Charles W. Stenholm: “I rise today with the optimism that has been flowing from this body all today, and in doing that, recognize that there…”

“I rise today with the optimism that has been flowing from this body all today, and in doing that, recognize that there are parts of the Republican rules package that I support and I think everyone does, but there are 2 glaring omissions. One is in the area of committee ratios, something that we on the blue dogs and our caucus in general suggested that it would be a good way to start this Congress by saying that all committees should have the ratios as made up in the House. Unfortunately, many of the committee chairmen, Mr. Speaker, did not see fit to do that. I think that is a mistake for us, because I think it would produce the bipartisan legislation a lot better if we have balanced committees. The Democratic package provides for that. But the area I am particularly concerned about and hopeful that we can have bipartisan cooperation on is Social Security reform. I have worked extremely hard with the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe), the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Sanford), the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Smith) and other Members on this side of the aisle, along with Members on my side of the aisle, to bring us to a point where we can seriously discuss Social Security. The Democratic rules package contains an important provision that will reaffirm and strengthen our commitment to make Social Security secure for future generations.”