Tom Lantos: “I appreciate my good friend yielding, and allow me to point out the fatal flaw in your logic. We are not discussing the…”

“I appreciate my good friend yielding, and allow me to point out the fatal flaw in your logic. We are not discussing the fact that some of us occasionally support the administration, and you just expressed great delight that on this issue you find yourself on the side of the administration. The issue logically is flexibility. The people who have criticized this administration most vigorously over the years have claimed that the administration is riding roughshod over the Congress, not asking for more flexibility. This is a spurious argument. This is a phony argument. This administration, as do all administrations, wants flexibility. They do not want congressional restraints. Our legislation provides for restraints because we are a co-equal branch of government, and we wish to express the policies that we want to see our government pursue. To claim that on this issue the administration should have total flexibility is contrary to the interests of the Congress as a body.”