[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 173 (Wednesday, January 2, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H7575]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               LET'S FIGHT TOGETHER FOR A BETTER AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Murphy) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, thank you for your service 
and your friendship to our country.
  I've been watching the media, Mr. Speaker, and hearing a lot of 
distortion of what happened in the House Chamber yesterday.
  Let's recall that on December 31 at midnight, taxes went up for every 
taxpayer massively, the fiscal cliff. By the end of the evening, the 
House came together, working with the Senate, and reduced taxes for 99 
percent of American taxpayers. We kept taxes lower for dividend income, 
capital gains. We maintained a higher child tax credit. We helped keep 
the marriage penalty from hurting families. We did all this in a 
permanent way. This is a big win. We have a lot of work to do, but that 
was a big win.
  The President also promised that he would work with us to have 
further cuts in spending. We should hold him to that promise on both 
sides of the aisle. We have several serious issues to come in this 
113th Congress. We have to deal with the debt ceiling, spending cuts, 
implementation and regulations in the health care law, improving the 
efficiency and effectiveness of government.
  It's easy for people to look at any piece of legislation--I actually 
challenge people to find some piece of legislation here that was 
perfect. Any major bill has flaws. Even a rose has thorns, as they say. 
Let's understand that we will see success when we work together, not 
when we continue to snipe at each other's heels.
  The challenges before us will only be dealt with by the courage we 
find within us to find the common ground between us and fight together 
for a better America.

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