Political Quotes

“Three weeks ago, the Attorney General of the United States said this: ``The Constitution is not suspended during a crisis.'' Amen to that. And guess who agreed with him, or at least used to agree with him? Last month, April 9, the Speaker of the House said: ``There is a constitutional requirement that we vote in person.'' But, oh, how that has changed. Today we are, in fact, suspending the Constitution. We are allowing proxies to establish a quorum and do the business of the American people. The Supreme Court has been very clear on this. In the Ballin decision, the Court said Members have to be present by stating: ``All that the Constitution requires is the presence of a majority, and when that majority are present the power of the House arises.'' You have got to be there. Actually, you have got to be here. You have got to be here to do the business of the people. You can't phone it in. You can't mail it in. This bill would allow one Member to have 10 proxies in their back pocket. Think about that. 22 Members with 10 proxies in their back pocket could do the business of 330 million people in this great country. We all take an oath to the Constitution. Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution mandates that Congress must ``assemble at least once in every year.'' That is when we start the session. Article I, Section 5 requires Congress to physically congregate and vote to change where it is going to sit; frankly, what is happening today.…”