i thank the gentleman for yielding . 
mr. speaker , we did obviously get overwhelming consensus in the committee ; and the vote among the republican members of the committee was something 6 to 1 in favor of the bill . 
by the way , we have had some negotiation since , as the gentleman from texas ( mr. delay ) xz4001040 knows because he has been participating in them . 
some of the objections of some of the more conservative members have been accommodated . 
some safeguards were put in . 
not everything was done that we liked on our side . 
we have been trying to be conciliatory , although people obviously had the power to go ahead . 
then , most recently , we decided this is a way to get money , if this bill were to pass quickly , to do housing so badly needed in the gulf area , frankly bypassing some of the normal problems you would have in terms of the need for regulations at omb . 
it would not go on the deficit . 
there has been a lot of concern about relief efforts that add to the deficit . 
this would be hundreds of millions of dollars , because it comes from the profits of fannie mae and freddie mac , not on the deficit . 
the only other point i would say , and i would hope the majority would have something to say about it , he said people do not like some things about the bill . 
well , as i read the constitution , i did not find the word negotiation in private among the majority party as part of article i. i thought bringing bills to the floor and having debates and votes was the way to do it . 
now i understand you want to establish some limits . 
but i do think we are reaching the point where democracy is suffering . 
a bill adopted in an open process with hearings and debates in committee and amendments passes 65 to 5. it has been , what , months since that bill was voted out of committee ; and there have been some negotiations . 
the notion that the bill can not come to the floor until all but three members of the majority are satisfied really flies in the face of democracy . 
if there are differences , what is the objection to letting the majority of the house of representatives vote ? 
we are not enormously far apart . 
i have voted in the past for this thing called reg-neg , negotiated regulations . 
i do not think it ought to displace democracy . 
we have a bill that has an overwhelming vote in committee . 
there are some legitimate differences . 
why can not we let democracy work , and then , whichever side wins , the bill passes and hundreds of millions of dollars are available for the gulf . 
