John Joseph Moakley: “Mr. Speaker, Congress has just returned from a 3-month recess; and, after all that time, the American people expect…”

“Mr. Speaker, Congress has just returned from a 3-month recess; and, after all that time, the American people expect something substantive from their representatives. Today, they are not going to get it. There are a lot of issues that need addressing in this country. As President Clinton said in his State of the Union: This is an opportunity for action. We need to protect Social Security, reduce the size of classrooms, expand Medicare, increase the minimum wage, Mr. Speaker, and a lot more. The list of issues that are important to the American people is very long, it is very diverse, but it does not include the attorneys' fees for the White House Health Care Task Force. I bet if we walked down the street today, we would not find a single person that would say that the utmost concern on their mind was the fees of the White House task force on health. They would probably say they were more concerned with making a decent living, sending their children to college or affording decent health care. But this Congress will waste time debating the issue of these fees.”