[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 18569-18570]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1220
                    FIGHTING FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

  (Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. I join with my earlier colleague in 
acknowledging the 150th year of the Emancipation Proclamation. What a 
moving moment last evening at the National Archives when I read the 
words: Hence forth these slaves are free.
  I rise with a more optimistic view and a view that says we have the 
opportunity to do what is right by the American people. But we must 
also recognize that we have to tell the truth. At the end of the 
Clinton administration, this Nation had $5 trillion in surplus. But 
with wasteful tax cuts and spending by our Republican friends, we find 
ourselves in this deficit.
  I don't know what my decision will be as we move forward on this 
issue of the fiscal cliff, but I will say this: we will not tolerate 
the American people being held hostage over the debt ceiling and these 
unhelpful cuts that will

[[Page 18570]]

cut into those who are the most vulnerable. That will not be the 
pathway that we will take because every economist will tell you that if 
you invest in your people and build infrastructure, you will grow this 
country and you'll turn this economy and you'll be able to get people 
jobs. That's the message that will come forth from this day, January 1, 
when we are here in this Congress.
  I want the American people to be optimistic because there are Members 
of Congress that will fight for your growth, your opportunity, your 
freedom. That is what America is all about.

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