mr. speaker , i rise to offer a resolution concerning the privileges of the house . 
the deliberate misrepresentation of members of the house of representatives ' amendments is unprecedented . 
and i do this because the committee on the judiciary report on h.r. 748 mischaracterized amendments offered by members in a way that distorted both the effect of the amendments and the intentions of the members . 
i offer this resolution to protect the rights of every member in this body . 
none of us wants to see our amendments mischaracterized in a way that undermines our good faith . 
none of us wants to see our legislative work distorted in a way that diminishes our motives . 
i am not eager to bring this matter to the floor of the house , but i do so as a last resort to achieve a resolution that is fair and just . 
there is little doubt in my mind that the amendment characterizations included in the committee report were distorting and damaging . 
taking an amendment written to exclude grandparents and describing it as one protecting sexual predators crosses a line of good faith and comity so essential to the operation of this house . 
descriptions this pejorative are not only inappropriate ; they are without precedent . 
this has never happened before in my memory . 
if we look at the record , we will see that the three previous committee reports describing these amendments use neutral and objective terms . 
the same is true of the amendment descriptions prepared by the majority staff on the committee on rules as well as the majority staff on the republican conference . 
i can not agree with the contention that the obligation should have been on the members to draft these amendments more narrowly . 
the amendments were drafted in a careful and straightforward manner as they have been for each of the last four congresses . 
the duty should not be on us to exclude categories of persons who have nothing to do with the underlying amendment . 
let me close by stating that the majority will not control this body forever . 
there will come a time when members of another party are the ones interpreting the rules , writing the committee reports , and explaining the amendments . 
whoever controls this body tomorrow or next year , we will all be better off today if we do not rewrite each other 's words or disparage each other 's intentions . 
i support this privileged resolution and urge the rest of my colleagues to do the same . 
mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
