[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16138]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          THE POWER TO PULL AMERICA BACK FROM THE FISCAL CLIFF

  (Mr. COURTNEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, in the well of the House, a few feet away 
from me, we have the power as Members to actually pull this country 
back from a fiscal cliff which endangers an economic recovery and 
threatens middle class families all across the country.
  The good news is there right now. Consumer confidence is up, car 
sales are up, even the housing market is making a recovery. If we do 
not, however, act to sign this discharge petition and to protect middle 
class families, we will go backwards as a Nation.
  It will also solve three-quarters of the sequestration challenge that 
the Budget Control Act still has sitting out there for January 2. If we 
sign this discharge petition and get this bill passed, three-quarters 
of that problem will be solved: we will protect Medicare, we will 
protect our military, we will protect education, and it will reduce the 
size of the challenge to avoid sequestration.
  All Members--Republicans and Democrats--should come together, sign 
this discharge petition, and help the American people get this economy 
back on its feet.

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