Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, this is dangerous. This same amendment, but in a lesser form not nearly as dangerous and not nearly as restrictive, was defeated in a bipartisan manner in committee. The reason that it was is because we are having a knee-jerk reaction to what we think the President might do--not what he did, but what we think he might do. This is dangerous. I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, I come from a State where, had the Insurrection Act not been in effect when Eisenhower and Kennedy were Presidents, we would be in a different-looking Chamber today. They allowed the schools of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama to be integrated. Those Presidents allowed, through the Insurrection Act, the Freedom Riders to go through the State of Mississippi with the National Guard. But here we are with more restrictions. Not only do we want to put troops out there when we say it is okay--and I don't know who ``we'' is, but it doesn't need to be a ``we''--but we are going to further restrict the President, and we are going to tie the hands of those servicemembers whom we send in harm's way. It is dangerous. They can't search, and they can't participate. Mr. Speaker, we need to defeat this amendment, and there needs to be a long discussion if we want to change that. But it doesn't need to be in this bill. This is a poison pill. Let's defeat this amendment.”