Date: 2012-01-18
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. when I had the privilege of serving in this House for the first time in the 1980s. I joined with many of my colleagues in supporting the creation of the Martin Luther King. Junior holiday. I recall the time because we had twice before defeated the proposition based on fiscal concerns. I. in fact. had voted against it on one occasion and then had reflected further on it and thought that it perhaps was more important that we have a single holiday that celebrated the consensus that had been obtained on civil rights. the consensus in this country that we should take positive action to assure that all men and all women were recognized as being created equal and having opportunity in this society. I thought this consensus on civil rights was embodied in the person of Dr. Martin Luther King and thought it was important for all Americans. young and old. to be able to reflect on that and to have a period of time for that reflection and that we could learn from the mistakes of the past and also the sacrifices of the past as we went forward. Now. having said that. I must take exception to a characterization of the comments of one of our Presidential candidates. a former colleague and my friend. Newt Gingrich. when he was trying to make a very. very important point. Too often. those of us in government take credit for programs that give things to people that is largesse from the government to individuals rather than understanding the genius of our system. which is the opportunity for people to rise to the best of their abilities to become as good as God created them to be. and that there is no greater social welfare program or social program than a job. Thats a cliche at times but it is. in fact. an important statement. The point that Newt Gingrich was making was that we should not revel in the fact that we have more people on food stamps than ever before. even though that has been promoted by some as evidence of our compassion. What Mr. Gingrich suggested is we ought not to be beating our breasts in pride about our compassion. We ought to be looking inward about our inability to create opportunity for our fellow men and women in this society. The point he made is that it is far better that we create an economic environment in which men and women. young and old. have an opportunity to experience the satisfaction of a job well done. As Newt Gingrich said. his daughters first job was as a janitor in their Baptist church in Georgia. and he said while that was not to which she aspired as a longterm goal. it was. in fact. the launching point of her job experience. Too often we have knocked out the lower rungs of the ladder of economic success in a manner which has created frustration. disappointment. and a lack of confidence in our young people today. That was the point that former Speaker Gingrich made. It is a point well made. It is a point that we should contemplate. It is a point that we should recognize and place within our debate today. And to mischaracterize it as somehow having an underlying racial meaning demeans the level of debate on this floor. the level of debate in the Presidential campaigns. and frankly. the reality that confronts too many of our people today. I represent a district that has higher unemployment than the national average. higher unemployment than the statewide average in California. which has for too long a period of time been. I think. the third worst unemployment rate in the country. We need to work harder on creating an economic environment in which the uncertainty imposed by the government is reduced so that those men and women of genius and hard work and inspiration and creativity can continue to make this the most vibrant. robust. economic engine in the history of the world. That is the way that we help all in our society. men and women. black and white. Hispanic. people of every color. not by questioning motivations but by. in fact. facing the truth.