Peter Deutsch: “Mr. Speaker, article I, section 7 of the Constitution specifically states that revenue measures must originate in this…”

“Mr. Speaker, article I, section 7 of the Constitution specifically states that revenue measures must originate in this Chamber, in the House of Representatives. It is an infringement of the House prerogatives when that is not done, and in fact this House has consistently ruled that as a question of privilege when that occurs. It consistently occurs when the other body does a revenue provision. What occurred in this case, as most Members at this point are well aware, is that this revenue measure which did originate in the House, then went to the other body, went to a conference committee. A provision was put in in the conference committee which clearly did not originate in the House, which provided for a direct benefit of $63 million to Mr. Rupert Murdoch. And then at that point the Constitution of the United States and the prerogatives of this House were violated because that provision did not originate in this Chamber. The House has consistently held that that type of instance is a violation of our prerogatives.”