John Joseph Moakley: “Mr. Speaker, again I want to begin by registering my frustration at being expected to vote on this very enormous bill…”

“Mr. Speaker, again I want to begin by registering my frustration at being expected to vote on this very enormous bill that was dropped outside my door at 3:30 this morning. It came the same time as the milkman. But I am not exactly sure if my Republican colleagues drafted the bill we expected them to draft, and I suspect that no one else is sure either. This bill has come to the floor with an unprecedented bipartisan compromise in cooperation. It is a shame that it ended today with the martial law rule. Members should have the chance to carefully consider this bill before voting on it. Mr. Speaker, although this bill will balance our budget in the short term, I do not believe it gets us where we need to be in the long term. I know that quite a few of my colleagues will support this bill, and there are very good reasons to do so, but I at this present time cannot. It squeezes funding for education, training, health programs, and school construction, and I do not believe that it should.”