David Dreier

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DREIER. First of all, let me express my apologies; 99.999 percent of the time I am always riveted to the words of my friend from Worcester when he is offering his thoughts. I have to admit I was talking to our distinguished Rules Committee colleague, Mr. Webster, over here.

Mr. DREIER. First of all, let me thank the gentleman and say that he is right on mark in raising that question. It's not only a fair question; it's an appropriate question to ask of me. The answer is we will have a meeting in the House Rules Committee right upstairs on the third floor, at which time we will have before us a proposal that I can tell you will be very similar to the measure that was considered yesterday. As you know, there was $1.043 trillion in that proposal.

Mr. DREIER. It's my hope that we'll be able to do this today. That's the reason, as my friend knows, we were going to pass this measure yesterday and it didn't work out. I mean, that's part of the legislative process. I thank my friend for yielding.

Mr. DREIER. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DREIER. I thank my friend for yielding. Madam Speaker, what I would say is that I hope the Rules Committee will be able to meet in the not-too-distant future. It's now about 2\1/ 2\ minutes before 4 o'clock. I can't say how quickly we'll be able to meet. We certainly, as is always the case, will give the minority ample notice for them to have a chance to look at whatever modifications are made to the continuing resolution that will be before us.

Mr. DREIER. That is true. As the gentleman knows very well, we're in a position right now where we're dealing with an emergency situation; the American people are hurting. We had the measure before us with a full 3 days. It was put online on Monday, and so we had the 3 full days. And it is true, we're looking at what would be possibly an amendment to that measure, and so we will be in compliance. First of all, again, let me say, Madam Speaker, that there was not any 72 hours in the rules of the House, if the gentleman would look at the rules of the House. It is a 3-day layover requirement, and I believe that we will be in full compliance with the 3-day layover.

Mr. DREIER. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DREIER. I thank my friend for yielding. Let me just say that obviously we had a bipartisan agreement that was voted on yesterday that did not enjoy bipartisan support. I say that based on the fact that we had agreements made in colloquies that took place----

Mr. DREIER. Let me specifically say that the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Dicks), the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, indicated before the gentleman and the other Rules Committee members and me that he would be supportive of the measure; and he had a right to change his mind. And, second, in the colloquy that took place last week between the distinguished minority whip and the majority leader, the minority whip indicated that he was supportive of the continuing resolution.

Mr. DREIER. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DREIER. I'm happy to yield to my friend.

Mr. DREIER. I thank my friend for yielding. Madam Speaker, let me say that, first, to address the issue that was raised earlier, there was confusion. I don't know what the gentleman meant about 72 hours. There is a 3-day layover requirement. We will not, and let me underscore again, Madam Speaker, we will not be waiving the 3-day layover requirement; okay? So, I just think it's important for us to make that point. The gentleman repeatedly raises 72 hours and we're not in compliance with this and that, when, in fact, Madam Speaker, we will not be waiving. It's a 3-day layover requirement that exists, and we will not be waiving that. Second, as far as what time, I believe that, within the next few hours, we'll be able to meet in the Rules Committee and come to the House floor. There are no guarantees. There are no guarantees, but I believe there is a very good chance that we will be able to, in the next few hours, meet in the Rules Committee and the gentleman and I will come to the floor with a rule that will allow us to make in order the continuing resolution to ensure that our fellow Americans who are suffering will have the resources they need.

Mr. DREIER. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding. Let me say, at this juncture, I cannot tell my friend exactly what this measure is going to consist of, but we're in a position right now where that will be considered by the Committee on Rules when we meet upstairs. So we'll be meeting upstairs and we'll see whether that might be an amendment.

