[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 193 (Thursday, December 15, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H8982]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           WE MUST DO BETTER

  (Mr. JOHNSON of Illinois asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. JOHNSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong 
objection to the animosity and gridlock that's been the overarching 
theme of this first session of the 112th Congress.
  I make dozens of calls and similar personal contacts directly with my 
constituents every day, probably more than any other Member of 
Congress. These people live in the real world beyond the beltway 
environment in which too many public officials live and work, sheltered 
from reality, by communication primarily with each other in a self-
created climate that bears little similarity to the rest of America.
  In my years in public office, I have never heard the level of anger I 
hear today. Our approval ratings are in the tank, and they should be. 
We are gripped in gridlock because people on both sides of the aisle in 
both Chambers and in the White House are more concerned with politics 
than progress.
  As our economy continues to stagger, our attention should be focused 
on putting people to work and providing a stability in public policy. 
We can only do that through cooperation, compromise, and civility.
  My message to leadership and membership, including myself, in both 
Chambers is this: We have to do the business the people expect us to 
do, efficiently and in an adult-like manner. Anything less is both 
irresponsible and unacceptable. We can and we should do vastly better 
than what we are.

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