David Obey: “I want to correct the comments of the previous speaker. If he will go back and review the history of the D.C. bill, what…”

“I want to correct the comments of the previous speaker. If he will go back and review the history of the D.C. bill, what happened on that bill, and on several other occasions, is that the gentleman in question asked that the Committee on Rules make in order amendments which would otherwise not have been allowed under the rules. It would have been nongermane under House rules, and we asked under those circumstances to deny them. I never said that there were not occasions when the wishes of the ranking minority member were not granted. Go back and read what I said. I never described that in any way. What I urged my colleagues to do was not on a routine basis turn down the request of ranking members. I do not expect the committee to grant all of them, but I do expect them to grant a reasonable number. And the fact is that this year the Committee on Rules has routinely turned down the requests of the ranking minority members, and the record demonstrates that.”