mr. chairman , the republican leadership acts as if there is one set of rules for republicans and another set of rules for the rest of us . 
well , it has taken more than 4 hours , but they have finally , reluctantly recognized that at least on this occasion a democrat , the gentlewoman from california ( mrs. capps ) xz4000620 , has a right to offer an amendment , a good amendment that strikes a provision in this bill that protects polluters and penalizes taxpayers . 
for people who are not familiar with the rules of the house , here is what is going on . 
in 1995 the republicans passed a law called the unfunded mandates reform act . 
the purpose of the law was to prevent the federal government from passing bills that impose unfunded mandates on our state and local governments . 
at the time , they touted this law as a sign that they would run the government differently and show more respect to local governments . 
they issued thousands of press releases patting themselves on the back for this legislative accomplishment . 
well , here is the problem . 
according to the congressional budget office , not the gentlewoman from california ( mrs. capps ) xz4000620 , not the gentleman from massachusetts ( mr. mcgovern ) xz4002630 , not the gentlewoman from california ( ms. pelosi ) xz4003140 , but according to the congressional budget office , the mtbe provision in this bill is a big , fat unfunded mandate . 
that is the bottom line . 
the other side can spin it all they want , but cbo says this is an unfunded mandate . 
to my friends who want to protect the polluters , i say , come up with the money to pay for it . 
do not pass it on to communities that are already strapped for cash . 
do not pass the buck . 
cleaning up the mtbe drinking water contamination could cost our local communities as much as $ 29 billion . 
thanks to the capps amendment , you will have the opportunity to go on record as to whether you favor or oppose this unfunded mandate . 
to my friends who sometimes vote against things claiming that they are mere partisan procedural votes , this is different . 
this is not a procedural vote . 
this is an amendment to strike out language that gets mtbe producers off the hook for polluting our drinking water and sticks average taxpayers with the bill . 
so this is a different vote from the vote we had yesterday . 
let me say to my friends in the republican leadership , you could have avoided the scene we saw on the house floor today . 
the gentlewoman from california ( mrs. capps ) xz4000620 brought her amendment to the committee on rules tuesday night and asked for an opportunity to consider this amendment on the house floor . 
but the heavy hand of the gentleman from texas ( mr. delay ) xz4001040 and the republican leadership denied her . 
i am happy that we have the opportunity to right that wrong . 
this vote is clear . 
you either favor unfunded mandates or you do not . 
you either want to reward polluters at taxpayers ' expense or you do not . 
vote for the capps amendment . 
