[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 160 (Tuesday, October 17, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H10088]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PRIVATE ``HEARINGS''

  (Miss COLLINS of Michigan asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Miss COLLINS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I rise to call attention to 
one of the many undemocratic practices being utilized by the majority 
party during this session of the Congress. As I am sure you are aware, 
certain Members of the U.S. House of Representatives--including some 
freshmen Members--have been claiming to have held something they 
carelessly refer to as hearings on legislation introduced--or to be 
introduced--in this Congress, when in fact some of these so-called 
hearings were conducted without notice to Members of the opposite 
political party. Others of these so-called hearings were nothing more 
than secret meetings with special interest groups, not hearings at all. 
Some of these same Members have then falsely claimed credit for holding 
an exaggerated number of hearings on certain important bills--including 
the bill designed to dismantle the Commerce Department, Medicare/
Medicaid, and the Clean Water Act--when in reality they were conducting 
private meetings that arbitrarily denied participation in the 
legislative process to members of the Democratic party and all other 
concerned citizens who might be adversely impacted by such legislation. 
I think it is time to call a halt to such abuses of the legislative 
process.

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