Kendrick Meek: “Just to add to what I was saying before the gentlewoman made her statements, October 7 the board was open for 40 minutes…”

“Just to add to what I was saying before the gentlewoman made her statements, October 7 the board was open for 40 minutes to pass the ``energy bill,'' as relates to home heating. Special interests were able to get their profits out of that. The board was open for 40 minutes, even though it was a 5-minute vote. November 22, 2003, broke the record here in the House of Representatives by holding the vote open. It was originally set for 15 minutes but lasted over 3 hours into the middle of the night. It was obvious on the prescription drug bill that it was a failing bill, but it took 3 hours for the majority to get their way. The reason why there are two dates on this, July 27 and 28, is because the board was left open, the voting board was left open for an hour, well past the 15-minute voting time on CAFTA, which actually passed by 227 to 215. So when the majority says I wish the Democrats would join us, I wish that the Republicans would join the Republicans on it, because they know exactly what is not happening. I want to give our Web site out here. It is [email protected]. That is [email protected]. We want to make sure that everyone knows exactly what is going on here in Washington, D.C. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Florida, as well as the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr.…”