[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 118 (Tuesday, September 9, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H7016]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       LET US FIX WHAT IS BROKEN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from California [Mr. Farr] is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 1 minute.
  Mr. FARR of California. Madam Speaker, what is really going on in 
Congress? We are hearing the Republican leadership, and the Republican 
committees in the House and the Senate are conducting hearings. They 
want to investigate and they want to smear.
  However, Congress was elected to legislate. We are lawmakers. We can 
fix what is broken. Why is it that the Republican leadership does not 
want to fix what is broken?
  The GOP has failed to meet every deadline on campaign reform. No 
hearings on the bills, either Democrat or Republican bills, no vote on 
the rules, no schedule, no nothing. We are elected to make the law. 
Every time the Democrats were in control, we passed campaign reform. It 
was either vetoed or filibustered before it got into law.
  Why do the Republicans not want to use that power to pass campaign 
reform? The answer simply is, they want to hear and smear, not fix.
  Madam Speaker, I ask one simple question: When do we get to vote on 
campaign reform?

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