creation, the strongest record of economic growth of any of the four presidents during that period. by far. i just say i wish i could have participated in that debate last night. i missed it, but i wanted to set the record

but it is going to be a normal political battle rather than sitting there and saying, by the way, if you do not do this, we're going to let the economy, the united states to fail. we will let interest rates climb 5% are more, and risk a double-dip recession. that is behind us now if that passes. thank you all very much.

next, house debate. this is an hour and 25 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 realize the situation we are and and the alternative.

this legislation is typical for compromise legislation. neither side got what it wanted. but it is the essence of compromise. i am told the house will be voting on this sometime this evening. i'm going to work to see if we can vote today, not at all assured, but we are working on that. it would be nice to get this bill from the house and start the process. there are ways that we can work simultaneously and i hope we can work that out. all this takes unanimous consent in the senate and we will do everything we can to see if i can get that. we need to send it to president obama as soon as we can. it has been a long process and 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 at the bright sunshine and get rid of the clouds of default hanging over our country for far too long. but our work is far from done. i am hopeful and confident we can get this done very quickly, this legislation we are working on now. but we still have to do things. many people in nevada and around the country are struggling for the essentials, that is, a job. we have to move to a jobs agenda. we need to move toward that 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. >> [inaudible] >> the question is, is there still a need for comprehensive deficit-reduction? the answer is not only yes but hell, yes.

we made a step forward and that is good. the joint committee idea was my proposal. i'm glad that senator mcconnell has put his arms around this. i hope that we can get something done. i was just told as i was walking out of there, i hope it does not affect the vote over there, but i was told that representative cantor said, maybe i am wrong, someone just told me, that cantor said that revenue could very well be part of what we do on the joint committee. so, yes, that deficit is still a problem. it will be for the long term. when we started the last congress, we found ourselves in a hole the country has never seen before. we lost 8 million jobs with the bush administration. to show the difference, president clinton created 23 million jobs. we had a surplus when he took

office of $7 trillion over 10 years, and now because of the unpaid for wars in iraq and afghanistan and the unpaid for drug program, we are now $14 trillion. we have to work more on deficit reduction. >> [inaudible] >> senator mcconnell and i have spoken briefly on this. i'll be interested to see what his ideas are. the decision is totally his. i'm going to make that decision at subsequent times. i have two weeks to do it after this bill is passed and is extremely important that i take people who are willing to make hard choices, but are not locked in. one of my friends asked me 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. i think we better look at other avenues, to pick three people, including the co-chair, that will work toward a solution for the long-term debt of our country. i had not thought about that. [laughter] that has no bearing, because people could vote against this bill and think the joint committee is still a good idea. [inaudible] listen, i am a longtime member of congress. i never count my votes until they are cast. i am hopeful, but you know that the republicans are going have to produce some votes, and we're going to have to produce votes, so i'm not here to declare victory. we need to get this thing passed. [inaudible]

>> i was referring to people who said that the committee is a waste of time. nothing will happen there. i just think we have to go into this with people with their eyes wide open, willing to make difficult choices, but yet understand the political reality of the world we are in. [inaudible] i feel like i am 25, but i am not. [laughter] >> the house republican leadership also spoke to reporters about the compromise 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 in the debt ceiling and i made clear at that time that there would be no increase in the debt ceiling without significant cuts in spending and changes to the way we spend the american people's money. shortly after that, i was in new york, gave a speech and

outlined that any cuts must exceed the amount of the debt limit increase and that there should be no taxes as part of this agreement. and when you look at all we have been able to achieve, we have met those two standards that have been outlined. it is time for america deal with its spending problem and deal with the fact that we made promises to the american people that our kids and grandkids just cannot afford. in addition to that, we'll work with our members to listen to the american people who have a real interest in making sure that we do not get into the spot again and that we ought to have a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. and i think that 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 have 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. if we had been operating under a balanced budget agreement, we would never got ourselves into the mess we are in. this is not only important for the fiscal future but for the fact that our economy needs to get going. beginning to take steps toward fixing our fiscal problems will in fact provide more confidence for employers in america, the people we expect to reinvest in our economy and 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 now on the part of both parties, this town has spent money it does not have. and by sending to the congress this year 87 new republicans, the american people have

actually changed that and changed the direction of this country. the bill is not perfect and it is not, but changing the way that washington spends taxpayer dollars is like redirecting an aircraft carrier. it is a monumental task. i think that in my experience for the past couple of months, i've been involved in a lot of discussion surrounding this issue. from day one this administration has been insistent that we raise taxes in order to solve this problem. i think the big win for us and for the american people is the fact that there are no tax hikes in this package. with so many people out of work, with a middle-class hoping for more jobs, the last thing we need right now are tax hikes. other side of the building, the majority leader, went to the floor today and indicated that somehow i had changed my position on that. i can tell you flat out he is

wrong. i insist again that now is not the time for us to be considering a tax hike when there are over 9% unemployment and too many people are out of work. >> what a difference one year makes. a year ago, washington thought that we just needed more spending. they thought that they need more government. after the elections, there's been a fundamental change. now congress has opened up, transparent, and if you watch the ideas coming to the floor, they have to be debated. you watch the leadership from this house, we will take the lead on moving this bill out as well. this bill does not give all the answers. this bill does bring accountability. this bill does put in needed spending controls. this bill does cut spending and does not increase it.

