[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 623]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              DEFICIT REDUCTION PLANS--NOT AMBIGUOUS GOALS

  (Mr. ALTMIRE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. ALTMIRE. Mr. Speaker, as we look forward to tonight's State of 
the Union Address, it is important for all of us to keep in mind the 
most important issues to the American people: jobs, the economy, and 
deficit reduction. In the weeks and months ahead, we look forward to 
working together, Democrats and Republicans, to focus our legislative 
attention on these issues.
  As we debate these issues, it is easy to simply identify the problem. 
We all know that unemployment is too high, that recovery is not as fast 
as we would like, and that the deficit is out of control; but the time 
for simply defining the problem has long since passed, and realistic 
solutions are long overdue. As we near completion of our first month of 
the new Congress, the American people are still waiting to hear the 
majority's specific recommendations on how to address these issues.
  Tonight, we will hear from the President. I look forward to soon 
hearing from the majority some specific details about their deficit 
reduction plans, not just ambiguous goals.

                          ____________________