Tom DeLay

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. I thank the gentleman for continuing to yield. I cannot, obviously, give a list like that. I do not have a list with me. Lists are being worked on, and certainly the gentleman will be included, or his side will be included in discussion of these issues. These are issues that are incredibly important that need to be addressed immediately so that we can do the recovery work that needs to be done for the victims of Katrina. It is a very expedited process, I might say, as to how we can take these simple bills and get everybody signed off on them and bring them to the floor. So I do not have a list now, but by this afternoon, or tomorrow certainly, the gentleman and his side will be informed as to what we are thinking about. Any ideas that the gentleman and his side of the aisle might have, we would welcome and would consider those. We are working with both sides of the aisle trying to be as bipartisan as we possibly can in considering everybody's ideas.

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman continuing to yield, and as he knows and has said, the Speaker and the majority leader of the Senate announced a joint committee to look into the response before and after Hurricane Katrina. I am not privy. It is the responsibility of the Speaker to make those kinds of appointments for that committee and put together the resolution, if it requires one to create the committee. I do know that the Speaker and his staff are working hard to get that up and going as soon as possible. The gentleman is right, we should not be bogging down those that are trying to make decisions that affect the lives of these victims. At the same time, and the gentleman understands this, the longer we wait around this place, the longer things take to happen, and it is incumbent upon us to get this joint committee up and running. I might say to the gentleman that I know he has suggested a commission, but I feel very strongly that it is our responsibility as a Congress in a bipartisan way to look at these issues and have oversight of these issues. And in accepting and understanding that responsibility, and not being relieved by somebody else or some other commission of that responsibility, this was one of the best ways we knew to do this. We looked back at precedent, even when the gentleman's side of the aisle was in the majority, and found a precedent for doing this in a bipartisan, bicameral way when the Democrats wanted to do it, and we thought it made sense and so that is exactly what we did. So we feel strongly that we, in a bipartisan way, are responsible for looking at these issues, and I would imagine by next week we will address this by whatever means is necessary to get it up and going. And also next week, I would assume that the Speaker would make those appointments that are necessary to fill that joint committee.

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will continue to yield, I would note that the week of October 10, which is the second week of October, and due to the way that Columbus Day and Yom Kippur fall that week, there is only a very narrow window of time when we could be voting. And with the expectation that we could potentially be in session until the Friday before Thanksgiving, we would suggest that the House follow the Senate and adjourn for the entire week of October 10. As for the week of October 3, Rosh Hashanah will make it very difficult for many Members to return to the Capitol prior to the evening of Wednesday, October 5, and at this point in time we anticipate having votes that week but not before Wednesday night. We will watch as things unfold with regard to the needs of floor time and we will make further pronouncements as we get closer to that week.

Mr. DeLAY. The gentleman is correct.

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the business in order under the Calendar Wednesday rule be dispensed with on Wednesday next.

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Madam Speaker, I offer a privileged resolution (H. Res. 422) and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the Senate concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 52) providing for the use of the catafalque situated in the crypt beneath the Rotunda of the Capitol in connection with memorial services to be conducted in the Supreme Court Building for the late honorable William H. Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the business in order under the Calendar Wednesday rule be dispensed with on Wednesday, September 7, 2005.

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, for the sake of communicating to the Members the situation we are in, I want to first say that I greatly appreciate the cooperation of all colleagues on both sides of the aisle. I appreciate the cooperation and work of the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) and the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri). We greatly appreciate the institution standing together and trying to make corrections that need to be made in this bill. I appreciate the hour and everybody coming together and working together for the purpose of fixing this bill. We will not be able to fix the bill tonight. We hope to come back at 9 a.m. in the morning and continue work on this very important highway bill. We hope to finish it as early as we can tomorrow. My message to the Members is go home, get a good night's sleep, and we will be back in the morning to finish the work of the House.

Mr. DeLAY. I yield to the gentleman from Minnesota.

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's words.

