expire and they will have virtually no income to pay any of their bills. the answer should we stop that, yes or no? now, the other body has taken up a bill that gives us the answer. the taxes will not go up on the middle class, the seniors will be able to see their doctor and the unemployment benefits will not expire. . 89 members of the senate voted for this. the president of the united states said he would sign this. virtually every member of the democratic side of the house is prepared to vote for this. but this is not on the house floor today. now, it's just fine for a member to say, yes, i support this compromise, or no, i don't support this compromise. but it is an abrogation of the basic duty of this house not to take a vote on it. choices are yes, we support the bill.

no, we don't support the bill. it shouldn't be we don't want to take a vote on the bill. we want to duck the question. we are compensated to cast votes and explain our votes to the american people. by refusing to let this bill come to the floor today, the majority is aprogating its responsibility to the country. we should oppose this rule. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from south carolina. mr. scott: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentlelady from north carolina, dr. foxx. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from north carolina is recognized for two minutes. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my colleague from south carolina for handling the rule and for yielding two minutes. and i want to say first off that we should all vote for this rule. and we should vote for the resolution that's going to come up later. i want to point out to my colleagues again that you are entitled to your opinion but you are not entitled to rewrite history. the house passed a bill last week, a bipartisan bill. there's been so much touting of

the senate bipartisan bill, but not one mention of the fact that -- by our colleagues on the other side of the aisle that we passed a bipartisan bill last week which did exactly what the president, ms. pelosi, mr. hoyer, all rose in charge of the democrat party said they wanted a one-year extension of the policy passed last year. we passed -- it also stopped raises for congress and federal employees an cut spending. what our colleagues on the other side of the aisle cannot do and what the president seems incapable of doing is cutting federal spending. which is desperately what we need in this country. and i want to point out to my colleague from new york who says that we are doing nothing here today, we are not doing anything, i believe is her comment. i'll point out that the constitution in article 1, section 1 devises the congress of the united states, and section 2 it talks about the

house of representatives. if the founders thought the house was irrelevant and obviously my colleague thinks that the house is irrelevant, then maybe some people should go home. i don't think the house is irrelevant. mr. reid has said the house of representatives must pass their bill. well, nobody made mr. reid the king. and i don't think that we have to do what mr. reid says. he has a very high opinion of himself. i think we do what the constitution tells us to do. when there is a difference of opinion, then we go to conference. a no vote to our colleagues means they don't want to follow regular order and want to continue the uncertainty. what has the senate done this year? the senate has passed approximately 10 substantive bills. it's my opinion that the senate is out of touch. a two-month bill is not appropriate. they want -- instead of being

an alice in wonderland like my colleague said last night, we are in 1984. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities towards the senate or its members. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from colorado, a member of the committee on energy and commerce, ms. degette. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from colorado is recognized for two minutes. ms. degette: mr. speaker, i'm mad, too. i'm mad at the senate. i'm mad this is a short-term extension. i'm mad that this allows this pipeline that i object to to be built. and i, too, am mad at the way it's paid for. but then, mr. speaker, i think about the six constituents that i met with a dumb weeks -- couple weeks ago in denver. all six are unemployed and have been for over two years. every morning these six folks wake up with hope. they send out resumes. they make phone calls. they visit offices. they do everything they can think of to get a job. by the end of the day, they are

dispirted. by the end of the week on sunday now we want to remove all hope they will have to subsist in any way. this is going to happen in 12 days. there's almost 36,000 people like this in my distridget. there's 2.2 million of them around the country. or i think about the hundreds of thousands of families who do have jobs. now, these folks as of january 1 are all going to lose $1,000 in their paychecks. in 12 days. these people have planned their christmas budgets around that mon any. now either -- money. now they'll have to charge it on crir edit cards or maybe they won't buy toys under the tree because of congress. merry christmas. don't fool yourself. i have been in congress 15 years now. the senate is not coming back. there won't be a conference committee. this motion effectively kills the bill.

