[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 262]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         IMPROVING OUR ECONOMY

  (Mr. HIMES asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. HIMES. Mr. Speaker, in 9 hours the President will stand on this 
podium behind me to deliver the State of the Union address. I remember 
the first time he did that. I sat in this Chamber as one of our 
colleagues called the new President a liar. And that was not the low 
mark in the partisanship that has earned this institution its 
historically low approval ratings by the American public.
  We'll be sitting in bipartisan fashion today, and I guess that's 
good; but let's make it something more than symbolic. Let's think in 
our responses to this speech what is in this speech that we can find 
common ground to get done.
  I have a suggestion. I don't care if you're a Republican or Democrat, 
northern or southern, rich or poor, you need roads. You need railways, 
you need a good electrical grid for your economy to flourish. We're 
going to invest the money in those things at some point to fix them to 
be world leaders. Why not do it soon? Why not do it soon when it would 
help our economy and help millions of out-of-work Americans go to work 
with dignity. Improving our infrastructure is the way to improve our 
economy.

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