Paul Tonko

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Again, thank you, Representative Garamendi. It's great to join with our colleagues here this evening to share thoughts about how we move from a very trying, difficult time into perhaps America's glory days. I think it's important for us to first acknowledge that every Member elected to serve in this wonderful Chamber of the House of Representatives and those down the road here at the United States Senate, each of us is challenged, required, and responsible to polish that American Dream and make it within the grasp, provide it to be within the grasp of America's working families and those who will grow into the middle class and those who are being further empowered by work, the dignity of work, and stronger outcomes with correct policy formats. I think that this journey that we've asked to embark upon, by putting our names on the ballot, begins with us: being a people of vision, being a House that provides a vision for America. That tells me we only need to look to our history--recent and some not so recent. But that will instruct us. Our history will instruct us. We have built a strong Nation. We have provided for growth around the world. We know the secret to the success. We know how we built a Nation. And it took a vision, a New Deal that provided for housing, for manufacturing, for a strong defense, for the opportunity for us, as a Nation, to respect its labor force and insert a value-added connotation for that workforce. That was us in our glory days. And we're going to be even more gloried because of investments that we can make by sound thinking. The research that we need to provide will enable us to compete. We will create products not yet on the radar screen. And if we think all the products ever needed by society have been conceived and designed and manufactured, then the story's over. But we know better than that. Product lines are coming up as we speak that allow us to use our resources much more wisely. We are a Nation of abundance. But that means we can't be wasteful. We need to be resourceful. That challenge is out there to us. And as we become resourceful, we become more efficient, and we become more profitable by sound policy. We can do it. We have ways to invest in our infrastructure, invest in research, invest in workforce development, invest in housing, invest in communities. And that investment will earn lucrative dividends. It's not spending. It's investing with the expectation--the rightful expectation, mind you--that we will get that just return. And so tonight I feel hope for our Nation, driven by a sense of ideals carved by the richness of our history.

Mr. TONKO. Representative Garamendi, again, thank you for bringing us together again. You talked about that austerity budget that some would advance. I have to tell you another disaster last year, Irene and Lee, that hit as a hurricane and tropical storm, impacted the several counties I represent, from Schoharie in upstate New York, to Montgomery, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Albany. These counties were severely impacted. To talk to the people directly devastated--I mean devastated, lost their homes, everything for which they ever worked--and to tell them we're going to change the rules in the middle of the game on disaster aid, it took fights galore to win that argument on this floor. That austerity approach didn't cut it with folks who might have believed it before the disaster, but certainly not in the midst of. So we need to be there for situations, not only disastrous situations, but the investment that occurs so that we can effectively compete. We know in our heart, we know in our minds that there are ways to do this. I know, just listening to the magnanimous description of the situation in the auto industry that Representative Kaptur defined for us, on a much smaller scale, but equally significant, I watched some of the businesses in my district retrofit and do that through research in incubator programs and providing for our advanced manufacturing which allows them to add that competitive muscle that enables them to compete in that global marketplace. That made a total difference. Folks like Kintz Plastics in Schoharie County, New York, where they were engaged in an incubator program with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Some very smart science and tech minds came up with ways to automate what they were doing and trained through the community college their workers to pick up on this new phase of activity within their assembly line process. Today they are successful, but it took investment, investment of capital infrastructure, physical infrastructure, and human structure, training the worker and providing for those relationships to prosper. Everyone wins in that situation. So we know we have it within us to make this all possible. It talks to investment. It speaks to investment. It speaks to the opportunity that we can provide so that people can have that American Dream tethered in reality, so that it can be within their grasp, so that they can continue to build upon this Nation's significance. A great nation stays great if it continues to stretch itself. It's about the churning and the turning and becoming more mighty through investment of research, development, retrofitting our manufacturing base. We can win this by doing it smarter. We don't necessarily have to do it cheaper. Do it smarter and you win those contracts that then equate to jobs. Research equals jobs. I see it all the time. It gives birth to new ideas, new product lines, better efficiencies. It drives an economy. You can't walk away from this tough moment and talk about austere responses. You need creative responses--not just throwing money at a situation, but thinking it through, thoughtful, analytical, economic approaches that then provide for the best policy formats. The President has offered several ideas that were not taken up in this House. We could grow that economic recovery, which has been slow and steady with 32 consecutive months of private sector job growth. We can expand upon that, and we can create much stronger numbers if we do it wisely. So I think the American people have spoken. They've spoken to an investment in the middle class, the investment in the American Dream, the investment in ideas and research. We know--we've all talked about it on this floor--where research occurs, that's where manufacturing will network. It will migrate toward that research element. So we are wise to invest in research and to invest in the human infrastructure, the worker. The important significant part of the equation: having that trained, skilled, educated workforce that can make it all happen.

