H5852 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE September 11, 2012 

Pentagon, there in New York, those incredible heroes on the fourth flight 

that went down in a field in Pennsylvania, those heroes went running in, 

willing to lay down their lives to save 

others, as Ross did. 

There at Arlington National Cemetery the Army chaplain did a wonderful 

job. Taps was played. It always gets 

me. It got everybody there. A 21-gun 

salute is an emotional thing at a funeral. And as everyone stood to turn to 

go, Sergeant Thomas came up, knelt 

down before the remains of Ross, put 

his hand on the remains of Ross 

McGinnis, bowed his head in prayer. He 

was followed by two others that Ross 

had saved. The fourth was still in Iraq. 

They put their hands on Ross’s remains, bowed at the knee, bowed in 

prayer. And it was obvious what they 

were doing. 

Whether it’s on Memorial Day, Veterans Day, the 9/11 anniversary, there 

cannot be too many occasions when we 

as a Nation stop and do what those 

three soldiers did: thank those who 

have laid down their lives for the rest 

of us, for our liberties; thank those 

who have sacrificed life or limb or suffered terrible disability for us and our 

lives and our liberty. And then, to 

thank God for people who are still willing to lay down their lives for us. 

With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back 

the balance of my time. 

f 

UNFINISHED BUSINESS IN THE 

112TH CONGRESS 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under 

the Speaker’s announced policy of January 5, 2011, the gentleman from New 

York (Mr. TONKO) is recognized for 60 

minutes as the designee of the minority leader. 

Mr. TONKO. This evening we’ll spend 

some time here in Special Order on the 

House floor to address a great bit of 

unfinished business that rests before 

the House. And we have just returned 

from what is a 5-week recess where 

Members of this House were back in 

their districts and addressing the 

events of this session. It has been labeled by many as a do-nothing Congress. This evening we’re going to talk 

about that do-nothing agenda. 

We have attempted in every which 

way to encourage the Congress, the 

House, to address legislation that 

speaks to job creation and economic recovery, continuing to build upon the 

achievements of the 111th Congress, 

and we’re now serving in the 112th. 

b 2000 

But for me, it’s my second term in 

the House. The very first term for me, 

the 111th Congress, was deemed by several polls out there to be one of the 

most productive in decades where there 

were many things taken up by this 

House that responded to the needs of 

America, middle class Americans, 

Americans of all stripes, who required 

initiatives from this House. 

We were in the midst of a very dark 

period, a recession that gripped this 

economy that put 8.2 million people at 

risk by their losing a job through no 

fault of their own. We were losing as 

many as 800,000 jobs a month. 

So the devastation of that impact on 

the American economy, bringing America’s economy to its knees, needed a response from government. 

The President acknowledged an agenda that would move us not only into a 

response against the recession but putting us at the cutting edge of a modern 

economy. Investing in research, investing in science and technology, investing in an ideas economy, investing in 

an innovation economy—that’s the 

sort of priming of the pump, if you 

will. That’s essential for us to respond 

in substantive terms for us to utilize 

government as a tool that is productive 

and enabling and empowering the middle class, empowering our small business community, empowering our entrepreneurs. 

That was the hope-for. And it happened in the 111th Congress. 

But something drastically happened 

with the change in leadership in the 

112th Congress. We now have been 

ranked in single-digit percentage approval. Below 10 percent is the approval rating for this Congress, some of 

the lowest points achieved, or earned, 

by this Congress in its history as a 

House. 

That is a very telling statement. How 

do we go from the most productive in 

decades to most unfavorable in the history of the House? 

We have a reactionary response from 

those who want to destroy the essence 

of government. They do not weave any 

sort of government program activity 

into the fabric of response to a very 

difficult period in our economic history. It is one that is unpopular and 

unproductive. It is one that is being rejected by people out there. 

When I go back to my district, I hear 

it from Republicans, Democrats, Independents alike: Why can’t something 

get done? There’s a paralysis here. And 

it’s because there’s a rejection. There 

is a sense of partisanship rather than 

partnership. There is an outright attempt to deny anything coming to the 

House as a request to get productive 

and progressive policy done. 

So there are things that languish. 

There is this crush of big tasks that 

rest before the House, work to produce 

a jobs bill, work to produce a response 

to the ag crisis, the reauthorization of 

our ag bill, work to invest in the middle class. 

It’s been this House, when controlled 

by the Democrats, that spoke to the 

opportunities, the ladders of success, if 

you will. The Democratic conference in 

this House was all about, has always 

been about, in my tenure here, about 

producing ladders of success. You 

know, we believe in that American 

principle that you work hard, act with 

responsibility, play by the rules, and 

expect to taste success. 

Well, we haven’t seen that sort of cooperative spirit from the new Republican majority in the House. 

You know, we believe, as Democrats, 

that you produce those ladders of opportunity. You allow people to climb 

toward their American Dream. We enable people to utilize their gifts, their 

talents, their passions, their skills to 

empower themselves, their families, 

the small businesses. And so we stand 

for this wonderful three-legged stool 

that speaks to the empowerment of 

small business, forever the pulse of 

American enterprise, that looks to create jobs that are then tethered very 

strongly with small business citizenship into the local community grain. 

Then we talk about investing in entrepreneurs, those dreamers, the movers, the shakers, the builders of society 

that have forever been the American 

spirit, the pioneer spirit. 

I represent a district in upstate New 

York that is the donor area to the Erie 

Canal. And that canal produced not 

only a port out of a little town called 

New York City but gave birth to a 

necklace of communities that became 

the epicenters of invention and innovation. 

The empowerment of the entrepreneur—another strong underlying 

principle of the agenda of Democrats in 

the House. 

Finally, a thriving middle class— 

making certain that we utilize the 

policies that can be created in this 

House that will empower with tax fairness, empower with investment in the 

worker, in education, higher education, 

apprenticeship programs to empower 

the middle class and small businesses. 

We have measures that we have 

asked to be brought to the floor. There 

is a denial of any sort of single jobs bill 

before the House. We have requested 

over and over again to invest in that 

agenda the empowerment of America 

through small business, entrepreneurs, 

a thriving middle class. It’s been rejected. 

Tonight I’m joined by a colleague 

from the State of Connecticut, JOSEPH

COURTNEY. JOE COURTNEY is a strong 

believer in this government process. 

