[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10690]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       CONGRESS IS NOT LISTENING

  (Mr. CONAWAY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Speaker, an oft-forgotten dictum in Washington is 
that to govern is to choose. It is to choose between the dizzying array 
of wants, wishes, and needs of the American people, while constrained 
by the Constitution, fiscal, and political realities of the day.
  Sadly, the leadership of the majority of this House have punted on 
choosing anything. They have ignored fiscal realities, our present 
condition, and the constitutional limits on our authority, and simply 
enacted whatever they could twist enough arms to pass. This majority 
has made promises it cannot keep with money it does not have. It has 
not made hard choices; it has not governed. No place is this more 
evident than in the Speaker's refusal to pass a budget this year, the 
most basic fiscal document our Nation has.
  The budget is the foundation of all the taxing and spending that the 
Federal Government does. It constrains the appropriators and sets the 
boundaries for the spending debate. In choosing not to pass a budget, 
the Speaker is failing in her responsibility to govern this House and 
our Nation.
  The American people, though, are not standing idly by. They are 
suggesting difficult choices for the Speaker through the YouCut 
program. To date, the American people have voiced support for over $60 
billion in hard choices.
  Mr. Speaker, we are a Nation governed by the people; the people are 
not being heard. This Congress is not listening.

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