that i just stated. another thinking is this bill dotion cut as a condition to increase the debt ceiling, but those cuts are only $7 billion out of discretionary spending out of the one year we control, 212. the ryan budget has $31 billion out of the 2012. 24 billion less cuts already that shows we don't have the resolve to do the early cutting but only the late cutting. if you have the late cutting instead of the early cutting that means we might not be held accountable down the line. politicians want to push that off on to future congresses and don't want to face the constituents this time. and so i urge we pass the bral answered budget out of this congress and we have taken a small step today and we have to

take big steps to get where this country belongs and i look forward to the day where i can say to my grandchildren we did clear a path for you and did do it right and now it's up to you to take the country to the next level. thank you, mr. speaker. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from iowa rise? mr. king: i move the house do now adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it and the motion adon'ted and the

later, it democratic members of the congressional caucus. our coverage on raising the debt ceiling continues with remarks from the vice-president bide n. he said it would prevent a double dip recession. his remarks came after a meeting with house democrats after almost 2.5 hours of trying to cure the bill.

>> how're you doing? >> i did not go to convince people. i went to explain and laid out exactly how we got to where we were going and why it is so important. i never asked another person to vote against it. my sense is that they expressed all their frustration. i would be fresh traded about it. -- i would be frustrated about it. they ask questions specifically about the proposed legislation. i thought it was a good meeting. i feel confident that this will pass. >> they have said they have been

sold down the river. >> of course. if we had our way and there was a different circumstance in the congress, we would be talking and should be talking about job creation issues. we should be talking about infrastructure and investment in education. the president made that clear in his statement. the truth of the matter is that it is hanging over everyone's head. the reason why it is so important that this bargaining that has been negotiating with

the president -- with the republicans is that it has won overwhelmingly. it says this issue cannot come up again until 2013. it has to do with from the moment it passes, if it passes, we will be talking about nothing from then but about jobs. but if i stood before all of you two weeks ago and i said i have a job plans, then you have written about it. none of you would have said that. we have to get this out of the way. >> the other thing that we have done here is that this bargain does not prevent us from being able to continue to fund those

initiatives within our budget that are the job creators. the normal processes go forward. it is within the house and senate as to whether you can convince people that our initiative should be passed. i have been dealing with budgeteers for so long. there is room within the budget to fund those priorities. it is going to be what it would ordinarily be, if you do not do this, we are going to let the economy defaults. we will see if it climbs five or more percent. >> thank you.

>> harry reid also spoke to reporters to discuss the details of the debt ceiling measure. this is just a few minutes. >> i bet none of you have been standing for two hours. we really had a good conversation in the caucus. there was some enthusiasm for the legislation, some on the other side not so enthusiastic, but generally speaking, people realized the situation we were in any alternative.

-- and the alternative. this legislation is typical for compromise legislation. neither side got what they wanted, but it is the essence of compromise. i am told the house will vote on this sometime this evening. i am going to see if we can put this day, but we're working on that. it would be nice to be able to get this bill from the house and start the process. there are ways we can work simultaneously, and i hope we can work that out. all takes unanimous consent, and we would do everything we can to get that. we need to send this to the president as soon as we can. it has been a long process, i am confident we did the right thing for the american people. the solution cuts the deficit now, lays the groundwork for congress to do much better work in the months ahead. it clears the way for us to look

up at the bright sunshine and get rid of the clout of the fault that have been hanging over our country for four to long. one.work is far from d i am hopeful we can get this work done, this legislation we are working on now. we still have to do things. many people are around the country are struggling for the essentials. that is a job, and we have to move to a jobs agenda as quickly as possible. we need to put this debate behind us as soon as we complete this legislation and put americans back to work. [unintelligible] there a needis, is for comprehensive deficit reduction? the answer is, not only yes, but, hell, yes. we have made a step forward, and

that is good, and as everyone knows, the idea of a joint committee was my proposal. i am glad that senator mcconnell has put his arms around it. i hope we can get something done. i was told as i was walking out of this i hope it does not affect the vote over there today, but i was told that saidsentative kcantor revenue could be part of what we do with the joint committee. yes, the deficits are still a problem, for the long term. when we started the last congress, we found ourselves in a hole that the country has ever seen before. we lost 8 million jobs from the bush administration. it shows the difference that president clinton created 23 million jobs. we had a surplus when he took

