Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, tonight we bring this House back to orthodoxy by eliminating the vote by proxy. In any language, everyone in America knows that the heart and soul of the legislative process is resting with the committee and the committees' work in the Congress of the United States. Subcommittee, full committee, task force, it is the guts of the legislative process that happens beyond the walls of this Chamber, and the final action taken on this floor is really tinsel, it is show time, all of the work, all of the deliberation, all the amendments, all of the drafting, all of the crafting already having been accomplished in the halls of the committee system itself. The gentleman from Mississippi and others who have spoken so eloquently know that we as trustees of the card that allows us to vote on the floor of the House cannot transfer it to anyone else. As a matter of fact, it is a violation of the law, a criminal violation if any Member should transfer his or her card to someone else to vote that vote on the floor.”