The Democratic Majority in Congress - Now More Closed Than Ever

Reported today on Committee on Rules Republicans website:

"October 17, 2007

Mark it down – the Democratic Majority’s Rules Committee finally managed to keep a promise! It’s no secret that it’s been a struggle for them to live up to their promises for a more open and transparent debate. Perhaps the strain became too much and they determined it would be easier to promise they would shut down debate rather than open it up for legitimate discussion. At yesterday’s hearing on the Majority’s ill-conceived FISA bill, they promised they would shut down debate, and they did!

As eight members sat waiting to testify on their amendments, Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) broke new ground by announcing that the rule providing for debate would be closed at the beginning of the hearing. This declaration came before any witnesses had been heard or any testimony had been received on the 27 substantive amendments submitted to the Rules Committee for consideration. Hours later, Slaughter and her colleagues made good on their promise to shut down debate and issued that closed rule.

Among the amendments rejected by the Majority were several that would have strengthened the bill or made it more likely to receive bipartisan support:

• An amendment that would have incorporated the proposal for FISA Modernization submitted by the Administration to the Congress in April of this year.
• An amendment that would have extended FISA to include individuals and groups engaged in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
• An amendment that would have provided liability protection to communications providers who, in good faith, assisted the government with intelligence activities following the attacks of September 11, 2001.

The closed rule issued on H.R. 3773, the RESTORE Act of 2007, brings the total number of closed rules considered by this Congress to 38, more than double the number considered at the same point by the previous Congress, 16.

Congressman David Dreier (R-San Dimas, CA), Rules Committee Ranking Republican, said the pattern of closed rules for important bills like FISA reform and S-CHIP has lead to serious issues being bogged down by partisan gamesmanship and uncertainty. “This Majority’s refusal to engage in any debate whatsoever is beginning to have real world consequences. An issue as important as FISA reform needs to be bipartisan. This Majority had their mind made up it was never going to be. And what will happen? They will pass a bill without the support it needs to become law. Chairwoman Slaughter’s decision to close down this debate before it even started is a further demonstration that this Majority doesn’t want to solve problems, they just want to score points.”"

Now I'm not saying that both parties don't play dirty. The republicans pulled the same stunt when they were in the majority. Not to the extent that the democrats have, but still an unacceptable number of times.

While we are fortunate to have a number of worthy members of both houses of congress, on the whole congress, it appears, has become totally useless. We need some new blood, and lots of it. American citizens have got to sit up and take notice of the fact that the democrats in this congress no longer even pretend to serve the interests of their respective constituents. It's all about power, and approval of the far left mega wealthy wingnut organizations.

Just remember, it's us, the American citizens who have the power. And that power is called the VOTE!