Barney Frank: “To begin, Mr. Speaker, let me congratulate the overwhelming majority of our colleagues, approximately 432 of them, for…”

“To begin, Mr. Speaker, let me congratulate the overwhelming majority of our colleagues, approximately 432 of them, for ignoring this exercise in partisan silliness. No one believes that this is anything more than a very feeble effort from a party that is having difficulty in presenting a program to try and look like it is doing something. No one thinks this is going anywhere. We are about to debate an amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Look who is here? At this point, it is now myself and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions). We are here because we have to be here. If one of us was not here, we would have to stop. So the barest minimum number of people possible to keep this farce going are impressed into it. Frankly, I am a little resentful because we are having a serious hearing in judiciary on the antitrust measure that I cannot be at. I notice my Republican colleagues in the Judiciary, understanding this was coming, scripted it better; and they managed to get a Committee on Rules member to sit in so they could all be present at the hearing. The Committee on Rules presumably has nothing else to do at this time.”