Date: 2012-01-24
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. first I would just say to the gentlelady who just spoke that I do not doubt that the President wishes to create jobs. The fact of the matter is he just doesnt know how. The record would suggest that. When I first came to this House. the year was 1979. January. We were in the midst of what history has shown us was a failed Presidency. We had something called the misery index. We had unemployment rising. We had inflation rates around 20 percent. We had. by all gauges. a difficult time. a time that many people looked upon with despair. and many suggested that the issues were so large and the problems so great that no President could possibly deal with it. no Congress. and the American people could not. It was just prior to that time that I met a gentleman from Georgia. Mr. Gingrich. as we were both freshman Members elected. And we began talking about the fact that our party had not been in the majority for well over a generation. that there seemed to be a lack of a vision for the future. and that there was an acceptance of mediocrity and failure and secondclass status for America. Our belief was. at that time. that we could come together with a number of other Members and try and at least give voice to a new idea. a new vision. a more positive vision for America. We worked together with other Members and formed what was called the Conservative Opportunity Society because we thought that that was a positive vision for the future of America. consistent with Republican principles and. more importantly. consistent with and expressive of American principles. We thought it was an antidote to what we saw leading us at that time as the liberal welfare state. I think history has shown that. with the election of Ronald Reagan and the embracing of the Conservative Opportunity Society vision of America. that America could turn around. We are confronted with what I believe to be a failed Presidency at the present time. We are confronted with questions and some great despair in families around America for the failure of an opportunity for jobs. And I would suggest that. at this point in time. it is appropriate for those who have visions. those who are ready to challenge the conventional wisdom. those who believe that Americas best days are ahead. not behind. to come to the fore. There are those who look at the faults of Newt Gingrich. Id like to suggest that he was the one person that I know that had a vision in this House of how this House could be changed. how we. working as an institution. could work with a President to make changes and. ultimately. how this side of the aisle could. for the first time in a generation. actually be the majority. Following his ascendency to Speaker of the House. we actually had balanced budgets. We actually had some bringing down of some of the size of the Federal Government. We actually had some progress around the country. So I would say. for those who look at the faults of others. lets look at their accomplishments. This is a time when it seems to me we ought to be serious about the future of America. We ought to be bold about the future of America. We ought to have some confidence in the greatness of America. the greatness of its people. not necessarily the greatness of its government. We need to have a good governmental structure that allows the greatness of the American people. There are some on the Presidential debate scene today who are willing to challenge us with bold ideas. That has been done in the past and has proven successful. It seems to me we should not shrink from the future. we should embrace the future. We should. in fact. be leaders of the future. I am not one elected to this House to be satisfied that the future of America for my children and my grandchildren is any less than what it was for me as a child growing up. I will not stand here and allow us to act in vain so that the sacrifices of my parents. some call the Greatest Generation. I say one of the greatest generations. will have been in vain. They worked hard. They accepted the challenges of the future with an innate confidence in the goodness of the American people. the capabilities of the American people. and. yes. the common sense of the American people. My hope is that as we go forward in this year. those of us who seek office for both the House. the Senate. and Presidency will accept that mantle of leadership that has been cast upon us from those in the past.