Mr. TONKO. Sure. And, Representative Garamendi, thank you for bringing us together for an hour of discussion on what is very important: growing jobs, strengthening our economy and strengthening the fabric of our communities by addressing public safety via investment in infrastructure, a very sound investment. It is always a pleasure to join you. It is an honor to serve in the New York delegation with Representative Higgins, Brian Higgins, who served with me, or I with him, perhaps better stated, in the New York State Assembly where I sat on the Transportation Committee. And I was seated on that committee right in 1987, in the shadow of the collapse of a New York State thruway bridge where 10 people perished. We recently commemorated the 25th anniversary of that event. It was very tragic, and it was in the heart of my home county, a small county of 50,000 people, Montgomery County, New York. And the impact economically that that devastating occurrence brought to bear was incalculable. So when you talk about, and I listened with interest to the exchange that you and Representative Higgins had about how do you pay for it, one way you don't want to pay for it is through an impact on the economy of your local region. The commerce hit that was taken was severe. The loss of dollars to the community was just incomprehensible, and of course the loss of lives which surpasses anything in importance. And interestingly, many of the individuals who were on that victims list were not from the region. So we're all impacted by weak infrastructure no matter in which State that might be because you never know when you're traveling over a situation that is unsafe. So I think it is a wise investment to go forward and put to work tens of millions of skilled laborers who can make a difference in public safety in our communities, making certain that the soundness of investment and improvement, absolutely essential for our quality of life, for our public safety, for the strengthening of our commerce. And we know that infrastructure improvements--you and I have talked in the past about the infrastructure bank bill. We have talked about ways of leveraging dollars to weaken the impact on the public sector, on the taxpayer. There are ways to do that in very strident terms that allow us to go forward with the commitment and with the investment that is required. But certainly with the aged infrastructure in this country, and to the earlier point made by Representative Higgins, if we can build other nations, and thank goodness that we have helped people strengthen their situation for their own people, but, my gosh, we should take advice, our own advice here, and understand that there is a strong bit of economic growth that occurs when you strengthen your infrastructure-- from traditional roads and bridges to rail to communications, wiring our communities, and to the grid. The grid system has had several tests--designed to run in a monopoly situation, and now being used to wield electrons from region to region, State to State, country to country. So there is a huge, vast involvement of infrastructure there that begs our investment. And I think for sound reasons, for public safety reasons, and for economic recovery purposes, it makes sense; and let's put the people to work, and let's build a stronger community.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Thank you, Mr. Garamendi, for leading us in this very important hour of discussion. As I listened to Representative Pallone speak about the disaster in his district and across the map of New Jersey and now into New York City and Long Island and great portions of New York State, it was shades of the not-so-distant past that came to mind. And we're still doing recovery from the storm of August, the flooding of Irene and Lee in August of 2011, which impacted my district severely. There were human lives that were lost, property that was damaged, homes that were swept away into the river. Everything for which people had ever worked taken from them. Drastic situations. So as we do our work here in Washington, we need to make certain that on this House floor there is advocacy for the response to these given situations. Already the price tag is coming forth from the leadership back home. Governor Cuomo, for instance, suggesting the price, the impact has now steadily risen. At first snapshot, you cannot begin to comprehend all of the damage and all of the aspects and dynamics of recovery that will be required. And now we are looking at something like $30 billion that impacts a State in a very severe way, disrupts service and electric power that is disrupted, commerce that's frozen in place, human misery that's incalculable where lives have been impacted forever by the forces of Sandy. So, you know, this is a revisitation, so to speak, as we are still recovering. It was a fight on this floor to make certain that disaster aid moneys were brought into play so we could respond with compassion and dignity and integrity to these given situations. So the lessons here are to go forward as we deal with this given fiscal issue at hand, to go forth with the priorities that are the most urgent and important and meaningful in putting back the fabric of these communities. There is a need to work closely with an outlay of resources to FEMA, making certain that disaster aid is at the level that will be required here, working with other agencies that are as significant in the equation--the Department of Transportation, the Small Business Administration--working with HUD, making certain that all of these various elements are addressed in our sense of advocacy here. The human misery, again, is impacting. It is a situation that now brings to mind the fact that in upstate New York, and even in metro New York City and the Long Island area and in New Jersey, these are atypical situations for hurricanes to travel that far north. To have something in upstate New York do the sort of hurricane damage that we witnessed last year is not typical. So the nomenclature of a ``100-year storm'' is just ludicrous. It doesn't speak to what's really happening. We've had several storms in a 20-year period that were dubbed 100-year storms. So right there, the logic and, again, the nomenclature is misrepresenting the facts at hand. We are getting more and more repeats here of situations from disasters driven by mother nature. And as Representative Pallone made mention, a 500-year storm is what they were dubbing the case to be in the 21st Congressional District that I now represent in the State of New York. So there is a need here for us to be cognizant of those responses to disaster situations but also to look at the bigger, bigger public policy issue--that of the environment and that of climate change and global warming. We need to be cognizant of our stewardship over our planet. We need to make certain that if these data that are compiled are telling us that there is increased precipitation, for instance, over a given Catskill watershed in the area just south of my district, let's be aware of that. Let's know what's happening here, and let's respond accordingly to sound public policy as it relates to the environment and our stewardship of the environment, and let's be cognizant of the needs in responsiveness measure. I know that you want to add to this discussion here, so I'll just say this. In a time where government perhaps has been hit hard by critics out there who are suggesting there's no role for the public sector here, we need to reduce government, I can tell you that people were addressing ``the war room,'' as they designated it, putting together all of the professionals and academics and people who operate these programs and are well trained. Watching that compilation, that collaborative effort of these professionals who are responding through public sector employment to the needs of these given communities is powerful, and it speaks to what I think the public asks for and deserves--sound, effective government. But this option of ``no government,'' I know people were reaching out. They wanted that partnership because they were in such immense pain and were at a loss for how and where to move. So, Representative Garamendi, thank you very much for bringing the focus to what should be our staunch advocacy for people in need.

Mr. TONKO. Sure. Let me do this quickly. I think we have it within our intellect to create the outcomes that are strong, that will reinforce those in need, and still go forward and address the critical economic times. I can tell you, because the memory is so fresh, people did not want to hear about offsets and Tea Party mentality when they were without last year. They lost everything for which they ever worked. They are endorsing, now, a balanced approach. Take a scalpel to the situation. Don't wield an axe. Come up with sensitivity, with an effective response using academics. Deal with policy strengths in the long-term picture outcome, and get us our immediate assistance so we can rebuild and do it in cutting-edge fashion so we will have learned from this experience and come out even stronger. I think in general, in a bigger picture framework, our best days lie ahead if we approach these issues with sound academics and with the skillfulness and the compassion required. Thank you so much for leading us in this hour of discussion.

