Steny Hoyer

I thank the gentleman for yielding. If I might wryly observe, Madam Speaker, that I have not seen the Parliamentarian pass you a note to instruct the gentleman to address the Chair. Tom, I am going to address you.

What I said to him was I agree with him on that point. But if Mr. Scalise wants to make it again, he can make it. But I made it to my Members. I agree. It is for illness. It is for the threat of illness. It is not for convenience.

I have spoken a lot about John. I spoke this morning about John and about his extraordinary chief of staff, Michael Collins, who was such a positive part of his life and who exhibits so many of the traits that made John Lewis a wonderful…

This is an issue of who we are as a people. Many women have spoken on this floor, but this is an issue for fathers. This is an issue for sons. This is an issue for brothers. I have three daughters, two granddaughters, and three great…

I hope the gentleman has as high an expectation for the President of the United States as he has of others.

The President of the United States said this virus was a hoax. Because he said it was a hoax, people thought they didn't have to worry about it. I tell my friend from Georgia, a hoax. He is a gentlemen who refuses to set the example of…

Let me tell the gentleman that we certainly intend to continue, as I said, to try to protect the American people. A lot of people have died. Over 122,000 people have died.

I hesitate to ask the gentleman a question I don't know the answer to, so I won't. But I don't know which Governors the gentleman is talking about. But I will, certainly, want to find that out from the gentleman at some point in time.

The gentleman will surely note that when his party was in power and was scheduling bills, you had the most closed rules of any Congress in the history of the Congress.

We are hopeful that the Senate will pass a bill. I know that my friend will say, Well, yes, but it is the Democrats that stopped the bill. Let me tell the gentleman, I genuinely hope that we have a bill passed by the Senate, that we go to…

No, it turns out that we considered the bill in the House the same way the majority leader in the Senate wanted to consider the Scott bill, or the Republican policing bill. So, both Houses wanted to consider them, apparently, in the same…

Yes. I talked to Mr. McCarthy yesterday. Obviously, because of the timeframe that the COVID-19 health strictures have imposed upon us, it takes a long time to vote on amendments. So, rather than consider amendments individually, the leader…

I thank the gentleman very much for his respect. Is the gentleman aware that the District of Columbia was reduced in size historically a while back so that the land was reduced? This is what is happening here. There is clear precedent for…

I thank the gentleman, and I yield back the balance of my time. ____________________

The answer is yes. We are going to have out a fuller schedule in the near term. But we have to find out how our committees can operate. I want to say, regarding the national defense authorization bill, Members on both sides of the aisle…

I want to echo the gentleman's comments. Although the Congressman, the patriot, the hero, did not always vote with me, nor I with him, we became good friends. And I shared with the gentleman and others in this body a deep respect for who…

Let me be clear at the outset that there is no substitute for the personal interaction of members in a committee room or on the House floor. But when that is not possible because it poses a mortal danger to the health of Members, staff…

We are in session now, of course, and I expect us to be in session on May 27 and 28. I expect, in the interim, committees will be considering legislation so that we will have product to do. We are behind schedule. I still want to…

Reclaiming my time, what I think, Mr. Whip, is that we are showing that we intend to do our work and we intended to do it with concern for the safety of our Members, with the safety of our staff, the safety of witnesses who appear before…

I have already said, but I will repeat it. We will be considering FISA legislation, I believe, on May 27, and we will be considering other COVID-19-related bills, if they are ready. We have not specifically identified those bills, but on…

Reclaiming my time, the gentleman is correct. We expect a good turnout of Members on both sides of the aisle to be in the Chamber when we meet. We do know, however, there are Members who, for health reasons--either their own health or the…

I apologize for not mentioning that. There will be pro forma sessions, and at the pro forma session on Tuesday, we will swear in the two new Members. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman.

You can't have it. While we enjoy a little levity, we understand the gravity of this situation. People will die today as a result of this virus. We have come together as Democrats and Republicans from every region of this country to…

I am pleased that our next speaker is another Member from south Florida. All three of them have spoken now, indicating the importance of the crisis that confronts us. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms…

Our next speaker is the former president of the University of Wisconsin, the former president of the University of Miami, and the distinguished former Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, one of our most knowledgeable…