Richard Gephardt: “I rise to urge every Member of the House to vote ``no'' on the previous question and ``yes'' on the motion to commit.…”

“I rise to urge every Member of the House to vote ``no'' on the previous question and ``yes'' on the motion to commit. The Republican leadership would have us believe that they can pass eight or nine bills in a flurry of legislative accomplishment and debate. In fact, there can be no debate; there can be no discussion; there can be no effort to amend, or strengthen, or truly consider any of their proposals. This is what we call a closed rule. That means that unless you support every dot and comma in the Republican agenda, it is a closed discussion. And as far as serious public policy is concerned, it is a closed door. That is a tragedy, because the American people deserve more than rubber-stamp Republicanism. That is why we must reject this rule, and open the crucial issue of congressional reform to discussion and improvement. The fact is, Democrats do not want to defeat this rules package. We want real reform. That is why many of the proposals being made today-- such as making Congress abide by the laws it writes--have already been passed by the House. And that is why Democrats fought for even tougher reforms, such as a bill to curb the influence of lobbyists, which the Republicans defeated. The Republican reforms are all well and good--but they simply do not go far enough. They are a handful of procedural and administrative changes here in the House. Many of them are positive. Many of them deserve wide, bipartisan support--and they will have it.…”