Mr. TONKO. Sure. Well, absolutely, some of these programs are welcomed news. Two points I would make--and I would just like to go back for a moment to the sense of community that is expressed at times like these tragedies. It's not government as a stand-alone solution--we understand that--but it's an essential part, and we want effective government. We also have had a private sector response and volunteerism. I mean, the sense of volunteerism, that sense of American spirit comes right into the core of all of this expression. And you begin to understand the greatness of this Nation through some of the darkest hours that we share. So that point has to be made clear. But to your point about infrastructure improvement, infrastructure bank bill, the transportation bill that provides for adequate amounts of resources, putting together these bonds that are unique in design so that we can have the resources to make it happen, I absolutely agree. I contend that as we get impacted by some of the storm and Mother Nature occurrences, we need to make certain we've reached the facts. If data are telling us that we're going to have additional activity, two things need to happen. You need short-term and long-term response. You do not rebuild exactly as if you had. You need to retrofit that to the projected impacts of now a newer, stronger force of Mother Nature. Secondly, we need that global policy. We need policy that speaks to the environmental outcomes. If we're ignoring that, we're going to see a hasty buildup, I believe, of some of these situations, which is only going to drain our budgets. So, it's time to be academic and to be economically wise and effective here. I think that's what voters have asked for, that's what the electorate asked for, that's what the people of the country demand and deserve: a sound use of resources. To go forward and build it in a way that provides for a more improved, more effective outcome. You look at some of this infrastructure, and it reminds you when it's taken away how significant it is to our quality of life and our profitability as a Nation. You know, a grid system that connects power to the sources that require it, a communications network that allows us to dialogue and build our profitability. The infrastructure that moves freight, our roads, bridges, highways. You talk about the damage done by salt-infested waters. Again, it's incomprehensible about what that score goes to in terms of impact when you think of a subway system, rail system, energy generators, and all of the power supplies within the utility infrastructure and communications. It's just important for us to learn from these effects of the storms. If we can put together concepts like an infrastructure bank, if we can put together the bond activities that will respond more compassionately and more effectively and more urgently to a given situation, then let's prioritize where we need to prioritize so as to make things happen. The infrastructure needs--we've talked about them outside the context of the ravages of Mother Nature. Water and sewer systems that just need to be upgraded because of the age of some of these systems and the new technology that has been introduced where we can do it in energy efficiency formats where you save operating costs for local governments. Now's the time, when you've taken this blow, perhaps we can then retrofit to do state-of-the-art that will mean less costly operating expenses for local entities and NGOs, nongovernment organizations, that allows for everyone to win and the taxpayer dollar is stretched in positive, favorable terms to be a more effective outcome for everyone in the equation.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Thank you, Minority Whip Hoyer. You have led us so expertly well on this floor. You cite the many failings of this do-nothing Republican Congress. It is tragic that we will leave for home now and not get the work of the people done and will not respond to the needs of America. That is such an unjust outcome. We know that a middle class tax cut has been passed in the Senate and that the President has said he would sign it. We need that measure. We need that measure done so as to provide for confidence in the American economy. What we need right now is that sort of boost. That booster shot can do a lot for growing sales for businesses out there. The aggregate demand for goods and services, driven by relief for the middle class via a tax cut, is important. The Violence Against Women Act that was reauthorized in the Senate failed to come to this floor. Postal reform--overwhelmingly approved by the Senate--fails to come to this floor. There is also the farm bill, which is important to all of upstate New York, and I know our members from the upstate delegation, from the New York delegation, are greatly disturbed by the do-nothing Republican Congress. Minority Whip Hoyer, thank you for leading us in this discussion. We have not earned a 6-week recess until election day without having done the people's business. We need to stay here and get the people's work done--build America's economy, go forward with progress--and provide for the results that America so desperately needs. It's a shame that this do-nothing Republican Congress has now called a halt to all business on this floor for the next several weeks.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. And I agree with you. I think that the brinkmanship that was utilized in the debate and the development of a response to the debt ceiling crisis was an attachment of bells and whistles and all sorts of extraneous materials that were being applied in an inappropriate way. We needed to move forward and address an order of crisis. America knows that, they understand they play by the rules and you pay your bills. But it was this attempt to weaken a process, and it was an attempt to stall and delay and make a political statement at the expense of having our then credit rating downgraded by S&P. So the outcome here was a devastating one. And, you know, it is really unfortunate that we're not heeding the need out there. I believe the American public has been stating emphatically they want solutions. They want us to come up with a response to an economic crisis. They want to know how we're going to move forward with this idea economy, innovation economy, clean energy economy. They want to see us move toward energy independence. They want to see us addressing transformation of the economy. They want advanced manufacturing that requires training of workers that begins with education investments, all of these things. They want us to develop solutions. They don't want paralysis. They don't want this divide, this great divide. They don't want the partisanship. They want partnership. They want solutions. We saw what happened when you can advance solutions in this House. You and I enjoyed the 111th Congress and the productivity of that Congress. And to have moved to this sort of paralysis is unacceptable. And the do-nothing Republican Congress is being watched very carefully here, and I believe that this coming election will be a very telling statement about rejecting the sort of delay, the rejecting of the games being played, a rejecting of the disinvestment, a rejecting of the defunding and the dismissiveness of a role that government could and should play in very important areas. You ask these other economies out there with which our American business is competing. We're in an international race on innovation. You know, much like the race, global race on space in the sixties, when this country came together in resolve after a Sputnik moment, when they dusted off their backside and said, Never again, and we're going to move forward and we're going to be the Nation to stake that flag on the Moon. We won because we resolved to do it. We did it with great passion. We did it with intellect. We did it coming together as a people of all sorts of political stripes, and we worked together as one Nation. You're right, on this given day of 9/11, when we reflect upon those tragedies and when our virtues as a Nation--our liberties, our freedoms, our opportunities--were challenged and threatened and numbed us for a moment, we came back with great resolve. Let's show the passion here that we did in the sixties to win that global race in space. Let's invest. Let's go forward. Let's make certain we don't tie the hands of America behind her back. Let's move forward and invest in an economy, in a race that is important to our efforts to maintain our leadership on the international scale.

