mr. speaker , reclaiming my time , i thank the gentleman . 
obviously he articulates reasons that he believes this bill is an important piece of legislation . 
in light of the fact that the speaker has not yet decided who he wants to appoint as conferees , does the gentleman have any thought as to when we might contemplate having the conference committee meet and then , of course , the conference report on the floor ? 
i ask that from two perspectives : one , as the representative of the party who would like to know what is going on , as i am sure the gentleman would as well ; and , secondly as an appropriator . 
as the gentleman knows , until the conference committee report is adopted , it has the appropriations committees somewhat in limbo as it relates to allocations to the committees and then allowing us to make the 302 ( b ) allocations . 
mr. speaker , i yield further to my friend in terms of what expectations he might have as to timing from this point to when we might adopt a budget , in light of the fact it is my understanding from the staff of the gentleman from california ( mr. lewis ) xz4002391 that there is hope that we will start to mark up bills sometime in mid-may . 
i do not know whether the majority leader has the same understanding or not . 
