[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 621]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          A MORE PERFECT UNION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, as I was walking through the 
hallway, I encountered an individual who was enormously excited about 
the President's State of the Union. They happened to be a new employee 
of this House. This would be the very first time that they would have 
this privilege and this honor. I think it is important for us to 
recognize that it is a privilege and an honor. In essence it is a 
responsibility of this administration, of this President, to follow in 
the tradition in the law of the land that the President presents to the 
Congress, to the people of this great country, the State of the Union.
  Frankly, I'm an optimist. I am so grateful that we live in a country 
that has a Constitution that has prevailed for so many years, that we 
have language in our Constitution that says that we have organized to 
create a more perfect Union, that the words of the Declaration of 
Independence are pressed upon our hearts: We hold these truths to be 
self-evident, that we all are created equal with certain unalienable 
rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
  That's what I expect to hear from our President tonight, a man of 
passion and commitment and dedication, a man who feels the pain of this 
Nation, a man who has sacrificed his own personal prestige and 
popularity in order to make very difficult decisions.
  The American Recovery Act, for example, went into the nooks and 
crannies of this Nation and built up small communities, provided extra 
police officers, provided more patient rooms, gave more resources to 
local hospitals and research institutions to make this country great 
and created jobs. And if you look at a grid that shows the job creation 
of the last administration, you will see that it is predominantly all 
red, jobs lost. But as we have struggled to build and climb, we aren't 
going in the right direction.
  And so I would ask the President to stand his ground on investment in 
America and infrastructure in America. And I would say to this body 
that we must stand committed and dedicated to the protection of the 
vulnerable. Does that mean increasing the deficit? No. I happen to have 
had the privilege of working on a balanced budget. It's exciting. We 
passed a balanced budget, and out of that we created the Children's 
Health Insurance Program and 22 million jobs in the last Democratic 
administration.

                              {time}  1030

  We can do that now. We can create jobs, and I would encourage the 
President to focus on the infrastructure. Why? Let me give you an 
example.
  The city of Houston, now the third largest city in the United States 
based upon the census data that will be finalized in the month of 
February, we are in line after 30 years to create a world-class 
mobility system. We have been granted a billion dollars over a number 
of years, not wasting money because Texas happens to send more to the 
United States' tax coffers than we get back, but we will be creating 
50,000 jobs by investing in a light rail system to move people forward, 
to eliminate the emissions crisis that we have, and to put people to 
work.
  The crisis that we are now in with not having passed the 
appropriations of the 111th Congress, which I secured some $150 million 
for us to start, stymies all of these need-to-build projects on bridges 
and freeways, on dams that need to be repaired. All of that creates the 
genius of America or boosts the genius of America and lets us work.
  So, Mr. President, stand your ground on making sure that we move 
forward on infrastructure so that we can make it in America, meaning 
that Americans can make it, they can survive, they can improve their 
quality of life, and we can make it in America.
  I want us to build the light railcars. Bring it on home. Let us build 
turbines that are part of wind energy. Let us build the solar panels. 
And, yes, let us build our buses and trains. Stand your ground, Mr. 
President.
  And then for the most vulnerable of America, let's put it on the line 
that we are not going to touch Social Security. I know the panic that 
goes through senior citizens, the disabled, veterans who are dependent 
not only on the veterans' compensation but they are dependent on Social 
Security. Let's draw the line. And, too, the young people of America. 
Let's be very clear, you are not carrying the senior citizens. We are 
not taking out of your future. Remember the words of President Kennedy 
who said: Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do 
for your country. Social Security is an investment of those who have 
worked and those who are disabled.
  And so, Mr. President, stand your ground tonight in this most 
privileged opportunity to speak to the American people. Bring us 
together as we will all be sitting with each other. So let us stand our 
ground for the future of America.

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