Charles Rangel: “This must be a very important piece of legislation, Mr. Speaker. It is 10 minutes to 12. When else would the majority…”

“This must be a very important piece of legislation, Mr. Speaker. It is 10 minutes to 12. When else would the majority bring out an important piece of legislation but in the middle of the night? But more importantly than that, tomorrow for many of us is a date that many of us will never, never forget, at least those of us that were old enough to know of and to love the late John F. Kennedy. Most all of us will remember where we were or what we were doing on November 22. And I suggest to the Members that history will record what we do this evening and what we do tomorrow. The arrogance that has been displayed on this landmark piece of legislation defies description tonight, but history will record it. The audacity for people to talk about bipartisan here where for hundreds of years we inherited a House of Representatives that whether one was a Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, we could say in this House the people rule, and we have enjoyed saying that. Where do the Republicans get the audacity to say that when there is a conference, they would select the willing coalition, that they could look at a person and because they are a Democrat, appointed by the Speaker of this great House of Representatives, they exclude them?”