Rob Andrews

In part, Mr. Van Hollen, who is the senior Democrat on the budget committee has a proposal that would defer the sequester for a year and replace it with a combination of cuts and revenue increases.

What you are suggesting and advocating for--and I agree with--is a strategy of making alliances and partnerships.

I just want your opinion. What we are voting on today is a rule that will let us debate a bill tomorrow.

I think most of my constituents would say, why in God's name are we engaging in some joint security operation with Bulgaria?

I don't think there is any merit to taking a 9-day vacation when there is 750,000 layoffs looming.

We have heard some very diverging views about what various policies should be of the National Labor Relations Board.

Some of us will like their decisions. Some will not.

I think this is a huge constitutional issue. And the reason that I believe that is, is that why wouldn't a president, a Republican or a Democrat, just simply bypass the Senate?

The NLRB is supposed to, number one determine whether employers--employees wish to be represented by a union or, two, prevent and remedy employer and union unlawful acts called unfair labor practices.

I think that we are here because the Senate I believe has abused the advise and consent clause.

I believe the right way to resolve this is to put these two nominations up for a vote in the Senate.

This Constitution has worked. This is an important check and balance.

The committee has not attempted to do so.

We have not marked up one bill or advanced one bill to the floor since the new majority took over that would accomplish that goal.

The public decided a different way.

I think there is a practical problem that has to be addressed here. And that is the board is not functioning because of this political stalemate.

And let us get the board functioning again by insisting that the Senate take a vote, an up/down vote on the people who were nominated.

We have three branches of government for a reason. And that reason is so that no one branch has too much power.

I think if the purpose of a pro forma session is to avoid presidential appointments that is an invalid exercise of that clause.

It means that abuse of the doctrine of advise and consent has paralyzed the ability of the National Labor Relations Board to do anything.

If they receive majority support, they will be appointed. They will make decisions.

I doubt very much that anyone in America is sitting around today saying, I hope Congress sets up another fiscal cliff; I hope they put us in a position again where no one knows what's going to happen the next couple of months. We ought to…

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I thank my friend for yielding. Seventy-eight days ago, a tremendous force of fury hit the northeastern region of the United States. Today we make an act of national interest. This is not an act of excess or an act of charity. For those…

I thank my friend for yielding, and I thank the chairman of the Appropriations Committee and my friend for working together to bring this product to the floor. I've heard two objections to this bill. The first is that money is spent in the…