[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 14 (Tuesday, January 24, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H556]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  INSIST ON OPPORTUNITY TO DELIBERATE

  (Mr. WISE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WISE. Mr. Speaker, I hope that the Chair and others understand 
what the concern of Democrats is today about last night. It is not 
about whether there were 3 minutes on one side and 5 minutes on the 
other. The concern is that on a very important motion that changed 
procedure and in fact abrogated the very reforms that were voted 
through this House on a bipartisan basis only a week earlier, that on 
that very important measure, the majority did something relatively 
unprecedented in my memory, which is instead of yielding as something 
routinely is done half the debate time on that motion to the other 
side, instead the majority made us grovel for 3 minutes, and it did not 
matter whether the majority was speaking for 5 or 50 minutes, the 
message was clear. Three minutes is all you get, wham, bang, and we are 
out of here, and you are rolled. Unfortunately, that is not going to 
wash.
  I just want everybody to know, I do not mind voting on the Contract 
With America. I am not here to delay the Contract With America, but I 
am here to deliberate. So it is not delay that is at issue, it is 
whether we get to deliberate, and we are going to insist on that.


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