[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 197 (Tuesday, December 20, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H10001-H10002]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1640
                         TAKEAWAYS FROM THE DAY

  (Mr. ALTMIRE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. ALTMIRE. Mr. Speaker, the two key takeaways from the debate today 
are, number one, there is nobody in this Chamber--nobody, Republican, 
Democrat--nobody in the Senate on the other side--Republican, Democrat, 
Independent--nobody believes that a 2-month fix is the end result of 
this process. The 2-month fix is to allow the benefits to continue so 
that the 160 million Americans that are now benefiting from the 
reduction in the payroll tax continue to have those benefits while we 
come together and while we compromise, while we come to a long-term 
agreement. That's what this is all about.
  The other takeaway is the majority party did not allow a vote on the 
Senate plan. For all the talk about how

[[Page H10002]]

flawed they believe the Senate plan to be, they didn't allow a vote on 
the Senate plan because they would have lost their position. That bill 
would have passed. We would be done with it today.
  So when you hear Members of the majority talking about how flawed the 
Senate bill is and how the American people don't support it, their own 
Members would have voted for it, and we would have passed the bill if 
they would have allowed it.

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