[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 29 (Tuesday, March 1, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H1399]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       MILLIONS OF ORDINARY PEOPLE RISING UP IN PUBLIC ASSEMBLIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, across the world we witness millions of 
ordinary people rising up in public assemblies, many at risk to their 
own lives speaking out for a better life for all. From Madison to 
Misurata, from Cairo to Columbus, courageous people are taking a stand 
for justice for the many, not just the few.
  Another giant rally is planned today in Columbus, Ohio, where 
Republican Governor John Kasich, the son of public workers, is 
systematically attacking the hard-earned collective bargaining rights 
of our State public workers, policemen, firefighters, teachers and 
other public sector workers. He even called an Ohio policeman an idiot 
and was forced to apologize. That is his priority, not job creation, 
not education, not economic development, but attacking workers. That is 
why thousands of people will converge on the State's capital again 
today to call him out on his extreme right-wing agenda.
  The public outcry started in Wisconsin, given its long history of 
progressivism. Americans have begun to rise up to prevent more harm 
being done to our way of life, more attacks on our jobs, more threats 
to the standard of living of our middle class, more cuts in wages and 
benefits of hardworking families. The movement is spreading, just as 
the democracy movement is spreading across Northern Africa and the 
Middle East.
  Just as we watch freedom rising in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and beyond, 
we watched the spectacle of America's Governors trying to dictate to 
citizens who earn, on average, $24,000 and aren't even eligible for 
Social Security, but receive about $900 a month in average public 
employee retirement benefits, that they should sacrifice even more to 
balance State budgets.
  No, they don't deserve to be made scapegoats for their States' budget 
problems, and they don't deserve to be put on the front lines of the 
battle to save workers' rights; but they are there, nonetheless, and 
they deserve our support. We are all Wisconsinites. We are all 
Buckeyes. We are all Hoosiers. We have to stand together united for 
America, for the good of many, not just the few.
  If John Kasich wants to look for scapegoats, perhaps he should draw 
upon his experience with Lehman Brothers. Maybe he should look into his 
Rolodex for some of his cronies from Wall Street who helped bankroll 
his campaign. Because the real culprits who have caused the real deep, 
economic harm to our Nation are watching gleefully on the sidelines as 
our friends and neighbors try to protect their livelihoods.
  Wall Street's greed caused the financial crisis. That greed triggered 
lower State and local revenues with the devaluation of housing and 
rampant foreclosures. Yet the Wall Street titans who stole our home 
equity, our annuities, our pension accounts remain scot free of any 
real attention or prosecution.
  I have a message to our Governors: blame Wall Street, not Main 
Street. When six megabanks control two-thirds of the banking system of 
our country, when corporate profits are at record highs, yet ordinary 
workers are being asked to empty their pockets to balance State 
budgets, something is really out of kilter in America. When GE and 
Exxon don't pay taxes and Wall Street executives walk away with huge 
bonuses while home foreclosures increase, what's seriously out of 
balance in America is the distribution of political power in this 
country.
  In Ohio, the brothers and sisters of the heroes of 9/11, our 
firefighters and police, are being asked to give away their rights as 
free American citizens at the bargaining table for wages and benefits. 
Our Governor wants to abolish middle class prevailing wages, same in 
Wisconsin. Any nation that loses labor rights loses democracy.
  What's at stake in our Nation is more than wages. What's at stake is 
liberty for all and opportunity for all. Governor Walker, it wasn't the 
firefighters in Madison that robbed Main Street and stole our home 
equity. You might ask your friends, the Koch brothers, about that.
  Governor Kasich, it wasn't the teachers in Ohio who financed the 
shipping of our jobs offshore through NAFTA. You voted for it, and your 
buddies on Wall Street rammed it through Congress.
  And, Governor Daniels, it wasn't your public sector workers that 
created the biggest financial bubble in U.S. history and then jumped 
ship when it burst, letting everyone else go down. That was created by 
the policies of George W. Bush, where you served as director of the OMB 
while the Federal budget deficit exploded.
  I salute America's workers who are fighting for the middle class and 
our way of life. The whole world is watching.
  After the American people win their battles in Madison, in Columbus, 
in Indianapolis, I hope they take the fight to Wall Street and get our 
money back. That's who has it.

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