[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 1255]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1645
                             REGULAR ORDER

  (Mr. NOLAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. NOLAN. Mr. Speaker, since the Congress has reconvened, none of 
the important legislation that we have considered here has gone through 
the regular committee process. Yet, with each election, we send people 
to the Congress of the United States with a wide range of perspectives, 
with lots of goodwill, with lots of good intentions--Democrats and 
Republicans alike. The simple truth, however, is that the House 
leadership has prevented these voices from being heard in the regular 
committee process. In fact, Congress has, sadly, become one of the most 
undemocratic institutions in America.
  Mr. Speaker, stop denying the Members of Congress the opportunity and 
the public the opportunity to find common ground. The failure of the 
process is at the heart of gridlock. It is at the heart of 
congressional failure. Allow bills once again to come up through the 
regular committee process, where amendments are heard, considered, and 
voted upon.
  Mr. Speaker, give Congress the opportunity to work together once 
again in the spirit of bipartisanship that the American people are so 
desperately hungry for.

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