Political Quotes

“This body should continue to meet. That letter from James Madison, the father of the Constitution, to the father of our country, George Washington, expressly lays out what he is talking about to try to protect our duty to meet as a body, the requirement of physical presence, the requirement that we meet together, to look each other in the eye to do our duty to represent our constituents. This is not about slowing down the work of this body. This is about doing our duty to uphold the Constitution and finding a way to navigate through the difficulties of the current moment. We got through yellow fever. We got through world wars. We got through the Spanish flu. We got through a Civil War. And we managed to figure out how to do our job. Our Founders got through smallpox. I would implore my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, let us not adopt this proxy voting in which we turn over our solemn duty to another Member. Let us work together to find out how to get through this in a way that respects the Constitution. That is why we are here. Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Nobody is turning over their solemn duty to another Member of Congress, and if my friend would read the proposal which passed the House, if he had paid attention to the debate that we had, he wouldn't be mischaracterizing what, in fact, we are doing here. Nobody is turning over their solemn power to anybody.…”