He’s a strong believer that when we 

can prime the pump and when we can 

utilize government to make a difference, when we can create programs 

that speak to the honest-to-goodness 

agenda for all strata of America, but 

utilizing that middle class strata— 

small business, farming as a small 

business—making certain we utilize 

every strength, every sector of our 

economy and not just relying on a 

service sector, especially the financial 

services that we did that brought us 

into a crisis situation—we can incorporate all of the sectors of the economy. 

One of those prime sectors? Agriculture. 

Representative COURTNEY, it is great 

to have you joining us this evening in 

this colloquy. 

The agriculture industry from coast 

to coast is a heavy-duty important industry. You sit on the Ag Committee. 

As a representative from Connecticut, 


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you know the importance of agriculture to your State. I know the importance of agriculture in upstate New 

York, throughout New York. 

Reauthorization of an ag bill is fundamental, is it not, to go forward and 

create opportunities? 

Mr. COURTNEY. It is. Thank you for, 

again, taking the time tonight to 

speak on the floor of the House. 

This is a place where the eyes not 

only of the country but the world are 

on us right now in terms of whether or 

not this body is going to have the 

strength of will to act and deal with, 

again, all of the ticking clocks which 

you’ve mentioned earlier: the fiscal 

cliff at the end of this year; sequestration; and at the end of this month, a 

farm bill reauthorization. 

Again, for those watching tonight, I 

think it’s important to have a little 

context here, which is that up until 

this year, every 5 years since the end of 

World War II, Congress has acted to 

enact a farm bill which is a 5-year policy bill that sets up all of the ground 

rules for a vast array of issues that surround producers in this country, the 

folks who get up every morning and 

milk the cows and plant the crops and 

harvest the crops. 

It deals with issues of rural development. Small-town America depends on 

USDA rural development funds and 

programs to build everything from sewers, hospitals, health clinics. Again, all 

of the infrastructure, which again, 

small towns by themselves really don’t 

have the financial means to create. 

Conservation programs, forestry, 

food policy, nutrition policy. 

Again, the farm bill is a profoundly 

important measure that sets up both 

producer and production policies and 

agriculture but also consumer ends in 

terms of food safety, food security, et 

cetera. 

Incredibly, we are at a point right 

now where at the end of this month, at 

the end of September, the last farm bill 

will expire. If Congress does not act, 

then farm policy will revert to what 

the state of the law was in this country 

in 1949. Again, that statutory construct 

is so completely disconnected from the 

reality of what farms and agriculture 

is today in the 21st century that it defies, really, the powers of any Secretary of Agriculture to implement. 

But, again, as you point out, when 

you look at the U.S. economy today, 

agriculture is leading the way in terms 

of growth, in terms of exports, in terms 

of renewed activity even in New England, which is not viewed as sort of a 

big farm State. But the fact is that 

specialty crops, which I’m sure in 

upper State New York we’re seeing 

again growing farmers markets, are 

really the renaissance and movement 

towards making sure that foods that 

we serve our kids in cafeterias are on 

the dinner tables in American homes. 

b 2010 

Again, people have just a heightened 

interest in terms of making sure it’s 

local and fresh, and the farm bill sets 

up the policies that make that movement continue to grow. 

Well, where are we tonight? The Senate passed a farm bill. They passed a 

farm bill back in June. It was a bipartisan measure, hard-fought. It took 3 

weeks to make its way to the Senate 

floor, getting through all the procedural hurdles. Yet Republicans and 

Democrats in the Senate came together with a farm bill which does 

great things in terms of reforming agriculture policy in this country. It 

eliminates direct payments to farmers, 

which saves the taxpayers $23 billion 

over the next 5 years. So it actually 

helps the deficit in this country by 

passing the Senate farm bill. It reforms 

dairy price supports, which is critically 

important right now because, again, 

the structure that is in place today 

really was shown to not be adequate in 

2009 when milk prices crashed during 

the recession. It sets up a new risk insurance program, which will allow 

dairy farmers to actually have some 

confidence and security about their future. 

It does, again, a great job in terms of 

protecting and maintaining the network of food supply for Americans who 

are struggling to put food on the table. 

It’s a good, solid, bipartisan measure 

that really addresses all of the challenges of the 21st century. 

In the House, we actually reported 

out a farm bill out of the House Agriculture Committee with a strong, bipartisan vote. It has problems. Frankly, it cuts too deeply into nutrition. 

But this is an issue which, again, people who are close to it are very confident can be worked out in a conference committee if the House floor 

will take up a farm bill. And the 

Speaker, to this moment, has refused 

to even signal that he will schedule a 

vote for a farm bill to move the process 

along. 

So, literally, as the clock ticks towards the end of September, farmers 

and producers all across America are, 

in horror, looking at this Chamber, 

looking at this Speaker, and saying: 

Are you kidding me? You won’t even 

schedule a vote so that we can work 

through a bill on the floor and send it 

to conference committee so that we 

can actually get real movement and 

get a farm bill passed? 

A couple of hours ago I was with the 

National Farmers Union just down the 

block here, where, again, we’ve got 

farmers from California to Maine who 

are gathering here in Washington, D.C., 

the American Farm Bureau, specific 

commodity crop producers who are 

flooding the Halls of Congress saying 

we need a farm bill. 

This should not be a partisan issue 

that should gridlock, again, one of the 

most vibrant and critical components 

of America’s economy. And yet to this 

moment we have still gotten no signal 

from Speaker BOEHNER and the Republican leadership that they will even 

schedule a vote. It’s incredible. I mean, 

the Agriculture Committee in the 

House produced a bipartisan bill. They 

did their work. Chairman LUCAS, Ranking Member PETERSON—I was there for 

the 13-plus-hour markup to get that 

bill through the floor—they did a great 

job in terms of navigating and getting 

a bill to the floor. This was done before 

the August recess. The Speaker refused 

to bring it up before we went home for 

5 weeks. Five weeks have passed. 

Farmers all across America are demanding action. We’re back in town, 

and yet nothing has been scheduled in 

this Chamber to bring up a farm bill 

that we can send to the conference 

committee and get some real action 

and results. Totally unacceptable. 

Let me just finish before I throw the 

baton back to you. At the end of August, dairy price supports expired. 

