Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I understand how CRs work, but also the set-asides go away. We have a standalone bill from the Senate right now. We could put it on the Consent Calendar. Just to give a little history, the Debbie Smith Act originally passed in 2004, and in 2008, under Democrat control, the House passed the reauthorization under a suspension of the rules by voice vote. The Senate, which was under Republican control, passed the bill with an amendment by unanimous consent. The House subsequently passed the Senate amendment version, and it was signed into law by George W. Bush. {time} 1245 In 2014 under Republican control, the House passed the bill under suspension by voice vote. The Democratic-controlled Senate passed it under unanimous consent. It was signed by President Barack Obama. So the question is: Why can't we take a standalone bill? Why, all of a sudden, in this Congress did it need to be part of a larger bill that turns into partisan gamesmanship and a fight between the two Chambers and the two parties? In 2017 there were approximately 136,000 rapes. Only four in ten rapes even go reported. That is actually an improvement. Not so many years ago it was only two in ten. Mr. Speaker, 90,671 of those rapes are unsolved. Many of them are never charged. Out of every 1,000 sexual assaults, 995 perpetrators will go unpunished. Just earlier this week I sat in the Rules Committee, and we argued on the repeal of forced arbitration. By the way, I agree with my Democratic colleagues.…”