[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 38 (Tuesday, March 16, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H1469]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (Mr. HALL of Texas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. HALL of Texas. As we enter into the most important and eventful 
week of the 30 years since I have been up here, I think of the 
consequences of the votes we will cast, both Republican and Democrat. 
When we passed the health bill on this very floor, the Democrats, with 
a 40-vote advantage on the House floor, passed H.R. 3962 with only a 
five-vote advantage, which showed that the outrageous health bill had 
been lessened in severity in the Commerce Committee and was softened up 
enough for the Senate to kill it.
  Then a series of Senators negotiated gifts they were not entitled to, 
each receiving a different consideration, into being the coveted 60th 
vote. If we take the floor back, I would consider subpoenaing those who 
may have made the overtures to compare it to the law of bribery or 
corrupt deals. I would send the results to the Federal and State 
prosecutors. The bribery penalty as set out in 18 U.S. Code section 203 
is imprisonment for not more than a year and a civil fine of not more 
than $50,000 for each violation.
  I consider offering a bribe, for a personal benefit, as worse than 
accepting one. Let's clean up the United States Congress and listen to 
our people whose only request is to take back their country.

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