[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 153 (Monday, November 29, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H7624]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PROCESS IN THE HOUSE

  Mr. BUYER. Madam Speaker, since this bill has not gone through the 
committee, I think we ought to just go through regular order and go to 
the next bill. As a matter of fact, we'll shut the book on this, Madam 
Speaker. What do you think?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will suspend.
  Mr. BUYER. Suspend? I ask to be recognized.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has not been recognized.
  Mr. BUYER. I ask to be recognized. I ask unanimous consent to address 
the House for 1 minute.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. For what purpose does the gentleman seek 
recognition?
  Mr. BUYER. I ask unanimous consent to address the House for 5 
minutes.
  Hearing no objection----
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Five-minute special orders are not being 
recognized at this time.
  Mr. BUYER. I ask unanimous consent to address the House for 1 minute.
  Hearing no objection----
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. One-minute requests are not being 
entertained at this time.
  Mr. BUYER. Oh. So as a sitting Member of the House, the Speaker 
chooses not to recognize another sitting Member. Is that correct?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Recognition is within the discretion of the 
Speaker.
  Mr. BUYER. So the discretion of the Speaker here is not to recognize 
a ranking Republican member on a bill that is about to be heard that 
was never gone through the process of the committee.
  I ask to be recognized.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The House is proceeding with motions to 
suspend the rules.
  Mr. BUYER. And if the chairman is not here to present the bill, 
shouldn't we go to the next bill, and we would therefore withdraw this 
bill?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will suspend. The gentleman 
has not been recognized.
  Mr. BUYER. I ask to be recognized. I ask unanimous consent to address 
the House for 1 minute.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there an objection for the gentleman to 
speak for 1 minute? Hearing none, the gentleman is recognized for 1 
minute.
  Mr. BUYER. Wow. Was treating another Member with dignity so hard, 
Madam Speaker? I don't believe it was. You see, you are right. It is 
within your sole discretion to recognize a Member. But you chose to 
exercise the power of the gavel, Madam Speaker. Therein lies the 
problem.
  I am here. The chairman is not here. He wants a bill brought under 
suspension that was not gone through regular order of the committee 
over the objections of the ranking Republican. That is an abuse of the 
process. As a matter of fact, he wants to bring a bill under suspension 
and then do this sort of political treachery of doing a manager's 
amendment, and I object to it all. And he is not even here to do it.
  So what I am asking is, Madam Speaker, for regular order. If he is 
not here to pull off this political stunt, then we should just proceed 
and this bill should be withdrawn. It is the right thing to do by the 
American people to stop these tactics.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

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