The Public Record
I have to say with respect to all my colleagues that I think we have lost sight of what this is all about. When we start debating the merits or demerits of this bill, we miss the point. The point is that in North Carolina if I walk into a…
This is about the quality of our democracy and whether we have the time to read a bill that we were getting right now. There is important stuff we are doing here. Certainly no less, no less important than the things that were being…
This is not about minority rights. This is about democracy and the rights of every Member of this House.
I am not here to address the merit or lack of merits of fast track authority. What I am here to address is the martial law rule that we are being called upon to vote upon this evening, because I object vigorously to martial law. And quite…
I know I am kind of butting in on others' time, but the one thing I do want to say about Clarence Lightner, that I think both of my colleagues will acknowledge, is that all of us went to him for advice, but Clarence did not always tell you…
I intend to vote ``present.'' I have had a discussion with the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) earlier today about whether I agree or disagree with the court's opinion, the majority opinion, a 2-1 opinion, a part of the court; and I…
Mr. Speaker, this is not a controversial bill, and despite the fact that a number of my colleagues feel strongly that the residents of Wendover and West Wendover should be entitled to prescription drug benefits, a point, by the way, which…
the issue that we are debating is whether to give the majority martial law authority. I think my colleagues and the public should know what martial law authority is. It is absolute authority to control when to bring something to the floor…
I assure him that I will try not to take the entire 10 minutes that he has granted to me for this purpose. But I did think it was important for somebody to come and make the case against this bill and to try to put in perspective what we…
I appreciate both of these fine gentlemen for setting the table for me because the comments I have to make play right into this. I did, during the debate, try to prepare my constituents for this possibility. The problem is that nobody…
Mr. Chairman, it is always great to come to the floor and engage in a debate with members of the Committee on the Judiciary, because all of them were good lawyers before they came to Congress, so you know that they will try to build their…
I could not resist the opportunity to come over and say how much my good friend, David Bonior, has meant to me in my service in the U.S. House of Representatives. I came to Congress in January of 1993, and David was certainly one of the…
I got alarmed by that, because quite often that is the way people perceive that democracy works. You get some people kind of at the center of the democracy and they say, well, we represent this perspective and this perspective, one…
several days after the events of September 11, some of my insurance company representatives who are based in my district approached me and described what would become a very, very serious problem. Essentially, they said that most of the…
I rise today to honor Dr. Laura Duhan Kaplan, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, which is located in my congressional district. On November 13, Dr. Kaplan was named one of four U.S…
I want to first express my sincere thanks to her for helping to organize this and for coming up with the idea and supporting this effort. ... The people who were killed as a result of the terrorist acts of September 11 are related to all…
several weeks ago my colleague, the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Myrick), who represents the Congressional District in North Carolina which adjoins my Congressional District, and I got together and decided to try to make an effort…
in North Carolina our State legislature is still in legislative session in the longest legislative session in the history of North Carolina. It started the year with a budget deficit of over $300 million and a constitutional requirement of…
today, as I rise in support of the Defense Appropriations bill, I want to draw my colleagues' attention to the strong cooperation and support the United States has received from the Republic of Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is a former Soviet…
I am delighted today to join with my Republican colleague, the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Myrick), from the adjoining Congressional district to me, to start what we hope will be a bipartisan effort to pay tribute to all the…
I voted for the Committee on the Judiciary's version of the anti-terrorism bill. I voted against the bill that came to the floor because it was a far cry from the Committee on the Judiciary's bill. I voted in the Committee on Financial…
like every American citizen, the emotions that we as Members of Congress and I personally have gone through over the last 31 days since September 11 have spanned the whole course. As I saw the buildings crash in New York, I wondered…
as I read the War Powers Act, the President actually has the authority to do what we are asking him and giving him the authority to do in this resolution because of a national emergency created by an attack on the United States or its…
I am a little confused by the chairman's position on this proposed amendment. The amendment says do not raise FHA premiums above what it would cost to actually insure. Now, when I first heard the chairman's argument, he said well, we are…
Unfortunately, they are playing with a budget the size of a baseball when the size of the need is, at best, the size of a softball or a soccer ball, or perhaps even a basketball or bigger. The dramatic example of that is in the area of…
Politicians like Melvin Watt
