mr. hoyer: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute for the purpose of inquiring of the majority leader the schedule of the week to come. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hoyer: i thank the speaker and i'm pleased to yield to my friend, the majority leader, mr. cantor. mr. cantor: thank you. i thank the gentleman from maryland, the democratic whip, for yielding. mr. speaker, on monday the house will meet at noon for morning hour and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m. on tuesday and wednesday the house will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and noon for legislative business. on thursday, the house will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business, and last votes of the week are expected no later than 3:00 p.m. no votes are expected in the house on friday. mr. speaker, the house will consider a few bills under suspension of the rules which will be announced by close of business tomorrow. the house will also consid

mr. hoyer: mr.peaker, i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute for the purpose of inquiring of the majority leader the schedule of the week to come. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hoyer: i thank the speaker and i'm pleased to yield to my friend, the majority leader, mr. cantor. mr. cantor: thank you. i thank the gentleman from maryland, the democratic whip, for yielding. mr. speaker, on monday the house will meet at noon for morning hour and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m. on tuesday and wednesday the house will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and noon for legislative business. on thursday, the house will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business, and last votes of the week are expected no later than 3:00 p.m. no votes are expected in the house on friday. mr. speaker, the house will consider a few bills under suspension of the rules which will be announced by close of business tomorrow. the house will also consider

mr. hoyer: i have no intention of objecting, mr. speaker. but simply say we continue to believe on this side of the aisle that we could resolve this issue as we've had this debate over a longer term, give confidence to the markets, give confidence to the states and localities by simply bringing the senate bill to the floor and passing that bill. and with that, mr. speaker, i withdrawal my reservation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman withdraws his objection. is there objection? without objection, the ordering of the yeas and nays on the motion that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4239 is vacated and the chair will put the question de novo. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4239, a bill to provide an extension of federal-aid highway, highway safety, motor carrier safety, transit and other programs funded out of the highway trust fund pending enactment of a multiyear law re-authorizing such programs. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the hous

increase the access and to lower the cost for health care for all americans our distinguished whip mr. hoyer of maryland. [ applause ] >> thank you very much. thank you very much. we usually have our caucus meetings and whip meetings in this room. and what a wonderfully diverse wonderful crowd we have here of working americans, senior americans of very young americans. whose name is lucas. very proud grandfather standing here. now let me tell you, i happen to be a great grandfather. >> that's not an adjective. [ laughter ] >> he is that, too. but it's a generational. >> as i was saying, since it was signed into law two years ago, we celebrate its signing, health reform has made it possible for over 32 million seniors on medicare to access free preventive services. the leader said that, it bears repeating. people need to understand the consequences of what this bill is doing for america and americans. it has reduced the cost of prescription drugs on to medicare part d. it will eliminate the donut hole by the end of this decade. the cost containment provisions in the affordable care act are al

mr. steny hoyer was talking about. mr. steny hoyer was talking about the president's comprehensive jobs bill that would do some very important things. it talked about job sharing, it was going -- it will make sure that our teachers and our firefighters are kept on the job. it talks about school construction, it talks about aid to community colleges and comprehensive efforts to provide tax credits for small businesses. so, you see, we would like everybody to understand that we're not abandoning a comprehensive effort to do real job creation and access to capital and support for small businesses. we're trying to take every opportunity, every step. and as it has been mentioned time and time again -- respectfully request one more minute. the chair: the gentlewoman is recognized for one more minute. ms. waters: in continuing the comparison between the two efforts, as it has been said over and over again today we certainly have joined in a bipartisan fashion to move this bill. even though i am not sure and some of our members are

i want to yield to mr. hoyer and mr. clyburn for any yes? >> let me say -- one thing i do want to add is there was bipartisan opposition to the budget that came budget committee. it was a totally partisan bill in terms of passage, but it was a bipartisan opposition to that bill because it has the wrong priority and in fact in my opinion will make the debt, deficit and economy worse and move in exactly the wrong direction as well as undermining the guarantee and confidence that people have that medicare and social security and other programs will be there for them when they need it. >> can you address for the moment -- >> you and your democratic colleagues have been spending the last few days marking the second san versery of health care, but president obama has not. with the person with the biggest bully pulpit in the country should president obama be using it to talk about health care this week? >> i think the president has been absolutely great on health care without the president we would not have this bill. [ applause ] and every day, ev

mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. ryan, who is an outstanding member of this body, and my friend, an and who is one of the most able among us, mr. van hollen, who has been my close friend for many years and one of the most able among us. i have just spent time thanking -- they have just spent time thanking our staffs for the work they have done. and i share their view that our staffs have worked mightily and indeed there has been much debate. tradgeically the product we will produce today is far less -- tragically the product we will produce today is far less than the sum of the parts of this body. it is, i suggest to you, a product unworthy of the intel lect that has been aplied to it. it is--intel lenth that has been aplied to it. it is a product that will hurt america not help america. it is a product that is too much politics and too little policy. it is a product of which i think this house cannot be proud. it is a product that relys on subsanctionly undermining the securi

mr. steny hoyer. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for yielding. this is a sad day for america. it's a sad day for the congress. it's a sad day for our african-american brothers and sisters who have lost a real leader and an extraordinary friend. i first met donald payne when i was in my mid 20's. he was active in the young democrats of new jersey, i was active in the young democrats of maryland. that's how we first met. don was about six years older than i am. and so i looked on him as an -- when you're a middle -- when you're in your middle 20's, somebody in their 30's is really old. but we all saw him as a serious individual. serious about his activities, serious about his objectives, serious about the people. he had a -- an extraordinarily productive career as the leader mentioned, as i know other speakers performing have mentioned, he was a teacher. he was a teacher in the tradition of frederick douglass. frederick douglass, a fellow marylander, said that it is easier to build strong children than it is to repair broken men. donald payne was focused on that concept as a tea

mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for yielding. maybe he has another minute that we could get to, if possible, but i want to thank the gentleman from michigan, but certainly also my friend from ohio, but of whom i have served here for a long period of time and love this institution and know how critical the functions are of the parliamentarian. i want to thank them both. mr. dingell has had the privilege serving alongside all four men who have been the parliamentarians of this house. when the framers of the constitution wrote article 1, section 5, clause 2, they probably had little idea of the volume of precedents that would accumulate in the 224 years since the house convened and adopted its first rules. today the job of parliamentarian is probably one of the most difficult in washington. a thorough understanding of the rules and precedents is a prerequisite to be an accomplished parliamentarian. john sullivan has that. one must also, however, the respect of every member of this house. john sullivan has that. that is what john sul

and it was kind of ironic last week, i happened to be on the floor thursday when mr. hoyer was asking mr. cantor on our side, what is going to be the schedule this week, meaning today, this week, and then mr. -- mr. hoyer said to mr. cantor, well, why don't we bring up the senate transportation bill, and i was just taken aback by mr. cantor's response. he said, we're just out of money. we're just out of money and we're spending $10 billion a month in afghanistan? i don't understand the mathematics around here. we can't bring up a transportation bill, a two-year bill because we're just out of money. but yet, mr. karzai, you can get your $10 billion a month and you can negotiate with the taliban and take the $10 billion that we're borrowing from the chinese to give to karzai to they can buy weapons to kill the american soldiers and marines. it just does not make any sense. mr. speaker, i have put together a resolution that i have asked the speaker, the north carolina house of representatives, tom tillis, who is a great gentleman, to introduce in the may session of the north c

mr. hoyer. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for four minutes. mr. hoyer: i want to speak about this bill but i want to respond to the chame of the republican conference who fails to realize we've created 3.6 million new jobs over the last four months and had 10 quarters of growth in america as opposed to losing 786,000 jobs the last month of president bush's term, we aed 257,000 last month in the private sector. so to say the president's program is not working is simply inaccurate. ladies and gentlemen, this is a wolf in sheep's clothing. they don't like the health care bill, that's what the chairman of the conference just said, he wants to vote to repeal that. we understand that. they want to pick it apart, piece by piece. let me talk about it. two years ago, we passed a comprehensive health care reform package that's already lowering costs, expanding access and contributing to deficit reduction. the affordable care act was a significant moment when congress once again took bold action t

mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for his comments but i will tell the gentleman, if we're going to have negotiations and we have one number and you have another number and we agree on a number and then we pass a bill which reflects that number, put it in law, it doesn't say it's a cap, it says that will be the number. . as we pass a budget we say that will be the number. this is the law. as was observed by others on the other side of the capitol, but i observe it here as well, if we are going to have those kinds of negotiations, it's sort of like the guy comes up to you and says, look, i got something to sell you. you want to buy it? and the guy says, yeah, let's negotiate on price. you come to a price of $100, and then you come to settle and the guy says, well, that was my top number. i'm going to give you $92 for that item. you don't have a mooting of the minds -- meeting of the minds as the contract requires. very frankly, nobody on our side and frankly i don't think anybody on your side tha

