Dick Gephardt

Mr. GEPHARDT

Mr. GEPHARDT. I would simply suggest to Members on our side and probably on your side as well that they need to communicate with the Chair and ranking member of their committees to determine whether or not there are meetings and markups and other activities of the committees so they know when they are expected to be there. But I understand what you are saying. We will communicate with our Members through the whip system, through the cloakrooms.

Mr. GEPHARDT. I thank the gentleman.

Mr. GEPHARDT. Mr. Speaker, I seek recognition for the purpose of inquiring with the majority leader the schedule for next week. I yield to the majority leader for that purpose.

Mr. GEPHARDT. Could the gentleman perhaps relate to Members as to when he thinks in the following week there will be the first vote and at about what time and on what day? Would that be on Tuesday?

Mr. GEPHARDT. I yield to the Speaker.

Mr. GEPHARDT

Mr. GEPHARDT. Mr. Speaker, I rise to urge every Member of the House to vote ``no'' on the previous question and ``yes'' on the motion to commit. The Republican leadership would have us believe that they can pass eight or nine bills in a flurry of legislative accomplishment and debate. In fact, there can be no debate; there can be no discussion; there can be no effort to amend, or strengthen, or truly consider any of their proposals. This is what we call a closed rule. That means that unless you support every dot and comma in the Republican agenda, it is a closed discussion. And as far as serious public policy is concerned, it is a closed door. That is a tragedy, because the American people deserve more than rubber-stamp Republicanism. That is why we must reject this rule, and open the crucial issue of congressional reform to discussion and improvement. The fact is, Democrats do not want to defeat this rules package. We want real reform. That is why many of the proposals being made today-- such as making Congress abide by the laws it writes--have already been passed by the House. And that is why Democrats fought for even tougher reforms, such as a bill to curb the influence of lobbyists, which the Republicans defeated. The Republican reforms are all well and good--but they simply do not go far enough. They are a handful of procedural and administrative changes here in the House. Many of them are positive. Many of them deserve wide, bipartisan support--and they will have it. But they do not touch the real problem: the rampant hand of special interests here on Capitol Hill. If the Republicans were serious about attacking special interests, why would they fight the Democratic proposal to ban gifts from lobbyists? Do we want to go along and get along, by rubber-stamping this closed rule? Or do we want to rein in the special interests by defeating the rule, and having a real debate about reform? I urge the latter course. But at the same time, we must all recognize a broader point. All of this Republican talk of reform--as necessary as it may be, and as productive as it may be--is ultimately a distraction from the real job at hand. Improving the lives of the hard-working, middle-class families who have seen their incomes erode, and their standard of living slide, for 15 painful years. No one should pretend that these narrow procedural changes will do anything to raise incomes, to restore economic security, to revive hope and faith in America's future. And for that matter, no one should pretend that the Contract With America, with its huge tax cuts for the wealthy, and inevitable explosion of the Federal deficit--will improve people's lives, either. Come back to my district in St. Louis. Meet some of the families where the husband works during the day, the wife works at night, and they barely ever see each other. Meet some of the families that have given up every minute of family time working two, three, even four jobs--and still cannot make ends meet. Then ask yourself whether some new procedural change can make a difference in their lives. My colleagues, I urge you to vote ``no'' on the previous question, and vote ``yes'' on the motion to commit, so we can have serious congressional reform. And then let us get down to the real business of the people.

Mr. GEPHARDT

Mr. GEPHARDT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. This call was a tradition which we have usually fulfilled. We fulfilled it earlier today or yesterday with the gentleman from Texas. We did inform the President, as we are required to do, that the House is seated, we have elected officers, elected a Speaker, and that we were ready for legislative action, and I believe we are having a meeting later today with the President and the bipartisan leadership.

Mr. GEPHARDT

Mr. GEPHARDT. Mr. Speaker, I offer a resolution (H. Res. 7) providing for the designation of certain minority employees, and I ask unanimous consent for its immediate consideration.