On the recordDecember 3, 2020
I appreciate my friend from Massachusetts yielding me the customary 30 minutes. Mr. Speaker, this may very well be the last rule I do down here on the floor of the House, and I was sad when Susan was reading from the rule because I have gotten to do some humdingers. We have done some serious legislating in the 10 years I have been in Congress. We have done some serious rulemaking in the 2 years Mr. McGovern has been chairman of the Rules Committee. Mr. Speaker, you can always tell when we have been burning the midnight oil in the Rules Committee because the rule will take a good 7, 8, or 9 minutes to read here on the floor of the House. Why? Because getting good legislation done is a complicated, difficult thing to do. It involves a lot of give and take; it involves a lot of voices at the table; and it involves a lot of time in the Rules Committee to make that happen. Mr. Speaker, we are down here today surrounded by Purell wipes, hand sanitizer, and social distancing, and we are not here to talk about that COVID package that my friend from Massachusetts referenced. We are here to, sadly, participate in what has become a theme in this Congress, and that is folks will have the germ of a wonderful idea on the Democratic side of the aisle. They will nurture that idea in their Democratic Caucus, and they will put together all the parts of that idea they believe need to come together in their Democratic Caucus.…