let's stop arguing about process. let's stop arguing about what we want to see. let's stop demagoguing this issue. let's tart talking for once about the people that we -- let's start talking for once about the people we represent and who will lose hope this holiday season because of us. let's defeat this motion. let's adopt the bipartisan senate bill. let's come back in january and work together in a bipartisan and bicameral way to actually fix this bill. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from south carolina. mr. scott: mr. speaker, i yield one minute to the gentleman from georgia, -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. good morning, i appreciate the opportunity to speak on this issue. i as most americans love this time of year. it's christmastime where we celebrate the birth of christ and spend time with our family and friends and at church.

i sent a quick memming to my wife last night, honey, i may be a here a while. she said we have five days until christmas. america needs a fight. we need you. america needs us to be here working. a lot has been said today, but the fact is simple. mr. scott: the senate put a bad amendment on a bill. with almost as many democrats voting for it as republicans voting against it. a bipartisan bill that does what the president asks us to do which is to extend the payroll tax cut for 12 months. 12 months is what the president asked for. 12 months is what we did. now, the senate in their hayes to get out of town -- haste to get out of town passed it for 60 days. now, i would respectfully submit if they had done any consideration at all, they would have made it 90 days. i'm one of those who signed a quartly wage in tax return like many of my colleagues. i ask the president to stand

with the republican house. let's pass this tax cut for a year and do what americans need us to do. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: i yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pane lo. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for 90 seconds. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speakerment i love christmas, too. but when the gentleman on the other side of the aisle suggests that somehow they are going to stay around here after today, i don't believe that for one minute. i guarantee at the end of the day the republicans are going to go home. the difference is they are going to go home without having passed the senate bill that allows people to get their payroll tax cuts, their unemployment insurance, and the seniors to go out and be able to access medicare. if you really cared about these issues, then you would pass the senate bill. you wouldn't put up a vote that rejects the senate bill and doesn't allow us to consider it at all. don't kid anybody here. at the end of the day the republicans will go home. the consequence for the american people is that the economy is in a very perilous situation right now. if you take this tax cut and you don't extend it, then it's

very possible people won't have money to spend, the economy won't grow, and this teetering economy could easily fall back into a recession again. so i don't know what's going on here. all i can think of is the tea party republicans, the extremists on the republican side, are wagging the republican dog and saying to your leadership, we doesn't want to do this. they couldn't want the -- don't want the payroll tax extension. i don't know why he they don't care about the american people. that's the bottom line. are you going home at the end of the day. there isn't going to be a bill passed here. the deadline will be reached on january 1 and people will be without their unemployment insurance and a tax increase. that's what the consequences of this. i have been hearing the republicans for years saying, they don't want a tax increase. well, they don't care if the tax increase is on the middle class. if it's on the wealthy, they don't want that. but it's ok to increase taxes on the middle class. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from south carolina. mr. scott: mr. speaker, i yield one minute to the gentleman from new york, mr. tom reed. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. mr. reed: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of this rule and underlying legislation. why? because enough is enough. the arrogance of this place is outstack. -- is outstanding. it's unbelievable. you have to look at what we are talking about from the eyes of our constituents and the people back home. two months of certainty for people when it comes to their payroll? to their paychecks? two months for how our doctors are going to get paid for caring our our sick and old? that's ridiculous. i'll tell my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, there is a new dawn that has emerged in this chamber. we are no longer going to run from our responsibility to govern. we are going to do it in the open. we are going to do it honestly. and we are going to do it in a way that provides certainty to these problems because god knows we can no longer afford band-aid. we need real solutions. long-term solutions.

i plead with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to join us and reach a resolution that brings certainty for longer period of time than two months. with that i yield the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield a minute and a half to the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. ms. jackson lee: mr. speaker, we are here basically because the joker has taken control of the congress. everyone knows that this is a procedural calamity that will not work. the house bill was dead on arrival in the other body because it raised the premium of medicare on seniors. let me tell you what we are doing today. the washington republicans are

taking a high risk gamble. this is gambling. this is throwing the dice. a senator said it is important that we extend the short term to get to the long term on payroll tax. richard lugar said we must do what is best for the american people. my voice might be a little raspy, but i am watching the trees and the lights in people's homes as we go through the house you can see those lights brightly shining. then you get closer to that tree and you see them beginning to pop and burn as the christmas tree burns. and then those who have lights in their homes, candles, you see them burning to the very end. it is extinguished. they are putting the american people in darkness. that's what this joke is doing. not even allowing us to be able to have an up or down vote on the senate bill that gives us two months to help our seniors