i think was the second day when we were sworn in, they just wanted to increase it $2.4 trillion and nothing else. this is a fundamental change for this government in this country but it is only a start. after we pass this, we will come back to continue to work to create the jobs for small business that we know will move this country in the right direction. >> the american people have said they are too few jobs and too much debt. the legislation that the house will soon follow up on, i believe, helps to address both of those concerns. as our whip said when this debate started, 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

giving and this piece of legislation, for only the second time -- first time, i'm sorry, in my life, government discretionary spending will go down two years in a row. the numbers relative to the problem are minimal. the directional change is huge. what i hear from job creators throughout this nation and the district i represent is that we are worried about the debt, because we know we will have to pay for it. one of the great factors of uncertainty and lack of confidence that is contributing to our continued high rate of unemployment, and this piece of legislation takes a step in the right direction. and 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 upon plant the seed for the ultimate solution, and that is to compel the house, compel the senate to vote on the first balanced budget amendment to the constitution in 15 years. families and small businesses have to do it, 49 of 50 states have the requirement to do it, and the american people expect nothing less out of their federal government. so i look forward to taking that today on the balanced budget amendment to the people of america and hopefully having it reported out to the states send. -- soon. >> as i stand here, 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 and we are debating how much we can cut and what programs we can reduce. the speaker has said over and over that this is not a perfect plan, but i view this as a significant step in the right direction. when you ask yourself, is this plan would help get our fiscal house in order, is it going to make sure that we keep the american dream alive? i believe the answer is yes and i am going to be supporting this plan and i am urging my colleagues, both republicans and democrats, to support this plan. >> think about where we were in the beginning of this process. the president asking us for a blank check and he did not get that. we had a president asking us for big tax increase on job creators. he did not get that. we said -- for every dollar of debt increase, we want a dollar of cut spending. we got that. we have been trying to get discretionary caps into law since i've been here.

we have been introducing legislation for the eight years to get caps on spending. we could not get a cap on spending when the republicans were in the majority. we got that. that is important. we see this as a good step in the right direction, as a decent downpayment on the deficit, and as a huge change in the culture of spending. we are cutting spending. we are spending much less money than we spent last year. you ever read that kind of statement around this town? we have a long way to go. this does not fix our problems but we believe that the value of this republican majority has been to change the culture. in the old days we have would you call the gephardt role, which meant that you could sweep the debt ceiling increase into a budget resolution and no one would really have to be seen voting for it. when we took the majority, we repealed the gephardt rule and did the sampling size so the --

do this in plain sight so the public could see. what we did with that was use this as an opportunity to change the culture and spending and that is exactly what this bill does. >> are you losing republican support because of concerns over defense cuts? >> i just met with all of our members on the armed services committee. they really were concerned about the numbers in this bill but as i told them, this is the best defense number we are going to get. and if we do not pass the bill, it is clear to me what will happen. the defense number will go down. i believe that many of our members from the armed services committee will be supporting the work of the house. >> leader pelosi left the caucus and indicated that it was on you to bring a majority in the house.

it was incumbent upon the republicans. >> i would remind all of you that this is not just an agreement between the president and myself, but an agreement between the bipartisan leaders of the congress and the president of united states. ultimately all of us have a responsibility, because they all signed off on the agreement, to bring sufficient votes to make sure that it passes. >> it would put caps on discretionary spending and you could not do it under previous republican congresses. a substantial number of republicans will not support this. when they put something like that out there, what is your argument to them? >> this is something we have been looking for four years. i think at the end of that this bill will prevail with the majority of republicans to bring this to assess two thirds

of the cuts that we were looking for in our budget. do we get 100% of discretionary cuts? no, we got two-thirds. that is better than 0%. i'll take two thirds in my direction than anything else. i think that's why most republicans will support it. >> did they want all or nothing? >> you will have to ask those that feel that way. >> [inaudible] >> senator mcconnell and i have talked about our own. we have not made any decisions. but i'm sure we will continue those conversations about who is going to the committee. >> mitt romney says that this opens the door to higher taxes and puts defense cuts on the

table. michele bachmann said that it is a $2.4 trillion blank check. what would you tell them? >> i have a job to do here. those running for president have their own aspirations. my goal is to get this bill passed, signed into law, solve this debt crisis, and help give the american people back to work. >> next, house debate. this is an hour and 25 minutes. pursuant to house resolution 384, i call up s. 365 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 365, an act to make a technical amendment to

the education, sciences reform act of 2002. the speaker pro tempore: the amendment in the nature of a substitute printed in house report 112-190 is adopted and the bill as amended is considered read. the bill shall be debatable for one hour with 30 minutes equally divide and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on rules, 15 minutes equal request divided and controlled by the chr and ranking minority member of the committee on ways and means and 15 minutes quelly divide and controlled by the chair -- equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member by the committee on budget. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. dreier. house will be in order. members, please take combingses from the floor. -- conversations from the floor. members in the rear of the chamber, please take your conversations from the floor.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from califora is recognized. mr. dreier: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on the measure before us. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i might consume and ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is rognized. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, at this moment we are beginning debate on a measure which i believe will finally send a signal to job creators in this country and in the global marketplace that in the global marketplace that we are finally,