[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 1763-1768]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        FRESHMEN DEMOCRATS CELEBRATE COMPLETING 100-HOUR AGENDA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 18, 2007, the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Hodes) is 
recognized for 42 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. HODES. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to be here in 
the House of Representatives. It is an honor and privilege to rise to 
represent my State of New Hampshire, and also as a new Member of the 
Democratic majority to celebrate the 100-hours agenda that has recently 
been completed.
  I note with interest that the gentleman from Iowa suggests that 
somehow the new Democratic Members have not had great input into the 
agenda for America that the 100 hours was meant to advance and did 
advance, and somehow the suggestion might be that we haven't 
participated fully with our leadership in the Congress in determining 
the new course and a new direction for this country.
  I would correct that gentleman because the new Democratic majority 
and the new Members that are here have had great input with the 
leadership because the American people have sent us here with a mandate 
for change. As we campaigned this fall all across this country, nothing 
was clearer from the American people than they wanted change. They 
wanted change in the way government did its business. They wanted 
change in the direction of this country, and we are now privileged and 
honored to be part of history and be here on the floor of the people's

[[Page 1764]]

House to help make that change happen. Today, in some sense, we come to 
celebrate the 100-hours agenda.
  My colleagues across the aisle have made much over the past 2 weeks 
about hours and minutes. The gentleman from Iowa produced a chart that 
counted hours and counted minutes and they have counted seconds.
  But the American people, Mr. Speaker, have counted years. They have 
been waiting for years for a new direction for this country. They have 
said to us in clear and unequivocal terms that they wanted honest 
leadership and open government. We heard time and time again about a 
culture of corruption, concern from the American people that the House 
of Representatives and the Members in this House seemed more concerned 
about themselves than representing the people of this country.
  And so in the American agenda that the Democrats advanced and has 
been advanced, we pledged honest leadership and open government. We 
pledged to restore government as good as the people of this country 
deserve starting with real ethics reform.
  So, Mr. Speaker, one of the first things that happened here in the 
110th Congress was through the rules process we advanced significant 
ethics reform to restore honest and transparent leadership in the House 
of Representatives.
  The American people spoke clearly to us about their concerns about 
what was going on not only across the sea in the wars in Iraq and 
Afghanistan. They are concerned about real security for America. They 
are concerned that although the 2001 attacks had been the subject of a 
bipartisan commission, the 9/11 Commission, to determine what needed to 
be done to make our homeland safe, to keep the people of this country 
safe from attacks here, that this Congress somehow had stalled in 
making those promises, in keeping those promises and making the 
homeland safe.
  So in H.R. 1 as part of the 100-hours agenda, we voted to implement 
the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission to protect Americans at home 
and lead the world by telling the truth to our troops, our citizens and 
our allies. We believe in a strong national defense. And we believe in 
being tough and smart. But we realized that homeland security must be a 
priority, and so we voted to implement homeland security.
  We were concerned about economic prosperity and educational 
excellence. We wanted to create jobs that stay in America and restore 
opportunity for everyone, and that means all Americans, Americans 
earning all kinds of incomes. I can't tell you, Mr. Speaker, how many 
times as I walked my district door to door and met people in coffee 
shops and factories and schools and libraries, everywhere I went the 
subject of the minimum wage came up time and time again because the 
good people of this country recognized that the minimum wage was an 
important factor for millions of Americans. Single moms raising 
families were trying to do it on a minimum wage that hadn't been raised 
in 10 years.
  I always find it interesting when my colleagues from across the aisle 
complain about raising the minimum wage, and yet so many voted with us, 
they voted themselves increases in their salaries for 10 years before 
raising the minimum wage. We accomplished that in H.R. 2.
  We were able to introduce important medical research with stem cell 