mr. hoyer: one more minute. i tell my friend -- the chairman of the budget committee certainly someone of the individuals in the country that can be part of the solution. but not be part of the solution proposing something that is clearly unacceptable to this side of the aisle, to the president. we need to come together and come to agreement. a future where the medicare guarantee is preserved and seniors' health security is protected. a future where students who work hard take responsibility for themselves and get accepted to college won't have worry about whether they can afford to go. a future where we help businesses create millions of jobs here at home that won't be shipped overseas. a future, ladies and gentlemen, where the deficit is reduced in a balanced way. that's the key. we all know it's the key. with everyone pitching in. any of the democratic alternatives in my opinion will be better than this republican budget. and i don't agree with everything in each one of those budgets, clearly. we have a choic

mr. hoyer: i ask to speak for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hoyer: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, i thank the gentlewoman from new york for yielding time. i'm proud to stand with her and with other democratic members in support of the women's access to comprehensive, affordable health care. access that was greatly expanded by the affordable care act which passed two years aggie this week and which my republican colleagues want to repeal. thanks to health care reform, over 13 million previously uninsured women will gain access to health insurance. thanks to health reform, insurance companies will no longer be allowed to discriminate against women by charging them higher premiums than men for the same exact policy. or by denying them coverage altogether simply because they are women. thanks to health care reform, millions of women with private insurance will no longer have to pay for preventive services like mammograms, cervical cancer screening, contraception and a host of other services. as a dad of three daughters, as a grandfather o

care to improve the care and to increase the access and to lower the cost of health careiguished, mr. hoyer of maryland. [applause] >> thank you very much. thank you very much. we usually have our caucus meetings and with meetings in this room and what a wonderful, wonderfully diverse wonderful crowd we have here of working americans, senior americans, a very young american. [laughter] whose name is lucas. is very proud grandfather is standing here. i happen to be a great grandfather. >> that is not an adjective. [laughter] he is that too. it is generational. [laughter] >> as i was saying. since it was signed into law two years ago, we celebrate its signing. health reform has made possible for over 32 million seniors on medicare to access free preventive services. people need to understand the consequences of what this bill is doing for america and americans. it has written to reduce the cost of prescription drugs under medicare part d and it will eliminate the doughnut hole on the end of this decade. the cost containment provisions in the affordable care act are already slowing the growth

hoyer highway -- mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for yielding. before i start my formal presentation, let me say, the gentleman from arizona is correct. and we do need to take responsibility on both sides of the aisle. and very frankly i will tell my friend, we had an opportunity to take care of the responsibility when the simpson-bowles commission voted. there was a vote in the senate divided somewhat but mostly they voted for it in the senate. we had one of our people from the house vote for it, democrat, none of your representatives voted for simpson-bowles. i guess because it wasn't perfect. that was a missed opportunity. it was a dog gone shame. because that would have made 14 votes and we would have that on the floor in the senate and in the house. i think this is a missed opportunity. because i don't think this is a real document. now, frankly i also think that we had a deal. we had a deal at what the discretionary number was going to be. as we call it in the jargon of inside the house, the 3028 allocation. we what higher number, you had a

mr. steny hoyer. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for yielding. this is a sad day for america. it's a sad day for the congress. it's a sad day for our african-american brothers and sisters who have lost a real leader and an extraordinary friend. i first met donald payne when i was in my mid 20's. he was active in the young democrats of new jersey, i was active in the young democrats of maryland. that's how we first met. don was about six years older than i am. and so i looked on him as an -- when you're a middle -- when you're in your middle 20's, somebody in their 30's is really old. but we all saw him as a serious individual. serious about his activities, serious about his objectives, serious about the people. he had a -- an extraordinarily productive career as the leader mentioned, as i know other speakers performing have mentioned, he was a teacher. he was a teacher in the tradition of frederick douglass. frederick douglass, a fellow marylander, said that it is easier to build strong children than it is to repair broken men. donald payne was focused on that concept as a tea

and i will yield to mr. hoyer and mr. cliburn for any comments. .. >> without the president we would not have this. everyday since the passage of the bill, the administration has moved in a very positive direction to implement so that we stay on schedule. many of the benefits that people are enjoying now, many cabinet secretaries -- people in the administration are taking the message fully in the country, and without the president -- i'll just tell you this, the day after the bill is passed, the president called me and said last night when the health-care bills bill was passed in the house, i am happier than when i was elected president of the united states. >> if you weren't elected pledge event of the united states, we would not be passing this historic legislation. for the american people. we are very grateful for the president's leadership. >> [inaudible question] do have anxiety about what may happen next week, and if the court rules against the mandate and what you're talking about -- >> i am thinking much more posi

