September 12, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H5865 

buy weapons to kill our young men and 

women. 

If I could advise Mr. Romney and Mr. 

Obama, I would say: Listen to the 

American people on our policy in Afghanistan, because the American people want our troops home. I hear both 

sides complaining about the debt, the 

cliffs, sequestration, and all these 

things. And yet we’re spending $10 billion a month in Afghanistan. And, as 

‘‘Funding the Enemy’’ says, we can’t 

even account for most of it. Yet we’re 

going to cut programs here for children 

and senior citizens. But no, we don’t 

even debate Afghanistan on the floor of 

the House. That is the tragedy. 

Just a few of us on both sides have 

been speaking out constantly on the 

failed policy in Afghanistan. The 

former commandant who has been my 

adviser for 3 years—I’m not at liberty 

to say his name for the RECORD—he has 

said to me: 

What do we say to the mother, the father, 

the wife of the last marine or soldier killed 

to support a corrupt government and a corrupt leader in a war that cannot be won? 

Congress needs to awaken to the fact 

that we need to bring our troops home 

in 2013—the spring of 2013 and not the 

end of 2014. 

Madam Speaker, next week I will go 

to Walter Reed. I will visit the wounded from Afghanistan, some from Iraq. 

And I will leave with a heavy heart because I will see the broken bodies. I 

will see the young men and some 

women that have lost legs, other parts 

of their bodies, some paralyzed from 

the waist down, some with burned 

faces. And yet the Congress sleeps 

through this war. I ask my friend on 

both sides, when we get back in November, let’s pass a resolution saying 

that we need to bring our troops home 

in 2013. 

Madam Speaker, before closing, I’ve 

signed over 10,855 letters to families 

and extended families in America because of my weakness and my mistake 

on Iraq, a war that never had to be 

fought. Look at Iraq today. It’s falling 

apart. It’s time for us to stop trying to 

build empires and to rebuild America. 

f 

ISSUES FACING THIS CONGRESS 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

Chair recognizes the gentleman from 

Virginia (Mr. CONNOLLY) for 5 minutes. 

Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Madam 

Speaker, Republicans have pursued an 

obstructionist agenda since taking control of this body, cynically willing, 

seemingly, to risk even harm to our 

economy for political gain. The refusal 

of House Republicans to even consider 

compromise has resulted in the 112th 

Congress becoming among the least 

productive Congresses ever. The 112th 

Congress looks like a Potemkin Congress when it comes to measured productivity. 

Consider the most simple, straightforward metric: the number of laws 

passed per Congress. The legislative 

output of this Congress, a mere 173 

public laws passed, is a pittance when 

compared to the 900 public laws passed 

by what was called the do-nothing Congress of the Truman era, or the 333 public laws passed in an era of divided government in the 104th Congress. 

b 1020 

Or consider one of our most fundamental constitutional responsibilities, 

funding the government. Once again, 

the 112th Congress distinguishes itself 

for sheer incompetence, having managed to pass zero appropriations bills. 

The 112th Congress looks even worse 

when directly compared to the Democratic-led 111th Congress, which boasted a productivity level on par with the 

legislative records during the era of 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Lyndon 

Baines Johnson in the thirties and sixties, respectively. 

The landmark legislation enacted in 

the 2-year period between 2009 and 2010, 

from the Recovery Act, the health reform bill, financial regulation, put the 

meager output of this current Congress 

to shame. 

Further, beyond these big three, at 

least a dozen other important bills 

were passed during that time period, 

including legislation addressing fair 

pay, student loans, consumer protection, national service, stem cell research, and food safety. 

The American people are tired of 

business as usual. They are tired of 

Congress waiting until the last possible 

moment to avert yet another disaster. 

They are certainly tired of this House 

returning from a 37-day summer vacation only to hold a couple of show 

votes this week before rushing Members out of town again next week, leaving in their wake a sea of critical work 

that remains undone. 

Our country faces serious, daunting 

challenges that demand action now, 

which is why I advocated canceling the 

August recess. 

The House now has an opportunity to 

take decisive action in the coming 

days on at least two major deadline 

issues facing Congress: passing a 5-year 

farm bill and enacting comprehensive 

postal reform. 

Despite the 112th Congress being 

among the least productive and the 

most dysfunctional in history, the Senate, not known for its speed, has managed to engage in constructive cooperation and addresses both of these issues 

in an overwhelmingly bipartisan manner. 

On two of the most urgent matters 

facing this Congress, the Senate has 

exposed the extreme intransigence of 

this House Republican majority. Two 

Republicans, a Democrat, and an Independent, developed the 21st Century 

Postal Service Act of 2012 which passed 

the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support. 

On the vital 5-year reauthorization of 

the farm bill, the Senate again developed a reform bill, the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012, and 

also passed it with a bipartisan supermajority. 

