Steny Hoyer

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. The gentleman anticipated my two questions, I see. The conference reports, will we be considering the DOD appropriations conference report next week?

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield to my friend, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), the majority leader, for the purposes of informing us of next week's schedule.

Mr. HOYER. I yield to my friend.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Leader, there has been a lot of discussion, and I have read some things in the newspaper and heard discussions, about the child tax credit bill which has been pending for some time in conference. Can the gentleman tell me whether or not there is an intention to move that out of conference; and, if so, what condition will it be in in terms of what will there be in the bill, if the gentleman knows, in addition to the originally passed child tax credit? I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, does the gentleman have a view that if there was some disagreement and an agreement could not be reached on the other matters above and beyond the child tax credit, would the gentleman's expectation be that the child tax credit might be moved independently? Could the gentleman see a scenario that would result in that? I yield to my friend.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3313, what day does the gentleman anticipate we will consider this bill? That is the Defense of Marriage Act. I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I would hope that during the consideration of the child tax credit, assuming the conference is going to meet, that our conferees be included in that conference. As the gentleman knows, we feel pretty strongly about the fact that if conferences are held, those Democratic conferees that have been appointed by the Speaker need to be invited and to be able to participate in those. So I would urge that to occur when and if that conference is convened.

Mr. HOYER. I am glad to yield.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, this important Free Trade Agreement will enhance the already strong economic ties that exist between the United States and Australia. I support this agreement and will vote in favor of the required implementing legislation. This pact has been called the ``manufacturing FTA'' because of the extent to which the United States manufacturing sector will benefit from the expanded market access provided by this agreement. Perhaps most importantly, Mr. Speaker, more than 99 percent of remaining Australian duties on U.S.-manufactured goods will be lifted the day the agreement takes effect. It is estimated that this immediate tariff elimination will result in an additional $2 billion in annual exports to Australia, already one of the world's largest single markets for U.S. goods. This improved market access will benefit American companies, ranging from aircraft manufacturers to automakers to construction equipment suppliers. Manufacturers, however, will not be the only beneficiaries of this agreement. All U.S. agricultural exports to Australia will receive immediate duty-free access, and market access will be provided to American telecommunications, computer, energy, and financial services companies, among others. Mr. Speaker, I have and will continue to support free trade agreements that balance the need for expanding markets for American companies with the importance of providing a level playing field for American workers and protection for the environment. We must consider the specific labor and environmental conditions that exist in the countries that we seek to trade with as well as the provisions included in the agreements to protect workers both here and in other countries and environmental concerns as well. I am confident, Mr. Speaker, that these goals will be met with respect to Australia. Australia is almost a mirror economy of the United States; and, in that context, I think we can have real confidence that this will be an agreement that will benefit America, benefit Australia, and benefit our workers as well.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. In closing, Mr. Speaker, and I do not want to get deeply into this, but can we anticipate votes on any of these? And if we can anticipate votes on them, will they be in the approximate range of 15 to 20 to 25 minutes? Or does the gentleman have any idea what our plan is?

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his observations.

Mr. HOYER. My question was for this year. There was no hearing, am I correct?

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I would ask the gentleman, is that the same bill on which the committee refused to have a hearing on that very critically important issue, the alternative offered by the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Baird)?

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, prolonging this will not be very educational for Members or others who might be interested, but I will observe that oftentimes the offering of a motion to recommit without the provision for the waivers that are given to the majority in terms of the germaneness of those motions to recommit with instructions essentially precludes the minority party from offering the alternative which they believe is the best alternative.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I want to say very seriously I have served along with the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier) for over 2 decades in this institution. I care a great deal about this institution, and the attacks made on this institution for the 14 years that I was in the majority and the assertions that were made and the characterization which I did not fully express on the floor that the minority whip made of Mr. Wright, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the names or the epithets that were used against him, there has never been an apology for that, notwithstanding this new information and new perspective that the Republican Party has gained now that they are in the majority and perhaps see the necessity to take actions that at some point in time they thought were corrupt, undemocratic, and undermining of civility. We are not going to resolve this, but I will state that the gentleman and I have had discussions about comments the gentleman made about open rules, about amendments, about motions to recommit, about time for debate, about time for consideration prior to the Committee on Rules meeting and reporting out bills, and that perspective, as has been noted in our discussions in the Committee on Rules, has somewhat changed.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I heard the assertion of the lack of experience in the majority, but my question was: Was the Vice President wrong?

