[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17290]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         WE MUST FIND CONSENSUS

  (Ms. BONAMICI asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, our constituents across this great Nation 
are looking to Congress for leadership.
  Here we are, back in Washington this week, still in negotiations to 
find a compromise to avert this so-called ``fiscal cliff.'' The yearend 
is fast approaching. Before last Friday, almost every conversation I 
had with my neighbors back in Oregon centered on this question: What 
will happen after January 1? How much will taxes increase if Congress, 
as is too often the case, is too paralyzed by gridlock to act?
  My constituents found common ground in expressing this simple view: 
that the middle class families and those who are struggling have done 
enough to bear the brunt of the country's economic difficulties and 
should not be asked to pay more. To see people coming together to ask 
their legislators to do what is right, what is balanced, and what is 
responsible encouraged me that we might reach some solution.
  So I'm here today, Mr. Speaker, to ask that we all join together to 
do what my constituents and your constituents and all of our 
constituents have asked us to do. We must find consensus and allow tax 
rates on most Americans to remain as they are so our communities and 
businesses can move forward with certainty and faith in their 
government to work together and do what's right for our constituents.

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