Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank him for his leadership on this important committee and for giving all of us the opportunity to express our support for the District of Columbia. I come to the floor with great pride on this. As Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton knows, I take pride in the fact that my father, when he was a Member of Congress many, many years ago from Baltimore, was the chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on the District of Columbia. He was a big supporter of home rule which didn't exist at that time and then, of course, we saw home rule, then we saw Mayor, and we see the District of Columbia. Now our aspiration for statehood has always been but continues to be. So when we hear this debate on the floor, what are we talking about here? Has this become the city council of the District of Columbia that we are debating issues? That is up to the District of Columbia. What we do is respect their ability to make their own rules whether we like them or not. So the point is that this is sort of a gotcha kind of an amendment that I think is most unfortunate and unworthy of the debate on statehood and representation for the people in the District of Columbia who fight our wars, pay our taxes, contribute to the greatness of our country, but do not have representation in the Congress of the United States and fall victim to any criticism of their individual legislation. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on this.”