[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 21278-21280]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   CONGRESS REPRESENTS ALL OF AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 5, 2011, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
  Happy holiday to America. Let me reinforce that we live in a great 
country, and that is evidenced by the opportunity of Members to come to 
this democratic body and the other body to speak about the values of 
this Nation and the importance of our democracy and our responsibility 
to address the concerns of all Americans. It is good for us to have an 
opportunity for a dialogue and to be able to listen to each other.
  I know that I'll be joined shortly by the whip of this Congress, Mr. 
Hoyer. So let me just quickly say that I remember serving in this 
Congress when President Bush was the President, and I always made the 
point that once we are elected, even as we come from constituency, even 
as we come out of tough political battles, it really is the oath that 
we take that ensures that we represent all of America, whether we have 
the glory of coming from a State that is claiming progressiveness or 
one that is conservative. When we get on that train or airplane or 
drive that car and come to Washington, D.C., we represent all of 
America.
  So let me quickly just say that you're looking at a stack of papers 
that represent the approach that my Republican friends took to fund the 
needs of the American people. Under the Democratic Caucus and the 
Democratic Congress of last Congress, we had the appropriations bills, 
almost 12 of them, come to the floor, and Members openly debated all of 
the issues around the different bills dealing with transportation, 
housing, homeland security and defense. They had an opportunity to be 
on the floor. The constituents could email or call or say what is that 
in this particular bill. But under this Republican leadership, this is 
what they brought us and gave us 1 hour to read these pages because of 
the emergency of funding the American people.
  That's not a way to run a country. It's not Democratic or Republican. 
It's not conservative or liberal. It's just not the way.
  And I would offer to say that we're committed and should have done 
this weeks ago, extending the payroll tax relief, providing for 160 
million working Americans and extending the unemployment, helping 6 
million Americans. You see, I don't believe that those Americans care 
whether we are conservative Republican, whether we twitter, whether we 
email or whether we speak on the floor of the House. They want us to 
abide by the oath that we take when we stand and affirm our 
relationship with the United States and our obligation and duty to the 
American people.
  When our soldiers who are coming home now, yesterday being the last 
day of war in Iraq, the casing of the colors, not one soldier that I 
visited in Iraq or Afghanistan ever put up and said, I'm a Republican 
or I'm a Democratic. Every one of them was proud to be an American. And 
that's what we are obligated to do on this floor.

                              {time}  1510

  You know, it saddens me to report to you and the American people, my 
colleagues, that the banks of America have $64 trillion in their 
accounts, refusing to spend it, to yield, to loan it to small 
businesses or those who want to buy homes. Our businesses have over 
$1.12 trillion in cash on hand.
  It saddens me to hear that businesses who are protected by our flag 
and our soldiers and can do business in a democratic setting, just 
because of wanting more money, they will lift up their business and 
take it to another country and remove the employees who invest in this 
country. It saddens me.
  I ask the simple question: Where there is a benefit, is there not 
burden?
  And I do want to correct any impression that we tax Americans 90 
percent. Yes, we need tax reform, real tax reform. We need to help 
Americans keep money in their pockets. But I can tell you, out of $10, 
we don't take $9. We want people to be able to work and reap the 
benefit of their work.
  But may I just share with you that America is an umbrella on a rainy 
day, that when there are hurricanes and tornados and earthquakes, you 
expect us to come running and restore your communities. You expect us 
to take care of the dams and bridges, the highways, to ensure that 
America's infrastructure is working, that the electric grid can 
withstand a cyberattack, a potential homeland attack, if you will.
  After 9/11, you asked America why, and you wanted us to get busy and 
get to work and ensure the homeland is protected. And I sit on the 
Homeland Security Committee. Every day our responsibility is to read 
the fine lines in the classified information to make sure that we are 
in front of the terrorists, whether it's a lone wolf or whether it is a 
massive attack. We have been fortunate, because of our young men and 
women in the military, because of our intelligence community, that we 
have not had a major attack on our soil since 9/11. That's what the 
government is all about. You cannot throw the baby out with the 
bathwater.
  And we have some other responsibilities as well. The responsibilities 
of ensuring our children are safe and that we don't allow and condone 
sexual abuse of our children or bullying of our children. Yes, you can 
make a national statement on that, though we want families to get help 
and children to get help, but the circus that is going on in Penn State 
is so unacceptable.
  I've introduced legislation to stop the Federal funding of any entity 
that covers up or tolerates child sexual abuse. I have introduced 
legislation to make a stand against the bullying and ask communities 
and school districts to establish best practices to help our children 
and families.
  And then it is important to note that we do need to have the harmony 
and the collegiate collaboration that really speaks of this grand 
place, this august institution of which we've had so many 
opportunities. One of our Members was interviewed in one of our 
newspapers here on the Hill, and he spoke eloquently as a protector of 
this institution, one who had been here even as a page, and he mourned 
for the lack of collegiate interaction.
  Everybody thinks it's a joke to call people names; I do not. For we 
all come

