Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I came to the floor today expecting to support H.R. 1293, which has to do with the reporting of official time, but based on the negative commentary we are getting generally about official time and the knock against Federal employees we have heard here today, I am anxious now about supporting this bill because it appears that what is happening is our colleagues on the other side are setting the table for bringing other legislation eventually to the floor that is actually going to attack and undermine official time. My colleague earlier referred to a wolf in sheep's clothing represented by this bill. You can look at it as the camel's nose under the tent. Whatever it is, I am worried now that the agenda here is to undermine official time. Let's remind ourselves of the various benefits of official time. It helps to resolve workplace disputes, which is really important. It helps to improve efficiency within the workplace. It is what leads to negotiating positive agreements between labor and management. It is how official time, when it is used wisely--and there is no evidence that it is not used wisely; there is no evidence of abuse or misuse of official time--and when it is used the way it has been used, it helps our Federal agencies help the American people. It helps these agencies function well. I hope that we can reject whatever is coming down the pipeline.…”