mr. speaker , i thank the distinguished ranking member , the lead democrat on the committee on the judiciary , for yielding me time , and for his great leadership to protect and defend the constitution of the united states , the oath of office that we all take . 
i , too , want to express my respect for the gentleman from wisconsin ( mr. sensenbrenner ) xz4003650 , the distinguished chairman of the committee . 
i know that all the members of the committee on the judiciary have a difficult task . 
i commend all of the members of the committee on the judiciary for the very important responsibility that they have in protecting the civil liberties of our country . 
there are so many complicated issues where there are differences of opinion but , hopefully , respect for that diversity of opinion , which is intrinsic to our democracy . 
mr. speaker , i am very sad that it is necessary to come to the floor to speak on a resolution offered by the gentleman from michigan ( mr. conyers ) xz4000800 , again the distinguished ranking member on the committee on the judiciary . 
i think it is important to note why we are here . 
i understand why our republican colleagues want to talk about the bill and not talk about this privileged resolution , because this resolution strikes right directly to the heart of our democracy and our right of freedom of speech on this floor and how our words are interpreted . 
questions of privilege , according to the house rules and manual , mr. speaker , as i am sure the speaker well knows , questions of privilege shall be those affecting the rights of the house collectively , its safety , dignity and the integrity of its proceedings . 
it is that last point , the integrity of our proceedings , which is what is under assault by the republicans in this action that they took last week . 
truth and trust , they are the fundamentals of our work . 
we must speak truth so that we will be trusted . 
i view what the committee on the judiciary leadership did on this bill as just another extension of the abuse of power of the republican majority in the congress of the united states , both in the house and in the senate . 
in both bodies , and let us just speak to our own , there is an attempt to limit the opportunity for members to speak on the floor , to have substitutes , alternative amendments , that can come to the floor ; and on the occasions when they do allow an amendment , they decide to misrepresent the amendment . 
just when we think we have seen it all on the part of curbing debate in this house , the republicans not only curb the debate ; they decide what it is that we said and what it is that we wrote in our amendments that we were putting forth . 
the disgusting misrepresentations that were advanced by the republicans demand an apology by the chairman of the committee and a pledge by the republican leadership in this house that this will never happen again ; that this will never happen again . 
we must be mindful of a standard we must uphold , not only for ourselves , but for the american people , to conduct ourselves at all times in a manner which shall reflect credibly on the house of representatives . 
in doing so , the house must maintain the integrity of all of its proceedings , as the rules of the house dictate in the house rules and manual . 
what happened last week to the gentleman from new york ( mr. nadler ) xz4002890 , the gentleman from virginia ( mr. scott ) xz4003641 , and the gentlewoman from texas ( ms. jackson-lee ) xz4001990 was an outrage . 
an official report that the majority of the committee on the judiciary prepared to the legislation at hand deliberately and purposely mischaracterized their amendments in a manner that was insulting and derogatory . 
again , no wonder the republicans do not want to talk about what is on the floor right now , which is a privileged resolution addressing the gross abuse of power of the republicans . 
we had tried to say at meetings , and the gentleman from michigan ( mr. conyers ) xz4000800 tried to get an agreement with the majority that they would change the record and apologize ; to admit that there was something wrong with what happened last week , and that would have made a difference in bringing this resolution to the floor . 
but , no , there was no admission that there was anything wrong with misrepresenting , not telling the truth about what was contained in those amendments . 
administrative functions , such as reporting of amendments and descriptions of these amendments , relate to the integrity , again , of the proceedings of the house and must be fairly described . 
if there is a controversy , then you go to the maker of the amendment and say , what is it , how would you characterize your amendment , you who are the maker of the amendment ? 
but no , we had placed our trust that the majority would fairly describe something as administrative as an amendment offered by a member . 
in short , this should not even be an issue we need to be reviewing and scrutinizing . 
if this were to pass without discussion , think of the precedent that it would create ; that the majority , on a regular and repeated basis , could use their power and abuse their power to write any characterization of any amendment that anyone made . 
its simply wrong . 
the behavior exhibited by the republican majority with the committee on the judiciary report flies in the face of the comity and civility and honesty that we should all strive for . 
it is a further reflection , again , of the abuse of power we have seen here . 
it is an embarrassment to the house . 
i was deeply disappointed to learn that the chairman of the committee on the judiciary has refused to apologize on his own accord . 
our rules , mr. speaker , are our best defense . 
they are what make the debate and the democracy work . 
as i said , mr. speaker , you even see in this close on this important debate that there is an interest in stopping the conversation . 
i hope that the speaker and the republican leadership will reflect on their obligations to the house , and indeed , to all the members of both parties , and that they will ask the chairman of the committee on the judiciary to apologize for the affront to this house and the blatant abuse of position as the chairman of the committee on the judiciary . 
this is , in my view , an aberration for the gentleman from wisconsin ( mr. sensenbrenner ) xz4003650 . 
as i said , many of us , while we may disagree on issues , have held him in great esteem and respect . 
he is an articulate spokesperson for his point of view . 
but his point of view is not necessarily the point of view of everyone in this body , and his point of view should not be the description of the amendments that members in the minority are presenting to the congress . 
the leadership has a responsibility to ensure that this will not happen again . 
i want to commend all the members of the committee on the judiciary once again , republicans and democrats alike . 
i think you have a very challenging task . 
i want to particularly commend the gentleman from michigan ( mr. conyers ) xz4000800 , and the people who were offended by this , though all of us were , but particularly in terms of the retelling of their amendments , the gentleman from new york ( mr. nadler ) xz4002890 , the gentleman from virginia ( mr. scott ) xz4003641 , the gentlewoman from texas ( ms. mr. speaker , i will conclude by thanking the gentleman from michigan ( mr. conyers ) xz4000800 for his courage , because it takes a degree of courage to bring a privileged resolution to this floor when you know there will be a continuation of a misrepresentation of what happened last week . 
we are doing this not because of this bill , we are doing this because it is our responsibility to have an honest reflection of the proceedings of the house . 
i urge our colleagues to support the resolution of the gentleman from michigan ( mr. conyers ) xz4000800 . 