Mr. TONKO. Thank you, Representative Courtney. I thank you for your outstanding leadership. You've been there on the student loan issue. You've been there on the ag reauthorization measure. You've been there on the American Jobs Act. We know that there has been a formula for success driven by the President for the American Jobs Act. He has asked for Congress to move forward. The Senate has, in a bipartisan way, moved forward with efforts to address a middle class tax cut. The President has asked us to complement that with the American Jobs Act that enables us to move forward with investments in educators, allowing for teachers and class size to be addressed, making certain that our young people, our workforce of the future are able to enjoy that self-discovery, that sense of identity that they require in the classroom. What are their gifts, their passions, their skills, their talents? How can they best contribute their fabric to the American scene? That is part of the American Dream. That is part of the investment that provides those underpinnings of support, that builds an economy with capital investment, physical investment, human infrastructure investment, all of which are required in order to have the holistic response. With the American Jobs Act formula, the President is saying, Look, we've grown 30 months of consecutive private sector job growth. We've enabled the economy to come back powerfully. We're investing in that order of business. He's also asked that that public sector element which has been reduced, that has offset some of the progress, has reduced some of the progress because of pain at those State capitols putting together their budgets, he said, Look, let's from a big picture point of view. Invest in educators, in public safety, in police officers, in firefighters, in emergency personnel. On a day like today where we humbly reflect upon the pain this Nation endured, the loss of lives, nearly 3,000 people impacted by the acts at the Pentagon, in a lonely field in Pennsylvania, and, yes, in metropolitan New York, we are reminded most humbly, most sensitively, most lovingly of that dreadful moment. And we saw how important our public safety elements are, our first responders, critical to that situation. It showcased a very noble measure in a very painful and dark moment in our history what those role models are, who they are. That's their everyday work. It was showcased in a very magnified way. But every day we reach to their skills, their talents, their strengths. The President is saying invest in that public safety element, invest in our firefighters, in our police officers, in our emergency responders. He's asking for that in the American Jobs Act. We've done pieces of it, but we need to do the entire package to have the strength that this economy requires for its comeback. He talks about infrastructure improvements through an infrastructure bank that is part and parcel to the outcome, making certain that our infrastructure is strong and able to move our situation of a comeback. Commerce requires the shipping of freight. It needs the infrastructure. Our communities require that investment in infrastructure; otherwise, they go it the way of a property tax or a less progressive tax structure. We know what needs to be done, and the denial here by the do-nothing Republican Congress is not acceptable. It's painful. It's immoral. It's insensitive. It's un-American. To put partisanship ahead of partnership is unacceptable. We know that the American spirit requires better than that, so we need to respond to America's working families. We need to respond to the hope that ought to be delivered to the doorsteps of families across this great Nation. Our history is replete with investment, investment to take us to new ages, new elements of success, new impacts on the world scene. Earlier, I had spoken of the mill towns that became epicenters of invention and innovation. It was their product delivery coming out of the mill towns, out of those 24-hour-a-day operations that impacted the quality of life, not just in these United States, but in nations around the world. People were lifted by discovery and product development in this Nation. And as we move forward, we need to advance our manufacturing agenda, we need to invest in the research, and we need to invest in the innovation. I'm reminded of some of the incubator outcomes at campuses within the 21st Congressional District in upstate New York in the capital region of Mohawk Valley that I represent, incubators at public and private sector institutions, clean room science activity going on in lab formats at community colleges, working with our nanotechnology industry, our semiconductor industry, advanced battery manufacturing. All of this requires a plan, a holistic plan that allows for the unleashing of talent and opportunity from the American public. Someone before our times invested in our future. Throughout our noble history, throughout our growth as a Nation, there were those who believed in America and invested in her people. We can ill afford to go back. We can only go forward, as was made mention by the President and many of his administration that were speaking at the convention, many legislators who appeared at the convention and spoke about the agenda to constantly move forward, embracing the American Dream in the process. That American Dream is what inspired so many to journey to this Nation. We are, in major fashion, a compilation of journeys. Other than our Native American sisters and brothers, it's the immigrant population that traveled to these shores embracing that American Dream, believing in a brighter tomorrow, understanding that if they put their mind and heart and soul to work, that better opportunities would be there, that they could climb the ladders of success, that they would not pull up those ladders when they reached the mountaintop, but extend additional ladders to everyone to climb that ladder of success until they reached that American Dream. That has been the saga of this great Nation. That has been the profoundness of this Nation, the greatness of this Nation. Why would we change course now? We saw what ill effects came of some bad policy or lack of sound stewardship of our resources. Let's learn from that history, but let's also learn from the history of greatness where America struggled through tough times, faced immense challenges, but powerfully spoke in a way that engaged that American spirit and put it into policy format, resource advocacy, and budgets that spoke to a soundness of a future for America. Our best days lie ahead if we pursue that agenda that shows its belief and its promise in America's children and working families. The undeniable progress that we can make speaks boldly to us. We've seen an administration reach out to this Congress asking for a partnership, a bipartisan response, one that will allow all of us to share in the great success that can follow. We've seen what happens when we go forward with some of the measures of progressivity. We have a grid system that was challenged as early as 2003, where we know there is a need for investing in the capacity of that system that was designed for regional utility matters, and now we're wheeling electrons from region to region within States to States to States and from nations to nations. We know that we have to step up to the plate and invest in that utility infrastructure. We know that there are deficiencies in our routine, traditional infrastructure that require our investment. We know that there's a need for energy transformation so that we can grow with the American intellect, that intellectual capacity that enables us to provide for the innovation, the American independence, the American security that can be dealt with through renewables, and energy efficiency as our fuel of choice and outstanding discoveries that can be made in a way that are most powerful, and research that equals jobs. We see it happening all around us, and it's not like we have the luxury to decide not to do it. We're in the midst of an international competition. And unlike the sixties, where it was U.S. versus U.S.S.R., we are now with many more competitors on the international scene. They are partnering with their governments. They are partnering in a way that provides research monies, incubator space, higher-ed communities that are growing in leaps and bounds while we languish with a do-nothing Republican Congress that wants to promote delay, insert poison pills, or just deny progress in a partisanship way that is not speaking to the American spirit that was imagined and planted by our Founding Parents. You know, tonight, for this past hour, we as Democrats have enjoyed sharing our thoughts about what a productive Congress could be in terms of shaping our future, what a productive Congress could mean to fairness and justice and equitable opportunity for generations to come. Our children are watching, they're measuring our actions much more than by our words, more so by the achievements that we can assess. They're watching carefully, and we need to move forward in a way that finds us working together to build consensus. When we insert the ``we'' in us, it is much more powerful than the ``me'' in us. This House has had great moments when they've rolled up their sleeves as Members and have come to the table and said, America beckons. Her people need that sort of response. True leadership will move forward in a way that allows us to enjoy the taste of success. You know, tonight, as we've talked about the paralysis that has gripped this House, as we talked about the denial that has been part of the outcome that has been demeaning and destructive at times, I reach to the assessment by very nonpartisan congressional scholars, in this case Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein. They have been, over the years, very much bipartisan in their criticism and critiquing of the behavior in Congress. I just want to quote from their report: In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party. The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition. Tonight I will close with that statement because I think it's a challenge. It's a challenge to us to forget about the unproductive nature of the last several months and move forward with a newfound order of resolve that will enable us to acknowledge that some of the greatest moments in American history came with some of her darkest hours where with that regard, that true American spirit we're able to rise to the occasion, reach to the best intellect and the best temperament of this Nation as she came together in an order of consensus and where our best days followed that sort of agreement. We can build upon success. We can learn from history, the soundness of history that saw us respond and rise to the crushing situations that gripped this Nation and move forward with a sense of greatness, a sense of accomplishment, a sense of fairness and empowerment and, most importantly, a delivery of hope to the doorsteps of individuals and families across this great Nation. America's greatest moments are truly lying ahead if we can embark upon that challenge before us. With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TONKO. Representative Courtney, you talk about that event. When he made his presentation, he did that long-term review and a rather shorter focus over the last couple of years--the first term of President Obama's. Yet, when he talked about the track record over the last decade, he talked about 28 years of Republican leadership versus 24 years of Democratic leadership. He talked about the outcome in jobs, and said, under the Republican watch, 22 million jobs, I believe, were created. Under the Democratic watch, there were 42. So, he said, let's look at the record. Let's check the scorecard. Then he did the short- term outcome of President Obama's administration. He was talking about the numbers of jobs created and gave a zero to what the Republicans were advancing in the House. It's pretty obvious that there is this outcome of success. People constantly refer to the Clinton years now. What happened there? Well, we undid the surplus that was created. We spent down on a tax cut that wasn't paid for. We fought two wars that weren't on line with the budget. It's obvious we know what happened. Why would we give the keys back to someone who drove us into the ditch? So this whole effort in this administration with 30 now consecutive months of private sector job growth and the President's asking for Congress to move forward with an agenda that has had obvious positive results and its being denied and held up, played with, entered in with poison pills is not what the American public wants. They want those solutions, and they are denying those solutions. I think the do-nothing Republican Congress has caused great pain and has denied progress for the comeback scenario that we so desperately require and that the middle class and all of America so rightfully deserve.

