Providing for Consideration of the Senate Amendment to H.R. 83, Insular Areas and Freely Associated States Energy Development; Waiving Requirement of Clause 6(a) of Rule XIII with Respect to Consideration of Certain Resolutions; and for Other Purposes

Floor Speech

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Ms. EDWARDS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlelady from New York.

Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to the rule that is providing for
consideration of this so-called omnibus bill. Among the many
troublesome eleventh-hour additions to the underlying 1,600-page
spending bill is a provision that not only allows for another
multibillion dollar bank bailout and for taxpayers to be on the hook
for that, but it gives the keys to the bank to the moneyed special
interests by allowing up to $800,000 to be contributed by one person to
the Democratic and Republican Party committees.

Now, most Americans think there is already too much money in
politics, but, oh, no, not House Republicans. They are just saying open
up the spigots to the special interests.

Instead of passing a clean bill that funds the Federal Government and
avoids another harmful shutdown, this Congress, these Republicans have
chosen to bring the American people a bill that would allow for the
negative opinions that they already hold of this Congress to go even
further, to say the richer you are, the more access you have, the more
influence that you have.

Madam Speaker, this provision has no business in a spending bill, no
business in our democracy, and we can't allow the megaphones of moneyed
special interests to take hold of our government.

I urge my colleagues to vote against this rule. There are a lot of
reasons to oppose it, and I am just naming one. But let's not bail out
the banks again, and let's not give them the keys to the bank in our
pocket and let the special interests take control of this Congress.

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