[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 8649-8650]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  DO NOTHING CONGRESS NOT TACKLING ANY OF THE ISSUES IMPORTANT TO THE 
                            AMERICAN PEOPLE

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, our Nation faces many pressing issues; yet 
the House Republican leadership prefers to send Congress home for 
breaks rather than working to solve any problems.
  Back in 1948 President Truman dubbed that Congress the ``Do Nothing 
Congress'' because it only met 108 days the entire year. The Republican 
Congress of 2006 is set to break that record, scheduled to meet for 
only 97 days this year, 11 fewer than the first ``Do Nothing 
Congress.''
  Now, the budget continues to spiral out of control after finally 
being balanced by President Clinton back in the late 1990s; yet House 
Republicans approved a budget last night that makes

[[Page 8650]]

the deficit worse and offers no plan to bring the budget back into 
balance.
  Gas prices continue to hover at or above $3 a gallon; yet House 
Republicans continue to do the bidding of the big oil execs rather than 
providing any real relief to the American consumer.
  House Republicans, Mr. Speaker, are presiding over the most ``Do 
Nothing Congress'' in our Nation's history. They simply cannot govern 
and it is time for a change.

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