office of $7 trillion. now because of the unpaid wars and the unpaid taxes, drug programs, which are now $14 trillion. we have a lot more on deficit reduction. [unintelligible] pardon me. [unintelligible] senator mcconnell and i have talked very briefly about this. i will be interested in seeing what ideas he has, but i am calling to make that decision at a subsequent time. i have two weeks to do it after this bill is passed, and it is important that i think people who are willing to make hard choices, but are not locked in. one of my friend asks to be on the committee, but it does not bode well for me to choose

someone that the world knows, how they feel about it before they go in there. we need to look at other avenues, and i will do my best to pick three people, including lee co-chair and the work toward the solution of the long- term debt of our country. [unintelligible] i have not thought about that. that should have no bearing because people could vote against this bill and still think the joint committee was a good idea. [unintelligible] i am a long time member of congress, and i never count my votes until they are cast. i am hopeful, but we will have to see. the republicans will have to produce some votes, and we will have to produce some votes, and i am not here tto claim

victory. [unintelligible] i was referring to people who said the committee is a waste of time. nothing will happen there. i think we have to go into this with people with their eyes wide open, all willing to make difficult choices, but yet understand the political reality of the world we are in the. -- we are in. i have been standing for two hours and i feel like i am -- [unintelligible] >> the house leadership also spoke to reporters about the agreement reached sunday on raising the debt ceiling and

reducing the federal budget. this runs about 10 minutes. >> good afternoon, everyone. in january, our first week that we were sworn into office, the president asked for an increase of the debt ceiling, and made clear at that time that there would be no increase without significant cut of spending and changes to the way we spend the american people lost money. shortly after that i was in new york and gave a speech and

outlined that i thought the spending cuts should exceed the amount of the debt limit increase and there should be no taxes as part of this agreement. when you look at what we have been able to achieve, we have met those two standards that had been outlined. it is time for america to deal with the spending problem and deal with the fact that we made promises to the american people that our kids and grand kids just cannot afford. in addition, we have worked with members and listen to the american people who have a real interest making sure we did not get into this spot again and we ought to have a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. i think if you look at the structure of the balanced budget issues in this agreement, it gives us the best shot that we have had in the 20 years i've been here to build support for a balanced budget amendment to the constitution, to put that kind of fiscal handcuffs on this

congress that are sorely needed. we have been operating under a balanced budget amendment, we would never have gotten ourselves into the mess we're in. this is important for our fiscal future, but it is also important for the fact that our economy needs to get going. beginning to steps toward this game -- fixing our fiscal problems will give confidence to of lawyers in america, the people we expect to create jobs. the house will vote on a measure today that although not perfect will begin to change the culture here in washington. for too many decades, on the part of both parties, this town has spent money it does not have. by sending to the congress this year 87 new republicans, the american people have actually changed that and changed the

direction of this country. it is said the bill is not perfect, and it is not, a change in the way washington spends taxpayers' dollars is like redirecting an aircraft carrier. it is a monumental task. in my experience throughout the last couple months, i have been involved in a lot of the discussions around this issue, and from day one, this administration has been insisting that we raised taxes in order to solve this problem. i think a big win here for us and for the american people is the fact that there are no tax hikes in this package, which so many people out of work, the middle class hoping for more jobs, the last thing we need right now our tax hikes. i am told that the leader on the other side of the building, the majority leader, went to the floor today and indicated that somehow i changed my position on that. i can tell you flat out he is wrong.

i insisted again that now is not the time for us to be considering tax hikes when there is over 9% of monmouth and too many people are out of work. >> what a difference when you're makes. a year ago, washington fought that we needed more spending. they thought we needed more government. after the election, there has been a fundamental change. now congress has opened up, is transparent, ideas have come to the floor and the ideas have to be debated. we watched the leadership from this house -- this bill does not give all the answers. this bill brings accountability. this bill puts in spending controls. this bill cuts spending, it does not increase it. if you start at the beginning of this debate, the second day when we were sworn in, when the secretary of the treasurer sent

the letter. we were at a crossroads. this is a fundamental change for the government, for this country, but only a start. after we passed this we will come back the next day to continue to work to create jobs for the small businesses that we know will move this country in the right direction. >> the american people have said few jobs.twoo the legislation the house will soon vote on i believe helps to address both of those concerns. as a our whip said, there are those who still call for job- killing tax increases from the federal government. it is not going to happen with this piece of legislation. in this piece of legislation,

for only the second time -- for the first time in my life government discretionary spending will go down two years in a row. the numbers look at the problem are minimum. the directional change is huge. what i hear from job creators throughout this nation in the fifth district of texas that i represent is we are worried about this that because we know one day we will have to pay for it. it is one of the great factors of uncertainty and lack of confidence that is contributing to our continued high rate of unemployment here this piece of legislation takes a step in the right direction. and most of portly for many of us -- most importantly for many of us who did not want to raise the debt ceiling, we now in this piece of legislation that we will soon vote on plant the

seeds for the ultimate solution, that is to compel the house, compel the senate to vote on a first balanced budget amendment to the constitution in 15 years. families have to do it, small businesses have to do it, 49 of 50 states have the requirement to do it. the american people expect nothing less out of their federal government. so i look forward to taking that debate on the balanced budget amendment to the people of america and hopefully have it reported out of the state sen. -- soon. >> i cannot help but think about where we were a year ago when the congress was passing record new programs and spending and approving record deficits. today we have completely changed course.