research, to expand stem cell research in a careful and appropriate 
way, in the way that the American people wanted.
  We started to help reform Medicare part D in H.R. 4.
  We helped our students go to college in this country by cutting the 
rate of student loans in half, and we started a move towards energy 
independence by rolling back tax breaks for big oil companies.
  In the last Congress, that Congress voted to cut taxes, give tax 
breaks to huge oil and gas companies while they saw record prices at 
the pump, and at the same time cut $12 billion in aid for our college 
students when we need to send people to college. So we passed H.R. 6, 
which started to pave the way for energy independence.
  Having advanced that agenda, at this time I will yield to the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Wilson).
  Mr. WILSON of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to comment on the good 
feeling of having the 100 hours' strong start and the issues that we 
touched upon. Many have talked about it today, but I believe it was 
very much an important part of fulfilling our promise to the voters 
throughout our campaigns in '06 to be able to come here in '07 and make 
a difference.
  In less than 100 hours, we were able to move some major legislation, 
things like prescription drug negotiations with the Health and Human 
Services Administration, being able to negotiate, which just makes 
sense. When it is done on everything else that we buy in America, it is 
actually part of the way business is done, and why there is this 
protection to keep that from happening, I have no idea. It has been a 
great opportunity I think to see, and I think it will be a great 
benefit for seniors. There are so many things that have happened in 
this 100 hours. And even though the other side says it is not perfect, 
it is not; but it is certainly a good start.
  To do something as simple as enacting the 9/11 Commission, to have 
the recommendations for safety and scanning our containers that go onto 
our boats and containers that go into our airplanes so that we know 
that we are not allowing illegal things into our country and things 
that can hurt us, this is just a really positive move in the right 
direction; and I believe it is a good one.
  And the minimum wage, to do that raise for the working families of 
our country that have been neglected for 10 years, it is the right 
thing to do. I am so proud to be a part of the minimum-wage increase.
  I believe, Mr. Speaker, what we did on energy planning yesterday in 
stopping the royalties that are being given to the large oil companies 
that are exhibiting exorbitant profits, and to be able to do something 
where we can say we are going to work towards energy independence in 
this country. We are going to look at options and how we can do 
ethanol.
  I have an ethanol plant in my State of Ohio that we are trying to get 
up and running. We want to have alternative fuels. Coal-to-liquid is 
very exciting. In the Ohio Valley that I represent, we have an 
abundance of coal, coal that we will be able to use in a liquid plant 
to be able to produce fuel that could be used by the military. They are 
working on that contract as we speak.
  One of the things that I like about the coal-to-liquid process is it 
is going to be a long-term investment. As leaders in government, we 
need to provide the leadership that needs to be done because we can't 
make the investment in coal-to-liquid plants and then have oil go down 
to $36 a barrel. It has to be a long-term investment for people to 
invest in it. It has to be an opportunity where we can work toward our 
energy independence.
  I believe it is a very significant thing, Mr. Speaker. And to know 
that, again, it is one of the important things that we have done in 
this 100 hours.
  And to know that by reducing the interest on student loans we have 
provided more students with access to college and higher education, 
that is what it is about. This is the kind of thing that I believe 
helps us give people opportunities because so many times we have had 
bright people who just can't afford to go to higher education. By 
cutting the loans $4,400 for the average student in their college 
expense, I think it is a great opportunity.
  Last but not least, to finish up with the ethics part, to know that 
we have done something, to shine the light on the ethics that is in 
this very body, and that we are going to operate a Congress that is 
going to be above board and we are going to do things right.
  In our first 100 hours, although it is not perfect, it is certainly a 
great first step in the right direction.
  Mr. HODES. I thank the gentleman from Ohio. In terms of the energy 
independence, the program we are going to advance as leaders in this 
Congress is designed to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of this 
country.
  Mr. Speaker, last year the Federal Government only spend $2 billion, 
one