[[Page 21279]]

in different shapes, sizes, and colors, and it is unfortunate that 
groups get condemned because of their race, because of their sex, or 
because of where they come from, their lifestyle, their background, who 
they represent, who they come on the floor and attempt to advocate for. 
I do not in any way disallow anyone who comes with a different 
perspective from one that I may be suggesting today, and that should 
not generate name-calling.
  And the press loves it. They love to see us name-call against each 
other. They make that the story of the day. They don't talk about the 
yellow ribbons that Members wore, both Republican and Democrat, 
commemorating the return of our soldiers. And I personally thank them 
because I came to them and asked them to do so. I thank them--the 
Speaker, the leader, the Majority Leader, and of course the whip, 
leadership coming together to say thank you to our troops.
  Members, why don't we, as we go through our holiday season, turn 
ourselves around. Let's not give fodder to the media, who simply likes 
to ridicule and make us look as if we're doing nothing. And whether or 
not I agree or disagree, I know Members are in their offices or in 
their districts and they are responding to the needs of our 
constituents.
  And as I speak to our constituents back home, as we send this bill to 
the President and appropriations come that will help you in housing, 
help you in transportation and the environment, it is important for our 
local officials--and I look forward to working with my own City of 
Houston, let's be responsible in these dollars and make sure that the 
monies get to those who are in need. So that when constituents sit back 
home and they see the debating going on here and the ire going on here 
and maybe some of the disagreements, and then they wonder, Where is my 
help coming? We've sent it to the States, we've sent it to the cities, 
and it's important for you to hold them accountable as to the resources 
that are needed to improve your quality of life.
  So I'm here today to announce that we're not going home, we're just 
pausing, because we have to come back and make sure that the payroll 
tax cuts are extended for working Americans, so that we can ensure that 
we don't lose 400,000 jobs and help 160 million Americans, many of them 
the families of soldiers that are returning home.
  And then, of course, it is important for us to ensure that the 
unemployed--6 million of them--and some even beyond that, the 99ers 
who've come up against the wall of no unemployment insurance, are taken 
care of.
  And can I just say to you, unemployment insurance is not a handout. I 
spoke with someone just the other day who had four boys that they had 
to take care of, was working and now on unemployment, trying to find 
work. But they worked. This is their insurance. This is the wisdom of 
America, to not let people be abandoned.
  And so I would hope that we would find the collegiate ability to give 
the media back home and here more positive messages to take back and 
not utilize, if you will, the media waves in the First Amendment to 
ridicule an institution that so many of us and all of us hold dear, not 
for us being here present, not for any personal status, but we hold it 
dear and near because of the history of this place. So many decisions 
have been made.
  The early Founding Fathers had a smaller setting just outside of 
these Chambers, but this is how we have come to be the longest lasting 
democracy, because we view this place as a place to work out our 
differences and not a place to raise our differences.
  We've had some major crises in this country. I'd like to have been 
here and imagine what the Members were addressing in the 1929 collapse 
when, if you read your history books, people were jumping out of 
windows, primarily in places where they felt the financial impact. 
Congress had to come together. Decisions might not have been the best, 
but they made it through the 1930s. I know my grandparents have spoken 
about what that depression was really like. And then a President by the 
name of Franklin Delano Roosevelt dealt with World War II, but also 
dealt with the dismal conditions of this Nation and put America back to 
work to bring about the prosperity of the 1950s.
  I have the greatest hope that we have that potential. And I know that 
President Obama believes in job creation and has done so--3 million 
jobs and more to come. And rather than focus on a company that would 
disregard the patriotic obligation to hire Americans and think that 
it's so easy to pick up--and it is. We are a democracy. We have no 
restraints on anyone planting their business anywhere, moving their 
business anywhere. But to think that we have lost the patriotism that 
would cause me to say, You know what? I'm going to suck it in, keep 
these hardworking Americans working--in whatever State it is--and I'm 
not going to fall victim to greed and leave, but I'm going to stay put 
and make sure that I am taking care of the American people, that's what 
I would hope to see in this country, all of us pulling ourselves 
together and pulling up our bootstraps, and making sure that we have 
the ability to work hard, and to ensure that as we work hard we can 
make this country a great place. That is the challenge that we have.
  And I might say this one thing about bailouts and investments; you 
don't know how excited I am--and I'm not from Michigan--to be able to 
applaud again the automobile industry, because we were right in there 
recognizing that it wasn't just making cars in Detroit. It was all the 
car dealerships and all the guys and ladies that supported the Boy 
Scouts and boys and girls clubs and little leagues that were going to 
be impacted.

