Phil Gingrey: “Reclaiming my time, I am going to finish up on this very important subject, Mr. Speaker. I want to save some time for…”

“Reclaiming my time, I am going to finish up on this very important subject, Mr. Speaker. I want to save some time for the other issue that I want to discuss, and I hope Representative Bachmann will be able to stay with me for a little while longer because I know this is something that is very near and dear to her heart as well. In conclusion, when the Democrats--Mr. Speaker, your party--took control in the 110th Congress and when Madam Speaker became the first female Speaker in the history of this body, it was an exciting time. I think we were all excited. Obviously, we Republicans would have preferred the Speaker to be our minority leader, John Boehner, but certainly we had to tip our hat to Nancy Pelosi for that historic occasion. You could not ignore her words and what she had said and what her promises were, particularly during the campaign in 2006 that led up to that historic win and to the new Democratic majority: It is going to be a new day. It is not going to be the same old bipartisan stuff. We are going to make sure the minority has an opportunity to participate. We have been in the minority for 12 years, and it has been a little painful. We feel like we have been shut out. We have not been able to have amendments.…”