[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 62 (Thursday, May 12, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H3202]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REPUBLICAN ABUSES OF POWER

  (Ms. LEE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, congressional Republicans continue to abuse 
their power here on Capitol Hill. Rather than trying to mend fences and 
work in a bipartisan fashion, they instead choose a very partisan 
course.
  Here in the House, for example, the Republican leadership ignored 
protocol and expedited weakened ethics rules through the House without 
ever consulting the Democrats. Everyone here knows that ethics changes 
cannot be successful unless both parties play a role.
  And now, Republicans in the other body, not to be outdone by their 
counterparts here in the House, plan to change the rules on the 
filibuster that have been in place for more than 200 years, rules that 
give the minority a voice in Washington. Talk about an extreme abuse of 
power.
  Mr. Speaker, Republican attempts to do away with the filibuster is 
the last check, really, on the one-party rule here in Washington. 
Simply, this is not the way to end the divisive tone here. When are the 
Republicans going to learn that their absolute power here on Capitol 
Hill is really corrupting their every action?
  We talk about spreading democracy abroad. Let us begin by preserving 
it here at home.

                          ____________________