[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 17004-17007]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  IN THE CLOSING OF THE 112TH CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 5, 2011, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Dold) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. DOLD. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. Speaker, this institution, the United States House of 
Representatives, enjoys a rich heritage that continues to inspire. 
Through these magnificent Halls and this great Chamber, celebrated 
American leaders have walked. Presidents have rallied a Nation, and 
monumental policy debates have echoed throughout the night to forge 
America's great history. This building right here is the fulfillment of 
what our Founding Fathers sought when skirmishes first broke out on the 
fields of Lexington and Concord nearly two-and-a-half centuries ago. 
It's what each succeeding generation of Americans has stepped forward 
to safeguard in its own way, and it is what we have been entrusted to 
build on and ultimately gift to our children. Here we are, working each 
and every day, to prove ourselves worthy of the country we inherited, 
the people we are here to represent, and the limitless future we hope 
to build.
  Mr. Speaker, I decided to run for Congress just over 3\1/2\ years 
ago, the basement of my home serving as our team's first office. We 
didn't have much space or even a sign on the street, but we were all 
driven by the idea and firm belief that our country's best days are in 
front of us, that we can get our economy roaring again, that we can 
continue confidently as the best hope for leading the world. It has 
been quite a journey from that humble start

[[Page 17005]]

to working here in the United States Capitol each and every day. But 
the great thing about America is that this story isn't so unique. Since 
our Nation's very inception, we have always been a place where what 
starts out as small gatherings of concerned citizens, of individuals 
getting together to discuss and plan how to make our country even 
better, can grow with hard work and dedication to actually achieve some 
of those very things.
  I first ran for Congress, not because I wanted to be somebody, but 
because I wanted to do something. In fact, I wanted to do a great many 
``big'' things. With so many millions of Americans struggling to find a 
job and economic security, I wanted to get this economy growing and get 
our country back to work. With so many small businesses finding it 
harder and harder to keep their doors open each and every day, I wanted 
to fight for small business owners, like myself, and make sure that the 
Federal Government did a better job of helping to create an environment 
where small businesses and entrepreneurs can succeed.
  With our country buried in debt and the problem only scheduled to get 
worse, I wanted to rein in the reckless overspending in Washington, 
D.C., and advance big solutions so that my children, so that our 
children, could be free to reach their potential without previous 
generations' debt obligations holding them back.
  With threats to our national security growing by the day and with an 
Iranian regime defiantly pursuing its nuclear ambitions, I wanted to be 
not just a vote in the United States Congress but a leading voice. I 
wanted to be a true champion, advancing vital measures to keep our 
Nation and our allies strong and secure.
  With the 10th District serving as home to so many great communities, 
great businesses, great schools, passionate leaders throughout our 
communities, bright people, and treasured natural resources, I wanted 
to provide the thoughtful, independent leadership in Congress that our 
district has had and so richly deserves. Then with our Nation seemingly 
torn apart by hyperpartisan politics and gridlock, I wanted to prove 
that we could still get things done if we were serious about working 
together in good faith and finding common ground solutions to move our 
country forward.
  We've certainly gone through tough times recently, but I've always 
believed in the resiliency of the American people to make things 
better. We have been able to achieve great things because our natural 
instinct is to aspire to achieve great things. This is why I am here, 
and this is what I have worked to accomplish each and every day while 
I've been in office.
  Now, these past years, we've made sure to hit the ground running 
because that's what the 10th District expects. Stretching north along 
Lake Michigan from the New Trier Township, Wilmette, Kenilworth, 
Winnetka, and Glencoe to North Chicago and Waukegan, from Libertyville 
south to Glenview and Wheeling, Arlington Heights and Palatine east to 
Lake Forest and Lake Bluff, and Highland Park west through Deerfield, 
Buffalo Grove, and Long Grove, I've been fortunate to represent a 
diverse congressional district that asks its leaders in Washington to 
tackle a wide-ranging and ambitious agenda. With the help of so many 
good people and coalitions both at home in the 10th District and here 
in the United States Congress, we've been able to achieve a number of 
things that I will forever be proud of.
  In the House of Representatives, we've kept a sustained focus on job 
