Charles Rangel: “Mr. Speaker, on this historic occasion at two o'clock in the morning, the chairman would like for everyone to believe…”

“Mr. Speaker, on this historic occasion at two o'clock in the morning, the chairman would like for everyone to believe that we are embarking on a trade agreement that is going to cause the free world to thank us for the great work that we have done. Of course when one would ask how many people in this august body has had the opportunity to read the 304 pages of this bill we are referred to the Web site and e-mail to find out what is here. So I guess basically what the chairman is saying is, do not vote for the bill because we can assume that the Members do not know exactly what is in these 304 pages. What he is suggesting is that Members trust him. So maybe we can staple him to whatever newsletter we are going to send out to tell people what we have done for the free world and how this is going to help the workers. But I doubt very seriously whether we can wave the flag and be so proud of the fact that, when we are talking about international trade, he had to find two Democrats that made it possible, when Democrats in the House are almost half of the House.”