Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman, and I appreciate the update on the schedule. Madam Speaker, I would like to ask the gentleman, we have been getting a number of concerns expressed from Members on our side--and I would imagine on the gentleman's side as well--about the erratic floor schedule, the changes that have occurred. This week, we were supposed to be here Tuesday to Friday. It was changed to Monday to Thursday. Next week, initially, the calendar showed that it was a week for Members to be in their districts. Madam Speaker, we all have challenges in our districts. There are small businesses that are struggling to stay afloat. Many Members are working with their local school boards to try to encourage schools to reopen. And all the other challenges that people have, whether it is trying to get water or spread distribution of the vaccine, as they set those meetings in their districts, when the floor schedule changes here, it disrupts their ability to properly represent their districts. I know the schedule is laid out for the year for a reason, so that Members can manage both the schedule here--and we all represent 750,000 people, roughly, back home--and the ability to properly meet with and represent constituents who aren't even allowed to come to this Capitol to meet with us, so we want to go meet with them back home. It is hard to do that when the schedule continues to change.…”