Political Quotes

“I thank the ranking member. Mr. Speaker, in parliamentary parlance, what we have before us is termed a ``structured rule.'' However, I would venture to say that this is an unstructured rule. It is a rule put forward by a majority with no clear structure to its strategy of how to govern this country. This rule will allow them to bring two versions of their budget to the floor, as their deficit hawks and defense hawks continue to fight over what budget they should pursue. It is demonstrative of the deep divisions that we have seen displayed on a regular basis in the majority party. We have now seen one example after another of this Republican majority being unable to assemble the votes from within its own ranks to pass important measures on its own. We saw it with funding to keep the Department of Homeland Security open. We also saw it last Congress, when Republicans were forced to withdraw an appropriations bill for Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development when they didn't have the votes to support their sequestration strategy. The gentleman from Kentucky, Hal Rogers, the Republican chairman of the Appropriations Committee, said at that time that the bill's removal meant that ``with this action, the House has declined to proceed on the implementation of the very budget it adopted just 3 months ago.…”