between president ronald reagan and soviet leader mikhail gorbachev -- >> the way of democracy is sometimes a complicated way. and sometimes trying. but it is a good way and we believe the best way. and once again, mr. general secretary, i want to expend to you and to all of those who labored so hard for this moment my warmest, personal thanks. >> reporter: watch "real america" sunday at 4:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. ryan mckrimmen joins us for a look at the upcoming house debate on the first of the federal spending bills to come to the house. he's an appropriations and tax reporter for cq roll call. and ryan, why is the house just now starting this debate process, so late in the game? >> that's right. well, the house and the senate both were sort of late to start, because they had to finish up

the last year's appropriations cycle. that didn't finish up until late march. so typically, a month when they start working on the budget resolution and then the appropriations bills. that all sort of got pushed back a little bit, as has been the case in recent years, in the past couple of years, at least, congress has sort of gotten off to a late start. so, yeah, once again, you know, it's june now and they're just sort of bringing the first bills to the house floor. not terribly late, but, yeah, it's a little bit more delayed that than they would like. >> of the 12 spending bills, which one is the house going to be debating? and what are some of the key details in this package? >> sure. so the house is taking up what they call a mini bus. it's essentially three of the 12 bills, packaged together. it includes the legislative branch bill, which is tiny. it's about $3 billion or $4 billion. the bill for military construction and the veterans affairs department, as well as the energy and water

appropriations bills. so these are three fairly non-controversial bills. they're typically three of the first ones that both chambers do each year. the package in total is about $150 billion or so. most of that is for the military construction and veterans portion of it, about two-thirds of it. and like i said, these are fairly easy to pass in general. a lot of bipartisan support for programs. there could be some debates on the house floor, in the energy and water bill, in particular. things like the yucca mountain nuclear waste site. that's an annual debate that members have, members from nevada typically don't support dumping nuclear waste there. things like that, energy regulations, water rules. so there will be some feistier debates. but in general, this should be one of the easier lifts in terms of the 12 bills that they do. >> and ryan, you tweeted that the house rules will be considering fiscal year 2019 mini bus tuesday at 5:00 eastern

time for general debate, wednesday at 3:00 for amendments. how does that affect which days the house will be debating the bills? and also, what have you heard from house democrats, as far as their support or opposition? >> well, we haven't heard too much from democrats yet, except that in general, democrats, as the minority party often does, have sort of complained about the process. i think, in general, they don't support doing these three bills at once. but i think most members on both sides recognize that doing three at once is probably the only way they'll really get the ball rolling after such a late start. the rules committee, as you said, will meet first on tuesday. that could be a sign that they're going to take up the bill starting wednesday. these bills take usually a few days, at least, to complete. if they want to finish it this week, then i imagine they'll certainly start wednesday. it's possible this could stretch into next week.

but i think the first day of debate will probably be wednesday and then thursday, they could move into some serious amendment debate. we could see them stay late on the house floor. that's something that happens often when they just sort of churn out these amendments. >> well, how likely do you think it is we'll see them package the rest of the spending bills in a similar way? and what about the senate process? >> right. i think at this point, that's sort of the plan, is to continue doing thiz miese mini bus packa. the house and senate leadership have coordinated on this plan. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has indicated that we would take up a similar package after the house sends it over. so i think they are trying to move these forward to the end, which is actually to have president trump sign them into law. and you know, in the past few years, really the past two decades or so, congress has really struggled to get promotions bills passed and actually enacted before the new fiscal year begins october 1st. so they're really trying to do

that this year. it's unclear how far they'll get. like i said, these first three bills that the house is taking up are the easier ones. after that, you know, these are sort of the low-hangi ining fru. after that, the bill becomes much more contentious. a lot of heated policy debates break out, policy and spending debates. we'll see howev far they get. as of now, the plan is to continue with this mini bus approach. >> thank you, ryan. we'll continue following you on twitter. your handle, at ryan mckrimmen and your reporting at qc.com. thanks so much for the information. >> thank you for having me. c-span's washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up saturday morning, goldwater institute starly coleman discusses the right to try legislation, signed into law this week. and penn medicine's dr. steven joffe will also join us, to talk

about how right to try will allow terminally ill patients access to drug treatments that are not fully approved by the fda. then popular mechanics on how the carrier plant in indianapolis is faring following trmp's efforts to keep the factor's jobs in the u.s. be sure to watch c-span's washington journal, live at 7:00 eastern, saturday morning. join the discussion. >> now, a hearing on options to make high-octane fuels and high-efficiency vehicles more available. members of the house energy and commerce subcommittee on the environment heard from representatives of the oil, auto and agriculture industries. this is t2 hours, 15 minutes. >> i ask all our guests today to please take r