Mr. TONKO. A point oftentimes lost. Even millionaires and billionaires would get their tax breaks on a first order of income, $250,000. Do you know what stands in the way? If we have to be totally frank here, they want to make certain that millionaires and billionaires continue to get their bonanza of a tax break. Well, do you know what? We know what got us into the economic crisis. We had a tax cut for millionaires and billionaires primarily that was never paid for. We fought two wars off line, off budget. So one of the first orders of business that the President wanted to address was putting together an honest budget. You didn't have the mechanism, the payment mechanism, for the millionaire-billionaire tax cut, and you have to bring that cost of the war into the budget. We need to move forward with a sound and reasonable approach to economic relief. The middle class has taken it on the chin, and it's their turn. They need to be relieved, and we need to invest in those orders of comeback that will empower our middle class. What I think is, with the efforts that have been made here in the House, the requests made in the House are very legit: Do what you can afford. Keep the economy going. To me, it's about aggregate demand for goods and services. So, if you relieve the middle class, if you strengthen their purchasing power, if we had that thriving middle class, someone needs to buy your product; someone needs to make your product. If you empower that middle class, it's a formula for success. As you point out, Representative Courtney, it is 98 percent of the general public that will enjoy that empowerment and 97 percent of the small business community. There is a way to go forward with a reasonable approach that really speaks to that strata that needs the most assistance today.

