[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 18430-18431]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         IMPENDING FISCAL CLIFF

  (Mr. TONKO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TONKO. Madam Speaker, well, here we are on the last day of 
calendar year 2012 with an impending fiscal cliff challenging all of 
us.
  The women and men who serve in this great body assemble and express 
great differences, but those differences ought not divide us; they 
should build us with the best consensus.
  We need a bold and balanced approach to this fiscal cliff. We need to 
make certain that the 33 consecutive months of private sector job 
growth are not disrupted. We need to make certain that the unemployment 
rate does not rise as the CBO, the Congressional Budget Office, 
suggests, to 9.1 percent. We need to avoid taxes growing by $2,200 for 
an average family of four in 2013. That's what's impending here. It is 
important for us to go forward and take the initiative and avoid the 
consequences of that fiscal cliff.
  I'm concerned because FEMA, as an example, would be cut by some $878 
million. Having witnessed the destruction in my district, we can ill-
afford

[[Page 18431]]

that. Cuts to nutrition programs, cuts to Medicare. I implore our 
leadership in this House, bring a bold and balanced approach to solve 
our fiscal cliff crisis here today.

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