Charles Rangel: “Mr. Speaker, as we conclude this discussion, we do it in an atmosphere of partisanship, which is shameful. It is such an…”

“Mr. Speaker, as we conclude this discussion, we do it in an atmosphere of partisanship, which is shameful. It is such an important issue to the American people, and especially to married people. Had I been invited to the conference, that is after the Speaker appointed me, I would have been able to bring to that conference a message from the President of the United States. Because I was authorized to say that even though the President thought that there was a better way to target the relief for married couples, he recognized that those in the majority had this overwhelming compulsion to reward those people that God has already rewarded with additional wealth. But he had authorized me to tell the conferees, had I been told where the meeting was, that he was willing to go along in the spirit of bipartisanship with the Republican majority marriage penalty bill if only they would consider and attach to that some relief for the older folks that cannot afford to purchase their prescription drugs. The Chairman said, that is wrong, that we should not participate in 'you-scratch-my-back-and-I-scratch-yours.' Well, we are politicians, and if my Republican colleagues have such an overwhelming concern for the taxpayers that they are talking about giving back close to $1 trillion, let us be honest with the taxpayers. The Republican majority is not giving them back anything, not 1 red cent.”