[[Page 1765]]

week in Iraq, on all of its research into alternative and renewable 
energy forms. By setting up the kind of reserve we have now, rolling 
back the subsidies for Big Oil and putting it into a reserve for 
Federal research and research into alternative energy, just think about 
how we are going to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of this country 
for new jobs and economic prosperity on into the century.
  It is now my pleasure to yield to the distinguished gentleman from 
Connecticut.
  Mr. COURTNEY. I want to congratulate you on your election as the 
president of the Democratic '06 class. You are doing great so far.
  Mr. HODES. I appreciate the congratulations. Some would say 
condolences.
  Mr. COURTNEY. I want to follow-up on your opening comments on the 
heels of the prior group that was here that seemed to suggest that 
freshmen were being suppressed in the opening 100 hours of the 110th 
Congress. As we all know, nothing would be further from the truth.
  Our level of participation in the floor debate and in the design of 
this agenda could not have been more robust and full from the beginning 
of the process to the end.

                              {time}  1330

  Where we, I think, learned our information about the content of that 
agenda was on the campaign trail talking to the people in our district. 
These are ideas that have been out there for a long time. If anything 
has been suppressed or held back, in fact, it was the 100 hours agenda, 
not the process or the new Members of Congress that are again beginning 
our time here in the House.
  As an undergraduate in Boston, I used to walk by Powder House Square 
in Cambridge past the home of Tip O'Neill who at that time was Speaker 
of this body, the predecessor of the gentleman in the chair. He was a 
wonderful man. He is certainly not maybe the typical blow-dried 
politician of the 21st century but he had a street wisdom that I think 
still resonates to this day. Of course, he coined the most famous 
phrase, which is that all politics is local. I was asked by a local 
reporter about where does this 100 hours agenda fit into the district. 
When are you guys going to start dealing with the Second Congressional 
District where I come from, eastern Connecticut.
  The fact of the matter is if you go down this list of the 100 hours 
agenda, you can find exactly where in eastern Connecticut it matters, 
starting with homeland security. In my district, we have the Port of 
New London. We have more of Long Island Sound than any other 
congressional district in Connecticut. There are thousands of container 
cargo ships that every month pass up and down the Race in Long Island 
Sound. Today we have a situation where only a tiny fraction of those 
containers have been screened before they have reached that point. This 
is a large population center in our country. Yet despite the fact that 
the 9/11 Commission recommendations were out there telling us that we 
need to go a safer direction in terms of screening that cargo, it 
wasn't done by the prior Congress.
  Secondly, the commission recommended that we would have funding based 
on need, not politics. It was one of the recommendations that the 
Chairs of the commission in their fifth year anniversary of 9/11 
pointed to as the biggest failing of the prior Congress. Yet in the 
State of the Connecticut where we received almost $60 million funding 
in homeland security funding 3 years ago, it had dropped to $15 million 
last year, leaving first responders high and dry in terms of the 
investment that they were trying to make in communications equipment 
and systems that would actually protect the people of our area. New 
York and the World Trade Center is not very far from my district. We 
lost people in the Second Congressional District on 9/11 and H.R. 1 
right out of the box did everything in the world for my local 
community, my district, in terms of making us safer and stronger as a 
district and as a State.
  In terms of student loans, my district is the home of the University 
of Connecticut, Eastern Connecticut State University, three community 
colleges, Mitchell College, Conn College. As Mr. Wilson indicated, this 
bill will literally make a difference between whether or not students 
go to college and stay in college or not. It is as simple as that. 
There was probably no other decision of the 109th Congress that was 
more out of touch than the decision to cut by $12 billion aid for 
student loans. What we did a couple of days ago was take a big step in 
terms of reversing that damage to the system.
  On the Education and Labor Committee on which I sit with 
Congresswoman Hirono from Hawaii, we are going to follow up on that 
down payment to address Pell Grants, to revise the reauthorization of 
the Higher Ed Act to make sure that we build a system that will create 
a workforce for the 21st century.
  Those are just two small examples where we kept faith with the 
voters. And with Speaker O'Neill's famous words about all politics is 
local, I think our class was a big part of that process over the last 
week. It has been terrific working with all of you and I think it is 
going to be a great time ahead of us in the 110th Congress.
  Mr. HODES. I thank the gentleman from Connecticut. It is an honor to 
be a member of a class with such distinguished people in it of such 
skills and talents who are ready to move this agenda and move this 
country forward for the people, because we understand that it is the 
people's business that we are here to do and we are putting the people 
back in the People's House. I thank the distinguished gentleman from 
Connecticut.
  I yield at this time to the gentlewoman from New Hampshire (Ms. Shea-
Porter).
  Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I feel exhilarated at the end of this 
week. As I was campaigning through my district, the First District of 
New Hampshire, over and over again I kept hearing questions about what 
can Congress do to help the middle class and what can Congress do to 
help grow the middle class, to lift people into that robust middle 
class that we all want. And certainly this week we have shown what we 
are capable of doing. People are worried about Congress being able to 
get together and pass any legislation that would actually help the 
people. This week we have shown that we know how to get this job done. 
It certainly is an exhilarating feeling to be part of this.
  We watched out for the taxpayer this week. We passed a PAYGO, pay-as-
you-go. We said to the taxpayers of this country, we know your taxes 
are high, we know that you're worried about the highest deficits in 
American history, and we're going to do something about it. We're going 
to pass some programs that help you and we're also going to make sure 
that we don't drive up the deficit.
  And then we looked at people who have children in college and we 
said, we know that you need help and we're going to help you. We cut 
the interest rates in half. Yet it didn't cost the taxpayer a dime. 
That is awesome. I feel wonderful and proud of the leadership, the 
Democratic leadership that brought this forward, and I am delighted 
that so many Republicans joined in that vote, because I think that it 
helps all of us.
  Then we took a look at Medicare part D and we knew there was 
something wrong with Medicare part D. What was wrong with it was that 
the American taxpayer was not at the table when that was passed. It was 
the insurance companies, it was the pharmaceutical companies, but 
senior citizens were not there and neither were the American taxpayers. 
And so we said, we're changing this legislation so we will make sure 
that they have to negotiate the price of prescription drugs.
  Now, we did hear a lot of hollering that this wouldn't help, but I 
will tell you something, you would never find the CEO of a company 
ordering their purchasing department not to negotiate the price of 
anything. We all know, children know when they are little, they take 
their lunches and they