have their doctors and to be able to have the reimbursement. i submit into the record the rule committee agenda. can i have 15 seconds? ms. slaughter: i don't have any more time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. ms. jackson lee: this is a joke. vote against this rule. vote against it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina. mr. scott: mr. speaker, i yield one minute to the gentleman from louisiana, mr. jeff landry. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized for one minute. mr. landry: mr. speaker, i rise to call out hypocrisy. because it is amazing that the same level of uncertainty that my colleagues from across the aisle have injected into our economy today, which is failing our economy, they now want to inject that type of uncertainty into the american family's budget. two months? the pillar, one of the pillars of the president's jobs bill was the extension of the

payroll tax for one year. and yet republicans agreed with him and sent over to the senate a bill which extends that payroll tax holiday for one year. and yet the senate can only give us a sixth of that. where is the compromise? where is the agreement? where has the senate majority leader and the president missed each other? the president wanted a one-year extension and that is what we stand for today. is a one-year extension to the payroll tax holiday to give certainty to american families at a time when they need it the most. and i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from south carolina, the assistant democrat leader, mr. clyburn. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized for two minutes. mr. clyburn: thank you, mr.

speaker. i thank the gentlelady for yielding me the time. mr. speaker, i rise today to thank the 89 senators, 50 democrats, and 39 republicans, for their bipartisan agreement to extend the current payroll tax cut, unemployment insurance benefits, and medicare doc fix payments for another 60 days while we continue to see common ground for a full 12-mont extension. let there be no mistake, the only way for the members of this body to prevent a tax increase on 160 million working americans is to pass the bipartisan agreement. . let me be kris cal clear. the only way of not can utting off unemployment insurance for 2.3 million americans who are currently unemployed and looking for work is to pass the bipartisan agreement. the only way to prevent funds to pay doctors who care for

medicare patients is to pass the bipartisan agreement. now, when this thing happened last weekend the senate majority leader and senate minority leader demonstrated to the american people that democrats and republicans can work together. they hammered out a compromise on this important legislation. mr. speaker, i'm sure that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle have heard their 20's ask as i've heard mine ask time and time again -- constituents ask and i have heard mine ask time and time again, why can't you guys work together to get things done for the american people? it's a good question. it's a fair question, and the senate have answered in the affirmative by passing this legislation and it's my fervor hope that we will do so also. mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to put partisanship aside and join our colleagues in the other body to do the right thing for the american

people. bring the bipartisan agreement to the floor and let's have a vote. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from south carolina. mr. scott: mr. speaker, i yield four minutes to the gentleman from california, the great chairman of the rules committee, david dreier. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for four minutes. mr. dreier: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. dreier: i thank my friend from north charleston for his work on this rule. uncertainty is the enemy of prosperity and economic growth and we know that extending this package for a year will in fact be doing exactly what president obama has said is necessary for us to do. he said it's inexcusable for us not to extend this for a year, and so we got a great chance to do this. the other issue that i think is important to note, mr. speaker, is that uncertainty is now posing a national security threat to the united states of america. and i say that because last

noit steven harper, the prime minister -- night steven harper, the prime minister of canada, had an interview on canadian television that he said there would be approval of the keystone pipeline that would allow for the flee of canadian energy to come into the united states -- flow of canadian energy to come into the united states. obviously uncertainty exists and so he made it very clear. he said, he's very serious about selling that energy, moving that energy to asia and we know that means to china. now, i'm not opponent of china's economic growth but i do believe the potential for us to work with our close ally to the north is a very, very important part of our economic growth. job creation here would be enhanced by it, and we know it would help us have access to lower cost energy. and so, mr. speaker, not only is energy uncertainty the enemy of economic growth and

