Parliamentary Procedure Quotes

As a new member (of Parliament) you will also be instructed in the details of what is expected from you as a backbencher…. It will be made clear to you that your role in the decision-making process is to raise your hand when you are told to and to occupy your seat in the house when it is required.

In the Congress, for every small thing, you have to consult the general secretaries.

I've had a tough time learning how to act like a congressman. Today I accidentally spent some of my own money.

In Parliament we debate on and we decide the laws that are going to govern the country.

The thing is, if you control the Senate meetings, you control the gavel. And the gavel is a very important instrument... an instrument of power. An instrument that establishes the agenda.

Let the filibuster be no more. Let the people decide.

I have been inspired by the way that Ken Clarke has navigated parliament. I am actively looking across the House for people I really respect and warm to and can learn things from.

It excites world wonder in the Parliamentary countries that we should build a Chamber, starting afresh, which can only seat two-thirds of its Members. It is difficult to explain this to those who do not know our ways. They cannot easily be made to understand why we consider that the intensity, passion, intimacy, informality and spontaneity of our Debates constitute the personality of the House of Commons and endow it at once with its focus and its strength.

This has not been a legislative process worthy of the Senate. Members of the Judiciary Committee, as I just said, were implored to save their amendments for the floor. Then, when we got here, we were told no amendments could be accepted.

The Senate has unlimited debate; in the House, debate is ruthlessly circumscribed. There is frequent discussion as to which technique most effectively frustrates democratic process.

I want to continue to serve as whip of the caucus.

Without dialogue, you cannot run parliament. You have to interact.

Prime Minister’s Question time is very different from anything in America. It is something that fortunately your President does not have to face.

Don't call the question unless you've got the votes.

Filibusters have proliferated because under current rules just one or two determined senators can stop the Senate from functioning. Today, the mere threat of a filibuster is enough to stop a vote; senators are rarely asked to pull all-nighters like Jimmy Stewart in 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.'

The basic work of Congress is done in committees.

It is much better when a member resumes his seat after he has made a speech for the House to have the feeling that they wish he had gone on longer instead of wondering why he did not stop sooner.

Our whole system was to settle disputes within the [congressional] committees. It's a waste of time to bring out a bill if you can't pass it. I just don't like to have a record vote for the sake of having a vote.

Dialogue is the essence of parliamentary politics.

What is the value of bringing a bill to the floor without the members having an opportunity to read it.

Part of my role, I suppose, is to run government business in the House of Representatives, and try to ensure that people know exactly what's going on in the Chamber is an important part of that.

Usually, even when a bill draws extreme opinions, there can be a process of expression and negotiation.

The government takes the opposition day debates incredibly seriously.

In Westminster, I make sure I maximise my ability to represent my constituents. I can do that in a variety of ways: by asking written questions or questions in the House of Commons, through the scrutiny of bills and by sitting on the environmental audit select committee every week, as well as other committees.

I have been commanded by the king [Charles I] to adjourn and put no question to this house.