Wayne Gilchrest: “The Speaker has created a situation on the House floor where each Member of Congress can become a responsible advocate…”

“The Speaker has created a situation on the House floor where each Member of Congress can become a responsible advocate for his or her position. My first 4 years here, I saw money and seniority as the influencing factor in developing legislation. The Speaker, in my observation, changed that. Those with credibility have information, and those with information generated as a result of that information influence. That is how a democracy is supposed to work. Those with the information have the influence, the course, the direction of the legislation. As a result of that, the sophistication of the debate in my judgment has risen very, very high, a more open and honest exchange of ideas, not pummeled by political punishment by seniority or power; but an exchange of ideas is what democracy is all about. The debate has often been clearly misunderstood as partisan politics or gridlock. This is democracy. It is difficult. That exchange of ideas does not take place in North Korea, Cuba, Iraq, or someplace else.”