September 12, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H5867 

of law, self-determination, political 

pluralism, and, as Mr. PRICE has just 

said, the development of democratic institutions around the world. It’s a universal right, and the United States of 

America is the single best model for 

that. 

So our thoughts and prayers, again, 

are with the loved ones of Ambassador 

Stevens. 

f 

WE FIDDLE WHILE THE FISCAL 

FIRES BURN 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

Chair recognizes the gentleman from 

Maryland (Mr. HOYER) for 5 minutes. 

Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, first I 

want to, of course, associate myself 

with the remarks from Mr. DREIER and 

Mr. PRICE, who have done such terrific 

work on the spread of democracy, but 

also to lament the tragic loss of life 

and the courage displayed by our men 

and women in our Foreign Service who 

are deployed abroad to represent the 

United States, its democracy, and its 

principles. 

Madam Speaker, I regretfully rise, 

however, to talk about another unhappy subject. Our fiscal house is burning, and in Washington we continue to 

play and fiddle. We have another 8, perhaps 13, days left, or less than that. I 

don’t know whether we’re going to be 

here in October, but I do know that 

we’re going to be here for a very short 

time—this week, frankly, doing message bills. 

The middle class tax cut which 

passed the Senate lays fallow somewhere, not brought to this floor, to assure that our middle class citizens 

would understand that they weren’t 

going to get a tax increase on January 

1, give them confidence, give our economy confidence, to help grow our economy. 

We have not assured our doctors that 

the payments for Medicare services to 

patients will in fact be available. We 

have not taken substantive action to 

set aside the sequester with a balanced 

plan. 

There will be a bill on sequester. 

That will be largely opposed on our 

side of the aisle because it does not 

provide for balance. It simply says set 

aside the sequester, which is the direct 

result of Republican policies. In fact, 

the Republicans have offered two bills 

on the floor which say that sequester is 

the option of choice if you don’t meet 

certain numbers. They did that in their 

Cut, Cap and Balance bill, which was 

enforced how? Through sequestration. 

We understand that sequestration is 

an irrational act. Why is it an irrational act? Because it is as if you have 

a food budget and a movie budget at 

home and you have tight finances that 

week, that month, that year. You don’t 

cut your food budget exactly the same 

as you cut your movie budget. You say, 

We’re going to forego a movie and 

make sure we have healthy food on the 

table. That’s what we ought to do. 

We ought to have a strategic way and 

a balanced way to get this deficit that 

is out of control and needs to be handled under control, and the best way to 

turn off the sequester is a balanced 

plan. But what we will see offered on 

this floor is not a balanced plan, but a 

plan which says, Do it our way or no 

way. 

Now, very frankly, that’s been the 

history of this Congress. I’ve served in 

16 Congresses. This is the least productive Congress in which I’ve served. 

Now, that view is shared by two scholars, Thomas Mann and Norman 

Ornstein, who wrote in a book and 

wrote in an op-ed: 

We’ve been studying Washington politics 

in Congress for more than 40 years and never 

have we seen them—meaning the Congress of 

the United States—as dysfunctional. 

The American public share that view, 

of course, and our poll numbers reflect 

it; properly so. 

Mr. Mann and Mr. Ornstein go on: 

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. 

They went on to say: 

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 the political opposition and, 

therefore, unwilling to compromise. 

That’s what our gridlock is caused 

by, an unwillingness to compromise. 

The Senate has passed a farm bill. 

The Senate has passed a farm bill 

which would help farmers threatened 

by drought. As a matter of fact, their 

own committee has reported out a farm 

bill, but that farm bill has not been 

brought to the floor because, apparently, the majority of Republicans 

aren’t for a farm bill. So even their 

own bill is not brought to the floor, 

much less a bipartisan-passed farm bill 

in the United States Senate which 

could be passed and would get a significant number of Democratic votes—not 

because we believe it’s exactly what we 

want, but because we believe it is a 

compromise that will work for America 

and America’s farmers. 

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Ladies and gentlemen, Madam 

Speaker, the American public ought to 

know that in the next few days we’re 

not going to be doing much of anything; not on jobs for Americans, not 

on the fiscal cliff that confronts us, not 

on farm bills, not on the Violence 

Against Women Act, which also passed 

the United States Senate in a bipartisan, overwhelming fashion. No, we 

fiddle. We fiddle while the fiscal fires 

burn. 

I would urge my colleagues on both 

sides of the aisle, my Democratic colleagues and my Republican colleagues—I don’t think we’re going to 

get anything done before November 6. I 

think it’s going to be politics, politics 

as usual. The American public and 

America will suffer for that. But I 

think that’s what’s going to happen. 