                              {time}  1520

  Oh, look at them now, many of them just rolling along, selling 
American cars again. That was the right thing to do.
  And when we came after 9/11 and airlines came to us saying we just 
can't make it, and we had to extend a helping hand--I wouldn't even 
call it a bailout--but they needed us because of the horrific tragedy 
and attacks and murderous actions of 9/11. And thank goodness we did; 
and look, there are families being reunited on America's airlines 
today.
  Sometimes the government has to do what is unpopular for the greater 
good. Yes, there are more things to do with the financial industry; 
there are questions to be answered about foreclosure that still 
continues. There is work to be done to help our families restore their 
wealth. There are questions to be asked about the wealth disparity, the 
numbers of impoverished, the children that are literally living in 
poverty, the numbers of families that are on supplemental food 
assistance, 46 million.
  But for one moment, I have never thought that America was not a great 
country; I never doubted her. In spite of the accusations and the name-
calling that comes about in the political process, I never doubt the 
greatness of America.
  Mr. DREIER. Will the gentlewoman yield?
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. I yield to the gentleman from California.
  Mr. DREIER. I thank my friend for yielding, and I would like to join 
with my friend in stating that this great level of patriotism and 
dedication to the United States of America is something that obviously 
does transcend party. And while we obviously disagree on lots of 
issues, I appreciate the fact that she has pointed to this spirit of 
agreement and comity. I think it's very key on this particular day, as 
we have dealt in a bipartisan way with the threat of a government 
shutdown that's looming just hours away from us now, we have been able 
to successfully avert that.
  But the reason that I have asked my friend to yield is that we met in 
the Rules Committee until early this morning, and I've been going for 
the last couple of days, and I just heard over the past several hours 
of the passing of a good friend of mine who was one of the greatest 
essayists and witticists of our time.
  And when I heard the news of Christopher Hitchens' passing, I was 
struck with what a dedicated and patriotic individual he was. I suspect 
that he