prosperity, but uncertainty is now jeopardizing our national security. now, mr. speaker, some have tried to make the claim that we are not going to have an unor down vote on the senate measure. let me -- up or down vote on the senate measure. the distinguished chairman of the energy and commerce is going to move to disagree with the senate amendments and request a conference, mr. camp. that's the motion that the majority -- that the chairman of the ways and means committee will have. what that means, mr. speaker, is that any member, any member who believes that we should accept the senate temporary two-month extension, that proposal that according to the national payroll reporting consortium has said is unworkable and bloomberg news said is unworkable aother independent analyses says is unworkable, if a member supports that measure they should vote no to the motion that will be offered by the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, which says i move to disagree in the senate

amendments and request a conference. and so i think it's very clear, we have a responsibility, a responsibility to do the people's business. it's true, our senate colleagues have gone home. our senate colleagues have gone home and they say they don't want to act. we need to request this conference so that the speaker of the house can appoint conferees and work can begin immediately. why is it that one would believe that creating this uncertainty in a temporary two-month extension will allow us to get the work done next year? it needs to be done now. we have a december 31 deadline. we're going to see a tax increase go into effect if we don't act because, while the senate measure provides $166 tax benefit on the payroll issue, ours would provide $1,000. mr. speaker, we need to make sure we get this work done as quickly as possible and we are

here prepared to do it. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield one minute to the gentleman from new york, a member of the committee on energy and commerce and my colleague from new york, mr. engel. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. mr. engel: i thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me. i have a challenge to my republican colleagues who claim who want to extend the payroll tax for a year. give us a clean vote on extending the payroll tax for a year. give it to us today and we will pass it. you talk about the bill that was passed in the house. that bill had poison pill in it. it mixed apples with oranges. it had a vote on the keystone pipeline. it was designed to kill it. if you're serious and you really want a middle-class tax extension, payroll tax cut, give us a clean vote. that's all we're asking for. the truth is that my friends on the other side of the aisle are

interested in tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires but they're not interested in tax cuts for the middle class. as the democrats are. so give us a clean bill and then we'll call the senate back to pass it. what the senate has done is given us a two-month breather. let's take the two-month breather and then pass a clean, a clean doc fix, a clean ex-he thinks -- extension of unemployment benefits. not with poison pills or extraneous material to kill it. give us a clean bill and we'll pass it. i challenge my republican colleagues who control this house. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from south carolina. mr. scott: mr. speaker, i'm prepared to close so i'll reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: i have one more speaker. i'd like to yield one minute to our democrat leader, ms. pelosi. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized for one minute. ms. pelosi: thank you, mr.

speaker. i thank the gentlelady for yielding. i thank her for her leadership in fighting the good fight at the rules committee. i commend her for her patience and also for her great knowledge that she brings to this debate. this is a pretty simple matter. the fact is what we're debating here today is of the utmost importance to the american people, to america's working families and they know it. so much of what we debate on the floor may appear irrelevant to meeting their needs. this is a -- has a direct connection to the debate that we have around our table of discussion here. it relates directly to discussions that are happening at kitchen tables across the country as people prepare for the holidays, to see if they're going to be able to have a holiday and if they're going to be able to pay the bills come january. last night the leadership of the republican party announced that bill that the procedure

today would be that we would be able to vote up or down on the senate bill. in a matter of minutes, from the time it went to the rules committee, they changed that and said we wouldn't have a chance to vote up or down on the senate bill. this isn't, though, about process. it's about, why is this happening and why can't we get the job done for the american people? what is at stake is the following -- given the chance to have an up or down vote on the senate bill will probably attract some republican support. when passed it could go directly to the president, be signed into law today, we moving all doubt in the minds of the american people as to whether the following will occur -- they will get a $1,500 tax cut for middle-income families, $160 -- 160 million

american workers will get the tax cut. it will mean 48 million seniors will have access to their doctors under medicare. it will mean up to two million people will be receiving unemployment insurance in the next two months. for some of those people, losing that unemployment insurance cuts off any means of support for them. is that what we are here to do? i thought we were here to do what the american people want us to do. what they have said they want us to do is work together to get the job done. why can't we work together? a. b, they want jobs and they want this tax cut. democrats, independents, republicans want this tax cut. in fact, republicans support

