Home > News >Pelosi on Pledge Bill: Once Again, Republicans Play Politics of Distract and Divide
Pelosi on Pledge Bill: Once Again, Republicans Play Politics of Distract and Divide
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Contact: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider, 202-226-7616
Washington, D.C. – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke on the House floor today during the debate on the so-called Pledge Protection Act. Republicans have been bringing legislation to the floor that does not address the real priorities of the American people, while denying a vote to increase the minimum wage. Below are Pelosi’s remarks:
“My colleagues on the Republican side of the aisle, I have really good news for you: the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag, and the words ‘under God’ are not in trouble. They are safely ensconced in the Pledge of Allegiance that we pledge every single day this body comes to order, that school children recite in class across the country, and at the beginning of meetings all over America. The profession in the pledge to our flag and ‘one nation under God,’ is safe and sound.
“That is why it is hard to understand why you would take up the time of this Congress to bring something to the floor that is so out of touch with the concerns of America’s middle class. We’re talking about democracy here and the intentions of our Founding Fathers, and what is essential to a democracy is a strong, thriving, and growing, middle class.
“The policies of this Republican Congress have undermined the security and the size of the middle class. That’s why if you’re at home with someone who is sick, or you take care of your children and you turn on the TV and see the proceedings of Congress, what would you think? You would think: ‘What they are doing is totally irrelevant to my life.’ Whether it’s the health of my family, the education of my children, economic security, and the safety of my neighborhoods – why isn’t Congress addressing the concerns of the middle class? Why instead are the Republicans taking up time, day in and day out with their proposals, which have no prospect of success, which have no basis in reality, and which, in fact, undermine the Constitution of the United States, which each one of us takes the oath of office to support and defend?
“Why are we having this conversation, when this is not at risk? We all agree: ‘One nation, under God.’ What a beautiful pledge. So rather than address the concerns of the American people, we are making an assault on the Constitution of the United States, which will fail. Fundamental to our democracy is the separation of powers, a system of checks and balances, but this Republican Congress says that Congress should strip the courts of their power to be a check and a balance to the other branches of government.
“They have said that Marbury v. Madison, which establishes the precedent of judicial review, was wrongly decided. Over 200 years of precedent on judicial review, they say was wrongly decided, and therefore they can strip the courts of the ability to review the constitutionality of an act of Congress. That means by simple majority they can amend the Constitution, with bills that are not constitutional, but have no court judge their constitutionality. It’s absolutely wrong. And former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said recently on this subject that this was brought up during the time of desegregation. They tried to use it then. Thank God, they failed.
“What we should be talking about today are the issues that are important to America’s middle class. When people ask me what are three most important issues facing the Congress, I always say the same thing: our children, our children, our children. Their health, their education, the economic security of their families, which includes the pension security of their grandparents, the healthy environment and safety of the neighborhoods that they live in, and a world of peace in which they can thrive.
“But turn on the television and tune in to C-SPAN to see what’s going on in Congress, and what do you see? The politics of divide and distract. It’s really sad. It would almost be a joke, but it’s really not that funny. So let’s instead vote against the previous question, and that vote would be a vote to increase the minimum wage – that is relevant to the lives of millions of Americans, many of them single mothers.
“Right now the minimum wage is $5.15 an hour. If you work full time for the minimum wage, you make about $10,000 dollars a year. If you are in a two-wage earner family and you both work full-time and make the minimum wage, you make $20,000 – that’s below the poverty line for a family of four. Imagine two-wage earners, working full time? Is that fair? Is that just? I don’t think so.
“This Congress had no hesitation in giving itself a raise, over the past nine years -- $30,000 in raises. That $30,000 would take a minimum wage worker three years to earn just the increase in salary that Congress gave itself. There is no justice in what we are talking about here.
“I quoted in another debate in Congress, the recent encyclical of Pope Benedict the XVI. In his encyclical, ‘God is Love,’ Pope Benedict talks about the responsibilities of politicians, people in government. He quotes Saint Augustine: ‘Unless politicians were in office to promote justice, they were just a gang of thieves.’ And it is true. How can we be talking about justice, how can we be talking about our Constitution, how can we be talking about ‘under God,’ if we don’t even meet the simple test of fairness to America’s middle class, which is central to our democracy? How can we be talking about that here, when people are suffering in our country? They don’t know how they’re going to pay for their health care. In fact, 6 million more people in America do not have health insurance since President Bush took office. There has been a 70 percent increase in the cost of health insurance since President Bush and this Republican Congress went to work on the American people.
“So the injustices are there and the opportunity is here, and it is being ignored, because the priority of the Republicans in Congress is to distract and divide the country. It’s time for the politics as usual to end. It’s time for this House to become the marketplace of ideas that our Founders intended, where we come to do the work of the American people. They tell us to make laws to grow our economy, to make our country strong militarily, make our country strong in our unity, to enhance the reputation that we have in the world, and improve the health and well-being of the American people. Instead we have this freak show, one day after another of the rollout of distractions and divisions that is unworthy of this House, unworthy of the American people, and certainly does not honor the vision of our Founding Fathers, the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, or the aspirations of our children.
“So I ask my colleagues to vote ‘no’ on the previous question and that vote will be a vote to increase the minimum wage, which is $5.15 an hour, hasn’t been increased in nine years, while the price of gas, food, health costs, has gone up, the purchasing power has gone down. Let us not be a bunch of thieves, let us be a deliberative body that is here to promote justice. Vote ‘no’ on the previous question. Vote ‘no’ on this court stripping bill, which dishonors the oath of office that we all take.”