[[Page 21280]]

 would have disagreed with my friend on the issue of dealing with 
radical Islam, but it's one of the things that brought the two of us 
together. He and I, over the last decade-plus, have spent a great deal 
of time talking about that and other international policy issues.
  But if one looks at the series that he wrote in Vanity Fair, as he 
was diagnosed with cancer, they are very, very powerful. And, again, 
Christopher Hitchens and I didn't agree on every issue, but I always 
enjoyed the exchanges and the time that I was able to spend with him 
and, of course, have been fascinated by his works. I think that the 
world is a better place for Christopher Hitchens having lived and, 
obviously, we're saddened by his passing.
  I want to say to his wife and daughters that our thoughts--I hesitate 
to say prayers when it comes to Christopher--go to him, because he was 
a very committed atheist; but I will say that our thoughts and, since 
we have them, our prayers are with the members of the Hitchens family, 
and to say that his works, because he was such a great writer, will 
continue for years and years to come to fascinate and intrigue and 
create the kind of intellectual curiosity that is necessary.
  I just would like to say that I am saddened by the passing of my 
friend, Christopher Hitchens, and certainly have had my life improved 
and bettered by his having lived.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. I thank the gentleman from California. I 
think his presence on the floor indicates our bipartisanship and thank 
him for raising those comments about Christopher and our knowledge 
about him as well.
  Let me also indicate my concern and sympathy to his family. That 
speaks to my point of coming together and being able to share and yield 
to a gentleman from the other party. As I do so, I would indicate 
that's how we should go forward as we come back to vote positively on 
the payroll tax extension next week and stay here until it is done and, 
of course, the unemployment insurance, but going forward in 2012 to 
answer some of the cries of many of those who have taken to our streets 
throughout America who have asked us about jobs, the Occupy Movement, 
that have been just Americans. I just call them Americans, who have 
taken up the constitutional privilege of petitioning their government.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to make a commitment that our work will be 
focused on action and make the second part of the 112th Congress equal 
to what we did in the 111th with pay parity, with the GI Bill, with the 
affordable health care bill, and so many other items that were so 
valuable to this country, and when I say that, legislative initiatives.
  Let me also say to the American public and our local communities, I 
know you think someone else is calling or emailing, but this is what 
democracy is all about. We want to hear from you on these issues of how 
we come together, not how we come together, but the importance of doing 
so and working on issues and whether or not you appreciate the concept 
of where there is benefit, there is burden, there is sacrifice, whether 
or not you think it's important that there are not homeless veterans or 
soldiers who are coming back who can't work, whether or not we want to 
encourage our corporations that have this massive cash on hand to 
realize what a wonderful, patriotic Nation that they live in, and to be 
able to work and ensure that we have the ability to do the job that is 
necessary to be done.
  I know that Mr. Hoyer was coming to the floor, so let me just say to 
Mr. Hoyer, who will be coming to you in just awhile to, again, assure 
the working people of America that this Congress will have the payroll 
tax extended and the President will sign it as we note that he has said 
every day that he wants to sign it and will sign it.
  Let me say to the unemployed, I know that the unemployment insurance 
allows you to pay your mortgage and to pay your rent and to pay your 
necessities, but let me say to you that we are looking to create jobs, 
more jobs in America. And I expect to be introducing legislation that 
will help the energy industry reduce the deficit, repair our coastal 
waters and our ecosystems, make sure that we are responding to the loss 
of wetlands and the deterioration by hurricanes that have come on that 
gulf region there to restore the healthy fishing waters but, as well, 
to develop our natural gas and the ability to utilize the present 
expiration that generates resources for the American people.
  This is a season of giving, and I only want that America be known as 
a benevolent Nation, but strong and powerful in her values and, of 
course, respecting her military, but the military, based upon a 
civilian-led government that focuses on democracy, equality, and 
justice. And I say to my colleagues, let's come back here next week to 
finish our job; but 2012, let it be the no name-calling session. Let us 
focus on what we do for others, what we do for Americans; and let it 
not be as a progressive or a conservative, but let it be as an 
American. That's the call for this Nation: to come and stand as an 
American.
  Mr. Speaker, it has been my privilege to share my thoughts with my 
colleagues, and I hope that as this legislation will be signed by the 
President, although it has had a very difficult journey, and I would 
have wanted a more expanded debate, we are glad that we are serving 
America. Let us be prepared to roll up our sleeves to do so in the 
coming early days of 2012.
  Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and I yield back the balance of my 
time.

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