John Joseph Moakley

I am a bit puzzled by this debate. If I listened correctly to the other side, they are saying that all of the fees in this resolution are unwarranted. Now, I guess I would be puzzled that they are saying that with regard to bank…

Mr. Speaker, both of the resolutions we are considering here today were created as nothing more than an unfortunate form of political retaliation. Last Thursday the gentleman from New York (Mr. Solomon) announced we would be considering…

Mr. Chairman, the point of order triggers a debate and a vote on the question of consideration. It makes Congress take notice and make informed decisions about whether or not to proceed. The Dreier amendment changes the whole picture. It…

I paid very close attention to my dear friend's explanation, but the provision of the Dreier amendment really distorts the underlying purpose of the unfunded mandate bill. It used to focus on whether or not there was a mandate. Now, under…

that is not my intent. If that is what this amendment does, I will pull it back and just eliminate the Dreier amendment. That is not my intent. This is not a tax and spend bill.

Which the gentleman kindly gave to me, Mr. Chairman. As I said, this is not rewarding anybody, but if a private business has a tax put on it, it is very unfair to use that tax money to give it back in rebates to people in other businesses…

But this does change it. It does slant it. If we do not have a point of order prevail against it because it is going to go back to some program, talking about the tobacco, that is going to stop smoking, a point of order is going to lie…

But this is a bill that if we tax the tobacco industry, we should put it toward education.

actually, I think the gentleman from Ohio is disturbed with the budget act. I think we should amend the budget act. But do not try to straighten out the budget act with this amendment.

if the gentleman would just go a little further and remove the amendment that has his name on it, I would be very happy to support everything.

This amendment was dropped in at the last minute. I am ready to vote for the unfunded mandate bill, I think it is a good idea. But I cannot see why, if the money from the taxes is given back as tax rebates to the very rich, no point of…

if the gentleman would stop right there, that is what I am talking about. If there was some money there and they decided, the majority party decided to give that back in a tax break, rather than educate smokers, there would be no violation…

We can have the fight on taxes in another bill. But this amendment specifically says a point of order will lie against a bill if monies raised from tobacco, the sale of tobacco or cigarettes, if that money is spent to educate youth or to…

the mandate is the same, whether they get taxed to build roads or they give it back as a tax break, that company we are trying to protect is still getting the same tax.

But the reason for this mandate is to stop this spending to take place, stop penalizing small companies. But if we say, we are going to tax them and then someone says, well, a point of order, and then someone says, we will give it back as…

as I said before, I have no problem with the bill. It is the amendment that will not allow monies derived from gas taxes to be spent on improving roads, the point of order lies against it; improving safety in the roads, a point of order…

Today, Mr. Speaker, my Republican colleagues say they want to amend the Constitution to require a supermajority vote for tax increases. Mr. Speaker, just 2 years ago the Republicans changed the House rules to require a three-fifths vote…

I concur, Mr. Speaker. That is all I am here for, is to make sure that unions and collective bargaining agents and employers have all the same rights.

This African trade bill is designed to stimulate growth and reduce poverty in eligible sub-Saharan countries. It encourages investment in some African countries which are already turning out to be rich markets for American technologies and…

I am afraid the gentleman has watched too closely. But also he may remember the most-favored-nation status China trade bill that I opened the rule because there were some very-much-needed amendments, and it is very reminiscent of what we…

I am not insinuating in any way that former President Ronald Reagan is for this bill. All I want to do was to read a statement he put out in a press release. Once a President speaks, use of that language is never unauthorized because that…

Mr. Speaker, I know and I realize that there may be a lot of people in this country who think Washington National Airport should be named after President Reagan, but I daresay very few of them live in the area. For that reason, Mr…

I just had a thought. I was thinking maybe 10 or 15 years into the future, when there is a beautiful edifice in New York named after the gentleman from New York (Mr. Solomon), then maybe 20 years later than that someone says, take that…

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…

I do not know what script it was the gentleman was reading from, but this is not about violating law. This is a sense of the House resolution that has no power. If the gentleman really felt as strong as he says, why does he not get the…