David Skaggs: “Yesterday 15 Members of this body, including myself, 6 private citizens, and the League of Women Voters filed a lawsuit…”

“Yesterday 15 Members of this body, including myself, 6 private citizens, and the League of Women Voters filed a lawsuit to overturn as unconstitutional the new House rule requiring a supermajority of three-fifths to pass any legislation raising income tax rates. Let me make this very, very clear: This lawsuit has absolutely nothing to do with taxes; it has everything to do with the Constitution of the United States. Last month each and every one of us took an oath to uphold and defend that Constitution. That is our first and our most serious and sacred duty. Unfortunately, the new House majority seems all too willing to treat the Constitution quite casually. This new House rule is intended to be a political statement that they are really serious about not raising taxes. We believe that the Constitution is far too important to set aside just for the sake of a political slogan. The new House rule violates one of the most fundamental principles of our democracy, the principle of majority rule. It sets an extremely dangerous precedent, and we simply believe that it should not be allowed to stand. This year the supermajority requirement may apply just to income tax rates; but next year--next year it could be international agreements or trade or civil rights or clean air, and perhaps unanimous consent required if this country should have to go to war. So it is extremely important to act now to purge the House rules of this very bad idea.”