“Mr. Speaker, we are now at some point and time going to conclude four weeks in session with little to show for it. Over the past month, the Republican Do-Nothing Congress has continued its relentless pursuit of message over substance.
"What Leader Cantor has done and what the Republican party in the House of Representatives have done is once more snatched delay and defeat from the jaws of victory. The Senate passed a bill which would give 98% of Americans assurance that they would have no tax increase January 1. The Republicans have now deep-sixed that, unfortunately. They know full well that the bill they passed yesterday will not pass the Senate."
“Designed to fail, that's what this bill is – designed to fail. And, very frankly, you made sure that it was going to fail when you passed the amendment that added the reform bill and this bill together. Designed to fail – how sad.
“First I want to rise and thank Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for her continuing leadership and focus on this important issue, as she does on so many other issues as well.
“I thank the Gentleman from Colorado [Rep. Perlmutter] who has been so involved and so eloquent in expressing the grief that his constituents share and all the members from Colorado on either side of the aisle who have come together to share this grief.
