Debbie Dingell: “Well, here we are again, my dear colleagues, deja vu all over again. The Republicans told us yesterday how they were…”

“Well, here we are again, my dear colleagues, deja vu all over again. The Republicans told us yesterday how they were going to have a second rule. Well, the second rule is just like the first, unfair, stifling debate, and not allowing discussion. We are told it is bipartisan. It reminds me of the story of a fellow who complained about the stew. He was told it is horse and rabbit stew. He said, what is the recipe? They said, oh, it is simple. Equal parts, one horse, one rabbit. He said, no wonder it tastes like hell. The simple fact of the matter is that is what we have here. That is the Republican definition of bipartisanship. They exclude seven significant amendments. Why? I can only assume one of several reasons: They are scared to death to debate them; they want to be unfair; they have not got the vaguest ideas of what is fairness or how a representative body should function. I suspect all of the above are there. In any event, it tends to show they either know or care less about fairness than a hawk does about a handsaw. What have they denied us the right to do? Legislation to address environmental concerns. Legislation to address the problem of chemical and nuclear weapons. Imagine what is going to happen if the Spratt amendment does not go into place and all of a sudden terrorists show up with nuclear weapons, or they show up with weapons of chemical or biological character because they got them out of a leaky stockpile in Russia?”