Adopting the Rules of the House of Representatives for the 118th Congress

Floor Speech

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Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, let me just say at the outset, Mr. Cole has probably had the hardest job in Washington the past 4 years. Being the ranking member of the Rules Committee is a difficult position. He has done it extremely well, so I know he is going to excel as the chairman of the Rules Committee during this term of Congress.

Clearly, Mr. Speaker, the American public spoke with a clear voice. They want the Nation to go in a new direction. They want a path away from tax-and-spend politics advanced by the Democrats in the last Congress. In this rules package, we have laid out how we intend to accomplish just that.

The era of legislating for the few at the expense of the many is over. This new majority today begins this serious task in ways that will make this Congress more transparent, more accountable, and more accessible to the public and the Members that serve the institution.

This majority will implement voting procedures on the floor so that recorded votes can be conducted in a straightforward manner, rather than what we have seen over the past 3 years that literally strands Members of Congress on the floor for hours when they cannot do any other work in their committee or anywhere else.

Mr. Speaker, I believe our friends in the previous Congress squandered their opportunity by focusing on the politics of division instead of what we were all sent here to do, and that is the people's business.

Tackle inflation, tackle lawlessness, the threats abroad--these are the urgent issues that the American public demands that their Representatives address. Instead, Americans were treated to the petty and divisive agenda of the last Congress.

Thankfully, Mr. Speaker, Republicans will utilize this majority. Republicans have proposed an agenda that will address these vital issues and put our Nation back on track to fiscal prosperity.

With this Republican majority, we offer Americans a governing agenda that will ensure that the 21st century remains an American century.

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