[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 7 (Thursday, January 21, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H306]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             WATCH YOUR HEART AND WHAT IS RIGHT FOR AMERICA

  (Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am reminded of some of the 
tougher times in this Nation. Maybe it was the Vietnam War, when 
Members had to vote their consciences. I was not in Congress at that 
time. It might have been even further back when LBJ, Lyndon Baines 
Johnson, had to lead on making a body of people in this Nation equal 
with the 1964 Civil Rights Act and with the 1965 Voting Rights Act. I 
imagine it was difficult, and I imagine there were people who said, 
This is the wrong way to go.
  We've often said on this floor, Don't watch polling in politics. 
Watch your heart and what is right for America. I believe the issues 
dealing with job creation and good health care for America are good, 
and the latest polls and elections don't daunt our spirits.
  We are working with those on the other side of the aisle. We are 
working with the American people. We do want transparency, but I, for 
one, am not going to step away from helping people get the best health 
care they can. We don't know the timing of it. Maybe tomorrow.
  Yet the idea to feel crushed or crumbled because of some actions that 
deal in politics is not the way to exercise your conscience and to do 
what is right for America. That's what we will do in this country and 
in this Congress, and I will stand on that side.

                          ____________________