[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5794]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    THE MAJORITY'S DEFLATING AGENDA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Crowley) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, the 113th Congress has been in session for 
over 100 days; and so far, the majority has attacked worker 
protections, slashed important job-training programs, and has created 
one manufactured fiscal cliff after another.
  This is the last week before yet another recess, but there is still 
no proposal to help Americans get back to work. Instead, we have 
another attack on the Affordable Care Act. Plus, we have on the floor 
today the Responsible Helium Administration and Stewardship Act. I, in 
fact, had a balloon, Mr. Speaker, that I would have liked to have had 
on my wrist as I gave this speech this morning, but I was told it would 
not be appropriate--and maybe not.
  But helium? Helium? Really?
  I hate to burst the majority's bubble, but Democrats and Republicans 
actually agree on this bill. There was no need to take up a full day of 
our time to debate the bill. We could have considered it under the 
expedited procedures and saved time for proposals that created jobs 
instead of balloons. With leadership like this, it's no wonder the 
American people are feeling discouraged and deflated.
  Helium? Helium.

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