[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 20418]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          FAILURES OF THE CONGRESS UNDER REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP

  (Mr. COOPER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COOPER. Madam Speaker, we are in the final hours of this 
Congress. How will historians judge our work? Very harshly.
  There has probably not been a more incompetent or corrupt Congress in 
modern times than this one. Don't take my word for it. Look at the book 
called ``The Broken Branch,'' by Norm Orenstein and Thomas Mann. It 
chronicles the failures of this institution under its recent Republican 
leadership.
  Another objective measure is the lack of workdays in this body. Norm 
Orenstein pointed out only yesterday that we will have worked only 60 
real days this entire year. Sixty days, 2 months of work, and yet we 
draw 12 months of pay.
  Where are the hearings? Where are the debates? Where is the action on 
American priorities? Where is the immigration bill? Nowhere. Where is 
the defense bill? And we are in the middle of two wars. Crucial, vital 
pieces of legislation for America, and this leadership says it simply 
does not have the time.

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