the payroll tax cut. that is republicans across the country. republicans in the senate voted for this. 90% of the senate in a bipartisan way voted for this tax cut. it is just the extreme tea party element of the republicans in the house of representatives who of standing in the way of a tax cut for 160 million americans, unemployment benefits for millions of americans and medicare opportunity for 48 million seniors. the republicans say this is too short. it reminds me of a yogi berra story. he said, i don't like the food at that restaurant. besides, the servings are too small. well, that's what they're saying here. they never wanted a tax cut and now they're saying the tax cut

for middle-income people is too small. so what is it? the record shows that as recent as -- at the beginning of the summer, speaker boehner said the tax cut -- even the one-year tax cut was a short-term gimmick, and he opposed it. it wasn't until president obama went across the country with the american jobs act to persuade the american people to support the job creation that he was advocating. one part of that was the payroll tax cut. the american people overwhelmingly supported that. they want us to get that job done. so the only reason that the republicans are using the subterfuge, the excuse, is because they never wanted the tax cut to begin with. our distinguished leader, mr. hoyer, said this is designed to fail. designed to fail because they didn't want it to begin with.

but this is deadly serious to the american people. the senate republicans opposed bringing up the house bill. the republican house bill in the senate because they knew it would fail. the republicans in the house -- let's repeat that -- the republicans in the senate refused to allow a vote on the house republican bill because they knew it would fail. the house republicans refused to bring the senate republicans bill because they're afraid it would pass. it would take us down a path where we can go forward to make a plan for how we extend it for one solid year. but how do you explain this to the american people? 90% of the senate has voted in a bipartisan way.

that's what the american people want us to do, to work together for a tax cut that the american people want in overwhelming numbers and that we have the opportunity to do right here and now today. president thomas jefferson said very wisely that every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. and so let's see what this is today. is this a difference of opinion of the path we can go down to have tax relief for the american people which economists say this tax cut will create jobs? if we don't pass it as almost as 600,000 jobs can be affected, either lost or not continued -- not added. 600,000 jobs because of the demand injected into the

economy by putting money into the pockets of the american people by providing unemployment benefits which are spent immediately and inject demand into the economy, therefore, creating jobs. so this is dangerous business because not only for what -- how it impacts individual families and their survival, it's about the success of our economy and not passing this bill today can hurt the -- our economic recovery. . let's really be clear. republicans said we were going to have a vote on the senate bill, they were afraid it would win, they pulled that. now we have to be engaged in these process maneuvers. that's only an execution. -- an excuse. it's not a reason to reject the tax cut. it's an excuse because they never wanted the tax cut from the beginning. so let's understand what we are

here about. getting back to president jefferson, every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. but maybe here it is. maybe the principle at stake here is the anti-government, ideological, warfare that the tea party republicans in the extreme have taken us to. they alone are standing in the way of a tax cut for the middle class. republicans across the country support it. republicans in the senate support it. some republicans in the senate -- in the house support it. that's why we are not getting a chance to vote on it. so let's understand that this is a pattern of house republicans isolating themselves from the mainstream of even their own party across the country and their colleagues in the senate. who may or may not like this bill. it isn't the bill most of us would write, but that's what a compromise is. so it's not as if this is a mad

wild embrace of this. it's safe in the reality of two party system. needing 60 votes in the senate. and the republican majority in the house. i thought the speaker said that this was a victory after it passed in the senate. he was the one who instructed harry reid, insisted that senator reid have a discussion with mitch mcconnell. was that just a farce, too? is this all just a delaying, stalling tactic that says we were never going to do it before. remember yogi berra. i don't like the food at that restaurant and the servings are too small. they don't like the tax cut, and now they are claiming that it is too small. when it was a one-year tax cut it was called a gimmick by the speaker of the house. i urge my colleagues to certainly vote no on the rule that does not -- the speaker is

proud of saying the house will work its will. it won't if we don't have the opportunity under the rules of the house that are put on this floor in opposition to the wishes of the american people to take a simple vote on a bill that comes in with the strength of a 90% bipartisan vote in the senate of the united states. so it's clear, they don't want a tax cut, they never want a tax cut. anything they put forth is designed to fail because that is what they want to do. i tell my caucus and they may be tired of hearing it from me that this is like a gentleman who is wooing his -- wooing his potential -- who is wooing his potential fiance. she says of course i'll marry you. i can only do it on february 30. that day is never coming. nor is the day coming when the republicans will wholeheartedly support a tax cut for the middle class. their focus has been on tax cuts for the wealthiest people

