Newsroom

“Sunday evening, across America and throughout the world, Jewish families will usher in a new year – one that I hope is filled with the blessings of peace and happiness for all.  Rosh Hashanah offers an opportunity to remember the important contributions made to our country by its Jewish community, which has enhanced America in the fields of science, politics, law, entertainment, athletics, and a host of others since the days even before our nation’s independence.   

“We are reminded of the danger that our men and women, who are sent abroad to represent the United States of America, to promote democracy and freedom around the world, we know the danger to which they are exposed. The tragic death of Ambassador [Christopher] Stevens, [State Department official] Sean Smith and others in Libya point out how dangerous the daily lives are in these areas of the world. We express our deep sympathy. But I'm sure that every embassy in the world has been put on high alert, particularly in areas where we know there are violent proclivities but also around the world, to make sure our embassy personnel are on guard, Americans are on guard and we keep our people safe.”

“Thank you, Madam Speaker. First I want to of course associate myself with the remarks from [Rep. David] Dreier and [Rep. David] Price, who have done such terrific work in the spread of democracy, but also to lament the tragic loss of life and the courage displayed by our men and women in our foreign service and who are deployed abroad to represent the United States, its democracy and its principles.

Throughout the 112th Congress, House Republicans have chosen confrontation over compromise, ignoring job creation, extending middle class tax cuts, and other critical legislation while wasting time on partisan messaging bills. Despite the challenges facing our country, Republicans have refused to govern effectively, instead focusing on their political agenda that won’t create jobs, grow our economy, or address our deficit in a serious way.  By refusing to work with Democrats towards responsible solutions, Republicans have walked away from the American people again and again.  This has resulted in record low legislative activity, and misguided priorities that favor extreme, partisan talking points over compromise and solutions. 

"I was deeply saddened to learn this morning of the news from Libya of the tragic death of Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith and two other American personnel in an attack in Benghazi. Their families are in my prayers today. Ambassador Stevens and Sean Smith were distinguished career diplomats who embodied the best of our Foreign Service and were instrumental in helping Libya’s democratic transition.

“I want to congratulate Dan Lipinski for authoring this legislation. It is one of the key pieces of our Make It In America agenda, which my distinguished colleague from North Carolina [Rep. G.K. Butterfield] has discussed. I want to thank my dear and good friend Mary Bono Mack for her leadership on this effort. As the gentleman said, and I could adopt his remarks, the previous speaker, Mr. Kinzinger, we do need a manufacturing policy, we do need a manufacturing renaissance, and we do need a psychology that America’s going to be number one and stay number one and create the kind of good paying jobs for our people that manufacturing provides.

“Hopefully [a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff] will come together before the end of the year. I've been working on that. Others have been working on that. Contrary to what I heard Mr. Cantor say, the President of the United States in the 32 years I've been in Congress, has spent more time working with Republicans and frankly with Democrats in the White House around his conference table to try to get to an agreement. The Republicans walked away from the Bowles-Simpson plan. They walked away from the [Vice President] Joe Biden talks. Mr. Cantor himself walked away from those. And they walked away from the [Speaker John] Boehner- [President Barack] Obama agreement. So I'm hopeful that we will come to agreement. I think Moody's is correct - if we don't, we will undermine confidence and undermine credibility of the United States. We need to come to agreement. We need to sit down together and reason together and adopt a balanced plan. That's the trick.”