Mr. TONKO. Representative Courtney, you talk about the reducing of VAWA, the Violence Against Women Act. If the spirit and letter of that law has been to protect women, why would you weaken certain protections? There's this order of meanness and selectiveness and insensitivity that has abounded in this House, where they reduce efforts that have been championed over the decades, hard-fought efforts, bipartisan efforts, bicameral efforts, the executive branch working with the legislative branch, making certain that the heart and soul of this reform through the ages has been about making America stronger. You know, it's we, the people, working toward a more perfect Union, a more perfect Union. We've made such wonderful progress. We have acknowledged the needs of women, where they were ignored in legislative or statutory concepts. We go forward. And now it's like, as you suggest, rolling the clock back, being insensitive to so many needs out there and reducing the fabric of our government. It's like trying to speak to an archaic sort of quality that's driven by extreme thinking. It's the tail wagging the dog in the conference where this extreme thinking has taken over the majority and this do-nothing Republican Congress is not responding, not stepping up to the plate at a time that it's very, very critical. We saw this economy challenged more greatly than perhaps the Depression of the past that really was a prime test, but in many of the lives of today's working Americans, this is the first-time greatest experience, a challenge before us. And when we should step up and be the champions, the fairness and justice and resolve to move forward with progressive policy, we're getting almost the reverse. It's the antithesis of what's required here.

Mr. TONKO. You know, I listen to you, and your State was tremendously impacted by Irene and Lee last summer. My State was tremendously impacted. We reached for those very pots--that we've emptied with the Republican solution--that served our communities so very well with disaster funds. We can't tamper with some of those legitimate set- asides because they're there, they're required by acts of Mother Nature or by manmade situations where we need to have disaster dollars available. But you can't help but quantify. I mean, you just imagine the extrapolating out of jobs, the impact of jobs if you don't get this done, the ripple effect into those ancillary businesses that feed into the needs of agriculture. It is a tremendous opportunity for us to grow stability in the economy. And to not do this, this do-nothing Republican Congress is devastating the economy. We could have made major strides, we could have gone forward with a lot of attempts to do good. Now, what I sense here, from what you've talked about with these poison pills that have been adopted or placed into their solutions, or the ignoring of agreed-upon legislation in committee, this is a recurring theme. I mean, we saw the FAA, the Federal Aeronautics Administration, impacted again by delays, games that were being played because they need the full loaf or they want it their way. There is no sense of consensus that is driving these outcomes. And so we delayed for months the FAA outcome, which challenged, put at risk hundreds of projects, tens of thousands of construction jobs that were going to speak to safety at our airports. We saw it with student loans. You were so actively involved with that. You were outspoken in your criticism of perhaps doubling our students' interest on their loans. And they, again, inserted poison pills. We waited until the midnight hour to get something done--with a lot of unpredictability again. We saw it with the payroll tax relief that we were trying to do for middle-income America and small businesses. Couldn't get it done. Waited till the last minute. Poison pills that delayed progress. This is a recurring theme, is it not?

Mr. TONKO. Representative Courtney, you're a great friend. You're a great friend not only to me, but to this House, to the district you represent, and to the State of Connecticut. And you're such a good friend because of the academics that you put into the job. I have watched you in action, and I know that you are about building consensus. But what we have here, you talk about, doesn't this become even more urgent an item with the drought situation that we've had across this country? Grain prices are going to rise. So to have some stability and security--predictability--into the ag outcomes for many sectors of agriculture, it becomes even more critical. And to go back, to revert to a 1949 formula, is sinful. It's immoral. People talk about the lack of sensitivity, the lack of productivity, but we're talking about immoral outcomes here that don't enable people to do their work. I mean, this is a small business--in many places large business--but agriculture runs that gamut. For many, it's small business, it's family business, it's a way of life, and we're denying that very fabric of this country. I know groups have come together in atypical fashion--outside groups that are putting pressure here--they have come in partnership to say: Hey, look, get this done, as you're suggesting, get it done. You've done some of the basics. Why are you ignoring this number one industry for many States?

