Kendrick Meek: “with that, we would not only like to say thanks to Mr. Delahunt but Ms. Jackson-Lee who joined us tonight from the great…”

“with that, we would not only like to say thanks to Mr. Delahunt but Ms. Jackson-Lee who joined us tonight from the great State of Texas, also Mr. Ryan and Ms. Wasserman Schultz for being here tonight. We would also in the 30 Something Working Group recognize the great contribution of Dr. Martin Luther King who was assassinated on this date and Mr. Ron Brown who was our Secretary of Commerce that went down in a plane crash yesterday, the day before, on Monday. We want to let both families know we appreciate the contributions of these two great Americans to our country. We will be forever better because of their contributions. At the same time, Mr. Speaker, the evidence that was just overwhelming tonight from the Members of not only what we are saying, because we are concerned as Americans, not just as Democrats, we are saying that we are willing to lead. We are also saying, Mr. Speaker, that when you have the past Speaker of this House, the first Republican Speaker in 40-something years coming before this body and make the statements that he believes the majority will lose the majority this time around because of what he identified this time of the evidence of why it will happen is just powerful and hard to defend on the majority side. {time} 2310 We are not asking for the majority side to defend what the past Speaker has said, but I think it is important to take note and that the American people take note of what is happening right now.…”