Christopher Shays

Mr. Chairman, it is exciting to begin the process of debating campaign finance reform. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Marty Meehan) and Members on both sides of the aisle who favor…

Shakedown is when leaders from both parties will call up a corporation president, and say we would like $100,000 or $200,000 or $300,000 or a half a million, and make it very clear to those leaders that they can expect no action on their…

I was one of the 49 people who voted for that tax increase in 1990, and I have regretted it ever since. I vowed I would never do it again. I vowed I would not do it, because when we increased the so-called luxury tax and increased the…

I teach my daughter she can pray and anytime, anywhere she wants, and my daughter does that. She has taught me a lot of things about prayer. My wife knows she can pray anywhere she wants at any time. I urge my colleagues to recognize that…

I want to address the Chamber on campaign finance reform and to just base some brief remarks about that. First, I wish to express tremendous gratitude to the 104th Congress for the work it did on a bipartisan basis to pass Congressional…

It may be in Connecticut we are sensitized to this fact because Connecticut tends to be an urban State. We know that the census has overlooked the count, particularly in urban areas. Mr. Speaker, as the gentlewomen have pointed out, we…

As I was listening to this debate and looking out and hearing the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach) speak about campaign finance reform, I think of how hard a leader he has been over so many years. This is not a new issue. We have been…

I believe in real competition and meaningful choice, and this bill offers that. Today the House will be considering important legislation designed to bring satellite communications technology into the modern age. I would like to commend…

I intend to, but I thank the gentleman, and I thank the gentleman for yielding. I am trying to understand that we began this session last year, we waited all year long for a debate on campaign finance reform, at the end of that year of our…

Will you tell me who has decided that we brought all bills of merit? Who has made that decision?

Were any Democrats consulted on whether there would be bills that they think deserve debate and discussion? Was anyone on the other side of the aisle considered before the leadership made the determination to come out with these bills?

Mr. Leader, I asked a sincere question, and I would appreciate a sincere answer. And the question was: Was anyone in leadership on the other side of the aisle consulted before it was decided to bring out four Republican bills?

Then, Mr. Leader, how can that be a fair and open debate if we have not allowed people with differing views to present their bills and to make their arguments before this Chamber? How does that meet the requirement of my leadership, who I…

I want to say with tremendous gratitude that my predecessor, Stewart B. McKinney, cared deeply about housing issues and the provision of housing for people in need, particularly the homeless. I appreciated Congress' desire to name the…

As I was listening to my colleagues, I thought what a special moment this is that we get to share with each other and how grateful I am to have this opportunity to share this moment with all of you. Ron, I think of you as a very beautiful…

After Judge Starr's report to Congress in September and his presentation to the Judiciary Committee in November, I concluded that impeachable offenses were not proven and that the proven offenses were not impeachable

I rise in strong opposition, not to recognition of any tribe necessarily, but to recognition of a tribe through a legislative process rather than through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The fact is that this bill, as it is titled, is to…

Mr. Speaker, it is not an easy process to speak against any bill proposed by any Member, but unfortunately, the explanation we were just given is the reason why we need to clearly vote down this attempt to circumvent the Bureau of Indian…

I am not a great fan of calling amendments by Members' names. My general view is if we have campaign finance reform to call it the bipartisan bill for campaign finance reform and not attach a Member's name to it. But I want to say to my…

I know our children are having children. I have conducted a number of hearings on my Subcommittee on Human Resources. I know that 82 percent of all teen pregnancies are unintended. I know that more than half of the unintended pregnancies…

I think of what we have tried so hard to do, of getting our country's financial house in order and balancing the Federal budget and saving our trust funds for not just future generations but for present generations, and moving from a…

This Congress in the last 2\1/2\ years has sought to balance the Federal budget and get our country's financial house in order. We have sought to save our trust funds for not just future generations but present generations. And, thirdly…

I want to kind of catch my breath and to say to you after the budget agreement was passed in this Chamber I went back to my office, and on the back of my chair was this statement. It was from any staff, and I would like to read it. It…

Today we are at a historic point. We are at a point where this Democrat President and this Republican Congress have come together to get our country's financial house in order and balance the Federal budget. The President wanted more…

This is a freeze amendment. This is an amendment that says we are going to spend no more next year than we spent this year on defense. It is a recognition on the part of this Congress that we are slowing the growth of entitlements, we are…