to that, I am curious, as are the Members on our side of the aisle, about the subject of your discussions with Chairman Spratt as to the direction of the budget. There has been a lot of discussion publicly as well as in these halls, about the proposed cap-and-tax proposal, where some economists, those from MIT and others, predict that if we are to provide for the cap-and- tax proposal, that it will cost American families at least $3,100 every year. That, to me, is a great cause for alarm, especially given the economic times and the struggle that the working families of this country are encountering. It was also revealed this week that the number provided for in the proposed budget has underestimated the real cost of cap-and-tax. And if that is the case, that is even more alarming given the fact that if we are looking at an over $3,000 per family tax, what is it that we are doing if we are putting that cost on anybody who pays an electric bill, anyone who pays a gas bill, anyone who buys anything manufactured in this country? So I ask the gentleman if he is contemplating that the budget proposal that will come to the floor will have that in it. I yield.

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland, the majority leader, for the purpose of announcing next week's schedule.

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. I would like to ask the gentleman that, in reference to his mention of the public lands omnibus bill, and that will be coming back to the floor, I would like to ask the gentleman, will our side, the Republicans, be given a motion to recommit or an opportunity to amend this bill?

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman. I would hope, Mr. Speaker, that the gentleman would also share the attitude of discussing with us the direction, just as you indicate that the White House discusses but doesn't tell you what to do. So I like that spirit of cooperation. I would ask the gentleman, Mr. Speaker, further, about any insight you can give us as to TARP 2 budgeting. As we all know, if we do not get the banking system fixed, we won't have the credit system fixed for the small businesses of this country, and we won't see the economy get back on the path to growth. So I would ask the gentleman, is he contemplating a number in the budget? Does your conversation with Chairman Spratt indicate what we could expect there? And I will yield.

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman. I think that the percentage would probably be reflected in the fact that there may be 17 or so Republican provisions in the bill out of 140 or so. So I wouldn't necessarily say, Mr. Speaker, that that would reflect what our side would amend or hope to amend the bill with. But I would like to ask the gentleman, Mr. Speaker, that last week he was on the floor and he mentioned that a stem-cell bill will be coming to the floor prior to recess. And since the gentleman has not noticed the bill for next week, I would ask, Mr. Speaker, could the gentleman tell us if he expects it on the floor the following week?

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, I ask whether the gentleman can tell us as to the prospect for reconciliation instructions to be included in the budget. We have heard this week that the White House has told leaders on your side of the aisle to pursue health reform through reconciliation as well. And to us, this seems like a straight-up partisan approach, something I don't think that the American people are looking for right now, especially when it comes to items such as taxes and items like health care that everyone is concerned with. There is no distinction made between hardship on health care between Republican and Democrat. So I would like to ask the gentleman, will the budget be coming through with reconciliation instructions? And I yield.

Mr. CANTOR

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, I would like to, for the record, set it straight. My comments were that if we are going to get serious about focusing on job creation, yes, I would support a bill that would provide relief to the small business people of this country, so we can get the entrepreneurs back into the game of putting capital to work so we can not only save the jobs that we have got, we can begin to create new ones for our families and our communities. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the gentleman if he would respond to some of the reports that there may be a bill dealing with stem cell research coming to the floor next week, and whether he could confirm that and, if so, what is the substance of that bill. I yield further to the gentleman.

Mr. CANTOR. I thank the gentleman, Mr. Speaker, and I yield back.

Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland, the majority leader, for the purpose of announcing next week's schedule.