[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 125 (Thursday, September 12, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H10336]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ABIDING BY THE RULES OF THE HOUSE WILL MAINTAIN CIVILITY ON THE HOUSE 
                                 FLOOR

  (Mr. LINDER asked and was given permission address theHouse for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, in closing these 1 minutes this morning, I 
want to make the point that nobody here was gagged, nobody was 
prevented from speaking on a subject they wished to speak on. They can 
go outside these doors in the Speaker's lobby or upstairs and hold a 
press conference and say all they want to say about the matters they 
were referring to this morning.
  What they cannot do is talk about matters before the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct on the floor of this House because it is 
against the rules of theHouse to do so. And that is the only point that 
was raised consistently this morning and was also being ignored, even 
ignoring rule after rule by the Speaker.
  If we want to maintain some degree of civility on the floor of this 
House to engage in honest political debate, we should at least abide by 
the rules or try to change them and not continually ignore the 
Speaker's admonitions.

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