News release from Barney Frank
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Congressman, 4th District, Massachusetts
2252 Rayburn Building · Washington, D.C. 20515 · (202) 225-5931
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Peter Kovar
202-225-9400
Michael Mershon 202-225-6101
MCGOVERN, FRANK REPEL A SECOND ATTACK ON GREATER FALL RIVER
Congressmen Jim McGovern
and Barney Frank hastily rushed to the floor of the House from other work on
Thursday afternoon when they were alerted by the Democratic Leadership that
right-wing Republicans were planning an ambush attack on the McGovern
legislation that preserves the Brightman Street Bridge.
Using a parliamentary
motion and not giving any notice to either of the two area Congressmen,
conservative Republicans sought to undo the amendment sponsored by
Congressman McGovern that requires that the Brightman Street Bridge stay in
place. Under the procedure the Republicans used, called a “motion to
recommit,” Democrats received no notice of the motion and had only five
minutes in which to rebut the arguments for it. Rep. James Oberstar of
Minnesota, who chairs the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee,
briefly spoke against the motion and then turned the rest of his five minute
allotment over to the two Fall River Congressmen.
Congressman McGovern
staunchly defended the importance of keeping the Brightman Street Bridge up
with the overwhelming support of people in the area, and Congressman Frank
noted that as Chairman of the Financial Services Committee, he had always
been willing to accommodate other people’s views of what was needed in their
districts, and that he would be very surprised and disappointed if that
principle were to be discarded with regard to his own district.
In part as a result of the effective lobbying of the
two Fall River Congressmen, as well as the strong support they received from
the committee chairman and the Democratic Leadership, the motion was heavily
defeated. Ordinarily on motions such as this, the vote falls on partisan
lines. On this motion, every Democrat voted with Congressmen Frank and
McGovern, but an unusually large number of thirty-seven Republicans broke
with their party to support the Fall River position, while five other
Republicans voted present. Observers of Congress cannot remember a time
when a party received the support of a smaller percentage of its membership
on a recommittal motion of this sort.
Click here for copy of Frank’s statement.
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