[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 18659-18660]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR CERTAINTY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Dold) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DOLD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, and I know we've talked a lot 
and have heard from my colleagues about Sandy, and I certainly want to 
talk about that.
  I want to talk about last night we were able to avoid the fiscal 
cliff. The American public, at least the constituents that I talk to on 
a regular basis, are looking for certainty. They're looking for us to 
find common ground. They're looking for us to be able to move the 
country forward.
  I'm a small business owner, Mr. Speaker. I meet a budget and a 
payroll. I employ 100 people. For me, that's 100 families. It's a role 
and responsibility that I take very seriously.
  And while I do believe that the Federal Government should play as 
little a role as possible in the lives of Americans, they do need to 
play a role. They need to be able to provide those things that 
Americans cannot provide for themselves, whether that be 
infrastructure, whether that be a common defense, justice. These are 
some of the things that I think we do share a lot of common ground 
with.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, I spent some time in Long Island, New York, 
recently and also in New Jersey. The devastation that Sandy has caused 
that region is nothing short of remarkable.
  And while I do believe that we have a spending problem that has been 
going on, frankly, in this House, on both sides of the aisle for a long 
time, there are those times when we need to come together as an 
American people and say we have Americans out there that cannot provide 
for themselves, that have been devastated, that need a helping hand.
  And do I think that they will repay that? I do.

[[Page 18660]]

  We have an opportunity, Mr. Speaker, to come together as Americans, 
Republicans and Democrats together, to try to help provide need.
  My colleague, Joe Crowley, was just up here talking about devastation 
that happened on the beaches. Michael Grimm, and I'm sure most of the 
New York and New Jersey delegations which will follow up here, and 
those from Connecticut, will talk about devastation that was happening 
in their communities.
  I do believe that we have a role to play, and I do believe that 
action needs to happen and happen quickly.
  Now, there are many on my side of the aisle that believe that we 
shouldn't be spending a nickel more than we have to. And while I agree 
that we need to tighten spending, and that this body needs to treat 
spending and those dollars as if they were their own, we can't 
needlessly ask taxpayers to provide more resources only to have them 
squandered.
  Let me tell you, Mr. Speaker, these dollars will not be squandered. I 
believe that they are desperately needed. At a time when many Americans 
have lost hope, there is that opportunity for us to stand united 
together to provide that hope for the American public. It may be New 
York and New Jersey and Connecticut and Pennsylvania today, but it may 
be a different part of the country tomorrow.
  Now, as we look forward, Mr. Speaker, as the 112th Congress comes to 
a close, we have a heck of a lot more work to be done as a country.

                              {time}  1030

  I, for one, hope that we can talk about reining in the out-of-control 
spending. But then, again, it's not going to happen with one party or 
the other. It's going to have to be about bipartisanship. And I do hope 
that we can bring pieces of legislation on this floor, like Simpson-
Bowles, in that framework, that talk about revenue increases, whether 
that be through reforming the Tax Code and talking about where we can 
rein in spending, how we can reform things to make sure we have a 
social safety net, which is so vital. And I do believe that we need to 
have that social safety net. We need to strengthen that social safety 
net so that it's there for future generations.
  I also think, Mr. Speaker, as we look at health care, we have to 
start thinking outside of the box. And certainly, I have enjoyed 
working with Rob Andrews on the American Center for the Cures, an idea 
that we need to be looking at how do we solve and cure some of these 
diseases that we spend hundreds of billions of dollars on treating each 
and every year, whether it be diabetes, Alzheimer's, or Parkinson's. If 
we came up with a cure for these types of diseases, think about where 
we'd be then, and where we can put those additional resources into the 
very vital areas that our government needs to fund.
  So I am optimistic, Mr. Speaker, that our best days are ahead. But I 
also know that people are fed up with the idea of this partisanship. 
And I fear that we're going further partisan; that we're anchoring to 
the extremes as opposed to coming to the center. My hope is that this 
body can focus more on what we agree on as opposed to what we disagree 
on. That's what the American public's looking for. That's what I hope 
this Congress can accomplish in the 113th, and beyond.
  I want to take this last moment to thank so many of my colleagues on 
both sides of the aisle for their friendship, for their support, and I 
certainly look forward to continuing the friendship in future years.

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