[[Page 1766]]

try to cut the best deal for themselves trading. We understand that you 
negotiate if you want the best deal for the American public and that is 
what we did.
  So we can go back to our districts and we can look at everybody and 
say, we understand, because we come from you. We're the freshman class 
that have been out there listening to the issues and we have come to 
the floor of the House and with the help of the Democratic leadership 
and certainly some Republicans that joined forces with us, we have 
passed some pretty significant legislation. So when my child goes back 
to college next year and the American children go back to college next 
year, they know that when they leave college, we have reduced their 
debt $4,000 over the terms of their loan. And when senior citizens go 
to their pharmacies for their prescriptions, they know that we did the 
best that we could for them this week. It's a beginning. There will be 
more to be done, of course, but it is an impressive beginning. And when 
people go to the gas pump, which is the other way that we saved money 
for the American taxpayer, they know that we are not going to subsidize 
the oil companies anymore, that we are not going to take taxpayer money 
and give them a subsidy. This is what we have been asked to do and this 
is what we delivered this week.
  I congratulate everybody who had a part in this and I urge the 
American people to stay tuned, because we are going to continue to 
deliver what the American public has asked us to do and what they need 
us to do. While we do that, we are also going to be paying attention to 
the international scene. We know that we have to have a strong national 
defense. We understand that we have enemies in this world and that we 
have to be careful. That is why we made sure that we will have 
containers that are inspected and that is why we looked very carefully 
with the 9/11 Commission and we said, yes, they're right and we need to 
do this now. On September 11, 2001, I was on the Beltway in Washington, 
D.C., and it was a terrifying place to be, no question about it. But I 
would go out to my district and say, we can't live in fear but what we 
have to do is be sensible and take action to keep us safer. We can't 
cower in fear but we can pass legislation that will protect all of us. 
We need to be on the world stage. We need to be bold. We need to take 
action to make sure that we are safe, but we also have to make sure 
that we don't terrify Americans.
  So this week we said, here is some legislation that is going to 
protect you at the airports, it is going to protect you at the ports, 
it is going to protect our Nation and we are moving forward on every 
direction. I am delighted. It has been a wonderful couple of weeks and 
I know with all these good people working hard that America can 
continue to be reassured that we will lead the country in the right 
direction.
  Mr. HODES. I thank the gentlewoman from New Hampshire. I just want to 
say how proud I am that now New Hampshire has two Democratic Congress 
Members serving our great State and we will be working hard on behalf 
of our constituents as I know all our members of the new Democratic 
majority-makers are going to be doing. I thank the gentlewoman for her 
remarks.
  At this time I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter).
  Mr. PERLMUTTER. I thank the gentleman from New Hampshire.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to be here today. It is an honor for 
all of us to be here today, to be Members of Congress. We were all sent 
here, I think, to bring change to this Nation and bring a new direction 
to this Nation. I am proud that we have been a part of really a 
bipartisan effort. As Democrats, we have been part of a bipartisan 
effort to change the way this country is being run. In this last 100 
hours, with Nancy Pelosi really pushing us to the maximum, we have 
taken care of things that have been stymied, stalled and stopped in 
prior Congresses.
  We have dealt with minimum wage that sat on the shelf for 10 years. 
We dealt with renewable energy which for my district is fantastic. We 
