[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 1756-1757]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  FIRST 100 HOURS OF THE NEW CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, today I am proud to stand here today and 
report to the American people that we have completed the 100-hours 
agenda. We are demonstrating that we have kept our promise. We have set 
a tone for the 110th Congress that is one of cooperation, consensus, 
and compromise that extends beyond party lines. From the ethics reforms 
to restoring fiscal responsibility, to strengthening our national 
security, to giving more Americans a realistic shot at the American 
Dream, the new Democratic majority is committed to real and lasting 
results for the people that we serve.
  On the opening days of the Congress, January 4, we adopted the most 
sweeping ethics package since the post-Watergate era. We restored tough 
pay-as-you-go budget rules, which will begin to reverse the record 
budget deficits that are passing on trillions of dollars to our 
children and grandchildren. We all recognize how important that is.
  We recognize that we are some $8.6 trillion in debt, that each one 
now owes over $29,000. In fact, every child born now owes some $29,000 
in order for us to pay the debt.
  In the remainder of the first 100 hours, we have turned to passing 
the Six for '06 agenda to meet the everyday needs of all Americans. We 
made America safer by the passage of a bill that implements the 
recommendation of the bipartisan 9/11 Commission, which were submitted 
by Congress in 2004.
  We are extremely proud of that particular piece of legislation, 
because it allows us to address those needs that were identified by the 
commission, needs, especially, in south Texas, as we know, on border 
security, that are critical, other needs, such significant, although 
they might be considered not so important, but the importance of the 
agencies to be able to communicate with each other that was found to be 
one of the most difficult problems that we have still, but have not 
confronted.
  We made our economy fair by passing a bill that increases the minimum 
wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over the next 2 years, affecting 
approximately 900,000 employees in Texas. Texas is hit the hardest with 
this, with the minimum wage; and we are extremely proud to have passed 
that piece of legislation. It also impacts some of 28.6 percent of the 
jobs that pay below the Federal poverty line in Texas. We have improved 
health care by passing and extending the Federal funding for lifesaving 
embryonic stem cell research, which will help 110 million Americans 
suffering from diseases.
  We have helped to make health care more affordable by passing a bill 
that directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct cost 
savings negotiations with the drug companies for lower prices for 
Medicare beneficiaries. That is essential. The way the legislation has 
been written is basically un-American, not allowing us to bargain with 
the pharmaceutical companies to get lower prices, very similar to what 
the VA does now.
  We know that they are able to get prices at 60 percent lower than 
what we can for our seniors under Medicare. This particular piece of 
legislation is going to be out there, and it is going to help all of 
us, and especially the taxpayer that has to pay for Medicare. So

[[Page 1757]]

we are extremely proud to have passed that piece of legislation in the 
last 100 hours.
  We also make college more affordable by passing a bill that cuts the 
interest rates on subsidized student loans for undergraduates in half 
over the next 5 years. This is particularly important, also, for 
Hispanic Americans, since 50 percent of Latinos, undergrads, receive 
Federal aid affecting some 205,000 students throughout this country.
  We are extremely proud to have done that. The interest rates on those 
loans for those students is essential, that we can lower them to a 
level where it has a direct impact on the cost of higher education. We 
also know that tuition has been increasing. No one knows that better 
than parents and young people that are going to college.
  We set America on the path to energy independence by passing a bill 
that repeals $14 billion in subsidies to big oil and gas companies and 
invests those funds, instead, in clean, renewable energy resources and 
alternative fuels.
  This is just the beginning of the work we are going to be doing. I am 
really pleased.

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