[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5449-5450]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             REPOCRACY--A NEW FORM OF GOVERNMENT IN AMERICA

  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to speak out of 
order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Washington?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, the Republican majority in the House of 
Representatives has quietly ushered in a new form of government in 
America called Repocracy.
  For those who believe that democracy is government of the people, by 
the people and for the people, Repocracy is absolutely the opposite of 
that. Repocracy is a government where open debate is replaced by 
lockstep discipline and where the rewards of the few become the burdens 
carried on the backs of the many.
  Repocracy puts a price on American values and deals only in hard 
cash. You only have to watch C-SPAN to know what the real threat 
Repocracy poses.
  For the last 6 years, the Republican Party has been a disciplined, 
monotone political machine. Republicans live by one rule; whatever the 
President wants, the President gets. War in Iraq, rubber stamp 
approval. Tax holidays for America's rich, rubber stamp approval. 
Slashing student loans, rubber stamp approval. Cutting programs for

[[Page 5450]]

America's vulnerable children and disadvantaged families, rubber stamp 
approval. Legislation written by financial institutions and big drug 
companies, rubber stamp approval.
  It was all so neat and tidy. Republican Members of the House voted 
the way they were told and leaders would not end voting in the House 
until their predetermined outcome was achieved.
  But that was last year. What has changed? The American people 
noticed. The American people put a lot of faith and trust in their 
leaders. For better or for worse, most Americans take the big picture 
approach: Trust elected officials until they betray that trust. Believe 
that elected officials will put America's interests ahead of political 
interests. Have faith that your leaders will change course when 
something is truly not working. In other words, trust, but verify.
  It is precisely because the American people focus on the big picture 
that Republicans are doing everything possible to replace the image the 
American people see with a test pattern on television.
  The President's ratings are below sea level. Republicans are counting 
the number of seats in the lifeboats. It is simple arithmetic, and the 
addition has Republicans subtracting.
  Mathematics requires proof, and there is plenty. The President 
bequeaths to the future President any decision about Iraq. His plan 
takes form: Stay in Iraq until it is somebody else's problem. Invite 
the embattled President of Italy to address a joint session of the U.S. 
Congress, speaking in Italian, to use Congress as a political campaign 
for a backdrop in an Italian election. Charge the Iraq war on credit 
and mask its real impact on the deficit by leaving it outside the 
annual budget.
  The clearest sign of all is the recent change in the House of 
Representatives to the 2-minute vote. Call it government by stopwatch. 
A mere 120 seconds to decide the faith of legislation affecting the 
lives of every American.
  Under Repocracy, legislation comes to the floor of the House only 
when its passage is guaranteed. That is why we are going home today, 
because they can't get the budget. It is not guaranteed. The 2-minute 
drill forces blind allegiance and stiff arms democracy. But that is the 
intent of Repocracy. Math is math.
  Republicans are losing their stranglehold on power. What is a party 
to do? Well, Republicans have concluded the best offense is a missing 
offense, so Republicans have substituted the business of the state for 
the business of reelection.
  Suddenly, the House leaders feel an urgent need for recess after 
recess after recess. We have never had a week off for Saint Patrick's 
Day. It must be faith-based. The Republican mandated Congressional 
schedule has nothing to do with the people's business and everything to 
do with the Republican's reelection business.
  The thinking goes like this: If Members are not in Washington, D.C., 
the national press corps is taken out of the equation. They can't trail 
435 House Members, so news coverage goes dark. With Congress out of 
session, Americans cannot watch C-SPAN to see for themselves what is 
happening, or not, on the floor of the House. The curtain closes on the 
big picture. Mission accomplished.
  The word ``Congress'' comes from the Latin ``con+egresso,'' which 
means come together. The idea was for an orderly and reasoned debate. 
Take out the stopwatch and clock 2 minutes. Then decide if you think 
America is governed by a functioning Congress today.
  Repocracy is not merely a dereliction of duty, it is an outright 
threat to democracy. That is the big picture, the one Republicans don't 
want the American people to see.
  But there is more than one channel, and the American people are 
watching. They would like to know why this is the do-nothing Congress 
that will be in session less than the do-nothing Congress of 1948. This 
will be the Congress that spent the least time discussing our problems 
on the floor.
  We are at war all over the place, we are in debt worse than we have 
ever been in history. We have no health care for 46 million people. But 
where is the Congress? They have left. They have gone home. They have 
got to campaign. If they were here, the people could see they were 
doing nothing. But Repocracy says we only do it when we rubber stamp it 
for the President. Otherwise we are getting out of here.
  Now it is getting tough because people don't want to rubber stamp for 
the President anymore. There is an election coming. It is coming soon.

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