Political Quotes

“I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. I tell my friend, Bradley Byrne, I would love to have a discussion with him on that issue that he raised, but I don't have the time to do it now because I want to speak about the bill. First, let me thank Chairman Frelinghuysen, who is the chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, and Mr. Visclosky. They have worked together. They worked positively, and America can be proud of their leadership. Both of them have been extraordinary advocates for our military and men and women who serve. This rule presents a rejection, however, of the regular order Speaker Ryan promised in the House. He promised it. That is the issue, not a question of how many. What he said was this was going to be open. As soon as it became clear, however, that the House Republicans might have to take an up-or-down vote again on whether to ban discrimination against LGBT Americans, they shut the open appropriations process down. And, in fact, when we adopted that amendment, a majority of the Republican Members voted against their own bill. That was the abuse of the system, I tell my friend, not anything we have done over here. No transparency, no open process, no regular order, no scruples about denying Americans' Representatives the chance to add their input in this Defense bill, simply because they want to allow discrimination against LGBT Americans. That is what this is about. That is how we got to this closed rule or structured rule.…”