Newt Gingrich: “I want to take the floor for a second just to say that we are very interested in working with the other side in moving…”

“I want to take the floor for a second just to say that we are very interested in working with the other side in moving legislation, including fairly small things that might be mutually agreed to, as early as possible. But frankly, as Members know, if we protect your rights to have, for example, 3 days for the minority reviews on bills coming out of committee, and then we protect your rights going through the Rules Committee process, we probably have about 10 or 12 days where we have to say to our colleagues yes, you have to be here; no, we are not going to put Mickey Mouse on the legislative schedule just to give you some cover. And since we do not have proxy voting anymore, you are going to have to be here and be in committee, and this is substantive work. We may have to consult with you to find what is the best way in the interest of the House to manage this 2-week transition process. But I do not want us, and in fact we will not try to run over your rights to file minority views, your rights to have the process at the Rules Committee, your rights to have something come out the Rules Committee to come to the floor.”