Date: 2012-12-12
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I know that America watches as we deliberateand Id like to use that terminologyon facing the fiscal concerns of this Nation. Let me quickly remind my colleagues. Mr. Speaker. that America is on the upswing. with increased manufacturing. more consumer confidence. Were moving forward. The economy is moving up. And so I believe it should be pronounced here today that the reform of the entitlements. based upon slipshod. reckless deliberations. or should I say actions. are a nonstarter. There is no way. Mr. Speaker. that we should raise the eligibility age for Medicare. that we should not think carefully about how we approach the reform of Medicaid. and that we dont tell the American people that Social Security is solvent. So I would say. move quickly to pass the middle class tax cuts that would be for all Americans. 100 percent. up to $250.000. and lets think about. moving into 2013. how we make this economy better by looking carefully at how we reform entitlements that are not handouts. but they are earned. I wanted to move to something else. offer my deepest sympathy for those who lost their lives in the Oregon massacre. again. at the hands of a gun and a perpetrator that is now dead. and to say that I thank Bob Costa for having the courage to get on national TV and speak to those who are rabid sports fans and say its time for some form of gun regulation. The tragedy that occurred with the NFL player and his girlfriend speaks volumes to the idea of individuals who dont need to have guns in their hands. This phenomenon that guns dont kill. people do. is a trite and redundant and ridiculous statement. We understand that guns have to have someone at their trigger. but the idea that with no regulations about those whove had previous offenses. no regulations dealing with those whove had mental health issues. no regulations for the gun show loophole. that you can go in and buy guns on top of guns. it is time to reflect. I think the sports community could work with us to ensure that America realizes that theres nothing wrong with standing up for gun regulation. As well. let me offer my sympathy to the Brent and Brown families of the tragedy of the NFL players in Dallas. Let me ask the commissioner to work with those of us who are concerned about athletes in pro ball. that we can find a way to intervene. There should be intervention on a lot of these incidences of violence. Let me close and speak well about the issue of millions of workers in the United States Postal Service. yes. government workers. public servants. who. over the decades. have made Americans lives easier. Just yesterday we were speaking about another day ofor Monday I think it was. on online shopping. I have small businesses who always say the post office is the most efficient and the. if you will. cheapest source of getting their business products where they need to be. It is a shame that we have not addressed the question of hardworking postal workers. rural post offices that are prolific in the State of Texas. rural postmasters whove come and said itll be the death knell of their community. Let us stand the post office up. Let us view it as a vital system. Oh. we are online. but there are individuals who depend upon this massive postal system. It can be made efficient. It can be made better. We can protect the workers. Do we want to give a Christmas gift to hardworking postal workers. who as they are known to go through rain or snow or sleet. that is. give them a pink slip for no fault of their own? This is not the American way. We create jobs. we dont destroy jobs. And its time now for us to stand up and be heard before the deadline. that our postal workers who are always there. who are the ones that find the elderly and the sick in their home because they know their route and they find those persons if theyre in need. they are the goodnews people that come by the seniors and come by the disabled and come by the poor families. I want to say that we can work together. bring our postal workers here to make a difference and to reform the postal system to keep it alive. It is a vital source of work. but it is a vital service to the American people.