[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16952-16953]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    FISCAL CONCERNS AND OTHER ISSUES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I know that America watches as 
we deliberate--and I'd like to use that terminology--on facing the 
fiscal concerns of this Nation.
  Let me quickly remind my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, that America is on 
the upswing, with increased manufacturing, more consumer confidence. 
We're moving forward. The economy is moving up. And so I believe it 
should be pronounced here today that the reform of the entitlements, 
based upon slipshod, reckless deliberations, or should I say actions, 
are a nonstarter.
  There is no way, Mr. Speaker, that we should raise the eligibility 
age for Medicare, that we should not think carefully about how we 
approach the reform of Medicaid, and that we don't tell the American 
people that Social Security is solvent.
  So I would say, move quickly to pass the middle class tax cuts that 
would be for all Americans, 100 percent, up to $250,000, and let's 
think about, moving into 2013, how we make this economy better by 
looking carefully at how we reform entitlements that are not handouts, 
but they are earned.
  I wanted to move to something else, offer my deepest sympathy for 
those who lost their lives in the Oregon massacre, again, at the hands 
of a gun and a perpetrator that is now dead, and to say that I thank 
Bob Costa for having the courage to get on national TV and speak to 
those who are rabid sports fans and say it's time for some form of gun 
regulation.
  The tragedy that occurred with the NFL player and his girlfriend 
speaks volumes to the idea of individuals who don't need to have guns 
in their hands. This phenomenon that guns don't kill, people do, is a 
trite and redundant and ridiculous statement.
  We understand that guns have to have someone at their trigger; but 
the idea that with no regulations about those who've had previous 
offenses, no regulations dealing with those who've had mental health 
issues, no regulations for the gun show loophole, that

[[Page 16953]]

 you can go in and buy guns on top of guns, it is time to reflect.
  I think the sports community could work with us to ensure that 
America realizes that there's nothing wrong with standing up for gun 
regulation.
  As well, let me offer my sympathy to the Brent and Brown families of 
the tragedy of the NFL players in Dallas. Let me ask the commissioner 
to work with those of us who are concerned about athletes in pro ball, 
that we can find a way to intervene. There should be intervention on a 
lot of these incidences of violence.
  Let me close and speak well about the issue of millions of workers in 
the United States Postal Service, yes, government workers, public 
servants, who, over the decades, have made Americans' lives easier. 
Just yesterday we were speaking about another day of--or Monday I think 
it was, on online shopping.
  I have small businesses who always say the post office is the most 
efficient and the, if you will, cheapest source of getting their 
business products where they need to be. It is a shame that we have not 
addressed the question of hardworking postal workers, rural post 
offices that are prolific in the State of Texas, rural postmasters 
who've come and said it'll be the death knell of their community.
  Let us stand the post office up. Let us view it as a vital system. 
Oh, we are online, but there are individuals who depend upon this 
massive postal system. It can be made efficient. It can be made better. 
We can protect the workers.
  Do we want to give a Christmas gift to hardworking postal workers, 
who as they are known to go through rain or snow or sleet, that is, 
give them a pink slip for no fault of their own?
  This is not the American way. We create jobs; we don't destroy jobs. 
And it's time now for us to stand up and be heard before the deadline, 
that our postal workers who are always there, who are the ones that 
find the elderly and the sick in their home because they know their 
route and they find those persons if they're in need, they are the 
good-news people that come by the seniors and come by the disabled and 
come by the poor families.
  I want to say that we can work together, bring our postal workers 
here to make a difference and to reform the postal system to keep it 
alive. It is a vital source of work, but it is a vital service to the 
American people.

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