mr. speaker , i thank the gentleman for referencing the committee on ways and means , but i certainly agree with him that having the gentleman from california ( mr. thomas ) xz4004010 and the gentleman from new york ( mr. rangel ) xz4003330 work closely together , and perhaps their respective chairs of the subcommittees that might deal with that work together , would be very , very useful to accomplishing an objective as opposed to simply passing a bill that then languishes in the congress and never gets to the president . 
if , in fact , we consider that , and it sounds to me like we certainly do not have enough information to determine whether or not the week after next the energy bill might be on the floor , but if and when it comes to the floor , mr. leader , would you contemplate the possibility of having an open rule on that piece of legislation , given its importance and scope ? 
i am happy to yield to the gentleman for a response , mr. speaker . 