Again, the last farm bill had a measure, it was called a Feed Adjuster 

Index, which would basically allow 

farmers who were facing high feed 

costs to get help and relief. Anybody 

who looks in the financial pages can 

see that corn prices are hitting record 

highs because of the drought out in the 

Midwest; feed costs have gone through 

the roof; fuel costs are going through 

the roof. All the input costs for running a dairy farm are at record highs, 

and yet, as of a couple of weeks ago or 

a week and a half ago, the dairy farmers of America had basically the rug 

pulled out from under them because 

this Chamber did not move and do its 

job back in July and get a farm bill 

passed out of this Chamber and sent to 

conference committee. 

So they were sort of the first wave of 

victims of Republican inaction in this 

House to move a farm bill. At the end 

of this month, it will be the rest of 

American agriculture that will have 

the rug pulled out from under it and revert back a statutory structure to 1949, 

which is the state of the law, if we 

don’t move forward and get a farm bill 

done. 

So I’m glad you scheduled this session tonight, Congressman TONKO, because I think the American people need 

to hear that Democrats stand ready to 

roll up their sleeves, get to work on 

this floor, pass a farm bill, send it to 

the conference committee, work with 

the bipartisan majority in the Senate 

to pass a farm bill, and help the American farmers and producers who every 

single day are making sure that the 

system of food production and supply 

works. It is a very fragile system, as 

we’re seeing with the drought out in 

Iowa, and people in this Chamber are 

treating it with just, in my opinion, 

outrageous neglect by not really doing 

their constitutional duty, showing 

some leadership, and bringing a farm 

bill up for a vote in this Chamber. 

Mr. TONKO. Representative COURTNEY, you’re a great friend. You’re a 

great friend not only to me, but to this 

House, to the district you represent, 

and to the State of Connecticut. And 

you’re such a good friend because of 

the academics that you put into the 


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job. I have watched you in action, and 

I know that you are about building 

consensus. 

But what we have here, you talk 

about, doesn’t this become even more 

urgent an item with the drought situation that we’ve had across this country? Grain prices are going to rise. So 

to have some stability and security— 

predictability—into the ag outcomes 

for many sectors of agriculture, it becomes even more critical. And to go 

back, to revert to a 1949 formula, is sinful. It’s immoral. 

People talk about the lack of sensitivity, the lack of productivity, but 

we’re talking about immoral outcomes 

here that don’t enable people to do 

their work. I mean, this is a small business—in many places large business— 

but agriculture runs that gamut. For 

many, it’s small business, it’s family 

business, it’s a way of life, and we’re 

denying that very fabric of this country. 

I know groups have come together in 

atypical fashion—outside groups that 

are putting pressure here—they have 

come in partnership to say: Hey, look, 

get this done, as you’re suggesting, get 

it done. You’ve done some of the basics. Why are you ignoring this number 

one industry for many States? 

Mr. COURTNEY. And just to follow 

up on that point, again, the Senate 

farm bill included within it disaster relief assistance—not just for a short period of time, but for 5 years. Again, the 

House did bring up a so-called ‘‘disaster 

relief’’ bill right before the August 

break—something which the American 

Farm Bureau dismissed as inadequate 

in terms of actual agricultural policy 

in this country—used as a pay-for taking money out of conservation, which, 

again, as critical a priority as almost 

anything else in the farm bill. Again, it 

was just an almost pathetic attempt to 

provide political cover for people who 

knew that, again, with the catastrophe 

happening out in the Midwest, they 

couldn’t possibly leave town without at 

least trying to make some small gesture towards acknowledging that that 

was actually happening. 

But, again, the Senate measure includes a full disaster relief. The House 

committee bill which came out has full 

disaster relief. That’s what, really, the 

American agriculture community is 

looking for. 

Tomorrow, on the steps of the Capitol, there will be a huge rally with 

farm groups from all across America 

gathering on the steps. Senator STABENOW and Congressman COLLIN PETERSON from Minnesota are going to be out 

there leading the charge. We understand that some Republican Members 

are going to show some courage and 

get out there on those steps and join 

those farmers in saying we need a farm 

bill now to be voted on in the House of 

Representatives. And it’s time for the 

Republican leadership to listen to the 

people who, again, are out there busting their tail every single day making 

sure that there’s food on the table for 

this country. 

Mr. TONKO. You know, I listen to 

you, and your State was tremendously 

impacted by Irene and Lee last summer. My State was tremendously impacted. We reached for those very 

pots—that we’ve emptied with the Republican solution—that served our 

communities so very well with disaster 

funds. We can’t tamper with some of 

those legitimate set-asides because 

they’re there, they’re required by acts 

of Mother Nature or by manmade situations where we need to have disaster 

dollars available. 

But you can’t help but quantify. I 

mean, you just imagine the extrapolating out of jobs, the impact of jobs if 

you don’t get this done, the ripple effect into those ancillary businesses 

that feed into the needs of agriculture. 

It is a tremendous opportunity for us 

to grow stability in the economy. And 

to not do this, this do-nothing Republican Congress is devastating the economy. We could have made major 

strides, we could have gone forward 

with a lot of attempts to do good. 

Now, what I sense here, from what 

you’ve talked about with these poison 

pills that have been adopted or placed 

into their solutions, or the ignoring of 

agreed-upon legislation in committee, 

this is a recurring theme. I mean, we 

saw the FAA, the Federal Aeronautics 

Administration, impacted again by 

delays, games that were being played 

because they need the full loaf or they 

want it their way. There is no sense of 

consensus that is driving these outcomes. And so we delayed for months 

the FAA outcome, which challenged, 

put at risk hundreds of projects, tens of 

thousands of construction jobs that 

were going to speak to safety at our 

airports. 

We saw it with student loans. You 

were so actively involved with that. 

You were outspoken in your criticism 

of perhaps doubling our students’ interest on their loans. And they, again, inserted poison pills. We waited until the 

midnight hour to get something done— 

with a lot of unpredictability again. 

b 2020 

We saw it with the payroll tax relief 

that we were trying to do for middleincome America and small businesses. 

Couldn’t get it done. Waited till the 

last minute. Poison pills that delayed 

progress. 

This is a recurring theme, is it not? 

Mr. COURTNEY. It is of course. And 

again, another example of a measure 

that really is just teed up and ready for 

action in the House is the postal reform. We have a postal system right 

now which is both technically and substantively in bankruptcy. The obligations of the postal system in terms of 

its expenses and pension costs now exceed the revenue that’s coming in. 

And once again we have a situation 

where the Senate has already acted. 

They passed a bipartisan postal reform 

bill. My colleague from Connecticut, 

JOE LIEBERMAN, Senator JOE LIEBERMAN is the chair of the committee that 

put together, again, a significant bipartisan coalition to get a postal reform 

bill through which would provide stability in the finances of this system, 

which, again, is in bankruptcy. 

