Brad Miller: “I think this amendment makes clear how radical an idea the minority party thinks democracy is, whether it is in…”

“I think this amendment makes clear how radical an idea the minority party thinks democracy is, whether it is in corporations or in government, and how wary they are of voting, whether in corporations, by shareholders or in politics. Usually the minority party is very critical, hostile to the idea that regulatory agencies should play a role in our democracy, in our economy. Regulatory agencies play an important role. They work out a lot of details. They address new problems more quickly than Congress can in a way that is consistent with what Congress has done before. But this is not a complicated proposal. This is a straightforward proposal. There are not details to work out. Either we want to do this or we are not going to do this and we are not making it up as we go along. Britain did this in 2001. We have got 6 years' experience under Britain, the way it has worked in Britain, and it has worked just fine in Britain. The minority party has come to the curious position, after more than 200 years of experience in American democracy, of thinking the Congress, the Members of the House of Representatives and the other body, elected by the people should be mere advisers, an advisory body to the President, and that anyone appointed by the President necessarily must be wiser and more knowledgeable than the folks who are actually elected by the people. Mr. Chairman, we were elected by the people. We are speaking for the people.”