Congress
Mr. Speaker, this is a sad day for the House of Representatives. It is an irresponsible day for the House of Representatives. It is a day in which the Majority party asked us to take an action that has never been taken in the history of America - never once holding a cabinet officer in contempt of the Congress.
As we head into tomorrow, we here in the Democratic Whip Press Shop wanted to make sure you saw this article from The Hill noting the trepidation from Senate Republicans over the contempt vote.
As we return from the ninth full week of recess since the 112th Congress reconvened in January, House Republicans continue to pursue an extreme agenda that ignores our challenges of creating jobs and furthering our economic recovery. We have only twenty-four legislative days remaining before August’s five-week district work period. Furthermore, the House is only scheduled to be in session for eight legislative days in September and a mere five in October.
We’ve got two weeks to go before the highway bill expires and student loan interest rate doubles. So obviously Republicans are taking action on these critical items – oh, wait. No, they’re not. Instead they’re focusing on… deadly force to protect salmon? We’re sure Americans across the country who are looking for work are relieved to know Republicans are on top of it.
Today, we heard President Obama lay out a plan for America’s economic future to provide businesses with certainty, to create jobs for the middle class, and to pay down our debt. The American people understand what’s at stake this year: the progress of our economic recovery and the potential for a new generation of prosperity. The path laid out by the President is the right way to further our recovery, as demonstrated by the success of our auto industry after Democrats took action to prevent automakers from going bankrupt.
Looks like Republicans have given up trying to hide their true priorities. While Americans and businesses are facing economic uncertainty, Republicans are now admitting that they’re slowing down the legislative process on purpose in the hopes of postponing debate on critical items until after the election, when they hope things will be more in their favor.
Yesterday, we highlighted some harsh truths former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida said at a breakfast with reporters, during which he pointed out that confrontation has become the new norm for Congressional Republicans.
Mr. Speaker, some of the most pressing legislative items were nowhere to be found on the Floor this week. We had an opportunity to make headway on critical legislation. Unfortunately, the leadership provided no action. Not solutions, not action, only obstruction and delay.
Just as we’ve been saying since the GOP released their Summer Agenda, today’s New York Times Editorial takes House Republicans to task for their misplaced priorities, taking up political bills instead of focusing on restoring our economy and creating jobs.
Some highlights:
We aren’t the only ones who have noticed the GOP Congress has taken little action to address job creation… or do much of anything that matters to the American people since taking the House majority. In today’s Washington Post, Dana Milbank writes: