Barney Frank

The gentleman gets the date wrong. He said since 1989. Same-sex marriage started in the Netherlands in 2001. When Members are giving statistics, they ought to know what they mean.

I wanted to ask the previous speaker, who said he had presided over the dissolution of 20,000 marriages, I just wonder, in how many of those was the cause of the dissolution some gay relationship? I mean, I am prepared to own up when I am…

I apologize for assuming that the gentleman was referring to gay marriage. This is a debate about gay marriage. So when the gentleman talked about the dissolution of 20,000 marriages, I made, apparently, the incorrect inference that there…

Does he then seek to undo the Federal law that singles out race and religion currently for a protection of this sort? If he thinks it is wrong to do division, does he oppose the existence of those laws and do we expect to see a law…

The notion that people will stop coming here illegally if they do not have a matricula consular is totally at variance with logic and experience. People who want to stop illegal immigration have a very good point, but the notion that…

Now, I know one of the things we are trying to do is to instruct the people of Iraq, to help the people of Iraq understand democracy. We want them to be open. We want them to fully engage debate, not to suppress dissension. And the only…

As we discuss the rules, it is impossible for those of us on our side to proceed without talking about the degrading spectacle of yesterday. It is particularly ironic that the Republican leadership chose to use extremely undemocratic…

Sadly I am here to talk about what we cannot ignore: the sad, sad chronicle of incompetence and blunder which marks this administration's conduct of national security policy. I do not think in the history of the United States there has…

I would say two things. First, the gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter) and the cosponsor, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton), are entitled to their decisions; but so is the whole House. It is the House that should decide whether…

I understand that. But I believe that in this case, the entity that has a claim on the deposit insurance, that gets into the payment system, will be the entity that is regulated by the FDIC. Let us be clear in this bill, we are not…

I'm sorry to see the San Francisco thing go forward.

I agree that this is a bill that is a good set of steps forward, it is more than a first step, but it is not everything that we should be doing. It is useful to do it now. I have spoken with the Attorney General of New York, Mr. Spitzer…

I would say, though, that as one of the Democrats who has been supportive of this bill, I certainly would concur with what the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) has said and would also urge its acceptance.

Even with regard to Section 8, this is helpful legislation, because the Section 8 cost is based on the cost of the housing. To the extent we can get multifamily housing built more efficiently with financing help, then the Section 8 rent…

I would note that this is one of those times when we can bring forward a bill that will advance an important social purpose dealing with our housing affordability crisis, and this is not for subsidized housing, but as we build housing…

I do not want Fannie and Freddie to be just another bank. If they were not going to do more than another bank, would because they have so many advantages, then we do not need them.

I do think I do not want the same kind of focus on safety and soundness that we have in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency or the Office of Thrift Supervision for the Fannie and Freddie regulator. I want to roll the dice a…

Put aside the regionals. What about the national specialized agencies, like MIB? This amendment could be amended under the rules. An amendment could be offered to amend this, a second degree amendment. Would the gentleman agree to exclude…

I would say, particularly with regard to protecting legitimate merchants against abusive credit repair companies, I would be glad to work with the gentleman.

Let me take back my time. There were two different California issues here. Of course, one would not expect California to settle for only one controversy. The gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) is correctly alluding to the future issue of…

I think even with these agreements the bill is, with regard to some existing law in California and elsewhere, more preemptive than it needs to be. I recognize the value of this colloquy in making clear what those limits are. The…

What we have here is what political philosophers have called authoritarian democracy. It is a view that as long as ultimately a majority ratifies a result, that is all that counts. Well, that is a very unfortunate view of democracy. It is…

The disrespect that the majority has for the democratic process is evident today. The majority brings this to the floor, does not deign to discuss it. Perhaps they are going to wait until they have the very last word, which they are…

I would be willing to stand with the Senate on this if we could stand with them on the child tax credit. Can we make some kind of deal here on standing with the Senate?

Can we anticipate a gold medal for Vice President Gore too? Are you going to give a gold medal to Al Gore too, anybody who helps you out?