Charles Skelton: “I wish I could say I am wholeheartedly in support of this rule. I suppose the politic thing to do would be to say I will…”

“I wish I could say I am wholeheartedly in support of this rule. I suppose the politic thing to do would be to say I will vote for this rule and await the second rule. But I feel constrained to express my reservation, because there is no assurance that one of the most important issues will come before this body, that which deals with military retirees. Even though this rule does not touch upon that, and there is the possibility of the second rule being adopted with the amendment offered by the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor) therein, I have no such assurance. I feel constrained to voice my reservation. This is a very important bill, Mr. Speaker. It is an excellent bill, by and large, with some exceptions. And I also wish to tell the Members of the House that in honor of our chairman, it is named the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001, and it is a very, very proper recognition of this fine gentleman from South Carolina, who does such a fair and decent job for us in the committee, for us in the House. I wish I could say on this very first part of the split rule that I could support the rule, but I do not have the assurance.”