Compromise is at the heart of these 

bipartisan measures, which are far 

from perfect and contain provisions I 

would oppose. However, both bills contain provisions vital to saving the postal service, safeguarding the health of 

Americans and the American agricultural industry, and providing a critical 

safety net for American families. 

In my perfect world, we would pass 

my Reform the Postal Service for the 

21st Century Act. And I’m sure in the 

House Republicans’ perfect world, we’d 

pass their House Postal Reform Act of 

2011. But in the real world, I do not believe either of our constituents sent us 

here to stubbornly fight for the partisan perfect at the expense of the 

American good. 

If Republican leadership are willing 

to compromise on behalf of the American people, they will take up and pass 

the bipartisan bills, S. 1679 and S. 3240, 

this week or next. I realize I risk appearing naive for even proposing compromise by taking up and passing Senate bills. But my own experience with 

my predecessor in the 11th District of 

Virginia gives me hope. 

As many of my colleagues are aware, 

even though former Congressman Tom 

Davis is a Republican and I’m a Democrat, we get together and we like to 

say that we belong to the same political party—the party of getting things 

done. We have roots in local government and that’s the ethos of local government, and I appreciate his generosity in working with me in the transition to the 111th Congress. 

I recall one extended transition 

meeting at a local Denny’s. We were 

talking. There was a waitress that was 

going back and forth. We kind of 

thought she would recognize us, maybe 

want to say ‘‘hello.’’ In fact, she said, 

‘‘You need to move on. I need that 

table.’’ 

That’s where the American people 

are. They want us to move on and get 

our business done so they can get on 

with theirs. 

f 

FARM BILL 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 

South Dakota (Mrs. NOEM) for 5 minutes. 

Mrs. NOEM. Madam Speaker, today, 

I wanted to bring to the attention of 

my colleagues something that is of utmost importance to this country and 

our food supply and to this Nation’s 

farmers and ranchers. It is the importance of getting a farm bill done. 

Growing up on a farm in South Dakota and then farming for years with 

my family, I certainly recognize how 

volatile the agriculture industry is. 

Our producers invest in seed and fertilizer, they put it in the dirt, and they 

hope that that fall that they have the 

opportunity to come back and harvest 

something that will provide for their 

family and provide food for this country and for this Nation. 

The crops that are grown are relied 

upon to fulfill the need that we have in 


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H5866 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE September 12, 2012 

this country and across the world. 

Farming’s risky, but because growing 

our food is in the interest of our national security, we provide a safety net 

that keeps our farmers on the land in 

good times and in bad times. 

As you can see from these maps that 

I have here with me today, we are suffering through one of those tough 

times right now. Farmers can’t control 

Mother Nature. Our farmers are facing 

one of the worst droughts that we’ve 

seen in decades. You just have to talk 

to a veteran farmer today to say that 

they haven’t seen an instance like this 

since probably the thirties where we 

had such widespread, long-standing 

drought that they are suffering 

through. It has a real impact on folks 

in rural America, and the rest of America relies on that food to feed their 

families. 

I want my colleagues to get a picture 

of just how important the farm bill is 

to this country and to people in the 

real world. While it may be easy to ignore the drought if you’re in Washington, D.C. or in other parts of the 

country, when I go home every weekend, and when I was home and traveling all across our State throughout 

August, it was everywhere around me. 

Just yesterday I had the chance to 

sit down with a couple of producers 

from South Dakota. Brent and Barb 

were here from Houghton, South Dakota, and it was evident to me that 

when I visited with them that their 

concern was more for the next generation than for getting through a couple 

of tough days right now. 

They spoke of their sons, the love 

they have for their land, and the responsibility that they feel in feeding 

this country and making sure that we 

have a future where the United States 

can grow its own food to provide for its 

own people. 

They wrote me a letter about what 

the farm bill means to them, and I 

wanted to read part of that letter to 

you: 

I know you share our feelings on the importance of the bill. It is not only necessary 

to us now, but also for our three sons who 

want to continue our farming operation 

which has been in our family for four generations. We are so thankful and proud that 

they want to return to the farm and we want 

to do all we can to provide them with the 

same opportunities we have had. The crop insurance portion of the farm bill has truly 

helped us in the past as we have struggled 

with wet conditions over parts of the last 20 

years. Because of excess moisture, there 

have been years when we farmed less than 

half of our total cropland. Now, the tables 

have turned and we are experiencing drought 

conditions in some areas of South Dakota 

and we will again be relying on crop insurance. It is so important to our family farming operation as a business. It has allowed us 

to stay in business through the tough years. 

The safety net this farm bill would provide 

is crucial to not only rural farmers like us, 

but our State and country as a whole. 

Brent and Barb and other producers 

across America are in town this week. 

They were asking this House to take 

action on a farm bill to give them the 

certainty that they need to have confidence to plant next year’s crop. It 

will support both rural America but 

also every single family that’s out 

there buying groceries today. 

