Charles Rangel

This is not a compromise.

Well, I am talking about a parliamentary inquiry. If you tell me I am out of order for making a parliamentary inquiry, I am not prepared to challenge the Chair, even though I truly believe that you and I know you will be incorrect. The…

Under what circumstances could a senior Member of this august body protest the shutdown of government at this time? The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman is not making a parliamentary inquiry.

May I make a parliamentary inquiry? The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman may state his parliamentary inquiry.

I don't want to prolong this, but aren't you talking about a unanimous consent request? The SPEAKER pro tempore. Yes.

That is how I started. I could ask the reporter, but I don't want to waste a lot of time on this weekend legislative session. I started asking permission to make a parliamentary inquiry, and that was granted. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The…

With all due respect, that has nothing to do with my parliamentary inquiry, nothing at all. The rules for unanimous consent do not have anything to do with a parliamentary inquiry. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman is engaging in…

Well, I am asking from a parliamentary point of view. I don't want to violate the House rules, but as a Member of Congress representing 700,000 people, I feel that I have to scream out in protest as to what is happening to the country and…

Are you saying that you are ignoring my parliamentary inquiry? I am just asking. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has not made a proper parliamentary inquiry.

I ask unanimous consent that the Speaker and the Parliamentarian take a good look at the rules of this House so that Members can protest the closing down of the United States Government. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has not made…

So the parliamentary inquiry is not going to be recognized? The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized.

Well, how do you state it properly? I ask: How could I properly state the feelings of my constituents as a member of this august body in a parliamentary way? What could be more parliamentary than that? The SPEAKER pro tempore. The…

One of the things that I have enjoyed in this House is sincerity. There's not a Member of this House that thinks the President of the United States is going to delay, repeal, or tear apart the Affordable Care Act; but if there's politics…

The current proceeding, if I am not correct, involves a concurrent resolution. The whole world knows what is before this House. Is the Chair saying, from a parliamentary point of view, that we can't deal with the issue of an agreement…

Is it the Chair's ruling that you cannot rule whether or not a resolution that's agreed to by the House and the Senate does not go to the President? Is that the Chair's parliamentary ruling, that you cannot give us an answer to that basic…

I thank Ranking Member Fudge for giving me this opportunity. Mr. Speaker, I was sitting in the back and I heard one of the Republicans say that what Moses would want--and he was talking about some picture--and I just came up to say that I…

And that is the publicly stated goal of the majority of the Republicans here, to not give you the resources.

I do hope that some of my Republican friends will see that passing and improving law is a heck of a lot better than destroying and repealing laws.

I have never seen such partisan attacks on ideas, especially one that provides for health care for Americans.

I was prepared to respond to the chairman and ranking member for their legislative courtesies they had extended to me. I appreciate the tribute being paid to me which, unusually, I was awkwardly unprepared for. But I do want to thank the…

It seems to me that it is not only our moral responsibility, but our legal responsibility to enforce the law.

If the gentleman would yield, I thank you so much, my dear colleague from New York.

That is very nice, but if, indeed, this ridiculous plan that is borne dead except for political purposes was to succeed, then there would be no need for your appearance before this Committee; is that not correct?

I believe the law is so deeply flawed, I favor repeal and replacing it.

Let me thank my friend and colleague from the great Borough of Brooklyn, city of New York, and my colleagues, for coming down to the floor. Mr. Speaker, when we started the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971, I guess most people said: Why…