Steny Hoyer: “I too congratulate the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Porter) for his leadership of this committee, but this bill does not…”

“I too congratulate the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Porter) for his leadership of this committee, but this bill does not represent the gentleman's leadership; and it ought not to be hung around his neck, because if he were in charge, this would not be his bill. These would not be his figures. This would not represent the depth of his priorities. So let us not delude ourselves, I say to my friends. Newt Gingrich stood on this floor, and he talked to the perfectionist caucus on the Republican side of the aisle; and he pointed out that the American public sent a President, House Members, and Senate Members, and the real problem with why we have gridlock in Washington and why we have the absurd charade through which we are now going, and undercutting the American people's priorities, not just our priorities, is because there is one group that does not agree with most of the other groups; and it is, I say to my friends, the Republican Conference within the House of Representatives.”