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




                           DROPPING THE BALL

  (Ms. HAHN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. HAHN. Madam Speaker, tonight in Times Square hundreds of 
thousands of people will be there at midnight to watch that ball drop, 
but here in Congress, we've also dropped the ball.
  We're in the final days of the 112th Congress. No one expected us to 
be here on the House floor on New Year's Eve, but here we are racing 
towards that fiscal cliff--towards higher taxes on the middle class and 
slashed investment for the American people, including nutrition for 
mothers and infants, education for our children, and our 
infrastructure.
  What part of the cliff sounds like a good plan? I know I'm not the 
only one who has spent time with families that it will hurt. I know I'm 
not the only one who has visited the businesses that are worried that 
our country could have another recession. We should not be playing this 
game of chicken.
  There's too much at stake to have politics as usual. We have an 
opportunity to prevent the fiscal cliff, but in order to do so we must 
act as a unified Congress.
  So I say to all my friends and colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, 
let's get this thing done. Tonight, when that ball drops, let's make 
sure that we haven't also dropped the ball.

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