creation and on creating a climate that better helps the private sector 
grow. I believe that this represents the best path to ensuring 
sustained economic opportunity and upward mobility for millions of 
Americans. The House has passed over 30 bills that have focused on job 
creation, and I am pleased that the House unanimously passed a jobs-
focused initiative that I introduced, the Global Investment in American 
Jobs Act. This bill earned strong bipartisan support, and I look 
forward to its, hopefully, getting signed into law before year's end. 
But our efforts to help get people back to work most obviously don't 
start and end with legislation in Washington, D.C. Washington doesn't 
create jobs. The private sector, entrepreneurs, and small businesses 
do.
  That's why, over the course of the last 2 years, we've put together a 
10th District task force that is focused on jobs and have also hosted 
several highly successful jobs fairs back at home. These jobs fairs 
brought together local hiring employers with hundreds of job seekers 
and made a real impact on people's lives. We also organized and hosted 
educational events with local exporters and manufacturers, exposing 
them to how they can leverage the Export-Import Bank and new markets 
opened up by the passage of new trade agreements so as to grow their 
businesses and create new jobs right here at home.
  I supported these things because I want to do everything I can to 
help businesses and workers in the 10th District and around the country 
succeed. I've been proud that my time in Congress has allowed me to 
continue to champion the cause of small business growth, to make sure 
that small businesses know that they always have a strong advocate for 
their issues with me in the United States Congress. Over the past few 
years, I've had the pleasure of touring and visiting literally 
thousands of small businesses in the 10th District of Illinois. I do 
this so that I can hear directly from our local business community, and 
more importantly from the thousands of constituents who work in these 
businesses, about what Washington can do better to help them.
  We did employee town halls in places like the DoALL Company in 
Wheeling, at the Colbert Packaging in Lake Forest, and at Hollister in 
Libertyville. We talked ideas with business leaders like Steve Capp of 
Laserage Technology, Richard Zic of Dynomax, Inc., Jerry Larsen of 
Larsen Marine, and Matt Eggemeyer of Keats Manufacturing; and I always 
enjoyed visiting with our community's many storefront business owners, 
whether on Milwaukee Avenue in Libertyville, in downtown Arlington 
Heights, or on one of the many beautiful main streets throughout the 
district.
  To some, the big issue was making sure that we had smarter, better 
crafted regulations that take into account the unique nature of a 
particular industry. On this front, we've passed regulatory reform 
bills to improve the quality of this process and have written letters 
directly to Federal agencies to ensure that the rules are responsible 
and not excessively burdensome. We need regulation. We just want that 
regulation to be smart regulation and tailored regulation, not simply 
more of it.
  Many employers talked to me about the importance of increasing 
manufacturing and trade opportunities. I've been very happy to advance 
these issues in Congress as part of a trade working group. I know that 
the trade agreements we passed with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia 
are already having and will continue to have a positive impact on 
manufacturers in the 10th District and around the country. I am also 
pleased that we recently made progress on improving opportunities with 
Russia, but we have much more work to do in order to level the playing 
field regarding trade.
  Other small businesses talked to me about the need to have a highly 
skilled workforce that is better trained and prepared to take jobs in 
the 21st century. Out of this grew my legislation, the Back to Work 
Blueprint Act, which would inject a new idea into improving the Federal 
workforce training program and would ensure that skills developed by 
workers match with the needs of the employer.
  These conversations with small business owners also strengthened my 
belief that we need to continue the promotion of STEM education in 
America's schools--science, technology, engineering, and mathematics--
skills necessary to make sure students are prepared to take jobs in the 
21st century.
  Nearly every business owner shared the importance, Mr. Speaker, of 
access to capital and credit for their businesses. Capital is the 
lifeblood of our economy, and I am pleased that we focused in on this 
in this Congress with

[[Page 17006]]

the passage of the JOBS Act and other legislation that came out of the 
Financial Services Committee. Of course, many employers and small 
business owners and individual workers talked with us about the 
importance of keeping the tax burden low and about making sure that our 
Tax Code was fairer and simpler. Over the past 2 years, I've been proud 
to champion this through my active support for comprehensive reform 
that is focused on low rates, eliminating the lobbyist loopholes, 
broadening the base, and focusing on economic growth.

