Timothy Roemer: “I rise to talk about why the motions to rise from the committee, offered by the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor)…”

“I rise to talk about why the motions to rise from the committee, offered by the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor), are a valuable contribution to this House, to the democratic principles, and actually to this bill. When we started debate on this bill earlier this afternoon, the Committee on Rules, which sits above this Chamber, a floor away, reported a rule that brought the defense authorization bill to the floor but did not allow a host of amendments to be offered on this bill, amendments that would make defense stronger; amendments that would save the taxpayer money; amendments that dealt with foreign policy and the amount of troops that could be in Colombia; amendments that would involve the BRACC commission and the closure of bases in this country. All those amendments were thrown by the wayside. And the body, 435 Members of Congress, were told they could bring their ideas to the House floor, the people's House.”