Roy Blunt

here we are again. It seems to be just the same act in the same play, the same time. Why are we having this vote today? I really don't know. Many of our Members believe it's because the TV ads, the radio ads have already been bought in…

I think we've got a handful of bills that have been approved now by both the House and the Senate... every day we let that go by just complicates the delivery of those services.

Yesterday, I spoke on the floor, and others did, in opposition to the FISA bill, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act bill, that was on the floor yesterday. We quit in the middle of that debate.

Mr. Speaker, the law in place today, the law that we brought up to today's technical standards in August, is essentially the law that the Congress passed in 1978, a Congress that had a majority of Democrats in it. Jimmy Carter, President…

I certainly can't say that I agree with everything I read in a newspaper article or that I see on the evening news or that I hear on a local radio program, but I can say that the public is best served by maintaining the free flow of…

I believe Senate Republicans may have. House Republicans did not. And I would like to see us work together to be sure that the priorities and the program are all exactly what the American people think we're talking about and what we hope…

I hope we can figure out a way to have the kind of debate those bills deserve. I would also like to say to my friend I appreciate the accommodation of the House schedule this week based on the loss of our colleague from the First District…

I appreciate that. And I also appreciate the sentiment that the process works better if we agree on a process rather than being told about a process. On MILCON for several years now, whether it was health care to retirees, starting a…

I appreciate the sentiment. If I am not in error, I hope we don't just waste the 2 weeks, and instead begin the discussions that we need to get to a bill that puts the health care of kids who don't have access to insurance first. On one…

That would be helpful, and I appreciate the information on that. On the Military Quality of Life bill, I think we have had that the second longest, the Homeland bill, and then the Military Quality of Life has been here about a month, and…

On August 7 of 1998, al Qaeda launched a devastating and meticulously coordinated attack on American people residing in foreign countries, but on American soil because they were at our embassies. On that day, 12 Americans and 200 Kenyans…

Well, before we go to one other topic, I'd just say that for bills where we could have started, particularly for military families, the quality of life issues there and for veterans, I think it's a shame that we're not starting those on…

We ought to have a program that really focuses on poor kids who don't have insurance. That's what I'm for.

I think Democrats are paying politics with this issue. I think this issue is to get somebody like you to ask somebody like me, why are you opposed to insurance for kids?

Well, I would suggest on this topic that the way that the children's health care program is likely to continue at the end of this month will be a continuation of the current program. A bill that has not been debated, a bill that's treated…

I appreciate that. And, in fact, while you may not want to articulate it, I thought you did very well. If you want to take that out of the just-entered-into Congressional Record of our proceedings, I'm sure I could cosponsor exactly the…

The Senate just passed a resolution condemning Moveon.Org's ad in the New York Times that suggested that General Petraeus might be General 'Betray Us.' Since that has now passed the Senate, when could we expect to see a resolution like…

And, in fact, late in the last Congress we had that; and as I recall, we brought a tax bill to the floor and gave our friends on your side, the minority at that time, an opportunity to have a recommital or some kind of motion that would…

Are there any specifics to a bill yet? I mean, I know what the House passed. I roughly know what the Senate passed, but I have absolutely no idea how we're working out the combination of those two things. There's no conferences, as I…

But on appropriations, we have around 3 weeks left in this fiscal year. The Senate, I believe, has only passed one of their appropriations bills. I am wondering if we can begin to anticipate in any way when we are going to have a bill or a…

On the appropriation bills, again, as I reminded the majority leader earlier today, the Republicans voting for the appropriations bills, most of them had a number of Republicans that would sustain a Presidential veto if that turns out to…

I appreciate that answer. Another issue that my good friend and I have talked about even earlier this week is on the trade agreements throughout there. We did notice that Ways and Means Committee had a hearing scheduled on the Peru Free…

I think you will be able to characterize our remarks in one of two ways: One is that we are continuing to encourage domestic exploration; the other is we are trying to do things that reach energy independence. Following up on the bill that…

I think many of my friends on our side, and obviously your side as well, want to be sure that the work of the House is done in a way that the American people can be proud of. I think a lot of the problem that we saw last night, to our…

And I'm ashamed of the House.