Political Quotes

“I rise to bring to the House a report on the capital of the United States and its progress in relieving itself of financial and management distress. Mr. Speaker, this House has had, and justifiably so, a special interest in its capital city. Almost 3 years ago the capital of the United States met the same fate as several large cities before it, as Cleveland, as New York, and as Philadelphia. The capital found that its bonds were no longer at investment grade and it could no longer borrow money without the assistance of a control board. To its credit, this House, working in a bipartisan fashion, passed a bill, very much like bills that had been passed to assist other cities who had met such problems. That bill preserved self-government in the District of Columbia, but as a result of quarrels between city officials and the control board and as a result of a pace that perhaps was too slow in fixing the city's problems, the Congress, largely through the appropriation committees, infringed upon self-government in the District of Columbia. And so we have a strange situation to be sure. The capital of the United States has less democracy than any other piece of American soil. I know that this body joins me in wanting to assure that this state of affairs does not last much longer.”