Louise Slaughter: “Mr. Speaker, today we are taking up the third title of the new Democrat rules package which will restore civility to…”

“Mr. Speaker, today we are taking up the third title of the new Democrat rules package which will restore civility to this body. The House was always intended to be a place where civil discourse and the courteous exchange of ideas would be the normal state of affairs. But referring to this portion of our rules package as the 'civility' title is actually a civil term for what we are talking about: The restoration of democracy itself in the House of Representatives. Over the last several years, parliamentary procedure has broken down here, and I don't know anybody who can deny that. The standard practices of this body, carefully designed rules that are fundamental to our democratic process, fell by the wayside. Far too often, they have been shunned and ignored whenever doing so fit the needs of the former majority. At the end of 2003, the House took up a Medicare prescription drug bill. It is a perfect example of the broken legislation produced by a broken process.”