[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 13378-13379]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              THE LEGISLATURE'S JOB IS TO PASS LEGISLATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Quigley) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, as the House uses what little legislative 
time is left in the year to sue the President, I am reminded of what 
Benjamin Disraeli once said: ``How much easier it is to be critical 
than to be correct.'' That is the reason why the American public thinks 
that the lawsuit against the President of the United States is a 
political stunt, because it is a political stunt.
  The majority argues that the President's executive actions give them 
no choice but to sue the President; that it is the legislative branch's 
job to defend against the executive branch's supposed overreaches.
  But I will tell you what the job of the legislature is. The job of 
the legislature is to pass legislation.
  For 112 Congresses before this one, the fight over the separation of 
powers has endured, with each Congress before us using the powers 
allocated to it in our Constitution to pass legislation to counter the 
actions of the President.

                              {time}  1015

  It is not a unique idea: You don't like the job the President is 
doing? Well, then let's do our job. You don't like the President's 
policy? Well, then let's enact some policies of our own. Rather than 
litigating, we should be legislating.
  My colleagues on the other side of the aisle have been so busy trying 
to prevent the President from doing his job, they have forgotten to do 
their own. For years, their number one legislative priority was making 
President Obama a one-term President, to discredit him, to delegitimize 
him. Time and time again, with every issue, from extending unemployment 
insurance to comprehensive immigration reform to climate change, to 
name a few, this Congress has punted the ball. Instead of finding the 
courage to tackle the tough issues the American people are begging us 
to take on, we have retreated.
  For many issues, we even refuse to allow a simple up-or-down vote on 
the floor. We are afraid that if we actually allowed a vote, we might 
actually pass something.
  This Congress makes Truman's ``do-nothing Congress'' seem downright 
busy. No wonder why our approval numbers are so low. It is ironic that 
a Congress that refuses to get anything done has the audacity to accuse 
the President of getting too much done.
  The President isn't taking our power away from us. We have abdicated 
it to him.
  Since George Washington, our Presidents have used executive actions 
to get things done, yet the majority argues that this President is the 
exception to the rule. President Obama may be the exception, but not in 
the way that they think. Out of the last 10 Presidents, President Obama 
has signed the least number of executive orders, on average, per year. 
So far, the President has even signed half as many as President Reagan 
did.
  Yet despite this, let's remember what the President has been able to 
accomplish over the last 6 years. President Obama brought our economy 
back from the brink of depression, lowering unemployment from 10 
percent in 2009 to 6.1 percent today. We have had 52 straight months of 
private sector job growth, with the last month being the

[[Page 13379]]

fifth month in a row of adding 200,000 jobs or more to the economy.
  The President passed health care reform, achieving what every 
President since Teddy Roosevelt has tried and failed to do. Now 
millions of Americans who were previously barred from health insurance 
coverage because of preexisting conditions or because they simply could 
not afford it can access the care they desperately need.
  And the President has taken unprecedented action to protect our 
environment. He has proposed the toughest fuel economy standards for 
passenger vehicles in U.S. history, put a plan in place to cut carbon 
pollution from new and existing power plants, and significantly 
increased production of renewable energy.
  In 6 years, President Obama has accomplished more than many who have 
come before him, despite a do-nothing Congress whose stated mission has 
been obstruction.
  Mr. Speaker, Malcolm X used to say that if you have no critics, you 
likely have no successes.
  The intent of the majority's lawsuit may be to spotlight the 
President's critics, but I am confident that what it will actually do 
is prove his successes.

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