Jerry Nadler: “let me start from the beginning and say I was aware of no gentleman's agreement. In order to purchase the right to speak…”

“let me start from the beginning and say I was aware of no gentleman's agreement. In order to purchase the right to speak on this bill, we just gave up the right to vote on this bill because of the coercion by the Republican majority. We had to purchase the right to speak on this bill for 10 minutes on our side instead of 30 minutes, because my colleagues are trampling on the rules and the customs and the procedures of the House, because my colleagues do not want any debate on this bill, because it will not stand the light of day, especially what my colleagues are doing here. This is a State Department reauthorization bill, but who is managing it? Do we see the foreign affairs committee people here on either side of the aisle? No, everybody knows that is a fiction. This is a bankruptcy bill, and therefore the Committee on Judiciary people are here, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Gekas), the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Conyers), myself in order to deal with this bankruptcy bill in the guise of the State Department authorization bill, a motion to go to conference on the State Department authorization bill, a bill that was signed into law last year, number one. Number two, why? Why are we trampling upon the normal procedures and rules of the House? Because $40 million has been spent on lobbying and campaign contributions by the big banks and they must be repaid. They must get their way.”