John Mica: “Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Speaker, the gentlelady from New York is a good friend, and I respect her so much.…”

“Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Speaker, the gentlelady from New York is a good friend, and I respect her so much. She asks some important questions that the House has to answer. She has been here a good while. I have been here a good while. Why would we be proceeding in this fashion? First of all, the House, we are trying to get to regular order. The Congress has not passed a budget, hasn't passed most appropriations. We live from CR to CR. There has been such instability in this institution. Here, for the first time, we have the opportunity, and I believe it is within the hour that the other body may act--or have they acted? They have had this question before them for a long time; but, here, we have the possibility of going to a conference. This is an important issue. This is an issue in which the President himself has said, I think, 22 times, that he doesn't have the authority to do what he did. The courts have upheld the position that we have or at least put a stay on the President's action. This is a very important issue because it affects the entire Nation. If we could get to regular order, we want to keep the government open. We want national security and homeland security to move forward. We are offering that and also the opportunity for a little bit of time to go to regular order to make the process work.…”