have the National Renewable Energy Lab. It is time for us to change our 
priorities and have a more diverse portfolio of energy sources so that 
we aren't relying on the Middle East all the time. It is good for 
national security, it is good for the climate, it is good for jobs.
  We dealt with student loans. As I said a couple of days ago, I was at 
a dive meet this past weekend, one of my kids was in a dive meet, and a 
woman came up and thanked me because we were reducing the rate of 
interest on student loans because she had one daughter in college, 
another one coming up, a single mom, and this was going to help their 
family educate and really build for the future.
  One of the things that I was most proud of, and I am talking to the 
gentleman from Tennessee because he participated in this, was on the 
stem cell bill. I felt so proud because that is what Congress, that is 
what the democratic system is all about. There was a bipartisan bill 
that passed legislation to allow for further stem cell research that 
holds out so much promise for so many people. One of my kids has 
epilepsy. We talked about that. Diana DeGette and Mike Castle, one a 
Democrat, one a Republican, worked very well together to bring about a 
bipartisan solution to something that will help so many people across 
this country.
  There were other things. There was 9/11. I am a member of the 
Homeland Security Committee. And for us to finally pass the 
recommendations of the 9/11 Commission after years of it sitting there 
without any implementation by the Republican Congress was a great 
change. I am just happy to be here, Mr. Speaker.
  I don't know exactly how you would like me to proceed, but I wanted 
to ask the gentleman from Tennessee if he feels that there has been the 
activity and the action and the change in direction of this country 
that the people in his district elected him to bring change.
  Mr. HODES. I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).
  Mr. COHEN. Thank you. I appreciate the gentleman from Colorado posing 
the question and the gentleman from New Hampshire yielding time.
  Mr. Speaker, indeed the people of the Ninth District in Tennessee 
have felt the differences in this Congress. It has been a great honor 
to be here as a representative of the Ninth District of Tennessee. Bob 
Dylan said, ``Senators, Congressmen, please heed the call.'' I think 
this class has heeded the call. The call is, people felt that Congress 
was not a place that the American people intended it to be and our 
Founding Fathers intended it to be. It had fallen to one of the lowest 
levels of appreciation or lack of appreciation of any body or group in 
this country. It had a 34 percent, 33 percent approval rate. That is 
going to go up. The reason is, I think, because this Congress is going 
to look to the future and the Democratic Party looks to the future.
  Most of y'all probably have heard the same stories I have heard. 
Politics is kind of like cars. If you want to go forward, you put your 
car in D like Democrat, in drive. And if you want to go in reverse, you 
put it in R like Republican, you go in reverse. We are in D and the 
Democrats are going forward and it is about the future. Most of this 
legislation has been about the future. It has been about the future of 
people never having to work for $5.15 an hour.
  People have come up in this well, Mr. Speaker, and they have talked 
about watch out for your pocketbook or watch out for your wallet. Folks 
making $5.15 an hour can't hardly afford a wallet. So when they are 
talking about look out for your wallet, they are not thinking about the 
people that are performing the jobs that are necessary to keep this 
country moving forward that most of us don't want to participate in. 
Those people will be getting $7.25 in a couple of years and they will 
have something to put in their pocketbook.
  Regarding stem cell research, the gentleman from Colorado mentioned 
his child. My father had Alzheimer's. Lots of people have family 
members or friends who have had illnesses that might be cured. That is 
the future. There will be cures or there will be treatments for 
diseases because of the

