Jan
Welcome to the 111th Congress…
…Now if you are a Republican, sit down and shut up. That is essentially what Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats said on day 1.
The rule changes passed Tuesday, on the first day of the 111th Congress, are “designed to silence” Republicans, Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said.
“The new rules repeal term limits for committee chairman, consolidate power in the hands of a few, and attempt to silence Republican input on key policy debates, in addition to making a mockery of the Democratic leaders’ promises of presiding over an open Congress,” Blunt said in a news release.
Republicans are particularly upset about limits on sending bills back to committee for amendments.
According to Blunt, Republicans have used the motion to recommit “as one of the very few tools left to the Minority to improve legislation before its passage.”
Another top Republican leader has this to say:
House Republican leader John Boehner (Ohio) complained that the new rules imposed by Democrats will take Congress “back to the old days of backroom deals and undemocratic one-party rule.”
The new rules package “silences the voices of tens of millions of Americans by further shutting down open debate on the House floor and taking away the Minority’s right to offer substantive policy alternatives on behalf of the millions of Americans they represent,” Boehner said.
Welcome to the new Congress. Yikes!