in our country. and those wealthy people want a tax cut for the middle class. let's do what the american people want. let's vote no on this rule so we have an opportunity to vote yes on the senate bill that can be sent to the president this very day so that we can truly wish people a happy holiday season. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back her time. does the gentleman from south carolina continue to reserve? mr. scott: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i am prepared to close. i want to reiterate the way i started today what we are doing here is killing the tax cut by not voting anything here except that we do not concur with the senate. and that we will hope some conference will come from someplace. that means there will be no tax cut. that means there will be no extension of unemployment benefits. now, last night at 7:00 when the rules committee was supposed to meet, the agenda

called for a vote to concur in the senate bill. but after the stormy two-hour tea party conference, they reversed their correspond and now we have a pros -- course and now we have a prospect where no tax cut can pass today no matter who wins what vote. if every member of the house supported the bipartisan proposal, it still does not go to the president and does not become law. we have one chance, mr. speaker, of being able to vote on the senate bill and one chance of winning that. and that will be on the previous question. now, if we are able to defeat the previous question, we can have -- which i will construe as an up or down vote on the senate bill, will i ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment in the record, vote on the previous question, but we want an up or down vote with the previous question. let me repeat that because it's terribly important. i urge all my colleagues in the house on both sides of the

aisle if you wish an up or down vote on what the senate has done so that we can actually get some legislation done here and get it signed and sent by the president of the united states, you must vote no on the previous question so that we will have that opportunity which we have absolutely been denied. let me repeat again what we are doing here is absolutely nothing. it's simply a stalling tactic i believe to kill the tax cut and to kill the unemployment benefits. i urge my colleagues to vote no and to defeat the previous question so we can do the compromise today. i urge a no vote also on the rule and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back her time. the gentleman from south carolina. mr. scott: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, there is no doubt the american people are afraid. they are afraid of the party on the left. they are afraid because the party on the left rated -- raided $500 billion out of

medicare to pay for a national health care ponzi scheme. they are afraid because that same party who talks about tax cuts for the middle class raised taxes by a half a trillion dollars on the middle class. and after being held hostage, the middle class now hears from the party on the left, trust me. trust me with a 60-day extension. no playing time. no time to figure it out. trust me after i raise taxes on you in the last 12 months by more than half a trillion dollars. mr. speaker, regular order suggests for the last 200 years that when the house and senate, when they don't agree, they go to conference, said the votes on the left and those fighting

for freedom on the right, have an opportunity to come together in a conference. so, mr. waxman and mr. levin and others on the left who want a seat at the table, conference is the way you get a seat at the table. what we are asking for is common sense. something america has not seen from congress in the last several years. mr. speaker, i ask my colleagues to vote yes on the rule, yes on the underlying bill, and i yield back the balance of my time. and i move, mr. speaker, the previous question on the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i ask the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having

arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 9 of rule 20, the chair will reduce to five minutes the minimum time for any eelectronic vote on the question of adoption of the resolution. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 233. the nays are 187. with one present. the previous question is ordered. the question is on adoption of the resolution. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, on that i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote --

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 231. the nays are 187. with one present. the resolution is adopted. without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the house will be in order.

the house shall be in order. will all members please take their conversations from the floor. clear the well of the house and the aisles. would members please remove their conversations from the floor, clear the well, clear the aisles. the house will be in order.

once again would all members please remove your conversations from the floor. clear the aisles.

