[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 1330-1331]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   THE SEQUESTER AND AN OLIVE BRANCH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. We had a historic occasion last evening, but I rise 
to comment on a number of issues. I first want to acknowledge and pay 
tribute to a Texan who was buried yesterday in a tragic incident, Chris 
Kyle, a Navy SEAL who had served this country, loved this country, and 
came back to his family and children and took as his cause to help 
serve troubled veterans. As he was doing so, along with his friend, 
Chad, one of those troubled veterans shot both him and his friend.
  What a tragedy. I think it is important to note the thousands who 
mourned him and the procession that took him to his burial ground 
yesterday and to say thank you for not only serving this Nation, but 
coming home to care about those suffering from post-traumatic stress 
disorder.
  That leads me to bring up this whole question of sequester. In my own 
city of Houston, I was able to, some 4 years ago, establish the first 
post-traumatic stress disorder center in a hospital that was not a 
veterans hospital. The Riverside General Hospital for a period of years 
continued serving our post-traumatic stress disorder veterans in a 
small, attentive setting where they could sit with others who were 
troubled as well. I've become a champion of the needs and the purpose 
of post-traumatic stress disorder medical services and beg and cry to 
the Department of Veterans Affairs and to the Pentagon from where this 
grant came. We cannot abandon our soldiers who have served us well. And 
I would hope that the grant for this hospital will be continued because 
Texas has been known to have the largest number of returning Iraq and 
Afghanistan troops.
  Mr. Speaker, that speaks loudly to the question of sequester. I'm 
delighted that the President last evening could not have offered more 
olive branches on economic reform and tax reform. His idea is that we 
can do this budget together, not a sequester and not a self-inflicted 
wound, which is what we did to ourselves, but, more importantly, to 
talk about innovation and growth. This is something that I've spoken 
about over and over again as a member formerly of the Science Committee 
and now Homeland Security.
  Where is America's genius? Right outside the beltway. Why are we 
dividing ourselves along Democrats and Republicans, refusing to put 
revenue alongside of cuts? Mr. Speaker, we're at the bone, almost, and 
sequester that is across-the-board cuts will literally destroy us and 
put us in a recession. All the talking heads that are suggesting that 
the President was not bipartisan and how there was nothing that they 
heard, well, Mr. Speaker, may I ask them to take some cotton out of 
their ears. Because in actuality, the President extended his hand of 
friendship.
  We want to get down to work. We can pass comprehensive immigration 
reform. We can pass in tribute and recognition of Sandy Hook, Hadiya, 
and Aurora and our Congresswoman, our former colleague, Congresswoman 
Giffords, and Virginia Tech and many places, and Lone Star College in 
my district and the tragedy at the University of Maryland that just 
occurred in the last 24 hours. People are mourning. We have to stop gun 
violence. So I don't want to hear the fact that the President is 
divisive. The President is leading, and he has led well.
  The American people are listening. When are our friends on the other 
side of the aisle going to listen? And when are the American people 
going to raise up beyond the maze of television commentary and see that 
your voices can be heard? If you raise up literally in the houses of 
worship and civic clubs and say that Congress must do its job for our 
soldiers who are coming home and for those children who are the future 
and for the opportunity for growth, you bring down the debt by growing 
the economy and innovating.
  Congratulations, Mr. President, for the research and manufacturing 
centers--15. Let's do more of them. I hope that we can get summer youth 
jobs, a program of private and public cooperation. When does a youth 
take up a gun? They take it up when they don't have a summer job and 
when they don't

[[Page 1331]]

have an opportunity. So I want to challenge this body to be the kind of 
Lincolnesque attitude, as yesterday was the official birthday of 
President Lincoln, February 12. And although it was a tragic time in 
our history, I can assure you that it showed the greatest promise of 
America when people could come together and do something great. I stand 
here as a freed slave because this Congress came together. Are we going 
to be able to do it today to free America?

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