[[Page 1767]]

legislation that was taken and passed during this 100 hours by this 
House, and we hope the Senate will concur.
  If you look at stem cell research, that is the future. The minimum 
wage, that is the future. Certainly on oil and fuels and new ideas on 
energy and getting us independent of Middle Eastern oil, that is 
defense. That is the future. So if you want to go forward, you put your 
car in D, you support Democrats and go forward. I am happy to be a part 
of this Democratic class. It has been an exciting experience. It has 
been a great 100 hours. We have got a great Speaker, historic, the 
first woman Speaker. Next week when the President delivers his State of 
the Union address, there will be a woman behind him. Behind every 
successful man, there is a woman, and even behind this President there 
is going to be a woman, and there is going to be a great woman, Speaker 
Pelosi.
  Mr. HODES. I thank the gentleman from Tennessee for his remarks and 
for quoting a great American artist, Bob Dylan. It is important that we 
bring art and culture down to the floor of the Congress and make sure 
that the people of America know that we are connected not only to the 
past but to the future. I also note that the 100 hours agenda as it 
turned out was subject to full debate here on the floor of the House.

                              {time}  1345

  Now our colleagues across the aisle, from time to time, raised 
complaints about procedures. They claimed they were cut out. But they 
were all here and had the opportunity to debate the 100 hours agenda. 
And, in fact, when it came to votes on the 100 hours agenda, Mr. 
Speaker, we averaged 67 Republican votes for what we passed in terms of 
the 100-hour agenda. We averaged 67 votes from our colleagues across 
the aisle. So while they may have raised their voices about the 
procedure, we were fulfilling promises to the American people. We knew 
it was important. They joined us. And so I think we all should be proud 
of the fact that the 100 hour agenda really was an American agenda. It 
is an American agenda. It is a down payment on what we are going to do 
to keep on moving this country forward. And I am proud and glad that 
our colleagues from across the aisle had the wisdom, the courage, and 
just the plain smarts to join us on what the American people know is 
right for America as we move forward in the 21st century.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to recognize and yield to the 
gentlewoman from Hawaii (Ms. Hirono).
  Ms. HIRONO. I just wanted to make a comment about what you just said. 
You know, there is rhetoric, and then there is action. So while we had 
hours and hours of debate on all of these bills that we dealt with in 
the first 100 hours, when it came down to action, so many of the 
Republicans voted with us. So as the saying goes, ``Where's the beef?'' 
And frankly, I just want to share with my colleagues from the majority-
making class, of which I am very proud, there was an article written in 
a local newspaper back home about me and how I am doing here, and they 
quoted a professor from University of Pennsylvania, a political science 
professor. I don't know why they asked somebody from the University of 
Pennsylvania. But he teaches a class on how Congress works. And he 
said, basically, freshmen are hardly ever seen and they are never heard 
from. Well, nothing could be further from the truth in our class. Not 
only were we seen, but we were heard from. We were encouraged to speak 
out. And I think every single one of us had an opportunity to speak on 
all of these bills, as I certainly did. And so I came here because I 
really wanted to be responsive to the American people. And as the New 
York Times only yesterday said, that the House has now approved 
legislation directly addressing public concerns. And I think that is 
why we feel really gratified to have been a part of this historic 
session and to be reminded that prior Congresses, the 104th, 105th, 
106th, 107th, 108th, 109th Congresses in the month of January, were 
taking a break. And we didn't.