we are debating now how much we can cut and what programs we can reduce. the speaker has said that this is not a perfect plan. i view this as a significant step in the right direction, and when you ask yourself, is this plan going to get our fiscal house in order, is this plan going to make sure we keep the american dream alive, i believe the answer is yes. i am going to be supporting this plan, and i urge my colleagues to also support this plan. >> think about where we were in the beginning of this process. the president asked us for a blank check. he did not get that. he asked for a big tax increase. he did not get that. we said with the speaker's leadership, you need to cut dollar for dollar. we got that. we have in his legislation for

the last eight years to get caps on spending. we cannot get caps on discretionary spending bill last time the republicans were in the majority. we got that. that is important. we see this as a good step and the right direction. as a decent down payment on the deficit, it is a huge change in the culture of spending. we are cutting spending. you are spending next year than we spent last year. you have never heard that kind of a statement in this town. we really do believe that the value of this republican majority has been a change in this culture, and in the old days we had what we had to get dt rule.ghephar we repealed this so we could do it in plain sight to the public could see.

what we did with that was used it as an opportunity to change the culture of spending, and that is exactly what this bill dust. >> [unintelligible] >> i just met with all members of our armed services committee. they clearly have some concerns about the defense numbers in this bill. as i told them, this is the best defense number we are going to get. if we do not pass the bill, it is clear to me what will happen. the defense number will go down. i believe many of our members from the armed services committee will be supporting the work of the house. >> leader pelosi left the caucus this afternoon and indicated that -- she thinks it is incumbent upon the republicans

to bring forth. >> i would remind everyone that this is not just an agreement between the president and myself, this is an agreement between the bipartisan leaders of the congress and president. all leaders have the responsibility because they have all signed off on the agreement to bring sufficient votes to make sure that is passes. -- that it passes. [unintelligible] >> there will be a substantial number of republicans who will not support this. what is your argument to them and what you say to them why they cannot support? >> this is the kind of thing we have been looking for four years. there are people who are concerned about defense is too high. this gets us 2/3 counts of discretionary spending that we are looking in the budget.

we got 2/3. that is better than zero. that is why i think most republicans will support this. >> if you got to/3, did they get all or nothing? >> you will have to ask them. >> what kind of guarantees did he get from kabul about who will be -- about senator mcconnell about who will be on the super committee? >> senator mcconnell and i have talked about our appointees to this committee. we have not made any decisions, but i am sure we will continue to have conversations about our appointees to the committee. >> would you tell leaders of your own party about mitt romney saying this opens the

doors to higher taxes? >> i have got a big job to do here. those running for president have their own aspirations. my goal is to get this bill pass, signed into law to solve this that crisis and helped get the american people back to work. >> do you have the votes at this point, sir? >> this afternoon members of the progress of caucus said they would not vote to raise the debt ceiling. they said it was an attack on the most vulnerable and criticized the lack of tax increases on the wealthy. this is 15 minutes.

>> hello, ladies and gentlemen. my name is keith ellison. i am the co-chair of this progressive caucus, along with raul grijalva, along with sheila jackson lee, barley, maxine waters, and lynn woolsey. i have a statement from our caucus that i would like to share. while toadying to increase the debt ceiling is a necessary step, the deficit reduction measures included will further harm our economy and hurt working americans with and implement still about 9% and stagnating economic growth. taking out of the economy money

that will only place a heavier burden on working families. this is the wrong approach for our economy at the wrong time. it goes against our basic values. for that reason we and many of our members of the progressive caucus will be voting know. progressives are committed to a prosperity for the working middle class and we believe that reasonable deficit reduction can be achieved while advancing our values. the de's appeal -- today's deal falls short. the party republicans have held our comic hostage to those demands, but as a reduction should be enacted -- should not be enacted in a hostage situation. we have long said the fault on the full faith and credit of the united states is not acceptable. if this bill is defeated, we urge the president to use his power under the 14th amendment power under the 14th amendment and executive authority to