[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 103]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  113TH CONGRESS OPENING DAY STATEMENT

                                  _____
                                 

                         HON. YVETTE D. CLARKE

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 4, 2013

  Ms. CLARKE of New York. Mr. Speaker, as we start the 113th Congress, 
I am honored to once again join my colleagues in serving the American 
people--especially my constituents in the Ninth District of New York. 
We have an opportunity to look forward, to end the partisanship that 
has undermined efforts to secure our future as a nation.
  I am disappointed to say that I can hardly imagine a worse end to a 
session of Congress than the one we have just witnessed. In our labored 
efforts to avoid a disastrous tumble over the ``fiscal cliff,'' we lost 
sight of a far less figurative disaster.
  The families harmed by Hurricane Sandy--those people whose homes and 
businesses were threatened by the storm--have the right to demand 
action from this Congress. Yet, this Congress was unable to enact a 
proposal for relief, to provide the assistance people need to start the 
recovery. I call on my colleagues to support emergency supplemental 
appropriations for areas affected by Hurricane Sandy.
  Fixing the mistakes of yesterday, however, will be only part of the 
solution. We have a more important responsibility in this 113th 
Congress--to demonstrate to the American people that these failures 
were not examples of a serious problem within the Congress itself that 
prevents us from working with each other to fulfill our 
responsibilities.
  We have opportunities in this session of Congress to work together, 
as Democrats and Republicans, but more importantly, as Americans, to 
resolve the issues that are important to people in every community in 
this nation. As the tragedy in Newtown demonstrated, we must enact gun 
control laws that prevent mass murder and re-institute the ban on 
assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. We must end gun 
trafficking.
  It is my hope that we address immigration reform, specifically the 
enactment of the DREAM Act. This act, which provides legal status and a 
path to citizenship to undocumented immigrants who arrived in the 
United States as minors, will benefit every person in our society. This 
act will allow millions of young Americans to participate in our 
economy, our system of higher education, and the society more 
generally.
  Other legislation of importance that must be addressed immediately is 
the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, the Farm Bill, 
postal reform, cybersecurity, and sequestration legislation.
  Let us come together, in this 113th Congress, to fulfill our duties 
as representatives of the people of the United States. Let us establish 
the foundations of a prosperity shared by every family in this nation, 
security from the threat of natural disasters and acts of terrorism, 
and a political process of which the American people are proud.

                          ____________________