[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13877]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      ISSUES FACING THIS CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Connolly) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Madam Speaker, Republicans have pursued an 
obstructionist agenda since taking control of this body, cynically 
willing, seemingly, to risk even harm to our economy for political 
gain. The refusal of House Republicans to even consider compromise has 
resulted in the 112th Congress becoming among the least productive 
Congresses ever. The 112th Congress looks like a Potemkin Congress when 
it comes to measured productivity.
  Consider the most simple, straightforward metric: the number of laws 
passed per Congress. The legislative output of this Congress, a mere 
173 public laws passed, is a pittance when compared to the 900 public 
laws passed by what was called the do-nothing Congress of the Truman 
era, or the 333 public laws passed in an era of divided government in 
the 104th Congress.

                              {time}  1020

  Or consider one of our most fundamental constitutional 
responsibilities, funding the government. Once again, the 112th 
Congress distinguishes itself for sheer incompetence, having managed to 
pass zero appropriations bills. The 112th Congress looks even worse 
when directly compared to the Democratic-led 111th Congress, which 
boasted a productivity level on par with the legislative records during 
the era of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Lyndon Baines Johnson in the 
thirties and sixties, respectively.
  The landmark legislation enacted in the 2-year period between 2009 
and 2010, from the Recovery Act, the health reform bill, financial 
regulation, put the meager output of this current Congress to shame.
  Further, beyond these big three, at least a dozen other important 
bills were passed during that time period, including legislation 
addressing fair pay, student loans, consumer protection, national 
service, stem cell research, and food safety.
  The American people are tired of business as usual. They are tired of 
Congress waiting until the last possible moment to avert yet another 
disaster. They are certainly tired of this House returning from a 37-
day summer vacation only to hold a couple of show votes this week 
before rushing Members out of town again next week, leaving in their 
wake a sea of critical work that remains undone.
  Our country faces serious, daunting challenges that demand action 
now, which is why I advocated canceling the August recess.
  The House now has an opportunity to take decisive action in the 
coming days on at least two major deadline issues facing Congress: 
passing a 5-year farm bill and enacting comprehensive postal reform.
  Despite the 112th Congress being among the least productive and the 
most dysfunctional in history, the Senate, not known for its speed, has 
managed to engage in constructive cooperation and addresses both of 
these issues in an overwhelmingly bipartisan manner.
  On two of the most urgent matters facing this Congress, the Senate 
has exposed the extreme intransigence of this House Republican 
majority. Two Republicans, a Democrat, and an Independent, developed 
the 21st Century Postal Service Act of 2012 which passed the Senate 
with overwhelming bipartisan support.
  On the vital 5-year reauthorization of the farm bill, the Senate 
again developed a reform bill, the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs 
Act of 2012, and also passed it with a bipartisan supermajority.
  Compromise is at the heart of these bipartisan measures, which are 
far from perfect and contain provisions I would oppose. However, both 
bills contain provisions vital to saving the postal service, 
safeguarding the health of Americans and the American agricultural 
industry, and providing a critical safety net for American families.
  In my perfect world, we would pass my Reform the Postal Service for 
the 21st Century Act. And I'm sure in the House Republicans' perfect 
world, we'd pass their House Postal Reform Act of 2011. But in the real 
world, I do not believe either of our constituents sent us here to 
stubbornly fight for the partisan perfect at the expense of the 
American good.
  If Republican leadership are willing to compromise on behalf of the 
American people, they will take up and pass the bipartisan bills, S. 
1679 and S. 3240, this week or next. I realize I risk appearing naive 
for even proposing compromise by taking up and passing Senate bills. 
But my own experience with my predecessor in the 11th District of 
Virginia gives me hope.
  As many of my colleagues are aware, even though former Congressman 
Tom Davis is a Republican and I'm a Democrat, we get together and we 
like to say that we belong to the same political party--the party of 
getting things done. We have roots in local government and that's the 
ethos of local government, and I appreciate his generosity in working 
with me in the transition to the 111th Congress.
  I recall one extended transition meeting at a local Denny's. We were 
talking. There was a waitress that was going back and forth. We kind of 
thought she would recognize us, maybe want to say ``hello.'' In fact, 
she said, ``You need to move on. I need that table.''
  That's where the American people are. They want us to move on and get 
our business done so they can get on with theirs.

                          ____________________