[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 18381-18382]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              FISCAL CLIFF

  (Mr. ALTMIRE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. ALTMIRE. Recent reports have said this Congress is the most 
unproductive in modern times. Those studies

[[Page 18382]]

compare the number of rollcall votes and bills passed to previous 
sessions. But the most important comparison is whether each Congress 
rose to the challenges they faced and were able to do big things on 
behalf of their constituents and the country. By that measure, there 
truly is no comparison.
  Whether or not you supported the actions of previous Congresses, 
there can be no doubt that those congressional leaders took bold and 
decisive action to address crises both imminent and still to come. 
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said--yet--for this Congress, which 
has to this point failed to address a fiscal cliff that could easily be 
avoided before the clock strikes midnight tomorrow.
  Mr. Speaker, there is still time to change the way history will judge 
the action--or inaction--of this Congress. With crisis comes 
opportunity. We still have time to finish the job, so let's not 
squander this opportunity to remove this Congress from the ranks of the 
most infamous in history.

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