John Joseph Moakley: “Mr. Speaker, at long last we are preparing to vote on this omnibus appropriation bill. This is the bill that contains…”

“Mr. Speaker, at long last we are preparing to vote on this omnibus appropriation bill. This is the bill that contains the eight unfinished appropriations bills and hundreds of extra provisions all the way from duck hunting to stomach viruses, all lumped together in a document that weighs over 40 pounds, stands 16 inches high and has to be brought over here in a box that resembles a Budweiser case. I mean this is a first. I hope that all the people who are listening in will really pay attention to this. This is the largest bill that I can recall lumping all these appropriation bills together in an end of the season rush to get out of here. Mr. Speaker, we all know the reason the Congress is passing this one enormous bill instead of the individual bills is because the Republicans just could not get their act together, they could not finish their work in time for the new fiscal year. But it turns out that the good news for the Democrats is this bill contains a lot more Democratic provisions than we could have gotten under the regular legislative procedure if that legislative procedure had taken place in its orderly fashion. By sticking together and insisting on our priorities we won very many major victories for the American families of America.”