Political Quotes

“I appreciate the remarks from the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands. My question that I have for this body as we sit here today is: Why aren't we amending the legislation? Why aren't we offering and allowing amendments in this great body, in the people's House? A general question. When I go home, and I assume you all have the same thing, they say: What's wrong with Washington? Why don't you actually sit down around a table and try to solve problems? I think this is one of the things that is most perplexing, and we see it in the Senate as well, the so-called greatest deliberative body. Yet, we saw what happened in the Senate, where there was an offer for 20 amendments, a manager's amendment from the gentleman from South Carolina, Senator Scott, and that offer was rejected. Here, we are not even really having an opportunity to offer an amendment, have a serious debate. I don't question at all the motives that are behind my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, in terms of putting forward legislation to try to address a problem we all perceive as a problem we want to address. I look at the bill that we have here; it is a Republican bill. There is a lot of overlap. There are some policies in it that are in agreement. I just don't understand why we can't start with some nucleus of a bill and offer 20 or 30 amendments, vote on the amendments as a deliberative body, the United States Congress, the people's House.…”