Melvin Watt

I have tried to lower my voice in the context of this debate because I am having trouble understanding what my Republican colleagues are trying to accomplish here. I do not know how they rationally justify shutting down the Government…

I was elected to this body in 1992, and I was told that I would be serving with some of the most committed and brilliant people in America working for the interest of our country. I have been on the losing end of a lot of votes since I…

I had made some effort to stay out of this dispute to the extent that I could in terms of the debate, but several of my constituents have called and expressed severe concern about the direction that we are headed and concern that I had not…

I thought it might be helpful for the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Buyer] to understand the historical and factual background in which the three-judge panel for voting rights cases was adopted initially. If the gentleman is interested in…

I want to respond to the chairman that the last time I checked the Constitution, there is nothing in the Constitution that guarantees anybody a three-judge panel. There is something that talks about habeas corpus and the writ of habeas…

We do not have the resources. We are dealing with scarce resources right now. The Republicans tell us every day we have scarce resources and here we come. We do not like the result so we will change the process. Instead of using one judge…

does that mean if we have got these panels that have these proclivities, the next step is to have three panels so we have to have nine judges now?

I will not yield. The other side has plenty of time over there. I will be happy to yield after I get through making the points I want. I do not have the right to ask for three highway patrolmen to come out on the street and decide whether…

this was the judge's decision based on the Constitution in this case. Is the gentleman saying that we should disregard the judge's decision based on the Constitution?

Mr. Chairman, the third point I want to address is this notion that we ought to, basically, dictate to States that they have referenda in their States, rather than deciding their State's policies through the regular legislative process. If…

the seniors in our country are about to experience what we call in North Carolina a double hit. Not only are the Republicans cutting Medicare by $270 billion, they are cutting Medicaid right behind it $182 billion. Medicare is for the…

I rise in strong, vigorous opposition to this bill and title III, and I rise today to protest the shortsighted cuts included in this mean-spirited bill. In an effort to frantically balance the budget on the backs of poor and middle income…

I was just going to inquire what the gentlewoman did during the April recess when we were out for 3 weeks and you all seem to have spent all your time parading around bragging about what you did in the first 100 days; why did you not do it…

Yogi Berra said, ``This is deja vu all over again,'' and that is really what I want to talk about, because this is deja vu all over again. You have not seen me on the floor recently very much. Earlier in this term, during the first 100…

I am just wondering what good does it do to do reform of the rules if they then turn around and violate the rules that they have reformed. I do not know what good that does.

this morning's paper reported that the Republicans have reached a deal on the tax cut package. Well, the public had better beware, because this tax cut package has two major problems. No. 1, they have told us all of this time that the most…

the Republicans have a Contract With America. Unfortunately, they do not seem to care whether it violates this contract with America, the Constitution of the United States. This contract with America, the Constitution, took another hit…

Judge James B. McMillan, a North Carolina stalwart, died Saturday, March 4. Judge McMillan lived just outside my district, but he had a tremendous impact on children in my district. I rise today in tribute to this great man. Judge James…

it is clear that this is not about what the appropriate standard should be for burden of proof for punitive damages. The issue is not what that appropriate standard should be. The issue is, who ought to be setting that standard? If Members…

Mr. Chairman, let me put this in perspective for my colleagues, because this started out to be a part of a three-amendment package. Unfortunately, two of the three amendments the Committee on Rules did not see fit to make in order. So I…

I think this has been a good debate, not long enough to do justice to this issue, but certainly a good debate. The first point I want to make, Mr. Chairman, is that this bill is referred to by my colleagues as the Common Sense Legal Reform…

What my colleagues want to do is take the already high standard, the one that is a step up, that applies to every other member of society, and create what I would call an impossibility standard, because if we adopted this language, you…

when I showed up yesterday with my hole puncher in one hand and the Constitution in the other hand and represented that the Contract With America was beginning to punch holes in the Constitution, I got calls yesterday saying, ``Are you…

I rise today to stand with this brave man, Representative John Lewis, to commemorate the anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery march, one of the milestones in civil rights history. Thirty years ago today hundreds of brave African-American…

We must fight. We must continue to march together. I commend my colleague, Representative Lewis for putting together this special order, and I express my thanks to him for inviting me to participate, but more importantly, I express my…