[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 4126]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               KEEP OUR COMMITMENT TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

  (Mr. COLE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask that we all uphold the 
honor of the House and keep our commitment to the American people.
  Less than 3 days ago, my good friend and colleague, Mr. Lewis of 
California, asked this House to instruct our conferees not to record 
their approval of the conference agreement on the stimulus bill until 
the text of that agreement had been made available in an electronic, 
searchable, and downloadable form for at least 48 hours. That motion 
passed unanimously.
  Essentially, we gave our word, the word of the people's House, to all 
Americans, guaranteeing them that they would have ample opportunity to 
review this proposed legislation.
  This bill was filed last night. It is over 1,000 pages long. And, 
with the exception of omnibus legislation, it is the largest spending 
bill this House has ever considered. Madam Speaker, I must confess, I 
haven't had time to read the legislation; my staff hasn't had time to 
read the legislation; I doubt my colleagues have had time to read the 
legislation; and, most importantly, the American people have had no 
time to read the legislation.
  So now, less than 10 hours since we could first see this 1,000-page 
bill, we are poised to break our commitment to the American people and 
to pass this legislation with little or no time to even read it.

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