John Joseph Moakley

Mr. Speaker, the rule we are considering today adds another Republican broken promise to that ever growing heap. The Republicans promised to let the American people have their say in Government by granting 70 percent open rules. They are…

The gentleman promised that the contract on America would be based on all open rules.

Is it not true though that the gentleman's party promised open rules, more open rules than they had the year before?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday in the Committee on Rules a wonderful thing happened. In the interest of bipartisan cooperation, Democrats and Republicans worked out an agreement to allow the Moorhead amendment. I thank Chairman Solomon for his…

That great man was the gentleman from New York [Mr. Solomon]. I just want to show the Members, whatever side one is on, this thing cuts both ways.

Mr. Speaker, this is not a wide open rule. There are four waivers of points of order. This is not even close. This is a backhanded gag rule that waives not one, not two, not three, but four points of order, something the Republicans used…

Yes, Mr. Speaker. However, I am here showing the American people and the people here that the statements made by the gentleman from New York [Mr. Solomon], are not being carried out: ``We are going to have the wide open rules.'' We had…

Mr. Speaker, like the other Democratic members of the Committee on Rules, I am very glad the bill is being brought up under an open rule, but I must say that I think it could just as easily have been brought up under suspension of the…

I will be very cooperative. All I want to do is show the rules, the definition of the rules, that we worked when I was chairman and the definition of the rules that the gentleman is working as the chairman. Last week, Mr. Speaker, we put…

The amendment now does that. In effect, the chair of a committee can announce hearings so long as he or she gives 7 days notice. To announce a hearing less than 7 days in advance, the committee chair must either get the agreement of the…

the Dreier amendment is a major improvement over the text of the bill. I would, however, make one suggestion. As the gentleman from California [Mr. Dreier] explained to us, his amendment will change the point of order into a question of…

This is a bill, Mr. Speaker, that did not have a hearing in the House of Representatives. There was no committee hearing. The Committee on Government Operations had some kind of a session, but they did not call it a hearing, and the only…

I would like to address a question to the gentleman from California [Mr. Dreier]. We are talking about the openness of the rule. The gentleman was talking about the openness of the rule. Everybody says wide openness. Do we have a guarantee…

I recognize the Republicans are in a bit of a hurry, but my town people expect a little more consideration when it comes to passing laws that affect them, and I am sure it is the same for other parts of the country, too. The congressional…

I reclaim my time. As I say, this is a noticeable improvement over the gag rule within the closed rule that we did on opening day, but I am still going to oppose the rule for the consideration of the unfunded-mandates bill. I am very…

I recall it very well, if I may reclaim my time, but I also recall hearing Members say that there was no official hearing and the only person they heard from--I am talking about the other committee, the Government Operations Committee--was…

Yes. But the problem is the lack of committee consideration. It was not the way the rule was handled. It was the way it came to the Committee on Rules where we had to amend the bill that came, because it had a duplication of sections. It…

OK, but I could spend all week reciting quotations from Members on the Republican side calling restrictive rules of any kind unconstitutional, undemocratic, unfair. Yet, the first day of the session, on the very first item on our…

this section is a rule providing for consideration of the Congressional Accountability Act. This is the exact same bill that we Democrats passed in the House last year. However, sadly, the Republicans derailed it in the Senate, so I do not…

I rise today to remember the one and one half million Armenians killed in the Armenian Genocide. April 24 marks the anniversary of the start of the 1915 genocide which subjected an entire nation to massacres and many other deplorable acts…

I rise today to honor my dear friend, former Speaker Tip O'Neill. I commend Chairman Rose, a close friend of Tip's, for his resolution designating the year 1994 as a year to remember the life and leadership of the former speaker. Tip…

As I rise on this St. Patrick's Day I think it only appropriate that we take this opportunity to double our efforts to help end the violence and division in Northern Ireland. On this day of celebrating all that is Irish, it is sad to watch…

Mr. Speaker, this is the way the House is supposed to work; this is a majority rule institution. The purpose of the discharge rule, the purpose of all the rules and traditions of the House, is to guarantee that a determined majority will…

I rise today to call your attention to the Justice Department's investigation into the possibility of an agreement amongst cigarette manufacturers to suppress product research and development on firesafe cigarettes. I commend the Justice…

I rise here today to say a few words about the conflict in Northern Ireland. This issue has been important to me for many years, and I thank my colleague and friend, Richard Neal, for organizing this special session. Given the recent…