  Mr. HODES. I thank the gentlewoman from Hawaii for the remarks, and 
pointing out how important what we are doing really is to the future of 
this country.
  And at this time I would yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. 
Sarbanes) with whom I am very proud to serve.
  Mr. SARBANES. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. I thank the 
gentleman from New Hampshire for his amazing leadership of our class. 
And I am just so excited to be here and to be part of this debate. You 
will excuse me for looking at the clock every so often. The reason I am 
doing it is I am so amazed at what we were able to accomplish in 100 
hours. I mean, it is almost unprecedented in terms of legislative 
activity to produce the results that we have.
  Congressman Courtney earlier cited Tip O'Neill and the notion that 
all politics is local. And I think that it is difficult for a lot of 
folks in this country to understand the connection between what we do 
here, the action we take, and what happens in their daily lives. But I 
believe that what we did over the last 10 days is directly connected to 
making life better for millions of Americans.
  All over this country, every day, Americans get up and what do they 
do? They work hard and they play by the rules. They work hard and they 
play by the rules. And all they ask, all they expect, and it shouldn't 
be a tall order, is that we do the same thing; that the people they 
send here to represent them work hard and play by the rules. We took a 
step right from the onset by passing an ethics reform package that 
really is going to make a difference in terms of the way things operate 
here. And that was the right thing to do. And the message that came 
from the American people that we needed to do that was loud and clear.
  We also decided that we ought to conduct business here in the same 
way that an average household is conducted, and that is, you make your 
checkbook balance. So we implemented rules related to fiscal 
accountability. That makes perfect sense. That makes perfect sense.
  Let me talk a little bit more, though, about this connection to 
people's daily lives in terms of the things that we did. It starts at 
6:00 in the morning. If you are a senior citizen in this country, the 
first thing you do, the first thing you do is you take your 
prescription medicine. Now, is that an experience that is causing you 
anxiety because you don't know what trick is coming around the corner 
next? Or do you feel like your interests are being looked after?
  Last week we took the vital step of allowing the Medicare program, on 
behalf of its beneficiaries, to negotiate drug prices with the 
pharmaceutical industry. That is going to bring drug prices down and 
that is going to do right by our seniors. So it matters what we do here 
in terms of people's daily lives.
  The working mother who gets up at 6:00 in the morning, gets her two 
children off to school, and then goes to a job that pays the minimum 
wage. What we did last week, in passing an increase in the minimum wage 
is going to make a difference for that person and millions of people 
around this country just like her.
  Families all over America who wake up every day burdened with the 
worry and the anxiety about a loved one who is suffering from a 
debilitating disease or condition where the hope that science can 
provide for treatment is something that can lift them up. We took the 
step last week, with significant bipartisan support, of approving the 
Federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. That was the right 
thing to do for those families.
  We have heard about the issue of security. We took steps last week, 
out of respect for the families of the victims of September 11, we took 
steps to implement, finally, the recommendations of the 9/11 
Commission.
  My blood pressure is going down now because when I go to a gas 
station to fill up my car I am not seething at the fact that I am 
paying all this money for gas, and, meanwhile, the oil industry is 
getting big tax breaks, because we took steps to repeal those because 
they weren't fair. They weren't fair.

