Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for yielding. I am going to argue, and I want to talk about this rule and the bill to which it applies, but I will take a minute, not much more, perhaps a little more than that, to talk about what apparently the Republicans want to talk about: proxy voting. I will tell my friend that not a single one of my constituents, not one, voted for me so I would vote in this machine. Not one. Not one of them voted for me to vote in that machine. What they want me to do is vote to represent them, and they really didn't care how I did that as long as it was accurate. Very frankly, I think that side of the aisle is promoting form over substance. Of course, the gentleman mentioned Philadelphia, September 1787, the miracle at Philadelphia. You remember the debate as Member after Member got up and said we cannot use Teams; we cannot use our cell phones; we cannot use Webex. Remember that debate? They said you can't use any of that, and you certainly can't use a rotary telephone. You heard them say that. You can't do that. You need to be in this room. Well, that room was in Philadelphia. Or you needed to be in this room. Well, that room is in New York. My friends, you have magnified form over substance. Our constituents voted for us to vote their interests, and there are many ways we can do that. They had not the technology. That is why they couldn't schedule a vote in 48 hours, because the horses did not fly. Form over substance.…”