[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 275]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       HOUSE DEMOCRATS PLAN TO RESTORE DEMOCRACY IN THE HOUSE OF 
                            REPRESENTATIVES

  (Ms. SOLIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. SOLIS. Good morning, Mr. Speaker, and buenos dias.
  You know, folks, this is the people's House, but for much of the last 
6 years, House Republican leaders chose to run it with an iron hand--
one where only the voices of the special interests were heard in this 
House. Opposing voices were always ignored.
  House Democrats vowed to restore democracy in this House and today we 
live up to that promise by committing to a fair and democratic process 
and the end of the 2-day workweek. Our proposal specifically prohibits 
holding votes open for the sole purpose of affecting the outcome. We 
all remember the Medicare prescription drug vote. I do. I remember 
staying here in the wee morning hours, 3 hours, when that vote was held 
open in 2003 so Republican leaders could twist enough arms to win their 
vote. That is not how democracy is supposed to work, and our rules 
change would prevent that from ever happening.
  We are also going to give Members more time to read bills so that 
they actually know what they are reading. It should be par for the 
course to get a bill of a thousand pages and then begin to vote on it. 
We need to have more time to review that.
  Today, Mr. Speaker, democracy returns to the House.

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