[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15162]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            THE FISCAL CLIFF

  (Mr. HIGGINS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Speaker, left unresolved, the uncertainty of the 
fiscal cliff, with spending cuts and increased taxes, will exact real 
and permanent damage on the American people and on the American 
economy.
  What we need is leadership--leadership that was lacking and that 
created the fiscal cliff in the first place--one that provides a 
balanced approach of spending cuts and increased revenues, one that is 
bipartisan and one that is aspirational.
  Throughout the history of our Nation, we only experience job growth 
when we invest in our own people and in our own economy--in education, 
in scientific research, and in road and bridge building. To invest and 
to grow this economy and to grow jobs, we have to produce the kind of 
strategic investments that are required. We need to get to work now to 
avoid this catastrophe.

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