On the recordDecember 4, 2014
I have none. Mr. McGOVERN. We have a couple, but they are not here yet. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am sad to say that this Congress is kind of ending the way it began, under a very closed and restrictive process. As I said earlier, this is the most-closed Congress in the history of the United States of America. Routinely important issues, issues that impact not just the American people, but that impact the entire world, are denied a debate on the House floor. We are bringing up multiple bills here today all under a very closed process; yet there are some very important issues that need to be debated and to be discussed and to be voted on. I have crumbling bridges and sewer and water systems in my district that need repair, and I can't get a penny to repair or replace them. We are told that we don't have any money, but we seem to have billions and billions of dollars to throw at these endless wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East. Mr. Speaker, I enter into the Record the November 2 New York Times editorial, ``The New War's Rising Cost.'' [From the New York Times, Nov. 2, 2014] The New War's Rising Cost (By the Editorial Board) The Pentagon disclosed last week that America's ever- shifting new war in the Middle East has cost taxpayers more than half a billion dollars since it began in August. Yet Congress has not bothered to hold a vote to authorize the Obama administration's decision to get into another war.…
