Chief Deputy Whip
Rep. Diana DeGette
DeGette is a fourth generation Coloradoan, educated at Denver's South High School and Colorado College. Read More...

The Daily WhipLine

Floor Schedule and Procedure

• H. Res. 116 - Rule providing for consideration of H.J.Res. 20:  The House will begin with a Closed Rule providing for consideration of the Continuing Resolution.  Please note that this is the traditional procedure for considering a Continuing Resolution.  The Rule will be managed by Rules Committee Chair Louise Slaughter and will proceed in the following order:

• One hour of debate on the Rule.
• Possible vote on the Democratic motion to move the previous question. Democrats are urged to VOTE YES.
• Vote on adoption of H. Res. 116. Democrats are urged to VOTE YES.

• Postponed Suspension Votes: The House is then expected to take recorded votes on the following two suspension bills debated on Monday:
  
  
  1. H.Res. 59 - Supporting the goals and ideals of National Engineers Week, and for other purposes (Rep. Lipinski – Science and Technology)
     
     
  2. H.Con.Res. 34 - Honoring the life of Percy Lavon Julian, a pioneer in the field of organic chemistry research and development and the first and only African American chemist to be inducted into the National Academy of Sciences (Rep. E.B. Johnson – Science and Technology)
     
     
• H.J.Res. 20 –Continuing Resolution for FY 2007:  The House will then consider the Continuing Resolution.  The bill will be managed by Appropriations Committee Chair David Obey and will proceed in the following order: 

• One hour of debate on the Continuing Resolution.
• Vote on the Republican motion to recommit. Democrats are urged to VOTE NO.
• Vote on final passage of H. J. Res. 20.  Democrats are urged to VOTE YES.

• Additional Postponed Suspension Vote: Finally, the House is expected to take a recorded vote on the following suspension bill debated on Monday:  
  
  
  1. H.Con.Res. 5 – Expressing support for the designation and goals of "Hire a Veteran Week" and encouraging the President to issue a proclamation supporting those goals (Rep. Holt – Veterans’ Affairs)

Bill Summary and Key Issues

Last year’s budget and appropriations process presented the then-Republican-controlled Congress with a choice:  Either make the tough decisions they were elected to make, or abandon their fundamental responsibility to pass a fiscally sound budget and 11 appropriations bills that reflect the priorities of the American people.

Unfortunately, the Republicans chose the latter. Nine of the eleven appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2007 (FY07), which is now four months old, have yet to be enacted into law.  As a result of their inability to govern honestly and effectively, the federal government is now facing the most significant budget mess since the Republicans took over the government and then shut it down in 1996. 

Federal departments and agencies, and state and local governments have lost the capacity to plan properly for the future, so Congress must act now to resolve these funding issues.  If we waited any longer, the 110th Congress would lose valuable time needed to work on the President’s war supplemental and the Fiscal Year 2008 budget submission in a manner equal to their importance to the American public.

FOR A DETAILED SUMMARY OF THE CONTINUING RESOLUTION, PLEASE REFER TO THE DOCUMENT PREPARED BY
APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE CHAIR DAVID OBEY:
http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/CRSummary.pdf 

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