Nothing has happened on this side of 

the campus, of the Capitol in terms of 

any action in terms of bringing a bill 

to the floor to make sure that, again, 

the postal system, which goes back to 

the birth of our country, is not going 

to capsize into hopeless bankruptcy. I 

mean, just totally inexcusable to have 

an issue like this, which, I challenge 

anyone to point to any time in American history where the postal service 

has become sort of a partisan political 

football. Yet this Republican leadership has done nothing to bring a postal 

reform bill to the floor. 

Violence Against Women Act, again, 

a measure which is really a law enforcement measure in terms of giving 

our police and court systems and victim advocates the tools they need to 

eliminate the scourge of domestic violence in this country. My wife is involved, actually, in multidisciplinary 

teams back in Hartford, Connecticut, 

in terms of dealing with this issue as a 

pediatric nurse practitioner. 

Again, the Senate passed a good, 

strong bipartisan bill. We had a partisan measure that just turned the 

clock back in terms of protecting victims who, again, are here on temporary 

visas, again, as some kind of statement, I guess, about immigration. And 

yet this is a measure which has not 

been sent to conference by this side of 

the Chamber, and we have a situation, 

a priority such as domestic violence 

which has traditionally been completely nonpartisan since it was first 

enacted back in the 1990s, and no action is being taken by this Republican 

leadership who seems intent on going 

home pretty soon and just basically 

leaving town until election time. 

I mean, it’s just stunning that, you 

know, farm bill, postal reform bill, violence against women, we should be able 

to do these things tonight and give this 

country some confidence. 

Mr. TONKO. Representative COURTNEY, you talk about the reducing of 

VAWA, the Violence Against Women 

Act. If the spirit and letter of that law 

has been to protect women, why would 

you weaken certain protections? 

There’s this order of meanness and 

selectiveness and insensitivity that has 

abounded in this House, where they reduce efforts that have been championed 

over the decades, hard-fought efforts, 

bipartisan efforts, bicameral efforts, 

the executive branch working with the 

legislative branch, making certain that 

the heart and soul of this reform 

through the ages has been about making America stronger. 

You know, it’s we, the people, working toward a more perfect Union, a 

more perfect Union. We’ve made such 

wonderful progress. We have acknowledged the needs of women, where they 

were ignored in legislative or statutory 

concepts. We go forward. And now it’s 


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like, as you suggest, rolling the clock 

back, being insensitive to so many 

needs out there and reducing the fabric 

of our government. It’s like trying to 

speak to an archaic sort of quality 

that’s driven by extreme thinking. It’s 

the tail wagging the dog in the conference where this extreme thinking 

has taken over the majority and this 

do-nothing Republican Congress is not 

responding, not stepping up to the 

plate at a time that it’s very, very critical. 

We saw this economy challenged 

more greatly than perhaps the Depression of the past that really was a prime 

test, but in many of the lives of today’s 

working Americans, this is the firsttime greatest experience, a challenge 

before us. And when we should step up 

and be the champions, the fairness and 

justice and resolve to move forward 

with progressive policy, we’re getting 

almost the reverse. It’s the antithesis 

of what’s required here. 

Mr. COURTNEY. And I would just 

say that the inaction of this leadership—today we received an ominous 

warning from Moody’s Investor Services which warned that basically that 

Congress’s failure to strike a deal on 

the fiscal cliff some time within the 

next 6 months or so will lead to a 

downgrade of this country’s financial 

rating. Again, Moody’s preserved the 

Triple A status last August when we 

had the last self-induced crisis by the 

Republican majority on the default 

issue. And so the warning is out there. 

Incredibly, the Speaker, when he was 

asked about this later in the day 

today, basically said he has no confidence that we can strike a deal to 

avoid the fiscal cliff. 

I mean, again, we’re talking—it is 

September 11, a day when we should be 

coming together and reflecting on our 

unity as American people. And to have 

that kind of negativity at a time when 

we’ve been, the same day we were 

warned that the country could capsize 

into a downgrade, and just basically 

throw up his arms and say, well, he has 

no confidence we can put that deal together, I’m reminded of the old military saying, which is, you know, lead, 

follow, or get out of the way. 

And really, for a Speaker to basically 

say, at this early stage, that he has no 

confidence that this body, which has 

gone through world wars, depressions, 

a civil war, and has always been able to 

really show that the genius of the 

Founding Fathers to create a structure 

where decisions can be made is somehow incapable of dealing with the issue 

that we’re confronted with today is 

just a, really, just shocking admission 

of abdication of leadership. And really, 

it just—it signals that, you know, we 

need to have a change here in this 

Chamber, one way or another if we’re 

going to deal with the problems that 

are looming on the horizon, which was 

your opening comments. 

Mr. TONKO. And I agree with you. I 

think that the brinkmanship that was 

utilized in the debate and the development of a response to the debt ceiling 

crisis was an attachment of bells and 

whistles and all sorts of extraneous 

materials that were being applied in an 

inappropriate way. We needed to move 

forward and address an order of crisis. 

America knows that, they understand 

they play by the rules and you pay 

your bills. 

But it was this attempt to weaken a 

process, and it was an attempt to stall 

and delay and make a political statement at the expense of having our then 

credit rating downgraded by S&P. So 

the outcome here was a devastating 

one. 

And, you know, it is really unfortunate that we’re not heeding the need 

out there. I believe the American public has been stating emphatically they 

want solutions. They want us to come 

up with a response to an economic crisis. They want to know how we’re 

going to move forward with this idea 

economy, innovation economy, clean 

energy economy. They want to see us 

move toward energy independence. 

They want to see us addressing transformation of the economy. They want 

advanced manufacturing that requires 

training of workers that begins with 

education investments, all of these 

things. They want us to develop solutions. 

They don’t want paralysis. They 

don’t want this divide, this great divide. They don’t want the partisanship. 

They want partnership. They want 

solutions. 

We saw what happened when you can 

advance solutions in this House. You 

and I enjoyed the 111th Congress and 

the productivity of that Congress. And 

to have moved to this sort of paralysis 

is unacceptable. 

And the do-nothing Republican Congress is being watched very carefully 

here, and I believe that this coming 

election will be a very telling statement about rejecting the sort of delay, 

the rejecting of the games being 

played, a rejecting of the disinvestment, a rejecting of the defunding and 

the dismissiveness of a role that government could and should play in very 

important areas. 