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I offer a privileged concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 225) and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, yesterday at 10:39 a.m. on the east coast, five men and two women were launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard the space shuttle Discovery, rocketing into low-earth orbit at 17,000 miles per hour. . . another small step for man, another giant leap for mankind. Yesterday's successful launch will not simply pick up where America left off two years ago after the Columbia disaster. Yesterday's launch instead opens a new era of space exploration--an era defined by President Bush's ambitious new vision and made possible by the courage and brilliance of the men and women of NASA. Every resource of our space program will be dedicated to this new mission: The shuttle has returned to flight and will work to complete the International Space Station now orbiting the earth 250 miles above our heads; Scientists and astronauts aboard the station will conduct unprecedented research on the long-term exposure of human beings to micro-gravity and radiation, to test our endurance for prolonged space- travel; Meanwhile, here on earth, engineers and scientists will design a new crew exploration vehicle that will eventually replace the shuttle and take mankind back to the moon, where more historic discovery and science can be pursued. All of these endeavors will lead our space program toward our next giant leap--a manned mission to Mars. The first step of that journey was taken yesterday morning, Mr. Speaker, and once again, NASA's army of geniuses has set us on a clear path toward our destiny. I spoke with mission Commander Eileen Collins a few weeks back, and she said her crew was ready and eager to return the shuttle to flight. I also spoke with NASA Administrator Mike Griffin today, to congratulate him and the entire NASA team on a successful launch, as well as to commend him on an incredible first 3-plus months on the job. The country is lucky to have a man like him in public service heading up the finest space agency in the world. Yesterday, Americans learned once again that we have the resources and the personnel to do the impossible, Mr. Speaker. I commend every member of our space community for keeping the Discovery crew's appointment with history, and while we wait for their safe return next week, our hopes and prayers are with them all.

Mr. DeLAY

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding. I cannot say that. I really do not have any idea. I know it will be after Tuesday, and that is about the best I can give the gentleman.

Mr. DeLAY. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Yes, we plan to present the postal reform bill on Tuesday. We think we can do both that and the small business health plan on Tuesday.

Mr. DeLAY. It is possible that Interior, Legislative Branch, and Homeland Security conference reports could be presented by next week.

Mr. DeLAY. We could bring them to the floor by next week.

Mr. DeLAY. If the gentleman will continue to yield, we would have to go to conference on those three bills for sure, and, depending on the progress of the other body, we may be going to conference on others.

Mr. DeLAY. If the gentleman will continue to yield, no, we did not list that bill as of yet. There are still discussions going on about that bill, and until those discussions are concluded, we cannot predict when it will come to the floor.

Mr. DeLAY. I appreciate the gentleman yielding. It is possible it could be added to the calendar, but looking at how busy a week we have next week and the controversial issues that we will be bringing to the floor of the House, it is hard to say if we could put that bill on the floor next week.

Mr. DeLAY. I appreciate the gentleman yielding. We will try our best, in consultation with you, to give you some idea of when we could possibly bring that bill, and if it is going to be considered next week and we can fit into the schedule, then certainly we would let you know by probably the end of business Monday.

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my friend yielding. I am very encouraged. I serve on the conference committee, so I am very encouraged by the accomplishments and progress that has been made over the course of this week. I believe there is really only one major issue left to be resolved by the conferees, and that relates to transit funding. Hopefully, that can be resolved prior to the Wednesday night expiration of the current short-term funding measure, and then, as normal, there are a lot of smaller issues that can be resolved by then. I am very hopeful that we can pass that conference report before we leave here next week.

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding. Everyone is working as hard as they can. As the gentleman knows, this bill has taken a long time to work out the differences between the House and the Senate. We get very close every time we reach the deadline of an expiration date. The expiration date is set on Wednesday. Everybody is going to be working over the weekend, and we are working as hard as we can with the goal to bring that conference report to the floor before the expiration of the short-term funding measure.

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding. We are working on it. We hope to get it done by the end of next week. It is a very ambitious goal, I must say, to take a bill of this magnitude and, in a matter of 2 weeks, get all the differences worked out between the House and the Senate and bring it to the floor. This is another item that the House and Senate are working on through the weekend, and at least encouragement has been brought to my attention by the chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce that, with a lot of hard work, it is very possible that we could get this energy conference report to the Members for a vote by the end of next week.

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding. We have not made any decisions yet, but obviously the gentleman knows and Members understand that the appropriations process did end with us passing our bills before the July 4 break. The Senate is working on appropriations bills, and we will be doing those conferences as they present themselves. Also, we do know that at least the first week back, we could be looking at the Coast Guard authorization bill and possibly a research bill from the Committee on Science. That is the first week back. Other bills will be considered during the August district work period, and we will be able to make a more firm announcement to the Members as to what we anticipate having the first week back and, in addition to that, the second week also.