But I urge my colleagues on both 

sides of the aisle, and Madam Speaker, 

I would urge the American people to 

demand of us that we not perceive the 

lame duck session as simply a time to 

further fiddle. It ought to be a time, 

my colleagues, when we act, we come 

together, we adopt a balanced, fair plan 

to get the fiscal house of America in 

order, to put ourselves on a fiscally 

sustainable path that is credible, that 

people believe in, so that the rating 

agencies, which are now talking about 

perhaps downgrading the United States 

of America, the most creditworthy Nation on Earth—why? Not because we 

don’t have the resources to solve our 

fiscal problems but because they do not 

perceive that we have the political will 

and willingness to do so or the courage. 

My colleagues, Americans expect 

more of us. We ought to expect more of 

ourselves. We have an obligation, a responsibility. We swore an oath to protect and defend not only the Constitution but the welfare of this country. 

Putting our country on a fiscally sustainable path is absolutely essential. I 

don’t think we’re going to do it before 

November 6, but I would hope every 

one of us, every one of us who comes 

back here the second week in November, or the end of the second week of 

November, will pledge ourselves to 

work together, as Americans, not as 

Democrats, not as Republicans, not as 

conservatives, not as liberals or moderates, but as Americans, understanding that the only way every commission that’s reported has said we’re 

going to get our house in order is to 

come together and do so in a balanced 

way. 

And yes, ladies and gentlemen, that 

means making sure that we deal with 

revenues. We pay for what we buy. 

That’s what revenues are about. We 

pay for what we buy. And then we deal 

with the spiraling cost of health care. 

Everybody’s talked about that. We 

have to do it. President Clinton talked 

about that. PAUL RYAN talks about 

that. We have to do it. 

But we can keep the guarantee of 

Medicare, we can keep the guarantee of 

Social Security in the process, while 

getting our fiscal house in order on the 

entitlement side. 

Ladies and gentlemen of this House, 

we owe it to the American people. The 

American people expect us to act responsibly. We are fiddling while the fiscal house of America burns. 

Let us summon the courage, the 

judgment, and the personal responsibility each one of us has, that when we 

return here after the election and, 

hopefully, the politics are behind us, 

those 30-second, 60-second ads which 

misinterpret, misinform, and dissemble 

are behind us, and we say to all of our 

citizens who we represent, we are prepared to exercise the courage and judgment to put our country on a fiscally 

sustainable path that is credible. Not 

only will rating agencies believe in it, 

our citizens will believe in it, our businesses will believe in it, and the international community will as well. 


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H5868 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE September 12, 2012 

HONORING THE LIFE OF NEIL 

ARMSTRONG 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

Chair recognizes the gentleman from 

Texas (Mr. OLSON) for 5 minutes. 

Mr. OLSON. Madam Speaker, I rise 

today to honor a true American hero, 

Neil Armstrong, a space pioneer who 

profoundly influenced world history. 

I can still remember wearing my 

most prized possession, a blue Fly Me 

to the Moon T-shirt with the Apollo 11 

mission insignia on it. I remember the 

feeling of seeing those grainy images of 

Neil on the Sea of Tranquility and, as 

he put his left foot down on lunar soil, 

his famous ‘‘One small step for man, 

one giant leap for mankind.’’ 

That historical moment changed 

America forever, and the world 

changed with us. And Neil Armstrong’s 

quiet heroism helped catapult America 

to be the global leader. His legacy of 

American exceptionalism inspired generations of young people to take up 

science and space exploration. 

In the 43 years since his Moon mission, Armstrong believed deeply that 

America should continue to explore 

new worlds. Upon learning the Obama 

administration had canceled NASA’s 

plans to return to the Moon, Neil Armstrong, a very private man, became a 

vocal critic of this failure and the willingness to allow other nations to surpass America’s space leadership. The 

state of NASA’s human space exploration plans, he told Congress last fall, 

is ‘‘lamentably embarrassing and unacceptable.’’ 

One of the highlights of my life will 

always be shaking the hand of my 

childhood hero. Neil and I were united 

in our opposition to President Obama’s 

plan to cancel the Constellation program and diminish the priority of 

human spaceflight in his 2010 budget 

and National Space Policy documents. 

It was humbling to work with Mr. 

Armstrong and several other Apollo astronauts like Gene Cernan and Jim 

Lovell to fight to restore a strong 

NASA budget and develop a comprehensive human space exploration 

program worthy of America’s greatness 

as explorers. 

America needs a clear and purposeful 

mission worthy of our Nation’s continued investment to regain our leading 

role and remain the dominant human 

space country in the world. 

Our Nation suffers a great loss with 

Neil Armstrong’s passing, but his courage and commitment to greatness live 

on in the next generation of explorers 

to come. 

For the rest of my time on this planet, I will continue to honor his contributions to American exceptionalism 

and his legacy by pushing for a strong 

human space exploration program that 

will take America to the Moon, to 

Mars, and beyond. 

My thoughts and prayers are with 

Neil Armstrong’s family and the entire 

NASA family as we cope with this tremendous loss. America mourns with 

you as we remember Neil’s amazing 

journey. 