Mr. HOYER. I yield to the gentleman from California.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, was the Vice President, acting as the minority whip, wrong when he said this was a corrupt practice?

Mr. HOYER. In just one second. Mr. Speaker, I suppose, then, the question becomes, in the context of situational ethics, has something changed that has brought about this recognition of it as a lack of corruption, lack of undermining the democratic process, and a lack of undermining civility? And I yield to my friend.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for that explanation, I suppose is the kindest adjective to apply. I appreciate the gentleman's observation. I will say that the gentleman treats gingerly the changing of opinions. That is, obviously, as the gentleman noted in his closing argument, the subject of debate and also subject to discussion that goes on on this floor, which is clearly appropriate. But I will tell the gentleman that his party believed that the keeping of the votes open for an extended period of time, i.e. in excess of 20 minutes, was corrupt, and the Vice President said it was corrupt. The Vice President said it undermines civility. The Vice President, when he then had my job, minority whip, said that it was undemocratic. The gentleman has indicated that we did, in fact, from time to time, keep the vote open for longer than 20 minutes. The gentleman is absolutely accurate. But we did not claim it was undemocratic, undermining civility or corrupt. It was the gentleman's side that claimed that.

Mr. HOYER. I thank my friend for the information.

Mr. HOYER. All right. I thank the gentleman. On the appropriation bills that we will consider, will they be considered under the usual rule? I understand perhaps the legislative rule may be a restrictive rule. And I yield to the gentleman, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise with a great deal of pride to announce to the Members of the House the election of our colleague, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), as president of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe's Parliamentary Assembly. That assembly, Mr. Speaker, is an assembly of 55 signatory states to the Helsinki Final Act. Those 55 nations were represented by over 300 parliamentarians at their annual meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, this past week. Earlier today, Edinburgh time, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) received on the first ballot over 55 percent of the votes. This is a historic occasion. He is the first American ever elected president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. Not only that, he is the first minority to be elected president of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe and, based upon the information I have, I believe the first and only African American to ever be elected president of one of the interparliamentary assemblies, combining Europe and the United States. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), a distinguished member of our body, has served on the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe since 2001 and has been vice president of the OSCE for the past 2 years. He also has gained important experience in international affairs as a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) is now serving his seventh term in the Congress of the United States. I want to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Speaker Hastert) and the bipartisan delegation. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) serves in this body and is a Democrat; but he ran as an American, and he was supported by the American delegation, Republicans and Democrats. And I want to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for his leadership of our delegation, the chairman of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe Commission here in the Congress. The gentleman from Illinois (Speaker Hastert), in his letter supporting the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), said, ``Never one to retreat from a challenge, Alcee Hastings possesses an instinctive ability to identify solutions and build common ground for their implementation.'' It was that ability, that quality, that determination that the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) had which led to his overwhelming election. Gert Weisskirchen, in Germantown, who withdrew in favor of the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) this week, said to the Palm Beach Post that the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) represents the best of the United States. Now, Mr. Weisskirchen and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) have served together for almost a decade in the organization's parliamentary assembly, so his observations are well founded and based upon his experience. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) will bring credit to our country, credit to our Congress, and credit to the Parliamentary Assembly. I will tell my colleagues that the United States has the privilege next year in July on our July 4 break of hosting the 55 nations that make up the Parliamentary Assembly. I know that all of us look forward to welcoming our colleagues from throughout Europe and Canada, the signatory states, with the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) as the president of that organization to our Capitol city and showing them American hospitality, while at the same time cementing a relationship with our allies and raising very significant and important issues to international security, peace, and economic well-being. Mr. Speaker, I thank you for this time to honor our colleague, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), on this historic election as president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. The gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Sabo), the manager of the Democratic team, is not on the floor, but I know he would want me to congratulate you. As painful as defeat is, we graciously acknowledge that the second inning was devastating in which you scored 9, 10, 11 runs. It is going up, 10 runs, I guess. And it would be not as gracious to observe that other than that second inning, the game was pretty good. But I congratulate the gentleman on behalf of the somewhat gracious losers.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?