[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 197 (Tuesday, December 20, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H10001]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REPUBLICANS, HAVE A HEART

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. PALLONE. I want to follow up on what my colleague from Illinois 
said, because it really is true.
  We are talking about hurt for America's families here. I know that, 
in the next week, as this time expires on the unemployment 
compensation, on the Medicare reimbursement, on the payroll tax cut, 
I'm going to get calls from seniors telling me that the doctors are not 
accepting them for Medicare anymore. I'm going to find out that people 
have lost their unemployment insurance.
  Here we are at a time when we're just starting to see the economy 
improve a little bit; and I know there is a real risk, if we don't 
extend that payroll tax cut, that we will send the economy back into a 
recession again.
  It is amazing to me to see my colleagues on the other side suggest 
that somehow they're going to stay here and that the conferees are 
going to be here. None of that is true. They're home. They're not here. 
They're going home, and they're not going to come back until after 
January. I really think it's outrageous to think that they're running 
the risk that the economy will be hurt by this and that people won't 
have money in their pockets and that those who receive Medicare may be 
refused a doctor.
  We're simply asking, as Democrats, to have a heart. Why is it that 
Republicans don't understand the negative consequences of this?

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