Emanuel Cleaver: “there are people all around this country who look at C-SPAN on a daily basis and who look listen to radio talk shows…”

“there are people all around this country who look at C-SPAN on a daily basis and who look listen to radio talk shows, look at television news programs, and they see Members of Congress, both House and Senate, screaming at each other. They see from time to time the animated debates that take place on these shows, and even here in this great hall. Many, many great patriots have stepped into the well of the House of Representatives to wax eloquent, because this is the place where the great orators stood and presented their cases to each other and to the American public. But in the past decade or so, we have seen a dramatic drop in the civility exercised by Members of this body, and we have seen it from both sides of the aisle. Let me share something with you that I read the other day by William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. He said this: ``I know of no religion that destroys courtesy, civility or kindness.'' That is the kind of statement that the Members of this great body ought to keep in mind when we step into the well.”