[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 174 (Tuesday, December 10, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H7611]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   THE DO-NOTHING REPUBLICAN MAJORITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Tonko) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, well, here we go again. Our to-do list 
continues to pile up and Republican House leadership of this 
legislative body--if we can even use words like ``leadership'' and 
``legislative'' to describe the House anymore--has officially cemented 
the first session of the 113th Congress as the ``least productive of 
all time.''
  We have not passed a budget, have not passed a farm bill, have not 
fixed the Voting Rights Act, or done anything in our charge to make the 
people's voices heard in their Nation's Capital. In fact, if recent 
reports in the D.C. newspapers are any indication, House leadership 
seems to be more concerned with planning fund-raisers in New York City 
than getting anything done here in Washington, D.C.
  The leadership of the people's House has continued to govern by sound 
bites and passing messaging bills that go nowhere--even shutting down 
the government for more than 2 weeks in the process, a painful exercise 
and expensive exercise.
  But we are about to call it a year and skip town with so much left 
undone. Our unemployment--or employment--rate is at its lowest point in 
5 years. But imagine how much lower it would be today if we would work 
together and focus on jobs instead of attempting to repeal the 
Affordable Care Act since 2011;
  Rolling back sequestration and replacing it with a responsible budget 
that cuts where we can and invests where we must;
  Passing comprehensive immigration reform to expand the American Dream 
to our friends and neighbors who want so desperately to contribute to 
the greatest country on the planet;
  Updating the Voting Rights Act so that everyone is able to fulfill 
their basic human right and duty of going to the polls;
  Increasing the minimum wage to restore dignity to those who have been 
forced to work two, and sometimes three, jobs simply to put food on the 
table;
  Passing a farm bill--something that needs to be done and used to be 
routine--and empowering our Nation's family farms to ensure that our 
national food supply remains secure and remains plentiful;
  Focusing on the clear and present danger that climate change has 
brought to the Midwest and to our shores along the Gulf of Mexico and 
the Atlantic coast.
  I could go on and on, but I only have 5 minutes.
  Tax reform, certainly commonsense gun reform like expanding 
background checks, and passing ENDA.
  The fact is that there are about 10 to 15 pieces of major legislation 
that would improve our country and the quality of life for Americans of 
every race, orientation, political party, and socioeconomic status. But 
they are not being pushed by this House.
  Almost all of these bills, if given a simple up-or-down vote, would 
pass with a bipartisan majority; but House leadership continues to act 
in the interest of a few extremists in their own party instead of doing 
what is right for our American people.
  I, like many of my Democratic colleagues, have signed onto a 
resolution introduced by my good friend Louise Slaughter, which would 
prevent Congress from adjourning unless the House agrees to a budget by 
December 13.
  I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this 
resolution so that we stay in town until we perform at least one of our 
basic duties before leaving for the holidays. The American people 
deserve so much more than what we have given them in the past year.
  It is my hope that when we gavel in next year, we will do so with a 
renewed willingness to work together and focus on the top priority for 
Americans, which is, indeed, putting people back to work. The American 
public expects and deserves nothing less.

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