Later this morning, I’m going to be 

joining them at a rally that’s called 

the Farm Bill Now rally. And I’ll be 

asking my colleagues to take action to 

pass a farm bill. We need to get that 

farm bill done to know what the policies are going to be in the next 5 years. 

It’s right for our producers, it’s right 

for our ranchers and farmers, it’s right 

for this country, and for every family 

out there who’s wanting to put food on 

the table that they can afford through 

these tough times. 

f 

b 1030 

LIBYA 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

Chair recognizes the gentleman from 

California (Mr. DREIER) for 5 minutes. 

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, back 

in 2009, my good friend and the cochair 

of the House Democracy Partnership, 

DAVID PRICE of North Carolina, and I 

had the opportunity to visit former 

General—and at that time, U.S. Ambassador—Karl Eikenberry, Ambassador to Afghanistan. 

We were at the Ambassador’s residence in Kabul, and I was struck with 

a statement that was made by General 

Ambassador Eikenberry. He said we 

have a tendency, as Americans, to express appreciation to men and women 

in uniform, those men and women who 

served in our Nation’s Armed Forces 

around the world, but too rarely do we 

extend our appreciation to the men and 

women who represent the United 

States of America in the Foreign Service as diplomats around the world, and 

General Eikenberry encouraged us to 

do that. And Mr. PRICE and I have consistently done that in the visits of the 

House Democracy Partnership to the 17 

countries with which we’ve partnered 

over the past 7 years. 

I have to say that 3 years later, just 

a few months ago, Mr. PRICE and I were 

leading a delegation to Afghanistan 

and we recounted that story to our 

great diplomat, Ryan Crocker, the U.S. 

Ambassador to Afghanistan. Ambassador Crocker, when we shared the 

story with him, reminded us that more 

U.S. Ambassadors have been killed 

since the Vietnam War than generals 

or admirals. We know that down at the 

Harry S. Truman Building, there is a 

plaque that lists the names of the 231 

U.S. diplomats who have been killed 

since the first death in 1780. And, 

Madam Speaker, I have to say that the 

news that we have of the tragic death 

of Ambassador Chris Stevens in 

Benghazi, the U.S. consulate in Libya, 

is very sad news for all of us. 

Now, the upheaval in the Arab world 

has brought about many great things. 

For the first time in millennia, there 

are individuals who have been able to 

participate in elections and make decisions. But then we get the sad and 

tragic news that Ambassador Stevens 

and, according to the early reports, 

two marines, maybe another Foreign 

Service officer, were killed in this tragic attack. 

I would like to say that we have 

spent time there. We were just in 

Libya, Mr. PRICE and I, just a few 

weeks before Ambassador Stevens arrived, and Libya is a place that has 

held out great promise. I am determined, as I know Mr. PRICE is, to ensure that the promise that we saw several weeks ago in Libya will not be 

shattered by the tragic death of Ambassador Stevens. 

Madam Speaker, I’m pleased to be 

joined by my dear friend and colleague, 

Mr. PRICE, and would like to yield to 

him at this point. 

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. I 

thank my colleague for yielding. 

Mr. DREIER and I have partnered for 

many years in the work of the House 

Democracy Partnership, which we and 

many others in this body believe in 

very deeply—that we need to be good 

colleagues, not just nationally, but 

internationally. And we need to reach 

out in ways that can strengthen democracy, strengthen representative institutions, in countries that are friends 

of our country. We can help encourage 

and strengthen those parliaments. 

That’s exactly why we visited Libya 

back in the spring, a delegation led by 

Mr. DREIER. We were there a few weeks 

before Ambassador Stevens arrived. 

We were struck by the promise of 

Libya. Of course they’ve had 42 years of 

dictatorial rule. The country has been 

liberated through the efforts of NATO 

allies. There are still major challenges—obviously, security challenges, 

as we are learning in a tragic way 

today—but the country is gradually 

being secured. Constituent assembly 

elections have been held and parliamentary elections are on the way. 

So we have great hope for Libya. We 

have been and we will be a friend to 

Libya in helping to realize the promise 

of the Arab Spring. 

Our solemn purpose here today is to 

mark this tragic loss, the eighth Ambassador in U.S. history to be killed in 

the line of duty. Our personnel in 

Libya are dedicated personnel, the best 

that the U.S. has to offer. The work 

that they’re doing there is challenging 

and dangerous. The work promotes our 

national interest and is very, very valuable to Libya and to us. This horrible 

tragedy is one that we want to mark in 

this House here today, as we honor the 

victims of this attack and those who 

continue to serve. 

Mr. DREIER. I thank my friend for 

his contribution. 

Madam Speaker, if I may simply extend condolences to the loved ones of 

Ambassador Stevens and to say that we 

need to ensure that those who are responsible for this tragic death are 

brought to justice. And we need to do 

everything that we can to continue to 

encourage the development of the rule 


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