[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 145 (Friday, October 7, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 7, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
 ANTIQUATED PROCEDURES IN THE OTHER BODY BOTTLE UP ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF 
                                CONGRESS

  (Mrs. SCHROEDER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, I have had an interesting day, where 
many of the members of the press called me out and said, ``Isn't it a 
shame that this Congress did not do anything?'' I have been saying, 
``They did something. They did a lot of things.''
  The amazing thing to me is that there have been individuals in the 
other body that have been able to stop everything that has transpired 
over here. That is really more power than a President has. If a 
President uses a veto, we have the right to at least attempt a veto 
override with two-thirds.
  However, Mr. Speaker, there are certain procedures that have grown up 
over the centuries on the other side of this building where one person 
can stop what the President wants, what a majority of both Houses want, 
and there is not anything we can do about it. It is pretty shocking to 
me that lobbying reform, campaign finance reform, putting the House 
under the same rules that we pass for everyone else, things like that 
that there is a tremendous consensus on, one person can stop. I think 
that has been the real problem.
  Mr. Speaker, I just really hope that we get the story straight, 
because there has been a phenomenal agenda here this year, and many, 
many good bills have passed. Unfortunately, certain people are able to 
totally bottle them up. I wish I could do a wanted sign with the faces 
of those bottlers on it, so people could really find out what happened, 
because I do not think that is democratic, with a small ``d'', and I 
resent very much having this whole body get smeared by those kinds of 
practices.

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