Political Quotes

“Let me address another issue. We heard a number of times from the speakers on the other side of the aisle that there has been no hearing on this bill; it came out of the blue, blah, blah, blah. We heard that over and over. Maybe it is because when my friends on the other side of the aisle were in the majority, they didn't follow regular order, so let me say this as slowly or plainly as I can. In the last Congress, Congressman Nunes introduced a long-term bill that we had a number of hearings on in the National Resources Committee. We marked up the bill in the Resources Committee, and we had it on the floor, where there were amendments that were offered to that bill; and, finally, in the last Congress, it passed with bipartisan support. That was in the last Congress, Mr. Nunes' bill. In this Congress, Mr. Valadao took that bill, dusted it off, and made two minor changes. We brought it to the floor, and once again, it passed with bipartisan support. Mr. Speaker, that is a pretty good example of what regular order is, and all we said, by the way, is, ``Okay. This is our position. This is the House's position. If the Senate has a different position, pass a bill.'' There was nothing complex about that, and to the credit of Senator Feinstein, primarily, there was a bill that passed with unanimous consent. I might add, however, Mr. Speaker, that there were no hearings held on the Senate bill in the Senate.…”