Nancy Pelosi

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the information that the gentleman has been willing to provide. I think it is important for both sides of the aisle to remember that the legislation and the issues that we are dealing with are not our private personal property. The American people expect and should demand more transparency than what is happening in this House. What is happening in this House is we are moving to a much less democratic way of discussing the issues. I am not speaking to what the gentleman experienced 8 years ago, because the gentleman knows that when the Republican majority came in, part of the Contract on America was to close down debate on this floor; to eliminate many options available for debate for the minority. So this is yet again another example.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman continue to yield?

Ms. PELOSI. Is one to infer from what the gentleman has said that the majority would be willing to bring up a freestanding bill with some discussion about what the amount would be for the debt limit, including the $150 billion that the minority has been suggesting?

Ms. PELOSI. Well, our distinguished minority leader has made an offer to the Republican majority. On the supplemental, do we know when that will be coming up?

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. I would like to have an inquiry about schedule and about the substance of the rule that will be coming to the floor. Mr. Leader, is this the identical rule, or is the gentleman planning to amend it on the floor?

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I have concern about another bill, the AmeriCorps bill.

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, can we assure Members that adjournment will be 2 o'clock on Friday, or will continue later than that?

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I just have one final question of the majority leader about the schedule. I understand for Members' benefit that we will be coming in and voting after 6:30 p.m. on Monday and that we will be going through the week. Are there definitely going to be votes next Friday?

Ms. PELOSI. I yield to the gentleman from Indiana.

Ms. PELOSI. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Filner).

Ms. PELOSI. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Ms. PELOSI. This issue is of such grave importance to our country that I would hope that we would have an open debate on the subject and not have it treated the way the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), treated it when he said, Do you expect us to have a vote on every single item that we deal with in the Congress? And yes, when it comes to raising the debt limit, that would be the case, especially when it raids Social Security.

Ms. PELOSI. I thank the gentleman. Continuing, Mr. Speaker, the leader said that the conferees are working hard to complete the President's emergency defense and homeland security supplemental. I had some questions on that conference. As the gentleman may recall, Democrats were united in opposing another increase in our Nation's borrowing limit when this bill was considered in the House. We believe it is time to sit down and work in a bipartisan way to fix our Nation's budget. Is the gentleman's leadership planning another increase in the debt limit without a separate vote on the House floor?

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I ask the gentleman, will the rule be the same one as reported from the Committee on Rules this week?

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise for the purpose of inquiring about next week's schedule.

Ms. PELOSI. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Ms. PELOSI. Did I hear an assurance in the gentleman's voice that we would not go through the weekend? Is our schedule contingent upon completion of the work, or the calendar?

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, even if the agenda that the gentleman set forth is not finished?

Ms. PELOSI. Yes, indeed, very important time, the birth of our country, Independence Day. So I thank the gentleman very much for responding to these questions.

Ms. PELOSI. Wednesday of next week. In relationship to fast track, will the House appoint conferees next week on the trade promotion act?

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for the schedule. I am just seeking a little more precision. On what day will H.R. 4954, the Prescription Drug Act of 2002, be scheduled?

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the substitute and commend the gentleman from California (Mr. Matsui) for his leadership on this very important issue. Mr. Speaker, if we have learned anything from Enron, Arthur Andersen and others, it is that some corporations do not act in the best interest of investors, consumers, and even of their own employees. We certainly do not paint all businesses with the same brush, but we must act to restore confidence in our financial system and in the stock market. The Republican leadership has ignored the issue of corporate malfeasance. What little they have done to address the Enron crisis has actually weakened current law protecting employee pensions. The Democratic substitute on the floor today offers common-sense protections and reforms. It ends the practice of giving executives golden parachutes while workers in the companies they helped bankrupt are left to crash to the ground. The Democratic legislation would keep tax dollars from disappearing into the Bermuda Triangle by barring corporations from creating shell corporations in Bermuda or other offshore locations. Under the Democratic bill corporate executives could no longer be able to protect their retirement benefits while leaving employees with worthless stock, and the Democratic bill would help moderate and low- income individuals plan for their futures by extending a tax credit that encourages retirement savings. Mr. Speaker, those who oppose reform claim that in reigning in corporate excess, we will stamp out the entrepreneurial spirit that makes this country great. Coming from California where the entrepreneurial spirit is in the air and in the water, I see that the spirit to innovate, originate, and invent will not be crushed by a ban on lying, cheating, and stealing. One of our Founding Fathers, James Madison, once noted that ``if all men were angels, no government would be necessary.'' Every day we see in the headlines that we are not angels. We in Congress have a responsibility to protect hard-working Americans. The Democratic substitute does just that, and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this common-sense substitute and oppose the underlying bill.

Ms. PELOSI

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I would like to join the majority leader in support of this effort. The fight against terrorism is our most urgent national security priority, and the creation of a Department of Homeland Security is a big step in the war against terrorism. However, it will take a great deal of our effort beyond just the formation of this department to protect our Nation. Let me thank the gentleman and the Republican leadership for the bipartisan manner in which this process has developed so far. We believe that bipartisanship should continue throughout this process, during the committee markups, within the select committee that we are creating, and during the floor consideration of our final work product. Many of our Members have developed proposals along these lines. It is our intention to do everything we can to make this department an effective tool in the war against terrorism. It is also imperative that the 170,000 workers who will be affected by this transition continue to receive all of the rights they now enjoy as employees of the Federal Government. Agencies that do a highly-effective job for the American people, such as the Coast Guard and FEMA, must be empowered so that they can continue to do their crucial work and that work beyond homeland security. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask a few clarifying questions of the majority leader. First, the rule governing consideration of this legislation will be jointly recommended by the Speaker and the Democratic leader and then brought to the Committee on Rules. The rule will preserve minority rights protected by the House and will be a fair process; is this correct?

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and once again express my appreciation for the bipartisan cooperation we have had here today.