On the recordFebruary 17, 2011
Reserving the right to object, I guess I am a dissenter in this orgy of self-congratulation, and I want to explain why. And I may not object if I have a chance to explain why, but if I can't explain, I have to object. So that is the choice. I either explain or object. I object not to the UC at this point, but to the self-congratulation that the majority is engaging in because they said they had such an 'open process.' In fact, the refutation of that was best stated by the gentleman from Kentucky. He just said we have debated the whole government. Yes, we have--and very inappropriately. To debate the whole government and to debate fundamental policy issues under the guise of a budget, under the constraints of a budget debate and not three, not a whole week, 2 1/2 days so far. Maybe we will get a third day. We have dealt with the most fundamental questions. In the jurisdiction of the committee on which I serve, issues came up under great constraint. The reform bill of last year has been damaged by what was done here. Fortunately, it will never become law. And we were constrained because we had to choose between the SEC and the IRS. That is not the way to legislate. This was not an open process.