                              {time}  2000

  I am confident that this will better help small businesses compete 
and create additional jobs.
  We also heard from many small business owners--like Rick Woldenberg 
of Learning Resources in Vernon Hills--on the need to repeal the 
expensive and burdensome 1099 provision, which would have placed 
another unwelcome hardship on small businesses. I was proud to get 
behind this issue very early on and was a cosponsor of the legislation 
and saw its passage through into law.
  And finally, something that we've frequently heard from both workers 
and employers is the need for payroll tax relief. This is something 
which I proposed in legislation of my own, and which I was pleased to 
support in a different piece of legislation, to put more money into the 
pockets of hardworking Americans.
  In essence, what we heard from our local businesses over the past few 
years developed into what was my Main Street Jobs Agenda, which I've 
talked at length about in this Chamber. With it's focus on pro-growth 
tax reform, increasing exports in manufacturing, access to capital for 
small businesses, making investments in infrastructure, utilizing 
domestic energy resources, STEM education, and implementing smarter 
regulations, I believe, Mr. Speaker, that this remains the best recipe 
for getting our country back to work.
  Beyond our job creation efforts, I'm also proud of our leadership on 
confronting the Nation's debt crisis. Though not always popular, I 
refuse to accept the status quo of no budgeting, skyrocketing debt, and 
a sustained indifference to the reality that ignoring the problem only 
makes it worse.
  With over 40 cents now borrowed on every dollar spent by the Federal 
Government, this is both a current crisis and a future one as well. 
Last year alone, we spent more paying the interest on the debt than we 
spent on the domestic priorities of education, transportation, and 
natural resource protection combined. This is unequivocally 
unsustainable, which is why I have dedicated much of my time and effort 
into reining in spending in Washington and championing a big, 
bipartisan debt reduction agreement.
  I'm very proud of our efforts to introduce the first bipartisan 
budget in a generation. I want to thank Steve LaTourette and Jim Cooper 
for their efforts and leadership on this. I also want to thank 
Congressman Quigley for working with me to cosponsor and advance this 
legislation, which is based on the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles framework. 
Mr. Speaker, this budget ultimately failed to pass the House, but I 
remain proud of our bipartisan effort--for which the USA Today called 
us the ``Brave 38''--and I believe this type of thoughtful, independent 
leadership, this is the type of leadership that the 10th District 
deserves.
  I also believe that the courage and leadership shown by the House to 
take on the difficult but necessary position of reining in entitlement 
spending deserves recognition. We know that Medicare stands out as a 
primary driver of our debt in the future. And, unfortunately, this 
future is not so far off. With one of Medicare's key programs scheduled 
to go bankrupt in the next 10-12 years, sustaining the status quo 
unavoidably means dramatic cuts down the road on those vulnerable 
Americans who need the program the most, crippling increases to the 
debt, and most likely both.
  Instead, I believe we have a generational obligation to ensure that 
our children's potential is not crushed by a debt burden born out of 
the inability to govern responsibly. Ultimately, something as big as 
Medicare reform requires broad bipartisan support, so we're not there 
yet. We're not, but I do want to express my appreciation to Democratic 
Senator Ron Wyden and the House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan for 
recognizing that a solution must be found if we ever want to get this 
country on stable financial ground.
  While many can find fault and issues with any proposal, we as 
Americans must applaud and encourage bipartisan solutions. We must 
strengthen our social safety net and ensure its long-term viability.
  Of course, getting our debt under control impacts more than just what 
we do domestically. It impacts our ability to keep our homeland safe 
and free, and it impacts our power to provide leadership on the 
international stage.
  The 10th District has a history and tradition of thoughtful global 
outlook and a special appreciation for the positive role American 
leadership can and must play in the world. This is a responsibility 
that I fully embrace and advanced.
  I have been honored to work with the Armenian-American community to 
advance the Armenian Genocide Recognition Resolution here in this 
Congress. I want to especially thank Ken Kachigian, Ari Killian, and 
Greg Bedian, and all the people at All Saints Church and the Armenian 
Cultural Center in Glenview, Illinois, for their support in educating 
me about their key issues and concerns.
  I also want to recognize the Bahai community in the 10th District, 
which helped me build support for the resolution I introduced bringing 
attention to the horrible mistreatment and atrocities of the Bahai 
people persecuted in Iran.
  We put together a Human Rights Advisory Board which allowed us to 
better speak out about the mistreatment of religious minorities in 
Pakistan and Bangladesh, especially in the Hindu community. And we 
supported numerous initiatives aimed at addressing human rights abuses 
taking place in Africa. I especially want to thank Dr. Richard Benkin 
for his commitment and help with regard to this area.
  And of course we also focused on human rights and democracy promotion 
inside of Iran. But our work on Iran obviously did not stop there.
  Mr. Speaker, in my very first speech on this House floor, I said that 
Iran posed the number one security threat to the United States. And 
thanks to the advice and counsel of so many good people in the 10th 
District of Illinois--community leaders like Sandy Perl, Keith Shapiro, 
the late Richard Schoenstadt, Janet and Gadi Cohen, Caryn Garber, 
Morrie Silverman and Lori Komisar, Richard Stein, Andy Hochberg, Steve 
Lavin, Rick Bachrach, Rabbi Aaron Melman, Peggy Shapiro, Rabbi Victor 
Weissberg, Marc Sacks, Steve Hefter, Andy Lappin, and so many more. 
Thanks to their passion, we continue to work on preventing this Iranian 
regime from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability. We advanced many 
vital measures in this Congress on this issue, and I've been pleased to 
have the opportunity to act as a leading voice and a champion in 
Congress for strengthening the sanctions on Iran. So much energy has 
gone into these efforts, not just from me, but from many Members, and I 
will continue to urge that the United States ratchet up the pressure on 
Iran's nuclear ambitions until the threat is affirmatively and 
effectively dismantled.
  Another focus of mine has been finding ways to strength the United 
States-Israel relationship. Whether it has been delivering speeches 
from the floor of the House Chamber, drafting and introducing 
resolutions affirming Israel's right to a secure border, traveling to 
Israel and meeting with Israeli officials, authoring letters and 
recruiting other Members to sign on in support, such as an early effort 
we led to show the commitment of House freshmen to fully fund our 
foreign aid commitment to Israel, including Iron Dome, in a tough 
budget climate, or cosponsoring and voting for critical

