Date: 2006-09-14
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Thank you. Mr. MEEK. And I didnt ask the gentleman to yield because you were on such a roll. and you did such an incredible job of laying out the difference between what their priorities are and continuing to run in place. or where we would take us. which is a new direction for America. The bottom line is that on every measure. on homeland security. on the economy and jobs and the energy crisis. because there is no other way to describe when you have to spend more than $50 to fill up the average tank of gas. there is no other way to describe it except as a crisis. When you have that situation facing you. when you have 46 million Americans who lack health insurance. which means when they are sick they cantgo to the doctor. when you have a President who is hell bent on privatizing Social Security and yanking the rug out from under seniors who have worked their entire lives so that they have a floor of dignity holding them. so that they. dont have to worry about choosing between niedicine and meals. then we have got to make sure that we come to this floor every night and that we talk about the direction that we would take them and that we would take this country. Because we would invest in new alternative energy. we would invest our resources in new alternative energy research. We would make sure that the rhetoric that the President issued to us during the State of the Union. where he said we have to end Americas addiction on foreign oil. that was judt words with no action. that we will actually make that investment and invest in the Midwest. in ethanol and corn production and in our State and other States across the country that produce sugar so that we can really make a commitment to disconnecting ourselves from our dependence on foreign oil. so that we can actually make sure that we pass a prescription drug. plan and change the one that the Repub-. licans wrote for the pharmaceutical industry as opposed to the senior citizens that desperately needed the assistance. that we rewrite that plan so that seniors have the ability to pay for their drugs. so that there is no doughnut hole that on September 22 our constituents are going to be falling through and having an -unbelievably difficult time climbing out of. Those are the things that we would do. After November 7. the new direction for America that we will take this country in will restore that dignity to senior citizens. will make sure that we create a prescription drug program that provides them with the prescription drug assistance that they need. that will invest in the Midwest. that will expand access to health care. that will make sure that we can pass stem cell research into law. and restore the accountability that this Congress should have been exercising and the oversight that we should have been exercising. I mean. really. why have a Congress? The way it has been operating since I have been here. Mr. MEEK. and I have been here almost 2 full years now. why have a legislative branch? The rubber stamp. the rubber stamp that is used here by the Republicans and their leadership. you know. it makes having a Congress essentially unnecessary because they just do whatever the administration wants anyway. Listen. I could go home and spend a lot more time with my family than come here and waste our time on naming post offices and banning. horse slaughtering. And not that those things arent important. they are important to some people. but they are not the priorities of this country. They are not the priorities of the people when we go walking down the street in our communities and when I go and take my kidsto their soccer game and to dance class. when I get in my car and drive my minivan around town. The people that I talk to. they dont get it. They are scratching their heads. "and they dont understand the rhetoric that is coming. out of here without any action. and they are yearning and begging us to give them a new direction. We have got to provide themwith that new direction.