Dreier Applauds GOP Unity in New Congress

May 25, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman David Dreier (R-San Dimas, CA), Rules Committee Ranking Republican, today applauded GOP unity in the first five months of the new Congress in the face of a Democratic Majority that has broken promise after promise on openness and honesty and has been intent on raising taxes and retreating from the war on terror. Dreier said GOP unity has lead to lobbying reform legislation stronger than the bill introduced by Democrats, a clean supplemental spending bill for our troops in harms way, and the exposure of Democratic broken promises to run a more open and honest Congress.

"In the last five months, the Democratic majority has been long on rhetoric and short on results," Dreier said. "Their initial rush of legislation has largely not been enacted. Their promise for a more open and honest process in the House has become nothing more than a punch line, as they restrict debate on bill after bill. Their attempt to deliver on the campaign promise of lobbying reform rang hallow until their bill was strengthened by GOP amendments they tried to reject but eventually had to accept. Most important, their attempt to prove a political point with President Bush over funding for our troops in harms way was finally brought to an end when Republicans, and a minority of the Democratic caucus, voted to send the funding to the President for his signature. This is hardly a record to crow about."

Dreier also pointed to the poor record of the Democratic Rules Committee on their promise of a delivering a more open debate. Members have repeatedly been turned away from the Rules Committee and prevented from even offering amendments for consideration, something Dreier said is unprecedented. They have also fallen flat on their promise to report more open rules for consideration of legislation. According to a minority staff analysis of the rules reported by the Democratic Majority through May 25, 2006, the Democratic Majority has reported a higher percentage of closed rules, 44.2%, than the Republican Majority did in the last Congress, 35.5%.

"I wasn’t that long ago when the Democratic class of 2006 stormed Washington and said they were going change this town with the promise of a more open and honest Congress," Dreier said. "Now it looks like Washington changed them, and it only took a few months."