Mr. DREIER. If I could reclaim my time, Madam Speaker, let me just say that I hope very much we are able to see offsets for this because, again, we have a $14.5 trillion national debt. We have deficits as far as the eye can see. So, as we deal with the very important priorities of ensuring that our fellow Americans who are suffering because of these tragic disasters that have taken place across the country--we need to realize that there is a hell of a lot of waste in the Federal Government, a hell of a lot of waste, and there are regulations. Again, the measure that I just mentioned, my friends said that we haven't had jobs bills before us, but the measure that Mr. Hastings was just managing the rule on is designed to deal with the burden of regulations which have undermined the potential for job creation and economic growth. Again, pursuing an economic growth agenda is a priority of ours, and making sure that we get our fiscal house in order is one of those. So that is why I will say to my friend in response to his question, you bet we are going to try and find areas where the Federal Government has been expending dollars that have not been spent wisely and use those dollars to ensure that those who are suffering and those who are in need have what is necessary for them to survive.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, if I could reclaim my time, let me say to my friend we are not going to waive the 3-day layover requirement, and whatever changes are made in this measure will be addressed in the House Rules Committee and then fully debated on this House floor so the Members will have an opportunity to decide whether or not they are going to support the special rule that would then make in order consideration of this continuing resolution that will prevent a government shutdown, make sure that the resources for those who are suffering are made available, and take us to November 18 so that very thoughtful members of the Appropriations Committee, like the acting Speaker, will be able to deal with the appropriations priorities that we need to between now and November 18. With that, Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, first, may I inquire of the Chair how much time is remaining on each side?

Mr. DREIER. I thank my friend. Mr. Speaker, I would say to my friend that I'm going to close the debate over here as soon as my friend holds up that brilliant poster of the Fox News interview that Speaker Boehner had. With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to say to my friend from Fort Lauderdale, my Rules Committee colleague, Mr. Hastings, that I'd like to associate myself with a segment of the remarks that he made talking about the priority of addressing the very pressing needs of those who are suffering because of the disasters that have taken place in this country. My friend is absolutely right, and that's the reason that we are here. Now, I would like to say that I don't know where it is that my friends get this 72 hours that's discussed regularly. Mr. McGovern has raised that, Mr. Hastings has raised it, Madam Speaker, and I don't know where they get that. We have what is known as the 3-day layover requirement. And let me clarify this because obviously some of my colleagues don't completely understand. I'm talking about the rules of the House, not statements that may have been made. The rules of the House say that there is a 3-day layover requirement. On Monday, Madam Speaker, this measure was put online; the bill that we voted on yesterday was put online. It calls for $1.043 trillion in spending on an annual basis as we address keeping the government going, ensuring we don't have a government shutdown between now and November 18. That was put online on Monday.

Mr. DREIER. I yield to the gentleman from Florida.

Mr. DREIER. Are you telling me I can't associate myself with your remarks?

Mr. DREIER. If I could reclaim my time, I will tell my friend that the rules of the House are what we are complying with. The rules of the House say a 3-day layover requirement. On Monday, this was made available and put online. And now my friend says, I want to see it now, I want to see exactly what we're considering. The reason that we will not be waiving the 3-day layover requirement is that we are going to have a bill that is very similar to the measure that we had last night, with possibly an amendment made to that. I am happy to further yield to my friend.

Mr. DREIER. If I could reclaim my time, Madam Speaker, I will tell you that I don't know what he means by the ``Speaker's word.'' The rules of the House are what we live by. The rules of the House say that it needs to be made available online for 3 days. And guess what, Madam Speaker? We are in full compliance with the rules of the House, and we have no intention to waive that. Okay. I'm looking now at a statement that was made on some program on Fox that says: ``I will not bring a bill to the floor that hasn't been posted online for at least 72 hours.'' Let me say thank you. I want to express my great appreciation. And I appreciate the size of the type, too, making it very easy for me to read it across the aisle here, another indication of our bridging the gap between either side of the aisle here, which is something I greatly appreciate. It did turn out that the Speaker did say that, but then we came forward with a rules package; and that's why what I'm saying is the rules say that we will in fact have 3 days. A 3-day layover requirement needs to be met, and that's what the rules of the House consist of.

Mr. DREIER. If I could reclaim my time for just one moment--and the reason I'm doing that is that I'm told that we have about 1 minute or so left, and I know my friend has 10 minutes. So could my friend yield to the gentleman and me? I know we're going to get the great poster with the Speaker's quote up there again, and I will look forward to reading it again, and I will join in reading it again with you all.