Peter Welch: “The bottom line here is, we are all in it together. We know that we have major problems to solve. One of them is global…”

“The bottom line here is, we are all in it together. We know that we have major problems to solve. One of them is global warming and one is energy independence. This legislation is a practical step that was brought to us by the cooperation of both sides of the aisle on the Science and Technology Committee. The Rules Committee is presenting an open rule. There will be more to come. Its commitment is to fair debate, and it is going to have to balance the responsibility of making decisions about how best to allow this body to debate clearly and directly the major issues that come before this Congress. We can make progress by working together. It is our goal to continue to do so. That requires that the committees be given an opportunity to do their work. Amendments are going to be brought up in committees and recommended or rejected. That was done in this case. It is going to be the commitment of the Rules Committee to make the debate on all legislation that comes before this body as fair as it possibly can be. Mr. Speaker, this is an important step.”