Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, ladies and gentlemen of the House, I bring before the House today a continuing resolution that's very limited in scope. It simply allows the District of Columbia to spend their locally raised revenues. That's all it does. I brought this same resolution before the House yesterday, under the suspension of the rules. The vote was 265-163, a majority, but not the two-thirds majority required by the suspension of the rules. So the bill that is back before us today will require a majority for passage. Quite frankly, I don't understand why so many of our friends on the other side of the aisle voted ``no'' yesterday, because all it does is allow the District of Columbia to spend their own money. But, be that as it may, that's what happened. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents the District of Columbia, made a very eloquent, very impassioned plea as to why we should pass this continuing resolution. But apparently that didn't convince enough of her Democratic colleagues for it to reach the two-thirds majority. So here we are today. I think most of the Members recognize that the District of Columbia is unique. It's a unique city among all the cities in our great country. It's called a Federal city. And because of that unique relationship, Congress must appropriate the locally raised funds before they can be spent. We do that every year, on a routine basis, as part of the Financial Services appropriations bill.…”