[[Page 1768]]

  And lastly, we took action on student loans. I have said it before in 
this Chamber, but I have got to say it again because it is imprinted on 
me. A woman came up to me whose children are trying to go to college, 
and she looked me straight in the eye, and this is what she said. She 
said, I did everything they told me I was supposed to do. My husband 
and I worked three jobs between us, we saved our money and we told our 
kids if you work hard and you study, you can make it in America. And 
now we can't pay for college. We have a problem in this country if 
people are looking at us and saying, we did everything they told us we 
were supposed to do and we can't make it. We have to restore the 
bargain with Americans.
  And let me finish by noting this, and it is something we should take 
to heart as people who have been sent here to make policy. Policymakers 
can get up in the morning and they can head in one of two different 
directions. They can get up and they can think about what can I do 
today as, sadly, I think this administration does, what can I do today 
to help people who don't need any help? If do you that, you make bad 
public policy.
  But if you get up in the morning and, as I think all of us here do, 
and you are thinking, what can we do today to help people who really 
need help, to help the working families of America? Then, you know 
what? We won't get it perfectly right every time, but most of the time 
we are going to make good public policy. And that is what we did last 
week and that is what we did this week. We made good public policy for 
the American people. I am proud to have been part of that effort. And I 
am proud to serve with my colleagues who stepped up and made this 100 
hours so meaningful for the American people.
  Mr. HODES. We thank the gentleman from Maryland for speaking with 
such passion about the important connection between what we are doing 
here to make a positive difference in the lives of this country and 
what it means to every single American that we represent from around 
this country, what impact it will have on their daily lives, because, 
as the gentleman from Maryland rightly understands, we are dedicated to 
making a positive difference for all the people of this country, not 
just those at the very top, but all the people, those who need it the 
most, doing the most good for most of the people all the time.
  And I would yield briefly now to the distinguished representative 
from Pennsylvania, Mr. Carney, a gentleman who, Mr. Speaker, has served 
his country in the military with great distinction, and, Mr. Speaker, a 
gentleman who has the distinction, as a new Member of Congress, of now 
leading a subcommittee on the Homeland Security Committee, a distinct 
honor worthy of his experience, skill and talent. I am very proud to 
serve with him and I yield to Mr. Carney.
  Mr. CARNEY. Thank you, Mr. Hodes, and thank you for your leadership 
in this class. It is going to be a historic class. I think we have 
already proven that in the last 100 hours.
  Mr. Speaker, in the last 2 weeks in the new Congress we have already 
taken remarkable action to pass this first 100 hours legislation.
  Now, as I traveled across my 10th District of Pennsylvania, I heard 
from so many families who were struggling to make ends meet. Our 
working families needed an increase to the minimum wage, and we 
provided that. Our working families needed affordable education. We 
provided that relief. Our seniors need lower prescription drug prices. 
We took steps to make sure they can have them. Our children need to 
know that they are growing up in a country that is safe, and we 
provided to enhance the security of this Nation.
  Two weeks into this new Congress and already I am proud of what this 
House of Representatives has achieved in a bipartisan and civil manner. 
We are listening to the concerns of our constituents and passing 
meaningful legislation on their behalf.
  I encourage our colleagues in the Senate to pass our legislation and 
for the President to sign it into law. Two weeks into the new Congress, 
and already I have heard from so many of my constituents who are 
appreciative of our concerns and their concerns being addressed. But 
they also remind me that we have only just begun. Two weeks in and 
still so much left to accomplish.
  Mr. HODES. Thank you very much, Mr. Carney.
  Mr. Speaker, I note the hour. I thank the Speaker for your service 
today and in this august body, we thank the American people for giving 
us the privilege to serve the people of this country, to have served in 
this historic time, to move the 100 hours agenda from a promise into 
reality, to make good on our promises to the people of this country 
that we care about all the people, that we are going to make a positive 
difference as we move forward.
  I thank my colleagues, new Members. We have been called majority 
makers, and I am proud that we are, and we are going to work in a 
bipartisan way to move this country forward.

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