pelosi, of course, is a big supporter of our veterans as is the case with mr. hoyer. i -- one additional person that was very helpful. mr. hensarling. he and i had a great conversation about this, and he was very supportive and mentioned it in open mike at one of our hearings. so i thank everyone. our veterans are better served. god bless the united states of america and thank god for our veterans. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman from texas has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? mr. webster: mr. speaker, by the direction of the committee on rules i call up house resolution 600 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 600. resolved, that upon the adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the house the bill h.r. 4281, to provide an extension of federal aid highway, highway safety, motor carrier safety, transit, and other programs funded out of the highway trust fund pending enactment of a multiyear la

mr. steny hoyer. >> i thank the gentleman for yielding. this is a sad day for america. it is a sad day for the congress. it is a sad day for our african- american brothers and sisters, who have lost a real leader and extraordinary friend. i first met donald payne when i was in my mid-20's. he was active in the young democrats in new jersey. i was active in the young democrats in maryland. that is how we first met. dio --don was about six years older than i am. when you are in your mid-20s, someone in his 30's is very old. we all saw him as a very serious individual -- serious about his activities, serious about his objectives, serious about people. he had a extraordinarily productive career. as the leader has mentioned and i know other speakers before me have mentioned, he was a teacher. he was a teacher in the tradition of frederick douglass. frederick douglass, a fellow maryland your -- marylander, said it is easier to build strong children than it is to repair broken man. donald payne was focused on that concept as a teacher. throughout his life, he was focused on ma

and to lower the cost for health care for all americans and for a country, our distinguished whip, mr. hoyer of maryland. [applause] >> thank you thank you area match. >> thank you very much. you know, we usually have our caucus meetings and with meetings in this room. and what a wonderfully diverse, wonderful crowd we have here and working americans, senior americans and their young americans. his name is lucas. very proud grandfather standing here. i want to tell you, i happened to be a great grandfather. [inaudible] [laughter] [inaudible] >> as i was saying, since it was signed into law two years ago to celebrate the signing come health reform has made it possible for a first 32 million seniors on medicare as preventive services. the leaders said there is repeating people need to understand the consequences of what this bill is doing for america and americans. it is reduce the cost of prescription drugs under medicare part d and it will eliminate the doughnut hole at the end of this decade. the cost content provisions in the affordable care are already slowing the growth of medicare spend

good friend, the democratic leader of the united states house of representatives, the honor steny hoyer. mrck. before we get into the issues i have to tell you, i am on excited, i have been asked to join you. i don't know whether you know this on may 7th, i believe it is, for the annual big dinner of the maryland democratic party. >> you are going to be our featured speaker. we are excited. >> not as excited as i am. you will be there and martin o'malley and ben cartin. >> john edwards. >> if bill press is going to be our speaker, we need to be there. >> i havewill have to talk to you ahead of time. i have good joke material. >> we will work on it. >> now leader let's start with this highway bill. i mean what's going on? in the past, you know, this is something that democrats or republicans could always agree on. you had the afl-cio and the chamber of congress behind these bills. what's different this years? >> what's difference is in the house. the senate, as you know, has passed a bi-partisan bill supported by all of the groups that you just mentioned and very very frankly would be, i thi

with democrats -- leader pell pi and steny hoyer and friends over there who work on transportation issueissues, nick rahall, the rg member of the committee, and mr. bishop, who has introduced the senate bill, and mr. defazio from oregon -- and we had one message. the message was, speaker boehn boehner, do what every great speaker has done before you: reach out to the other party, come to the table, and get 218 votes and pass this. so far we don't hear anything like that. and i am very worried, and i am concerned. why? mr. president, 1.4 million construction workers are unemployed. that would fill up 14 stadiums -- football stadiums. 14 super bowl football stadiums filled with unemployed construction workers because we've had such a downturn in housing. we asked speaker boehner respectfully, take up the bill. put these people to work. our bill will save 1.9 million construction jobs, and it will create up to 1 million more. so we can take this 1.4 million, hire 1 million workers and, mr. president, you would bring down that unemployment rate way, way down at 17.1%. how about our businesses? our businesses need help. 1,075 organizations -- the vas