John Larson: “I strongly oppose the radical new provision included in this rules package resolution which would violate the…”

“I strongly oppose the radical new provision included in this rules package resolution which would violate the Constitution by allowing the Speaker and a small group of Members to usurp the powers of a majority of the House and act with only a ``provisional quorum'' instead of the real thing. The proposal would deny the plain language of section 5 of article I of the Constitution and create a new category of quorum--a ``provisional quorum''--which the Constitution expressly forbids. It destroys the very idea of the quorum. It would also demolish a 99-year-old precedent, based on the Constitution, that a quorum of the House consists of a majority of the membership chosen, sworn, and living. For each House Member deprived of the right to exert an impact on the work of the House, either through physical presence in or absence from the Chamber, the approximately 600,000 persons represented by each Member would be deprived of their rights to democratic representation in the legislative body structured to be closest to the American people. This proposal transfers the rights of those ``closest to the people'' to those closest to the House floor. The proposal takes the guise of a rules change which the House has no power to pass, since the Constitution determines what kind of body the House is, and what it can--and can not--do.”