Dan Kildee: “I thank my friend for yielding. Madam Speaker, I am here to protest what has been the most closed Congress in American…”

“I thank my friend for yielding. Madam Speaker, I am here to protest what has been the most closed Congress in American history. I know the other side will recite the number of amendments that have been allowed, but the fact remains, this is the most closed Congress we have ever had: 84 closed rules and not one open rule. We are sent here by our constituents to advocate for their interests, and in the minority, one of the few tools we have is the ability to offer amendments and have those arguments heard on the floor of this House. Knowing that we may not win every fight, knowing that we may not win a majority on each idea, we ought to at least allow the power of a good idea to have a fair hearing. Twenty-eight times I have offered amendments, thoughtful amendments that were crafted with the idea that we could actually improve policy, and 28 times those amendments have been blocked. These are not messaging amendments, just to give two examples: One would have increased the amount of funding available to local governments that are struggling to improve their drinking water systems. Think about my hometown of Flint and the hundreds of other communities that would have benefited from that. Another would have directed the Federal Government to do more to deal with this issue of PFAS, perfluorinated chemicals, that is poisoning groundwater.…”