You ask these other economies out 

there with which our American business is competing. We’re in an international race on innovation. You 

know, much like the race, global race 

on space in the sixties, when this country came together in resolve after a 

Sputnik moment, when they dusted off 

their backside and said, Never again, 

and we’re going to move forward and 

we’re going to be the Nation to stake 

that flag on the Moon. 

We won because we resolved to do it. 

We did it with great passion. We did it 

with intellect. We did it coming together as a people of all sorts of political stripes, and we worked together as 

one Nation. 

b 2030 

You’re right, on this given day of 9/ 

11, when we reflect upon those tragedies and when our virtues as a Nation— 

our liberties, our freedoms, our opportunities—were challenged and threatened and numbed us for a moment, we 

came back with great resolve. Let’s 

show the passion here that we did in 

the sixties to win that global race in 

space. Let’s invest. Let’s go forward. 

Let’s make certain we don’t tie the 

hands of America behind her back. 

Let’s move forward and invest in an 

economy, in a race that is important to 

our efforts to maintain our leadership 

on the international scale. 

Mr. COURTNEY. I think, as Moody’s 

indicated, with the fiscal cliff at the 

end of this year and with the sequestration on January 1, there really is 

only one place where this can get resolved, and it’s right here in this room. 

There are ideas that are on the table 

which, I think, clearly show a middle 

ground—in fact, more than a middle 

ground—as a way of solving these problems. 

The President has put on the table an 

extension of the Bush tax cuts for 98 

percent of Americans that would entirely protect their present tax status 

with no increase in taxes. Obviously, 

the cliff will cause middle class families all across America to pay more if 

there is no action in this Chamber. In 

fact, it provides for 100 percent of all 

Americans the extension of the Bush 

tax cuts on incomes up to $250,000. Any 

income above that would revert back 

to the Clinton era rates. That change 

would provide about $1 trillion of deficit reduction for our country at a time 

when the structural deficit that the 

Bush tax cuts created is obviously 

scaring investor services like Moody’s. 

This is a proposal which is not a 50/50 

deal. It’s a 98 percent deal in terms of 

protecting those existing tax cuts, and 

it’s a 100 percent deal in terms of protecting people’s taxes up to $250,000. 

Mr. TONKO. A point oftentimes lost. 

Even millionaires and billionaires 

would get their tax breaks on a first 

order of income, $250,000. 

Do you know what stands in the way? 

If we have to be totally frank here, 

they want to make certain that millionaires and billionaires continue to 

get their bonanza of a tax break. Well, 

do you know what? We know what got 

us into the economic crisis. We had a 

tax cut for millionaires and billionaires primarily that was never paid for. 

We fought two wars off line, off budget. 

So one of the first orders of business 

that the President wanted to address 

was putting together an honest budget. 

You didn’t have the mechanism, the 

payment mechanism, for the millionaire-billionaire tax cut, and you have 

to bring that cost of the war into the 

budget. 

We need to move forward with a 

sound and reasonable approach to economic relief. The middle class has 

taken it on the chin, and it’s their 

turn. They need to be relieved, and we 

need to invest in those orders of comeback that will empower our middle 

class. What I think is, with the efforts 


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H5856 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE September 11, 2012 

that have been made here in the House, 

the requests made in the House are 

very legit: Do what you can afford. 

Keep the economy going. To me, it’s 

about aggregate demand for goods and 

services. So, if you relieve the middle 

class, if you strengthen their purchasing power, if we had that thriving 

middle class, someone needs to buy 

your product; someone needs to make 

your product. If you empower that 

middle class, it’s a formula for success. 

As you point out, Representative 

COURTNEY, it is 98 percent of the general public that will enjoy that empowerment and 97 percent of the small 

business community. There is a way to 

go forward with a reasonable approach 

that really speaks to that strata that 

needs the most assistance today. 

Mr. COURTNEY. Six nights ago, we 

saw someone get on the floor of the 

convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, and very methodically and with 

great clarity explain exactly the points 

that we’re talking about here tonight. 

President Bill Clinton, someone who 

today enjoys a 69 percent approval rating, got on the floor of that convention. While he was President, the public finances of this country came into 

balance for the first time in over a generation, and 22 million new jobs were 

created under his watch. If anyone has 

credibility in terms of a perspective on 

economic and fiscal policy in this 

country, it’s President Bill Clinton. 

What we have talked about here tonight is about reverting to the Clinton 

era rates on incomes above $250,000. We 

know as a Nation that that does not 

smother and punish success. It will not 

smother and punish our economy. 

Those rates were in place when 22 million jobs were created in the U.S. economy in the 1990s. 

Today, what’s interesting is that Mr. 

Romney, the Republican Presidential 

candidate, is very careful not to criticize President Clinton. In fact, he tries 

indirectly sometimes to even embrace 

him. Well, he ought to embrace his positions on fiscal policy because, if he 

did, we could pass a bill on this floor in 

no time flat, solve the fiscal cliff, 

defuse sequestration, and get this 

country back on track with more than 

just policies: with a new infusion of 

confidence, both within our country 

and, frankly, in financial markets 

around the world, that this place is capable of actually making some decisions and that this place is actually capable of action. 

The former President’s comments in 

Charlotte obviously got a rock star reception all across the country because 

that’s what people are hungry for—reasonable solutions coming from people 

who have demonstrated that they actually can administer and be good stewards of the U.S. economy. I think that, 

for the Republican leadership of this 

Chamber to ignore that type of compromise and reasonable approach to 

solving the fiscal problems we face 

today is politically very dangerous. 

Again, if you really look closely at 

the Romney campaign, they are loath 

to even say anything negative about 

Bill Clinton or his time in the White 

House. Do you know what? They’re 

very careful also to avoid talking 

about his policies, which basically 

President Obama and the minority 

here, even with some significant modifications to accommodate the other 

side, are prepared to move forward on. 

Let’s really, I think, heed the advice 

that he gave this country six nights 

ago and move forward with these policies. 

Mr. TONKO. Representative COURTNEY, you talk about that event. When 

he made his presentation, he did that 

long-term review and a rather shorter 

focus over the last couple of years—the 

first term of President Obama’s. Yet, 

when he talked about the track record 

over the last decade, he talked about 28 

years of Republican leadership versus 

24 years of Democratic leadership. He 

talked about the outcome in jobs, and 

said, under the Republican watch, 22 

million jobs, I believe, were created. 