Neil’s philosophy about life is captured best by advice given by one of 

Neil’s Moon-walking brothers, Gene 

Cernan, when he spoke to a group of 

students at Sartartia Middle School in 

my hometown of Sugar Land, Texas. 

Gene told the kids, ‘‘Always shoot for 

the Moon, because if you miss, you’ll 

see the stars.’’ 

Neil Armstrong gave us the Moon so 

we can look to the heavens and see the 

stars. Thank you, Neil. 

God bless. 

f 

ANGELS IN ADOPTION 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

Chair recognizes the gentleman from 

Mississippi (Mr. NUNNELEE) for 5 minutes. 

Mr. NUNNELEE. Madam Speaker, 

this week, the Congressional Coalition 

on Adoption is recognizing the individuals and families from around the 

country who’ve enriched the lives of 

children through foster care and adoption. I rise this morning to share the 

story of a couple who have dedicated 

their lives to providing not just a home 

for children, but a family. 

Pat and Sandra Nunnelee, from 

Tupelo, Mississippi, had lived the 

American Dream. They married in 

their teens, and over the next 14 years 

had four children born into their family. When they married, Pat was working in a low-paying manufacturing job. 

b 1050 

But he soon entered the profession of 

life insurance sales. He possessed a 

good personality and a strong work 

ethic. Because of that, he was a natural 

for the business, and his career advanced quickly both in income and in 

prestige. 

Sandra had a love of infants and a desire to be a nurse. However, she decided 

to forgo her nursing education and her 

career in order to get married and then 

raise a family. Later, she did enter into 

nursing school. In fact, she graduated 

from nursing school the same year her 

oldest child graduated from high 

school. 

By 1980, they were in their mid-forties, and they were enjoying the fruits 

of their labors together. Pat had become vice president of one of the largest life insurance companies in his 

State. Sandra was enjoying the love of 

her life—taking care of newborn babies 

as an intensive care nurse. They were 

enjoying a standard of living that neither of them had ever thought possible. 

In addition, empty nest was in sight. 

Two of their children were in college, 

and two others weren’t far behind. In 

short, life was good. They’d worked 

hard, and they were nearing a stage of 

life when they could really begin to 

enjoy it. 

But any plans they may have made 

changed in November of 1980 when a 

little girl was born prematurely. That 

month, while America was preparing to 

celebrate Thanksgiving, we were 

watching the peaceful transition of 

power begin in the White House, and 

we were watching an international hostage crisis. So, when the world is 

watching Presidents and Ayatollahs, 

who cares when a little premature girl 

is born? Thank God somebody did. 

This little girl was born with numerous health problems, and the pediatrician’s quick diagnosis was that this infant wouldn’t live through the night 

and that medical staff should make her 

short time on Earth as peaceful as possible. At the conclusion of the shift, 

Sandra left her patient with the belief 

that this little girl would not be alive 

when she got back to work the next 

morning. 

Much to her surprise, when she arrived the next morning for work, the 

little girl was still alive. She’d proven 

to have a strong will to live, but she’d 

been abandoned by her parents. So, 

after 3 months in the intensive care 

unit, her pediatrician observed to Sandra one day, We’ve done miracles for 

this child, but the one thing we’ve not 

been able to give her is a home. She 

has never had anyone to hold her, to 

rock her, or to sing to her. Over the 

next few days, Pat and Sandra became 

foster parents. She left her job, and the 

child entered their home. 

Child number five. 

Three years later, Sunday lunch was 

interrupted by a desperate knock at 

the door. Sandra had taken a leave of 

absence from her job to take care of 

this little girl, and she volunteered to 

offer child care to a single mom from 

the hospital where she worked. That 

young woman was having a great deal 

of difficulty coping with the many demands of being a single mom. 

She desperately asked, Ms. Nunnelee, 

would you please take my baby. 

Thinking there must be some kind of 

temporary crisis, the Nunnelees replied, Yes, we’ll be glad to take care of 

your child for a couple of days. 

The young mom responded, I don’t 

want you to take him for a couple of 

days. I want you to take him forever. 

Child number six. 

Four years after that was another 

desperate contact, this one a phone call 

from the County Department of Human 

Services. An infant boy had been born 

with very severe heart problems. The 

doctor’s prognosis was that he wouldn’t 

live beyond age 10 or 12. His parents 

didn’t want to keep such a sick child. 

There were no available foster parents 

with the medical expertise or the willingness to adopt such a child in that 

condition. 

The desperate social worker said, 

You’ve done more than any family 

should be asked to do, but there is nobody else. 

Child number seven. 

That child has lived more than a decade beyond the doctor’s initial prognosis, and while he still has some 

health problems, he has recently completed school, and he has moved out on 

his own. For the first time in 54 years, 

Pat and Sandra Nunnelee don’t have a 

child in their home. Oh, holidays, 


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