[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 18504]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              REPUBLICANS HAVE BEEN CUT OUT OF THE PROCESS

  (Mr. NUNES asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. NUNES. Mr. Speaker, I wasn't going to come down here, Mr. 
Speaker, but then I heard the distinguished Democrat leader, Mr. Hoyer, 
come down and chastise us for using 1-minutes. Mr. Hoyer, you know why 
we're using these 1-minutes. It's because you've cut us out of the 
process.
  For the first time in this Nation's history, appropriations bills 
aren't under open rules. So we have no opportunity to offer amendments 
under the appropriations bills.
  So you can understand why, in my district, having almost 20 percent 
unemployment, some of the highest unemployment in the country because 
this government fails to act to get water to the people to provide for 
the general welfare of the people of my district, this is why we come 
down here, Mr. Hoyer.
  So I would suggest that we probably won't do this again because you 
will probably take away this advantage that we have of using these 1-
minutes to make our case before the American people. I assume this will 
be the last day we have unlimited 1-minutes, but I can promise you that 
if you just go back to the open rules process on the appropriations 
bills, we will gladly not use these unlimited 1-minutes this way.

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