Mike Quigley: “I am going to begin by quoting an eminent Republican from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, because this argument and the…”

“I am going to begin by quoting an eminent Republican from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, because this argument and the timing of it reminds me of what took place in Illinois some time ago. One morning, Abraham Lincoln argued before the Illinois Supreme Court, and he made a point on a case. In the afternoon, arguing for another client, he spoke in exact opposition to the point he had made in the morning. When one of the justices pointed this out, he said: I have had time to reflect on that, and I changed my mind. Mr. Speaker, we have just witnessed the same thing. How in the world can we take their MTR seriously? Just a few moments ago, on an amendment proposed by Mr. Banks from Indiana, they voted ``yes'' on two amendments that would cut this account by 14 percent, a cut of $23.5 million. Apparently, they have had time to think about it and realized, perhaps, the error of their ways. In addition, I would say--and I loved working with the ranking member when he was chairman last year--he funded the same bill, as the chairman, wrote the bill and funded it by millions less than we are proposing today in our bill. Apparently, time changes our minds. I don't know where the gentleman will be 5 minutes from now or whether his passion for this will be as strong as it was a half an hour ago, but the underlying bill includes an increase of $8.7 million above FY19, where my friend from Georgia proposed this. I started with the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.…”