[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 26 (Tuesday, March 4, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H714-H715]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         MORNING 1-MINUTE SPEECHES SERVE AN IMPORTANT FUNCTION

  (Mr. CHABOT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, the bipartisan practice of beginning each 
legislative day with a series of 1-minute topical speeches is under 
attack. There is an effort in some quarters to muffle debate by pushing 
this segment back to the end of the day's proceedings. If that attempt 
succeeds, those Americans who try to follow this portion of the 
proceedings may be deprived of this important opportunity.
  These 1-minute speeches at the start of the business each day give 
Members, even of low seniority, the chance to speak on issues of real 
concern to the Nation. I know that I hear from people all over the 
country responding to what has been said during these 1-minutes, and I 
think those people all over the country who want to follow our 
proceedings would be deprived, and I do not want to see that happen.
  When individual Members seek to advance an agenda more far-reaching 
than even their leadership would propose, these 1-minutes provide a 
good forum for discussion. Morning 1-minutes were tolerated by 
Democratic leadership and they have been continued under Republican 
leadership. They should not be shoved to the end of the

[[Page H715]]

day in an effort to squelch the exchange of views.

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