Mr. TONKO. This evening we'll spend some time here in Special Order on the House floor to address a great bit of unfinished business that rests before the House. And we have just returned from what is a 5-week recess where Members of this House were back in their districts and addressing the events of this session. It has been labeled by many as a do-nothing Congress. This evening we're going to talk about that do- nothing agenda. We have attempted in every which way to encourage the Congress, the House, to address legislation that speaks to job creation and economic recovery, continuing to build upon the achievements of the 111th Congress, and we're now serving in the 112th. But for me, it's my second term in the House. The very first term for me, the 111th Congress, was deemed by several polls out there to be one of the most productive in decades where there were many things taken up by this House that responded to the needs of America, middle class Americans, Americans of all stripes, who required initiatives from this House. We were in the midst of a very dark period, a recession that gripped this economy that put 8.2 million people at risk by their losing a job through no fault of their own. We were losing as many as 800,000 jobs a month. So the devastation of that impact on the American economy, bringing America's economy to its knees, needed a response from government. The President acknowledged an agenda that would move us not only into a response against the recession but putting us at the cutting edge of a modern economy. Investing in research, investing in science and technology, investing in an ideas economy, investing in an innovation economy--that's the sort of priming of the pump, if you will. That's essential for us to respond in substantive terms for us to utilize government as a tool that is productive and enabling and empowering the middle class, empowering our small business community, empowering our entrepreneurs. That was the hope-for. And it happened in the 111th Congress. But something drastically happened with the change in leadership in the 112th Congress. We now have been ranked in single-digit percentage approval. Below 10 percent is the approval rating for this Congress, some of the lowest points achieved, or earned, by this Congress in its history as a House. That is a very telling statement. How do we go from the most productive in decades to most unfavorable in the history of the House? We have a reactionary response from those who want to destroy the essence of government. They do not weave any sort of government program activity into the fabric of response to a very difficult period in our economic history. It is one that is unpopular and unproductive. It is one that is being rejected by people out there. When I go back to my district, I hear it from Republicans, Democrats, Independents alike: Why can't something get done? There's a paralysis here. And it's because there's a rejection. There is a sense of partisanship rather than partnership. There is an outright attempt to deny anything coming to the House as a request to get productive and progressive policy done. So there are things that languish. There is this crush of big tasks that rest before the House, work to produce a jobs bill, work to produce a response to the ag crisis, the reauthorization of our ag bill, work to invest in the middle class. It's been this House, when controlled by the Democrats, that spoke to the opportunities, the ladders of success, if you will. The Democratic conference in this House was all about, has always been about, in my tenure here, about producing ladders of success. You know, we believe in that American principle that you work hard, act with responsibility, play by the rules, and expect to taste success. Well, we haven't seen that sort of cooperative spirit from the new Republican majority in the House. You know, we believe, as Democrats, that you produce those ladders of opportunity. You allow people to climb toward their American Dream. We enable people to utilize their gifts, their talents, their passions, their skills to empower themselves, their families, the small businesses. And so we stand for this wonderful three-legged stool that speaks to the empowerment of small business, forever the pulse of American enterprise, that looks to create jobs that are then tethered very strongly with small business citizenship into the local community grain. Then we talk about investing in entrepreneurs, those dreamers, the movers, the shakers, the builders of society that have forever been the American spirit, the pioneer spirit. I represent a district in upstate New York that is the donor area to the Erie Canal. And that canal produced not only a port out of a little town called New York City but gave birth to a necklace of communities that became the epicenters of invention and innovation. The empowerment of the entrepreneur--another strong underlying principle of the agenda of Democrats in the House. Finally, a thriving middle class--making certain that we utilize the policies that can be created in this House that will empower with tax fairness, empower with investment in the worker, in education, higher education, apprenticeship programs to empower the middle class and small businesses. We have measures that we have asked to be brought to the floor. There is a denial of any sort of single jobs bill before the House. We have requested over and over again to invest in that agenda the empowerment of America through small business, entrepreneurs, a thriving middle class. It's been rejected. Tonight I'm joined by a colleague from the State of Connecticut, Joseph Courtney. Joe Courtney is a strong believer in this government process. He's a strong believer that when we can prime the pump and when we can utilize government to make a difference, when we can create programs that speak to the honest-to-goodness agenda for all strata of America, but utilizing that middle class strata--small business, farming as a small business--making certain we utilize every strength, every sector of our economy and not just relying on a service sector, especially the financial services that we did that brought us into a crisis situation--we can incorporate all of the sectors of the economy. One of those prime sectors? Agriculture. Representative Courtney, it is great to have you joining us this evening in this colloquy. The agriculture industry from coast to coast is a heavy-duty important industry. You sit on the Ag Committee. As a representative from Connecticut, you know the importance of agriculture to your State. I know the importance of agriculture in upstate New York, throughout New York. Reauthorization of an ag bill is fundamental, is it not, to go forward and create opportunities?

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Colorado for yielding time. I would hope that the order of business on this floor is guided by priorities, the most essential priorities that are calling for this body to respond to the people of this great Nation, and in these difficult economic times to do it with a degree of urgency. But what is our order of business here today on the floor? Fixing a typo. That's what we're doing here this morning. We're fixing a typo in an election- year driven, politically motivated bill. But we are really wasting time and playing games. You see, our families and businesses are calling out for compromise, for confidence and for certainty. And this body has utterly failed to answer that call. Just yesterday, the other Chamber passed a bill to guarantee the current tax rate for our middle class. If this bill fails to pass, taxes will go up on nearly everyone in this country. But instead of passing the Senate bill, an extension of tax rates that nearly every single Member of this body supports, our order of business is an attempt to pass a rule on the underlying bill for a second time. Why? So that we can continue to hold the extension of middle class tax cuts hostage to enable the richest amongst us to get another Bush-era style tax handout. Make no mistake. There is but a single roadblock in the way for the middle class right now--and that's the majority in this House. The other Chamber passed a bill. The President said he will sign that bill. And if just one of every 10 Republicans in this body stands with our side of the aisle, we can ensure certainty and confidence for our middle class. Instead, it looks like we are heading down the road of yet another manufactured crisis. From government shutdowns to debt ceiling debacles to highway bill holdups, this body has consistently fallen short over the past year and a half. So let's quit these games on the underlying bill. This is about more than a typo. It's about priorities, and it's about values. And right now, we must prioritize middle class tax cuts and provide the certainty and predictability that our American families so desperately deserve and need.

Mr. TONKO

Mr. TONKO. Yes, we're down to our last 4 minutes. I always find these discussions to be interesting because there's all this rhetoric out there about 30 bills that have been advanced by the majority in the House and that it's the salvation that's going to produce jobs and get America working again. Major analysts have reviewed that legislative agenda and said it doesn't do what they contend it will do. It doesn't produce the results. We would love that to be the case, but it doesn't produce the result. They said that we are really in need of legislation that will advance jobs. Tonight, this discussion about providing the tools, putting additional tools into the kit that makes American industry competitive, speaks to our humble beginnings. So many people travel to these shores. Their journey was about the dream, a noble dream, an American Dream that they were going to make it here. That was our humble beginning, and we enabled people to experience the rags-to-riches scenario. We allowed for generations to continue to grow and prosper and build upon the success that preceded them. Today, sadly, our middle class is weakening household income-wise. The next generation may be the first to go backward. The President is trying to move us forward, with great resistance in this House to reject progressive policies. We say: Let's build upon the success of the past. Let's reach to those shining moments when we were challenged as a nation and produce the best outcomes. That can happen again here if we open up to what's best for America and not resort to petty partisan politics that want to deny a Presidency, that want to deny opposition that comes forward with constructive qualities to do it in a better way, to build the consensus. We need to move forward on behalf of the nobleness of the American Dream. With heart and soul poured into the efforts here in this House, we can achieve and grow that middle class, purchasing power enhanced for the middle class, opportunities for our middle class. A strong middle class means a strong America. Let's go forward. Representative Garamendi, thank you for leading us in this hour.

