Bob Barr: “I explained to her, to her satisfaction at least, and maybe some folks on the other side will understand this now, the…”

“I explained to her, to her satisfaction at least, and maybe some folks on the other side will understand this now, the bulk of the work of the Congress of the United States takes place in two institutions with which folks on the other side may not be familiar, committees and subcommittees. There are today, just as one example, Mr. Speaker, House committees and subcommittees debating and considering very specific measures of legislation and very important issues for the American people so that they can indeed be brought to the floor with a minimum of rancor and debate, and so forth, on the floor: Trade with Europe, commodity exchange, the appropriations bills, the small business and economic development, more appropriations bills, the ballistic missile programs, arms control, employment programs, public housing markup, storage tanks involving the public safety, OSHA, nursing home fraud, EPA rule-making, postal service reform, refugees, bankruptcy system, defense review, patent legislation. The list goes on and on and on.”