David Dreier

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. May I ask in what order we would be addressing those?

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I will not object. I withdraw my reservation.

Mr. DREIER. Yes, I am aware of that. Continuing to reserve the right to object, I would like to ask the majority leader, assuming we do reconvene and assuming that the House does not adjourn, what does he anticipate the schedule would be? Are we going to address the priority of assuring that the resources get to the State of Minnesota? Or are we going to move directly to the FISA issue? In what order will we be considering these issues, Mr. Leader?

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, further parliamentary inquiry, in response to the question from the distinguished majority leader, I will say that we have no way of verifying what it is that is coming out of this computer here. It is not operating the way it normally does. If Members are able to still vote, we can see this screen here, but it is not operating. I don't normally operate this thing, but our crack team here has told me that it is not operating the way that it normally does. I am happy to respond to any further questions.

Mr. DREIER. I yield to my friend from Dallas.

Mr. DREIER. Further reserving the right to object, I am happy to yield to the distinguished majority leader.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, might I continue my parliamentary inquiry?

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, as I prepare to yield to the majority leader, I would like to inquire, is the vote still open? If Members want to change their votes now, they can continue to do that? If a Member were to walk into the Chamber now, they could still vote?

Mr. DREIER. I am happy to further yield to the distinguished majority leader.

Mr. DREIER. If I could reclaim my time under parliamentary procedure. The answer to that is we don't know.

Mr. DREIER. Continuing to reserve the right to object, Mr. Speaker, and I do so to say that under normal circumstances this would be somewhat entertaining and funny, but this is a very, very serious matter, and the request that has just been made by the gentleman is one which we want to take seriously. We don't know what the outcome of the vote that is being considered at this moment is. Many of us don't know how our colleagues are recorded, and I will tell you this is a very, very difficult time for this institution. And I'm happy to yield to my friend if he would like to respond to the challenging circumstance that we find ourselves in.

Mr. DREIER. I am happy to further yield to my friend.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry, you said the Clerk is still in the process of tallying the votes?

Mr. DREIER. Now I have the word.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, how long has this vote been open? I am happy to yield to the distinguished majority leader.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the right to object simply to inquire of the distinguished majority leader, does he intend to recess the House for this 30-minute time? I wonder if he might enlighten us as to what the plan would be. I'm happy to yield to my friend.

Mr. DREIER. Further reserving the right to object, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to inquire further of the majority leader. We're in a very awkward situation here. We don't know what the vote total is at this juncture. The House may have just voted to adjourn so far as we know. So the gentleman has just come to the conclusion that he's going to propose that we recess, or he said rise. We're already in the House. We're not in the Committee of the Whole. I'd be happy to yield to my friend if he would like to respond.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to propound a parliamentary inquiry. I'd like to inquire of the Chair, by what means will the Chair know what the totals are on the vote that we're engaged in at this moment?

Mr. DREIER. Further parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry. How much time is remaining on the vote that we can't see displayed any place that we are supposed to be casting?

Mr. DREIER. What is the traditional method of verification? For me, it is to look at the board up there and see how my State delegation had voted. Mr. Speaker, I was just asking the Chair to enlighten us as to exactly how it is through this traditional procedure of determining what the vote is that you're going to report to us. I usually look up here on the wall and see how my State delegation is voting, how some of my colleagues are voting. We don't have the ability to do that. I'm just wondering exactly how it is that the Chair will be able to make this announcement to us.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. If the gentlewoman would yield, I think I've got it in my hands right now.

Mr. DREIER. I understand that.