Boehner on Conclusion of 100 Hours

Via email:

"The new Congress began with hope for renewed cooperation between Democrats and Republicans on the issues that matter to our country. The leaders of the Majority pledged to lead with greater openness and a renewed commitment to regular order and an open and honest debate. Unfortunately, that pledge has been broken.

"While this has been a disappointing start, it's our hope the end of the 100 hours will mark the beginning of a truly open and deliberative process in the House. Had these bills followed regular order and been subject to amendment, the two parties could have worked more closely together to improve them on behalf of the American people. When democracy is short-circuited, the American people are the ones who lose. As it stands, many of the flawed 100 hours bills either face an uphill battle in the Senate or are destined for a veto pen.

"In spite of the flawed process, the House was able to pass lobbying and ethics reforms that included significant reforms to the earmarking process that built on the earmark reforms passed by the House last September under Republican leadership. This bipartisan achievement is a credit to House members on both sides of the aisle. My hope is that we can build on this achievement later this year by passing the presidential line-item veto and taking other steps to bring greater accountability to the way in which Congress spends taxpayers' money.

"Looking forward, Republicans believe both parties should work together on a host of issues of great concern to families across the country. Republicans want to work with Democrats to balance the budget and bring greater fiscal responsibility to the federal budget process. We want to work with Democrats to expand health care access for the 46 million Americans who don't have health insurance. We want to work with Democrats to make America energy independent over the next 10 years, and to reform entitlement programs on behalf of our children and grandchildren.

"The American people expect their elected leaders to address the issues they care about, and Democrats and Republicans can and should work together on their behalf. As we move ahead, it's my hope the new Majority will meet their promises and commitment to allow open, full, and fair debate amongst all our members."

I'm ready for less whining and more legislative butt kicking... Don't get me wrong, the Democrats came to power on promises of changing things, but nobody ever really expected things to change. After all, there are reasons why the cliche "politics as usual" exists and it isn't because of a spirit of bipartisanship...