Political Quotes

“I want to thank my good friend, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter) for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. Mr. Speaker, we are here today on two items, both of which are actually bipartisan ideas. And though this has been an eventful week and month at the Rules Committee, I am pleased that we are ending on such a high note before we return to our districts. Of course, this rule is not all sunshine and roses. It does add same- day authority for any measure through tomorrow. My good friend, Chairman McGovern, had a term for this procedure in the last Congress. He called it ``martial law.'' I would remind my friends that pushing through bills on short notice, at the last minute, and using the martial law procedure is a recipe for potential disaster, and certainly is no way to make good law. It is also contrary to the commitment the Democrats made, upon taking the majority, to provide 72 hours notice before bringing a bill to the floor for a vote; a rule they already are violating with one of the measures today, albeit only by a matter of hours. I would also remind my friends that with consideration of the budget agreement today, there is absolutely no other legislation that is so critical and that must be done this week to justify needing this extraordinary procedure.…”