The Public Record
Barney Frank is a former U.S. Representative from Massachusetts, serving from 1981 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he was known for his progressive stance on various issues, including financial regulation and LGBT rights. Frank played a significant role in the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which aimed to prevent the kind of financial crisis that occurred in 2008. He was also one of the first openly gay members of Congress, advocating for LGBTQ+ rights throughout his career.
If someone had said some of the most fiscally, self-proclaimed, conservative members of the House were going to come to the floor and ask us to spend $100 billion or $200 billion on a nonessential project, people would have said, when pigs…
I would just say that they have one other advantage: they are sufficiently uncomplicated to get the United States Senate to act on them.
I do not want to impose on the House's time except we are killing time anyway while you try to figure out what you are going to do with that foolish resolution of yours. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr…
I am confused. When I came here, I was told that the Republicans had put the Murtha resolution on for debate, and then I saw what they put on. I was just wondering and I have a question where they got this. Did they, by any chance, get it…
Well, I cannot answer as to where the whole Federalist Society is, but I can tell the gentleman where at least one of the leaders of the Federalist Society who introduced my Governor the other day, I know where he was. He was busy making…
Absolutely. Let us just be very clear. I, from what I have read, would not have voted to issue that survey. I think it was a mistake. But I hope the majority is not telling us that it is the role of the circuit courts of appeals to…
Let me ask the gentleman, because I know he has studied this well. I have read the opinion. I have not read the pleading. I do not know what specific phrase in the Constitution they pointed to, but I wonder from an originalist standpoint…
Again, invoking one other individual does not pass for substantive debate. I am surprised. Do you not understand what real argument is?
So apparently four or five Members have been able to do this. I will repeat that we have heard no substantive defense of why this came. I would agree with what the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Zoe Lofgren) said, sometimes you do not…
Reclaiming my time, let us do that. Let us defeat this now and send it to a rule. The gentleman from California's (Mr. Doolittle) idea of a substantive defense is maybe a tribute to the gallantry that he continues to exemplify long after…
Reclaiming my time, you said all of the Members there present. How many were there?
I just wanted to add my voice. The ranking member of the subcommittee has spent a good deal of time focused on the corporate governance of these GSEs. He is one of the best students ever in the House. This is a very thoughtful and, I…
We have had very limited time here, so I am going to stray to another topic relative to the bill. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman).
When the gentlewoman says she is not in need of further time, I think she is being very kind to her colleagues in the Republican Study Committee. She is being very kind to our colleagues who miswrote this amendment. The only thing that I…
The gentleman from Texas is right. I did vote for this bill last year, because I thought it was about medical malpractice and did not read it carefully. In fact, what happened was I made the mistake last year that the gentleman from…
I would ask to what guidelines the gentleman refers. I know there have been guidelines about bringing a bill up at all, but I am not aware of any guidelines that govern the deliberations of a bill once it has been brought forward. Could…
If I understood the chronology correctly, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis) was pointing out that there were Reagan administration witnesses, of which people had similar complaints. And I would stipulate to that. But this is not a…
In closing, I would repeat what has been said before, but apparently with sufficient clarity, I guess. The one person, who more than any other, was penalized for speaking out in this matter, in defense of the principles that the previous…
Well, we will deal with this one; and when the gentleman brings that amendment up, we will deal with that one. I want to make it very clear. I did not stop the gentleman from offering any amendment he wanted to.
In a very impressive display of bipartisanship, I am now going to yield some of our time to the manager of the bill for the majority. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) as long as…
Before I yield, I just would say sometimes we have debates about where does wealth begin and what is middle class, et cetera. I guess I would differ with the gentleman from California that if you have $100,000 in the bank, you are a little…
This is a terribly difficult decision which we are institutionally, totally incompetent to make, and to allow ideology to triumph in that context is a shame.
I have to say after listening to the gentleman there in that strong condemnation of the current state of the American Government, the Republican Party has been in control of the Presidency, the executive branch and both Houses of Congress…
I will make a prediction: she and the majority will never allow a debate on concentration. ... Democracy says you should discuss it.
Does the gentleman really believe that 20 minutes of debate, 10 on each side, on these complicated issues, is free and flowing debate? We got out early yesterday; we are here today. Why only 10 minutes of debate on each side on these…
Politicians like Barney Frank
