Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. I rise in opposition to the rule and the underlying bill, the Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Act. Last night, we got a notice that the Rules Committee was going to have an emergency hearing to expedite very important legislation. Mr. Speaker, I was very excited. I thought we were going to deal with an emergency. Perhaps it was Ebola, perhaps it was dealing with the use of force overseas, or emergencies here at home like the thousands of families that are separated because of our broken immigration law or the emergency of balancing our budget before we leave the next generation with a burden of debt. I was really hopeful that the majority was ready to take on a pressing issue facing the country. Sadly, I was too optimistic. I found out that the bill that was such an emergency, that was expeditiously brought before the Rules Committee and now to the floor is actually a bill that we have already voted on this Congress to bypass the administration's review policy and streamline the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Turned out last night's Rules Committee meeting was far from an emergency. The majority should not have waived clause 11 of rule XXI that normally requires 3 days to review legislation before we vote on it. To be clear, we have not had 3 days to read this bill.…”