Under the Democratic watch, there 

were 42. So, he said, let’s look at the 

record. Let’s check the scorecard. Then 

he did the short-term outcome of President Obama’s administration. He was 

talking about the numbers of jobs created and gave a zero to what the Republicans were advancing in the House. 

It’s pretty obvious that there is this 

outcome of success. People constantly 

refer to the Clinton years now. What 

happened there? Well, we undid the 

surplus that was created. We spent 

down on a tax cut that wasn’t paid for. 

We fought two wars that weren’t on 

line with the budget. It’s obvious we 

know what happened. Why would we 

give the keys back to someone who 

drove us into the ditch? 

So this whole effort in this administration with 30 now consecutive 

months of private sector job growth 

and the President’s asking for Congress 

to move forward with an agenda that 

has had obvious positive results and its 

being denied and held up, played with, 

entered in with poison pills is not what 

the American public wants. They want 

those solutions, and they are denying 

those solutions. I think the do-nothing 

Republican Congress has caused great 

pain and has denied progress for the 

comeback scenario that we so desperately require and that the middle 

class and all of America so rightfully 

deserve. 

Mr. COURTNEY. Thank you for taking the time tonight to really set the 

record straight on a lot of these issues. 

I would note that Bloomberg News actually did a fact check of the Clinton 

speech the other night and basically 

came back and gave it a clean bill of 

health. Frankly, if you contrast that 

with the speeches that took place in 

Tampa and if you go to PolitiFact and 

go through some of the remarks that 

were analyzed by that Pulitzer Prize 

winning service and the number of 

pants-on-fire lies that they ascribed to 

some of the comments that were made 

on the floor of the Tampa convention, 

there is a sharp contrast. 

Again, I just want to thank you for 

taking the time to remind the American people this evening about the fact 

that there are items that we can move 

forward on today. Literally, we could 

reconvene the House here at a quarter 

of nine on 9/11 and pass a farm bill, pass 

the postal reform bill, get moving on 

the Violence Against Women Act, and 

we could deal with the fiscal cliff if 

people with reasonable and nonpartisan 

scorched Earth partisanship came forward and saw what is obvious, which is 

that the tools are there to fix these 

problems. Thank you for your leadership and for holding this session this 

evening. 

Mr. TONKO. Thank you, Representative COURTNEY. I thank you for your 

outstanding leadership. You’ve been 

there on the student loan issue. You’ve 

been there on the ag reauthorization 

measure. You’ve been there on the 

American Jobs Act. 

b 2040 

We know that there has been a formula for success driven by the President for the American Jobs Act. He has 

asked for Congress to move forward. 

The Senate has, in a bipartisan way, 

moved forward with efforts to address a 

middle class tax cut. The President has 

asked us to complement that with the 

American Jobs Act that enables us to 

move forward with investments in educators, allowing for teachers and class 

size to be addressed, making certain 

that our young people, our workforce 

of the future are able to enjoy that 

self-discovery, that sense of identity 

that they require in the classroom. 

What are their gifts, their passions, 

their skills, their talents? How can 

they best contribute their fabric to the 

American scene? 

That is part of the American Dream. 

That is part of the investment that 

provides those underpinnings of support, that builds an economy with capital investment, physical investment, 

human infrastructure investment, all 

of which are required in order to have 

the holistic response. With the American Jobs Act formula, the President is 

saying, Look, we’ve grown 30 months of 

consecutive private sector job growth. 

We’ve enabled the economy to come 

back powerfully. We’re investing in 

that order of business. 

He’s also asked that that public sector element which has been reduced, 

that has offset some of the progress, 

has reduced some of the progress because of pain at those State capitols 

putting together their budgets, he said, 

Look, let’s from a big picture point of 

view. Invest in educators, in public 

safety, in police officers, in firefighters, in emergency personnel. 

On a day like today where we humbly 

reflect upon the pain this Nation endured, the loss of lives, nearly 3,000 

people impacted by the acts at the Pentagon, in a lonely field in Pennsylvania, and, yes, in metropolitan New 

York, we are reminded most humbly, 

most sensitively, most lovingly of that 


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September 11, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H5857 

dreadful moment. And we saw how important our public safety elements are, 

our first responders, critical to that 

situation. It showcased a very noble 

measure in a very painful and dark moment in our history what those role 

models are, who they are. That’s their 

everyday work. It was showcased in a 

very magnified way. But every day we 

reach to their skills, their talents, 

their strengths. 

The President is saying invest in 

that public safety element, invest in 

our firefighters, in our police officers, 

in our emergency responders. He’s asking for that in the American Jobs Act. 

We’ve done pieces of it, but we need to 

do the entire package to have the 

strength that this economy requires 

for its comeback. 

He talks about infrastructure improvements through an infrastructure 

bank that is part and parcel to the outcome, making certain that our infrastructure is strong and able to move 

our situation of a comeback. Commerce requires the shipping of freight. 

It needs the infrastructure. Our communities require that investment in infrastructure; otherwise, they go it the 

way of a property tax or a less progressive tax structure. 

We know what needs to be done, and 

the denial here by the do-nothing Republican Congress is not acceptable. 

It’s painful. It’s immoral. It’s insensitive. It’s un-American. To put partisanship ahead of partnership is unacceptable. 

We know that the American spirit requires better than that, so we need to 

respond to America’s working families. 

We need to respond to the hope that 

ought to be delivered to the doorsteps 

of families across this great Nation. 

Our history is replete with investment, 

investment to take us to new ages, new 

elements of success, new impacts on 

the world scene. 

Earlier, I had spoken of the mill 

towns that became epicenters of invention and innovation. It was their product delivery coming out of the mill 

towns, out of those 24-hour-a-day operations that impacted the quality of 

life, not just in these United States, 

but in nations around the world. People were lifted by discovery and product development in this Nation. And as 

we move forward, we need to advance 

our manufacturing agenda, we need to 

invest in the research, and we need to 

invest in the innovation. 

I’m reminded of some of the incubator outcomes at campuses within the 

21st Congressional District in upstate 

New York in the capital region of Mohawk Valley that I represent, incubators at public and private sector institutions, clean room science activity 

going on in lab formats at community 

colleges, working with our nanotechnology industry, our semiconductor industry, advanced battery manufacturing. All of this requires a plan, a holistic plan that allows for the 

unleashing of talent and opportunity 

from the American public. Someone before our times invested in our future. 

