January 7, 2009 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H41 

of Israeli forces from Gaza. In other 

words, peace at any price. 

Peace ought to be a goal, but not at 

all costs. Actually, some things are 

worth fighting for. Now is not the time 

for unrealistic, hopeful idealism. Lives 

are on the line. 

Men may cry peace, peace, but there 

can be no peace as long as Hamas kills 

in the name of religion. 

And that’s just the way it is. 

f 

RULE CHANGES BY THE MAJORITY 

(Mr. GINGREY of Georgia asked and 

was given permission to address the 

House for 1 minute and to revise and 

extend his remarks.) 

Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. We had 

two Members, Madam Speaker, speak 

this morning on the issue in the Gaza 

Strip. I tend to agree with my colleague on this side of the aisle, Mr. 

POE, and tend to disagree with my colleague on the other side of the aisle, 

the Democratic Member, Mr. KUCINICH. 

But I did want to point out something, the analogy between what he 

said and what happened on the floor of 

this House yesterday in regard to 

changing the rules package. Mr. 

KUCINICH said, in regard to the proportionality and Israel’s response to 

Hamas and the Gaza Strip, we ought to 

abide by the rule of law, rather than 

the rule of force. 

Well, I would say the same thing to 

the Democratic majority in regards to 

the rules change yesterday. You have a 

40-vote margin, and you come in and 

you change the rules, and all of a sudden you weaken your PAYGO initiative 

so that you can declare spending an 

emergency to avoid PAYGO. 

You said when you took control in 

the 110th that this business of holding 

a vote open for 31⁄2 hours, breaking 

arms to change a vote, should never 

occur. You wanted to eliminate that, 

and now you say that’s okay; we can do 

that. 

I would say to my Democratic majority, despite those rules changes, for the 

sake of the American people, I hope my 

colleagues on the other side of the aisle 

come to recognize the need to include 

all voices in the legislative process. 

f 

PAYCHECK FAIRNESS ACT AND 

THE LILLY LEDBETTER FAIR 

PAY ACT 

(Mrs. MALONEY asked and was given 

permission to address the House for 1 

minute.) 

Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, 

this week, this Congress will take up 

two tremendously important bills that 

will work towards ending discrimination against women who still earn 78 

cents to the dollar. We hope to get it to 

the Senate, pass it in the Senate and 

have it on President Obama’s desk as 

one of the first bills for him to sign. 

The Paycheck Fairness Act could be 

called the Free Speech Restoration Act 

because one of its features simply ensures that employees have the right to 

give out personal information on how 

much they make without being fired. 

Some of our corporations say, if you 

tell anyone how much you make, you 

will be fired. 

The second, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair 

Pay Act, says that you can no longer 

cap damages. You cannot cap the 

amount of time that a person can be 

discriminated against. The Supreme 

Court held that if you did not bring a 

case within 180 days about pay discrimination, you could never bring it. 

So for 18 years, Lilly Ledbetter was 

discriminated against, and this Supreme Court said she could not bring 

suit. This Congress is changing that 

with this bill. 

I urge a ‘‘yes’’ vote on these important bills. 

f 

b 1015 

MAINTAINING AMERICA’S 

PROSPERITY AND DEMOCRACY 

(Mr. MCCOTTER asked and was given 

permission to address the House for 1 

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) 

Mr. MCCOTTER. When the House last 

met in December, in the dying days of 

the 110th Congress, thanks to the leadership of the Speaker and of the chairman of Financial Services and of the 

people of this body, we sent a rescue 

package for the auto industry over to 

the Senate. Unfortunately, the Senate 

did not allow it to come up for a vote. 

Fortunately, President Bush and the 

administration offered and extended a 

bridge loan to the auto industry to 

keep the hardworking men and women 

employed and to keep America’s manufacturing sector vital. We did not rejoice. 

We understand that restructuring is 

necessary and that it will be painful. It 

will intensify and it will continue, but 

we also vow to do what we need to do 

to ensure that America keeps its engine of prosperity and its arsenal of democracy. We will prove the doubters 

wrong. 

f 

DEMOCRATS LOOK TO PROVIDE 

TAX RELIEF TO 95 PERCENT OF 

AMERICANS 

(Mr. PERLMUTTER asked and was 

given permission to address the House 

for 1 minute.) 

Mr. PERLMUTTER. Our Nation is 

facing some of the worst economic conditions in decades. By the end of next 

year, our economy could fall $1 trillion 

short of its full capacity. That is a loss 

of $12,000 of income for every family in 

America. We cannot continue on this 

same economic course. Congress must 

take bipartisan action in the coming 

weeks to improve our economy both in 

the near term and down the line. 

Economists tell us that we must act 

in bold terms—that we must invest in 

new technologies and, most importantly, that we must invest in the 

American people. 

Congress should work with President-elect Obama to craft a targeted 

and fiscally responsible economic recovery package that invests in the 

middle class families by providing 

them with tax relief during these uncertain times. 

Madam Speaker, it’s going to take 

time to turn this economy around, but 

we should start the process immediately so that all Americans can once 

again live the American dream. 

f 

THE COOPER-WOLF SAFE COMMISSION: A BIPARTISAN SOLUTION 

(Mr. WOLF asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) 

Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I have 

never been more concerned about the 

short-term and the long-term budget 

shortfalls we face as a Nation. 

Yesterday, President-elect Obama 

said we have trillion-dollar deficits for 

years to come even with the economic 

recovery we’re working on. Whatever 

stimulus package, rumored to top $700 

billion, is brought to the House floor 

for a vote, Congress has an historic opportunity to work in a bipartisan way. 

There is a plan already on the table 

that has garnered the support of over 

100 Members of the House. It is the bipartisan plan that Congressman COOPER and I have that puts every spending program on the table and that sets 

up a bipartisan commission of eight 

Republicans and eight Democrats. 

If this Congress does not pass this, 

then no Member ought to be able to go 

home and give the traditional Rotary 

speeches about how concerned they are 

for your children and for your grandchildren of the country. The real issue 

is, with trillion-dollar deficits, if we 

don’t deal with the entitlement issues, 

we will fail. 

f 

DEMOCRATS LOOK TO PROVIDE 

TAX RELIEF TO 95 PERCENT OF 

AMERICANS 

(Ms. WATSON asked and was given 

permission to address the House for 1 

minute.) 

Ms. WATSON. Madam Speaker, the 

current economic recession is putting a 

lot of pressure on American families. 

Today, millions of our constituents are 

fearful that they could lose their jobs 

any day now. 

Last night, my sister told me that 

she lost hers in New York. They’ve 

seen family members or work colleagues already let go, and they are uncertain about their futures. They are 

also working for less money than they 

did 10 years ago. Yet they face skyrocketing bills for their children’s education, for health care and for their 

own groceries. They hear the bleak 

economic forecast on the news every 

night, and they’re looking for help. We 

all know that the U.S. economy is in 

trouble, but now the question is: What 

are we going to do about it? 


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