[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11046-11047]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 GOVERNMENT BY CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Walberg) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, despite talk of political gridlock in D.C., 
Republicans and Democrats can agree on at least one thing--the economy 
is in rough shape. For the past 41 months, the unemployment rate has 
not gone below 8 percent, causing worry, uncertainty, and frustration 
for many families living in Michigan and across the U.S. But 
unfortunately, things can still get worse.
  It's time for President Obama and the Senate to stop pushing their 
failed agendas and start applying commonsense policies that work. My 
Republican colleagues and I in the House have been listening to the 
American people and remain committed to policies that spur job 
creation, reduce costs, and restore power back to the people.
  Last month's employment report showed that millions of Americans 
still are without a job and the unemployment rate is stuck at 8.2 
percent. Meanwhile, the anemic job growth is even worse in my district 
where some areas show an unemployment rate of over 9 percent. 
Nationwide, the rate of ``real unemployment,'' which includes the 
unemployed, the underemployed, and those that want to work but have 
given up looking, now totals 14.9 percent. Making matters worse, the 
number of weeks it takes a worker to find a job has more than doubled 
since President Obama took office. Is this hope and change?
  But it's not just the unemployment numbers which paint a grim picture 
of our economy. Government spending is out of control. With 84 days 
left in the fiscal year, the government has already spent its way into 
another $1 trillion deficit. Despite this out-of-control spending, the 
Senate hasn't bothered to pass a budget in more than 3 years. Since 
that time, the Federal Government has added more than $4 trillion to 
our national debt.
  Families and businesses in my district and across the country know 
that they can't spend more than they make, which is why they create 
budgets and why they sometimes have to make tough choices to prevent 
them from drowning in debt. They get it, but sadly, their President and 
Senate still refuse to look at the facts.
  But they also refuse to listen to the American people. According to 
the polls, Americans, and especially those in my district, are angry 
about having a government takeover of health care and the largest tax 
increase in history. Health care coverage is already too expensive for 
many families in my district, and this health care takeover will not 
only make it more expensive, but put Federal bureaucracy between them 
and their doctor. On top of that, it will hinder job creators from 
hiring by requiring them to either offer costly government-mandated 
health insurance or pay a steep fine.
  So far, my colleagues and I in the House have taken 30 floor votes to 
repeal, defund, and dismantle the law. After it's gone, we can start 
over with commonsense reforms that will return choices to the patients 
and not burden job creators with higher costs, new regulations, and 
more uncertainty.

[[Page 11047]]

  It's obvious to the American people that the President's policies are 
failing and making the economy worse. Instead, they want the government 
to stop taxing them more, stop creating new harmful regulations, and 
stop coming between them and their doctor.
  House Republicans have been listening. That's why we will continue to 
work on repealing this unfavorable and costly health care law. It's why 
we already put forth a balanced, responsible budget, and it's why we 
put together a plan for America's job creators to create an environment 
in which small businesses can grow and hire and where health care is 
affordable again.
  Currently, there are 27 bipartisan jobs bills that have been passed 
by the House and are languishing in the Democrat-controlled Senate. My 
hope is that the President and Senate stop talking to the American 
people and start listening to them.

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