Throughout our noble history, 

throughout our growth as a Nation, 

there were those who believed in America and invested in her people. We can 

ill afford to go back. We can only go 

forward, as was made mention by the 

President and many of his administration that were speaking at the convention, many legislators who appeared at 

the convention and spoke about the 

agenda to constantly move forward, 

embracing the American Dream in the 

process. That American Dream is what 

inspired so many to journey to this Nation. 

We are, in major fashion, a compilation of journeys. Other than our Native 

American sisters and brothers, it’s the 

immigrant population that traveled to 

these shores embracing that American 

Dream, believing in a brighter tomorrow, understanding that if they put 

their mind and heart and soul to work, 

that better opportunities would be 

there, that they could climb the ladders of success, that they would not 

pull up those ladders when they 

reached the mountaintop, but extend 

additional ladders to everyone to climb 

that ladder of success until they 

reached that American Dream. 

That has been the saga of this great 

Nation. That has been the profoundness of this Nation, the greatness of 

this Nation. Why would we change 

course now? We saw what ill effects 

came of some bad policy or lack of 

sound stewardship of our resources. 

Let’s learn from that history, but let’s 

also learn from the history of greatness 

where America struggled through 

tough times, faced immense challenges, but powerfully spoke in a way 

that engaged that American spirit and 

put it into policy format, resource advocacy, and budgets that spoke to a 

soundness of a future for America. 

Our best days lie ahead if we pursue 

that agenda that shows its belief and 

its promise in America’s children and 

working families. The undeniable 

progress that we can make speaks boldly to us. We’ve seen an administration 

reach out to this Congress asking for a 

partnership, a bipartisan response, one 

that will allow all of us to share in the 

great success that can follow. We’ve 

seen what happens when we go forward 

with some of the measures of progressivity. 

We have a grid system that was challenged as early as 2003, where we know 

there is a need for investing in the capacity of that system that was designed for regional utility matters, and 

now we’re wheeling electrons from region to region within States to States 

to States and from nations to nations. 

We know that we have to step up to the 

plate and invest in that utility infrastructure. We know that there are deficiencies in our routine, traditional infrastructure that require our investment. 

b 2050 

We know that there’s a need for energy transformation so that we can 

grow with the American intellect, that 

intellectual capacity that enables us to 

provide for the innovation, the American independence, the American security that can be dealt with through renewables, and energy efficiency as our 

fuel of choice and outstanding discoveries that can be made in a way that 

are most powerful, and research that 

equals jobs. 

We see it happening all around us, 

and it’s not like we have the luxury to 

decide not to do it. We’re in the midst 

of an international competition. 

And unlike the sixties, where it was 

U.S. versus U.S.S.R., we are now with 

many more competitors on the international scene. They are partnering 

with their governments. They are 

partnering in a way that provides research monies, incubator space, highered communities that are growing in 

leaps and bounds while we languish 

with a do-nothing Republican Congress 

that wants to promote delay, insert 

poison pills, or just deny progress in a 

partisanship way that is not speaking 

to the American spirit that was imagined and planted by our Founding Parents. 

You know, tonight, for this past 

hour, we as Democrats have enjoyed 

sharing our thoughts about what a productive Congress could be in terms of 

shaping our future, what a productive 

Congress could mean to fairness and 

justice and equitable opportunity for 

generations to come. 

Our children are watching, they’re 

measuring our actions much more than 

by our words, more so by the achievements that we can assess. They’re 

watching carefully, and we need to 

move forward in a way that finds us 

working together to build consensus. 

When we insert the ‘‘we’’ in us, it is 

much more powerful than the ‘‘me’’ in 

us. 

This House has had great moments 

when they’ve rolled up their sleeves as 

Members and have come to the table 

and said, America beckons. Her people 

need that sort of response. True leadership will move forward in a way that 

allows us to enjoy the taste of success. 

You know, tonight, as we’ve talked 

about the paralysis that has gripped 

this House, as we talked about the denial that has been part of the outcome 

that has been demeaning and destructive at times, I reach to the assessment 

by very nonpartisan congressional 

scholars, in this case Thomas Mann 

and Norman Ornstein. They have been, 

over the years, very much bipartisan in 

their criticism and critiquing of the behavior in Congress. 

I just want to quote from their report: 

In our past writings, we have criticized 

both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice 

but to acknowledge that the core of the 

problem lies with the Republican Party. The 

GOP has become an insurgent outlier in 

American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by 

conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition. 


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H5858 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE September 11, 2012 

Tonight I will close with that statement because I think it’s a challenge. 

It’s a challenge to us to forget about 

the unproductive nature of the last 

several months and move forward with 

a newfound order of resolve that will 

enable us to acknowledge that some of 

the greatest moments in American history came with some of her darkest 

hours where with that regard, that true 

American spirit we’re able to rise to 

the occasion, reach to the best intellect and the best temperament of this 

Nation as she came together in an 

order of consensus and where our best 

days followed that sort of agreement. 

We can build upon success. We can 

learn from history, the soundness of 

history that saw us respond and rise to 

the crushing situations that gripped 

this Nation and move forward with a 

sense of greatness, a sense of accomplishment, a sense of fairness and empowerment and, most importantly, a 

delivery of hope to the doorsteps of individuals and families across this great 

Nation. America’s greatest moments 

are truly lying ahead if we can embark 

upon that challenge before us. 

With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back 

the balance of my time. 

f 

LEAVE OF ABSENCE 

By unanimous consent, leave of absence was granted to: 

Mrs. NAPOLITANO (at the request of 

Ms. PELOSI) for today. 

f 

ADJOURNMENT 

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I move 

that the House do now adjourn. 

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 8 o’clock and 55 minutes 

p.m.), under its previous order, the 

House adjourned until tomorrow, 

Wednesday, September 12, 2012, at 10 

a.m. for morning-hour debate. 

f 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS, 

ETC. 

Under clause 2 of rule XIV, executive 

communications were taken from the 

Speaker’s table and referred as follows: 

7543. A letter from the Under Secretary, 

Department of Defense, transmitting a letter 

on the approved retirement of General Craig 

R. McKinley, Air National Guard of the 

United States, and his advancement to the 

grade of general on the retired list; to the 

Committee on Armed Services. 

7544. A letter from the Deputy Director for 

Policy, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, transmitting the Corporation’s final 

rule — Benefits Payable in Terminated Single-Employer Plans; Interest Assumptions 

for Paying Benefits received August 14, 2012, 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); to the Committee on Education and the Workforce. 