[[Page 17007]]

legislation, I have looked to provide true leadership in support of our 
ally Israel's long-term security.
  Finally, I've looked to provide the 10th District with thoughtful, 
independent leadership in Congress which it has had and I believe 
deserves. Our district is bound by deep-routed characteristics--namely, 
a desire for pragmatic, effective leadership, vigorous independence, 
and the ability to work with the other side of the aisle in a civilized 
and bipartisan manner.
  On this, I'd like to especially recognize my two most recent 
predecessors for this seat, Senator Mark Kirk and John Porter. These 
men have served as valued mentors and friends. I've worked to carry on 
the proud legacy that they burnished for the 10th District. John Porter 
and now-Senator Kirk have helped me in ways greater than they even 
know, and I'm deeply honored to consider them my friends. To this day, 
they continue to care deeply about the people of the 10th District of 
Illinois. The quality of who they are and what they achieved is 
reflected in the appreciation that our area still has for these two 
incredible men. They set the standard by which the 10th District 
leadership is measured, and I cannot thank them enough.
  The thoughtful, independent leadership that John Porter and Mark Kirk 
embodied are the same virtues that I pledged to advance as I began my 
service to the people of the 10th District. I'm proud to stand here 
today and say that I believe that I've made good on this commitment.
  On a number of issues, ranging from the environment, education, stem 
cell research, title X funding and women's health, gun control, and 
transportation infrastructure, I've never been afraid to break from any 
party and do what I believe is best for my constituents and district.

