[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1475]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     DON'T IGNORE THE MIDDLE CLASS

  (Mr. TONKO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TONKO. I rise today on behalf of the regular, everyday American 
families and those who work for a living. Just yesterday, my friends on 
the other side of the aisle released their job-killing spending 
policies. Make no mistake about it, these policies will deeply hurt the 
middle class and will not help grow jobs.
  Let's look at these statistics: 83 percent of all United States 
stocks are in the hands of 1 percent of the American public; the bottom 
50 percent of income earners in the United States now collectively own 
less than 3 percent of our Nation's wealth. I encourage my Republican 
colleagues in this House to stop in their efforts to take money away 
from those who use it to stay warm in the winter and cool in the 
summer, to stop in their efforts to take away money from those who keep 
our air safe and our water clean, and to stop in their efforts to take 
investments away from technology and jobs of the future.
  Mr. Speaker, the middle class has been ignored for far too long. As 
the backbone of our country, it is time they get their fair share. I 
stand for empowering our middle class, not reducing jobs in America.

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