Alcee Hastings: “It is a new year, Mr. Speaker, a new Congress and new Presidential term. We have heard new commitments to work across…”

“It is a new year, Mr. Speaker, a new Congress and new Presidential term. We have heard new commitments to work across party lines and calls for civility and camaraderie in the halls of the Capitol. We have heard the President speak of a more civilized Washington and a bipartisan approach to the legislative process. Then and now Congress starts its work. The rhetoric starts; reality sets in. We are not even 2 full weeks into the House legislative calendar, and it is starting to sound like the same old song and dance. Any way we look at it, Mr. Speaker, process or policy, the House is off to a bad start. It is the first day of normal legislative business in the 109th Congress, and the House is already considering a restrictive rule for a bill that has not gone through proper House procedures. New Congress Members just coming from parliamentary procedure training session must be doing a double-take. They just spent a week in a refresher course on how a bill becomes a law. Then, all of the sudden, that process has not been followed on one of their first votes. I guess I was confused, too, and what I can say to them is, Welcome to Washington.”