                              {time}  2010

  This is why I've consistently been ranked and considered as one of 
the most independent and bipartisan Members of this body.
  Mr. Speaker, as an Eagle Scout, my Scoutmasters, Lee Getschow, 
Charlie Barnes and Artie Bergman, taught me to respect and love the 
outdoors, which is why I especially want to highlight our work to 
protect Lake Michigan.
  Beginning with the first bill I introduced in the House, the Great 
Lakes Water Protection Act, along with my good friend, Dan Lipinski, 
Senators Mark Kirk and Dick Durbin, I'm proud of our efforts to keep 
Lake Michigan clean. This legislation would prohibit wastewater 
pollution from running into the Great Lakes, but our work to protect 
the 10th District's most cherished natural resource did not stop there.
  We focused on supporting the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative 
through authoring and supporting funding amendments and advocating for 
the GLRI's importance in testimony before the House Budget Committee, 
all to make sure that this important program to protect the Great Lakes 
is adequately funded.
  On a more local level, I'm proud that we've finally been able to 
facilitate the clean-up of Waukegan Harbor. The Superfund site which 
our community has been trying to restore and clean up for more than 20 
years has finally started under our watch. So much work that went in to 
getting this accomplished has happened, and I particularly want to 
highlight and thank Susie Schreiber, Gerry Larsen and Cam Davis for 
their dedicated service to cleaning up Waukegan Harbor, getting, 
finally Lake County's gateway to the Great Lakes delisted as an area of 
concern by the EPA.
  I also want to quickly highlight another cause which I've been proud 
to champion, and that's STEM education. Science, Technology, 
Engineering and Mathematics, these are critical educational fields that 
we need to make sure our young students are not only exposed to but 
have the tools to excel and compete in the global marketplace. This 
means giving these core areas extra attention.
  And on that, I'd like to highlight the great work and dedication that 
Dr. Laz Lopez has given. As the principal of Wheeling High School, Dr. 
Lopez is ahead of the curve in advancing STEM education among his 
student, and I believe he's a model for students around the country. 
He's helped me greatly and has taken on the task of heading up my 
Educational Advisory Board, and for that I will forever be grateful.
  In closing, it has been one of the greatest honors of my life to 
represent the people of the 10th Congressional District in the 112th 
Congress. I've never forgotten where I came from and what I came here 
to accomplish and the importance of governing for the people.
  And while I'll miss many things, Mr. Speaker, I will miss most of all 
the many friends that I've made on both sides of the aisle, and my 
dedicated and talented staff, some of whom are here this evening: Eric 
Burgeson, my chief; Kelley Folino; Kim Brisky; Philippe Melin; David 
Stern; Kris Denzel; Eric DiSilvestro; Heb Siam; Eric Miller; Daniel 
Serota; Mona Dooley; Stefani Zimmerman; Mike Trajkovich; Jack Heyden; 
and Bryan Reed. They all worked tirelessly for the constituents of the 
10th District, and I'm proud to call them my friends.
  Mr. Speaker, I look forward to seeing this next Congress address some 
big things, some big issues because there's simply too much at stake. 
As I think about our Nation's future, I'm reminded of a Winston 
Churchill quote: Success is not final; failure is not fatal. But it is 
the courage to continue that counts.
  Each Congress brings a new opportunity to write the next chapter in 
America's exceptional story, but we must always remember that nothing 
is given. America's greatness must continue to be earned.
  Our Nation has been built, generation by generation, through hard 
work and resiliency of the American people; and our generation must do 
our part to live up to this awesome responsibility. We must always be a 
country that stands for freedom and liberty, economic growth and 
opportunity for every American. And I remain optimistic that we can 
continue to make this country even better if we stay committed to these 
principles.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the people of the 10th District for the 
opportunity and honor to represent them in the United States Congress.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________