with that, i'm pleased to yield to mr. hoyer from maryland, the distinguished house democratic whip. >> i think mr. cumming said it all. that doesn't mean the rest of us aren't going to speak you understand. but he said it all. who we're fighting for. and what we're fighting for. and hopefully we can come together in the congress. not just united as a party as you have seen us be for now some eight years. longer than that but certainly from '07 to today. united on behalf of people. united on behalf of ideas. united on behalf of our country. and that's what this conference is about. elijah cummings said there are too many efforts to drive people apart rather than bring them together. my own view that the stark difference between the two parties is our underlying premises. we are in this together. for that young man and young woman in your city and, frankly, in the rural areas, as mr. clyburn points out so well. it's not just the cities. and it is whites as well as blacks. as well as hispanics. as well as native americans. as well

mr. hoyer of maryland, friend and colleague and the democratic whip who understands that providing health care to 22 million americans who didn't have it is a good thing. mr. hoyer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for three minutes. mr. hoyer: the ranking member took the words right out of my mouth. 22 million americans covered ow that weren't covered. mr. speaker, "the wall street journal" reported on monday, and i quote, house speaker paul ryan starting this month will push to turn the chamber into a platform for ambitious republican policy ideas. my friend, mr. upton, talked about policy ideas, but mr. van hollen correctly observed, they're not on this floor. you haven't brought them to this floor. all you've brought is a negative. bring a positive. that presumably is what your speaker ought to be talking about. many have been wondering what new ambitious ideas republicans would put forward to kick off this new session of the is 14th congress. well, today w

mr. hoyer of maryland, friend and colleague and the democratic whip who understands that providing health care to 22 million americans who didn't have it is a good thing. mr. hoyer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for three minutes. mr. hoyer: the ranking member took the words right out of my mouth. 22 million americans covered ow that weren't covered. mr. speaker, "the wall street journal" reported on monday, and i quote, house speaker paul ryan starting this month will push to turn the chamber into a platform for ambitious republican policy ideas. my friend, mr. upton, talked about policy ideas, but mr. van hollen correctly observed, they're not on this floor. you haven't brought them to this floor. all you've brought is a negative. bring a positive. that presumably is what your speaker ought to be talking about. many have been wondering what new ambitious ideas republicans would put forward to kick off this new session of the is 14th congress. well, today w

mr. hoyer: i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute for the purposes of inquiring the schedule for the week to come. without objection. mr. hoyer: i yield to mr. scalise for the purpose of giving us the schedule for the week to come. i yield to my friend. mr. scalise: i thank the gentleman from maryland for yielding. mr. speaker, on monday the house will meet at noon for morning hour and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. members are advised that first votes of the week are expected at 6:30 p.m. on monday. mr. speaker, on tuesday, the house will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and noon for legislative business. on wednesday the house will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. no votes are expected in the house on thursday and friday. the house will consider a number of suspensions next week. a complete list which will be announced at the close of business today. i want to take a moment to highlight one of those bills. the north korea sanctions enforcement act is a

mr. hoyer. >> thank you very much madam leader. big role was played in putting the bill together. as leader pelosi said, it was a win for the american people. was it perfect? i said on the floor, it wasn't perfect. we don't pass perfect bills. we pass bills that brings true compromise to the democratic process. but this was an extraordinarily big victory in my opinion as i said for the american people. i want to congratulate leader middlepelosi. i want to congratulate ranking member. i know they were working around the clock to reach the objective that we've got to. congress now approved the omnibus appropriations bill that keep the government open. it will increase investments important domestic priority and will help our economy and help our people. when members return to the 114th congress second session in january, we have a responsibility to turn the pressing challenges of job creation fixing our broken immigration system and restoring voting rights pretensions. we ought to proceed in the same bipartisan cooperative fashion that allow us to reauthorize the highway bill, reaut

speaker, i yield three minutes to the gentleman from maryland, mr. hoyer. >> gentleman from maryland. >> mr. speaker, ladies and gentlemen of the house, i rise in great sadness and in shock. the tragedy that struck at 11:39 a.m. this morning has stunned us all. in an instant the incredible energy that we have harnessed broke loose and devastation occurred. among the seven people whom we lost was the first teacher in space, christa mcauliffe. she was my friend. her husband, steve, was a law clerk in my office for two years. she got her master's degree from bowie state in prince george's county. she taught in our school system for eight years. she now, as you know, mr. speaker, teaches in new hampshire. she was a warm, caring, capable human being. she was accorded the highest honor her country could give her. she was selected to represent her colleagues in one of america's most exciting and important efforts. she embodied, mr. speaker, all of the qualities we would hope for in the very best of our teachers. we had a rally, mr. speaker, in august of 1985 as t

mr. hoyer: i thank the speaker and i want to thank the majority leader. i personally, as a former majority leader, appreciate the policy enuciated by the speaker in order to accommodate members' schedules so we can vote on time. this was an extraordinarily important vote. members on both sides missed it and i appreciate the majority leader's action and the speaker's agreement to it to accommodate our members so that on this important bill they'll be able to vote on the 26th, and i withdraw my objection. the speaker pro tempore: the reservation is withdrawn. without objection, so ordered. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that when the house to rns today it adjourn meet at 1:00 p.m. on friday, january 15, 2016. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the chair will now end taint requests for one-minute speeches -- entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> request una

mr. hoyer: thank you, madam leader. as leader pelosi has said, it was a win for the american people. was it perfect -- i said on the fort was not perfect. we do not pass perfect bills. we passed bills reach to cover my stupid democratic process, this was an extraordinarily big victory, in my opinion, as i said, for the american people. i want to congratulate leader pelosi. i want to congratulate ranking member lowly. i was on the phone with them a lot. i know they were working around the clock to reach the objective that we got to. congress has now approved the omnibus appropriations bill that will keep the government open, but more importantly it will increase investments in two important domestic priorities that will help our economy and our people. what members return to the hundred 14th congress second session in january, -- when members return to the 114th congress second session in generate, we have to fix our broken immigration system, and restore voting rights protections. we ought to proceed in the same biparti

mr. wyatt: we'll get into a couple more of those as we move forward. i hope you'll move the ball down the field a little bit better than brian hoyer did for the texans inhat playoff. mr. brady: you had to go there. mr. wyatt: i al apologize tomb for my football references. i asked paul ryan about running for president and whether he would consider running for president himself. he had familiar reasons for not -- family reasons for not wanting to do that but he also said, he thought he had more of a chance to really change the economic dynamic in the united states through the house ways and means committee than he would necessarily becoming president. he said, i can make a huge difference for the country. these issues, trade, tax, poverty fighting, health care reform and entitlement reform, all go through the ways and means committee, originate in the ways and means committee. then he said, he can be home on weekends and be the kind of husband and dad i want to be. he said he viewed the ways and means committee as perhaps the most powerful engine to affect economic change in the u.s., more so than the presidency. do you approach the job with the same id