7545. A letter from the Assistant Secretary, 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 

Department of Energy, transmitting the Department’s semi-annual Implementation Report on Energy Conservation Standards Activities, pursuant to Section 141 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005; to the Committee on 

Energy and Commerce. 

7546. A letter from the Acting Director, 

International Cooperation, Department of 

Defense, transmitting Pursuant to Section 

27(f) of the Arms Export Control Act and 

Section 1(f) of Executive Order 11958, Transmittal No. 9-12 informing of an intent to sign 

the Memorandum of Understanding with 

Israel; to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

7547. A letter from the Acting Director, 

International Cooperation, Department of 

Defense, transmitting Pursuant to Section 

27(f) of the Arms Export Control Act and 

Section 1(f) of Executive Order 11958, Transmittal No. 8-12 informing of an intent to sign 

the Memorandum of Understanding with 

Israel; to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

7548. A letter from the Assistant Secretary, 

Legislative Affairs, Department of State, 

transmitting notification that effective July 

29, 2012, the danger pay allowance for Mali 

was established based on civil insurrection 

and terrorism; to the Committee on Foreign 

Affairs. 

7549. A letter from the Assistant Secretary, 

Legislative Affairs, Department of State, 

transmitting pursuant to section 3(d) of the 

Arms Export Control Act, as amended, certification regarding the proposed transfer of 

major defense equipment (Transmittal No. 

RSAT-12-2992); to the Committee on Foreign 

Affairs. 

7550. A letter from the Assistant Secretary, 

Legislative Affairs, Department of State, 

transmitting a report pursuant to Section 

804 of the PLO Commitments Compliance 

Act of 1989 (title VIII, Foreign Relations Authorization Act, FY 1990 and 1991 (Pub. L. 

101-246)), and Sections 603-604 (Middle East 

Peace Commitments Act of 2002) and 699 of 

the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, FY 

2003 (Pub. L. 107-228), the functions of which 

have been delegated to the Department of 

State; to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

7551. A letter from the Secretary, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 

transmitting the Department’s semiannual 

report from the office of the Inspector General for the period October 1, 2011 through 

March 31, 2012, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. app. 

(Insp. Gen. Act) section 5(b); to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. 

7552. A letter from the Senior Counsel for 

Regulatory Affairs, Department of the 

Treasury, transmitting the Department’s 

final rule — Department of the Treasury Acquisition Regulation; Internet Payment 

Platform (RIN: 1505-AC41) received August 

14, 2012, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); to 

the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. 

7553. A letter from the Chairman, National 

Transportation Safety Board, transmitting 

the Board’s annual report for FY 2011, 

amended, prepared in accordance with Section 203 of the Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation 

Act of 2002 (No FEAR Act), Public Law 107- 

174; to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. 

7554. A letter from the General Counsel, Office of Management and Budget, transmitting four reports pursuant to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998; to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. 

7555. A letter from the Director, Office of 

Personnel Management, transmitting the Office’s semiannual report from the office of 

the Inspector General and the Management 

Response for the period October 1, 2011 

through March 31, 2012, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

app. (Insp. Gen. Act) section 5(b); to the 

Committee on Oversight and Government 

Reform. 

7556. A letter from the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services, transmitting the Department’s determination on 

a petition on behalf of workers from the Winchester Engineering and Analytical Center 

in Winchester, Massachusetts, to be added to 

the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC), pursuant 

to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 

(EEOICPA); to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

7557. A letter from the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services, transmitting the Department’s determination on 

a petition on behalf of workers from the Medina Modification Center in San Antonio, 

Texas, to be added to the Special Exposure 

Cohort (SEC), pursuant to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation 

Program Act of 2000 (EEOICPA); to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

7558. A letter from the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services, transmitting the Department’s determination on 

a petition on behalf of workers from the 

Hanford Engineer Works in Richland, Washington, to be added to the Special Exposure 

Cohort (SEC), pursuant to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation 

Program Act of 2000 (EEOICPA); to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

7559. A letter from the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services, transmitting the Department’s determination on 

a petition on behalf of workers from Titanium Alloys Manufacturing, to be added to 

the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC), pursuant 

to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 

(EEOICPA); to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

7560. A letter from the Program Analyst, 

Department of Transportation, transmitting 

the Department’s final rule — Airworthiness 

Directives; Eurocopter France Helicopters 

[Docket No.: FAA-2012-0766; Directorate 

Identifier 2012-SW-056-AD; Amendment 39- 

17133; AD 2012-15-04] (RIN: 2120-AA64) received 

August 28, 2012, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

801(a)(1)(A); to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. 

7561. A letter from the Program Analyst, 

Department of Transportation, transmitting 

the Department’s final rule — Airworthiness 

Directives; Honeywell International, Inc. 

Turbofan Engines [Docket No.: FAA-2012- 

0195; Directorate Identifier 2012-NE-08-AD; 

Amendment 39-17070; AD 2012-11-07] (RIN: 

2120-AA64) received August 28, 2012, pursuant 

to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); to the Committee on 

Transportation and Infrastructure. 

7562. A letter from the Program Analyst, 

Department of Transportation, transmitting 

the Department’s final rule — Airworthiness 

Directives; The Boeing Company Airplanes 

[Docket No.: FAA-2011-1165; Directorate 

Identifier 2011-NM-002-AD; Amendment 39- 

17030; AD 2012-08-13] (RIN: 2120-AA64) received 

August 28, 2012, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

801(a)(1)(A); to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. 

7563. A letter from the Program Analyst, 

Department of Transportation, transmitting 

the Department’s final rule — Airworthiness 

Directives; Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH 

Helicopters [Docket No.: FAA-2012-0566; Directorate Identifier 2011-SW-008-AD; Amendment 39-17065; AD 2012-11-02] (RIN: 2120-AA64) 

received August 28, 2012, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

801(a)(1)(A); to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. 

7564. A letter from the Program Analyst, 

Department of Transportation, transmitting 

the Department’s final rule — Airworthiness 

Directives; Airbus Airplanes [Docket No.: 

FAA-2011-1066; Directorate Identifier 2011- 

NM-050-AD; Amendment 39-16917; AD 2012-01- 

05] (RIN: 2120-AA64) received August 28, 2012, 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A); to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. 

7565. A letter from the Program Analyst, 

Department of Transportation, transmitting 


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