[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 163 (Tuesday, December 18, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H6836]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1210
                      ENACT A BIPARTISAN SOLUTION

  (Mr. ALTMIRE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. ALTMIRE. Mr. Speaker, as both parties continue to negotiate over 
the looming fiscal cliff, Congress is presented with a real opportunity 
to pass long-term, comprehensive deficit reduction plans. We cannot let 
this opportunity pass us by.
  Of course, this is not the first time that Congress has tried to 
solve this challenge, but it is vital that we learn from our past 
failures. We have to check our partisan talking points at the door and 
put everything on the negotiating table.
  This time, let's work from the middle out to build a bipartisan 
consensus, instead of searching for solutions at the ideological 
extremes. This time, let's listen to the vast majority of Americans who 
occupy the middle ground and who want Congress to enact a bipartisan 
solution, a bipartisan solution that would help restore the public's 
confidence in Congress while reassuring the nervous financial markets. 
And most importantly, it would secure a lasting economic future for our 
country. The American people deserve nothing less.

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