Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, together, working with their Conference, not with us, not, frankly, with a bipartisan group that has support on this floor of 240 Members. 240 Members of the House of Representatives, and you need 218 for a majority, support an option and have been asking for that option for a long period of time. Now, the majority leader is looking somewhat quizzical, Mr. Speaker, and he wants to know how you get to 240; 193 plus 47. There were 54 Republicans who asked for the rule putting four bills on the floor, but 7 were, apparently, encouraged to take their name off of that, so only 47 Republicans remain. All 193, that is 240. That is a majority of the House. What was asked for was to put four options, giving everybody a chance to put the option that they liked on the floor. Notwithstanding Speaker Ryan's commitment and notwithstanding the comments that Mr. McCarthy made following his meeting at Camp David with the President of the United States where they needed to bring Democrats in, all we have seen is a deeply divided Republican Party negotiating with itself. They brought a bill to the floor, and they passed the rule. The only real effect of the rule, because the bill lost, was to negate the 216 signatures--and we believe there would have been more but for arm- twisting--to bring those compromised bills to the floor, which had both Republicans and Democrats working together and supporting. Two of those bills, the principal sponsors were a Republican and a Democrat. Mr.…”