Mr. TONKO. Again, Social Security. You're absolutely right. The President lifted this Nation, and he made certain that all families would have at least a foundation upon which they could grow, upon which they could live in this society. It addressed the dignity factor, which has made us unique as an American society: caring about our fellow man, caring about the men and women of this great Nation in a way that created an American society, a sense of community--we the people--talking of us in a community sense, a neighborliness, neighborhoods and societies speaking in a compassionate way, caring about one another. That's when we're at our best.

Mr. TONKO. Absolutely. I was energy chair at the State assembly for the last 15 of my 25 years in the legislature, but then went over as president and CEO with NYSERDA, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. We made it our goal to advance research, to make certain that we would incubate these ideas--these innovations, the cutting-edge technology-- that translate into jobs. Research equals jobs. I have advanced legislation that would slide subsidies that are given to the historically profit-rich in the tenure of capitalism--our goal here is to not feed the profit margin of our oil companies--over to cutting-edge technology, renewables, providing for consumer behavioral transitioning that enables us to grow American independence in the energy generation business. Why are we sending tens and hundreds of billions of dollars over to unfriendly nations to the United States for our dependency on fossil- based fuels when, in fact, we can encourage renewables here and energy efficiency, utilizing that as our fuel of choice to make certain that we reduce demand that then reduces bills that then allows the competitiveness of our businesses to be all the sharper? Those are the sorts of things in which we want to invest, and it's the going forward from that point. How about our infrastructure bank bill that would leverage public and private monies and that would stretch our opportunities to respond to that deficient infrastructure of which you spoke? These are important measures. This is the sort of cutting-edge opportunity--the investment, the pioneer spirit again. We can learn from our American story. There have been those golden moments when we have hit bottom. There were those golden moments when we were tremendously challenged and when we rose to the occasion in tough times, primarily tough times, by responding with a tough agenda that said, look, true grit here will get us to the finish line--and it happened. It happened with Medicare. It happened with the Erie Canal, of which we often speak.

Mr. TONKO. A couple of things come to mind legislatively. What about investing, as the AJA does, in community colleges--the campus of choice across this Nation? The associate degree is a very important, valuable bit of material to have in one's hand. We are going to rely heavily on those associate degrees, and community colleges need our assistance. They are also there as the operational center of training and retraining programs. What about investments in technology? investments in research? investments in alternative energy supplies that give us an opportunity to grow independent?

Mr. TONKO. They're typical danger zones with ceilings falling and poorly upheld infrastructure. The jobs--the absolute jobs of a 250,000 count--would benefit, again, the economy. These operating costs are reduced, and they theorize that it could be in the neighborhood of $100,000 a year. Now, think of what you can do locally with that. That might mean two teachers, or it might mean 200 more computers, or it might mean 5,000 textbooks. It's a way to invest by balancing those savings with the investment in children-- in our future and our present--because our children represent our future and our present. It is a respect toward our children. These are, I think, in keeping with the old American spirit--the pioneer spirit--to enable us to dream bold dreams and to encourage our youngsters to pursue these career paths and to develop, again, the workforce of the new millennium, in which we are going to be asked to compete in a global marketplace where there are investments going on around the world. Now is not the time to cut our commitment to our children and to our society and our competitiveness as a business community. So it all comes together in a very structured sense, in a very comprehensive plan.

Mr. TONKO. Earlier, I think you had made mention of modernizing our schools and that part of the American Jobs Act includes the investment in the revitalizing of our schools, some 35,000 schools across this Nation. The statistics are there. People document, historically, what investments in refurbishing our schools have meant. For every $1 billion of investment, we can grow some 9,000 to 10,000 jobs. That's the start of the story. So what we have here, the modernization of schools, would create some 250,000 jobs. As I said, that's just the start of the story. What happens after that? Maintenance costs and operating costs are reduced because you might have energy efficiency embraced in that restructuring. You'll have better, more efficient weather-type situations, more comfortable situations for students in which to learn, which is important.

Mr. TONKO. So when you contrast that, that cut in jobs, the cuts that would be part of the Republican budget plan, adopted by this House, would grow the deficit because if we're arguing that employment reduces the deficit, unemployment, in contrast to the American Jobs Act, would drive up the deficit. It's going back to the failed policies of the past. We've fought two wars that were never put on budget. We offered trillions in tax cuts that we couldn't afford, and we avoided talking about paying for the war. Did we think there wasn't going to be a crash? Did we think that that behavior wouldn't come with a price? Of course it had to extract a price from the American society, and it was the loss of 8.2 million jobs; it was the loss of as many as 800,000 jobs a month. It was about bringing America's economy to its knees and draining trillions of dollars from households that trusted that their investment with the private sector, with the financial industry was going to return them lucrative dividends. We saw the failure of those policies. Why would we go back down that road, which seems to be what the Republican plan, the Republican budget, is all about?

Mr. TONKO. I think it's interesting too because we're talking about the jobs created that impact the unemployment rate, that impact the reduction of the deficit. In contrast, the Ryan budget, which we've talked about many times, the Republican plan for this House, that's been adopted by Republicans that are in leadership and running for President, would, in contrast, according to the Economic Policy Institute, the cuts in services would result in a reduction of 1.3 million jobs in the first year and 2.8 million jobs in the second year.