members respectfully please take your conversations from the floor. clear the aisles. and let the house be in order. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, pursuant to house resolution 502 i call up h.r. 3630, the middle class tax relief and job creation act of 2011. with the senate amendments thereto and i have a motion at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. designate the senate amendments, and designate the motion. >> mr. chairman, the house is not in order. the clerk: for the creation of jobs and for other purposes. senate amendment, motion offered by mr. camp of michigan.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 5202, the motion shall be debatable for one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on ways and means. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, and the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, each will control 30 minutes. would all members please their your conversations from the floor. so that the house can be in order. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from michigan. mr. camp: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. camp: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. camp: the differences between the bipartisan house passed middle class tax relief and job creation act and what

the senate did so it could go on vacation could not be clearer. mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is correct. the house will come to order. the gentleman from michigan may continue. mr. cam 7: -- mr. cam: the house bill puts the american people first. it provided certainty for middle class families struggling to make ends meet by extending the payroll tax holiday. it provided certainty for those left behind in this economy by extending not only unemployment benefits for one year but also the nation's welfare program. it provided certainty to seniors by ensuring their doctors would not see reimbursement rates slashed by nearly 30%. and it provided incentives for job creators looking for ways to hire more workers by extending tax relief. the senate decided not to do any of this. worse yet, in a rush to get home before the holidays, the

senate passed something that is totally unworkable. yesterday, the congress received a letter from the national payroll reporting consortium, a nonprofit trade association. mr. speaker, the house is not in order. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, may continue. mr. camp: the received got a study from the national consortium. their letter says the senate bill, and i quote, could create substantial problems, confusion and cost affecting a significant percentage of u.s. employers and employees. the national federation of independent business, the largest small business advocacy group in the nation,

representing 350,000 small business owners nationwide, and in every state has issued a statement on the senate bill. they say, and i quote, the two-month payroll tax holiday would present a number of complications and costs which would disproportionately affect a number of small businesses. many small business owners do payroll processing by hand and this would require them to spend time to make these changes. with more than five million people working in the construction industry, this is what the associated general contractors have said about the senate bill and, again, i'm quoting, this legislation will extend the payroll tax holiday in the most commecks kay possible, at the busiest time possible, provide little benefit to taxpayers and hit the small companies -- mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the house will come toured. -- to order.

the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, may continue. mr. camp: as this -- as the associated general contractors say, this would provide little benefit to taxpayers, unfairly hit small member companies of the organization the hardest and this legislation will add more uncertainty, more confusion for employers and employees and more complexity, especially for small employers. any economic benefit derived from the law would likely be eaten up by the inefficiency and concerns about the end of the bill's implementation, end of quote. mr. speaker, i ask that he can that these letters, along with letters in opposition to the senate bill from the shall roofing contractors association, which has over 4,000 members, and is represented in every state, the associated builders and contractors, which represent over two million american workers and the small business and entrepreneurship council with over 100,000 members all

be entered into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> i reserve the right to object. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized on his objection. mr. rangel: i probably won't object, but if the chairman is asking to put in the record the people that support the awkward position that the majority has taken, my question would be, would we be allowed to put in the record those people who are going through such economic pain and who so badly want to make certain that they don't get a tax -- a raise in their taxes, would we be able to send the letters that we get saying, please don't come home unless you give us a tax break? i'm asking. maybe the parliamentarian

whether or not i would be in order if i ask that. i certainly think the chairman is in order. but we all have received so many letters from our constituents. i just want some equality in terms of how the record will look years from now as to how we treated those people who are the most vulnerable. and i know we all are concerned about that. even though the two months may be inconvenient for the electronic way they do these things but i think the pain will be far more severe for those people who would have a tax increase. oh, yes, of course. the speaker pro tempore: regular order has been demanded. does the gentleman from new york object to the request? rank reigning i said i reserved it. maybe --

mr. rangel: i said i reserved it. i was reserving the right to object. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman must -- the gentleman will suspend. regular order has been demanded. the gentleman from new york must either reject or withdraw his reservation. mr. rangel: with all respect to my chairman, i withdraw. with all respect to my chairman, i withdraw my objection. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york withdraws. the gentleman from michigan. mr. camp: i thank the gentleman from new york for withdrawing. these letters, many of them were written to both parties, both leaders. i think mr. levin and i both received these letters. they were written to the congress. i would say, mr. speaker, our economy is too weak and the american people have been struggling for far too long for congress not to work out our differences. america is not on vacation nor should the senate be. we have two weeks to find a

solution and send something to the president for his signature. that is what house republicans are proposing today. let's look at the differences between the house and the senate. the house extended unemployment for 13 months. the senate bill extended unemployment benefits for only two months. meaning an estimated four million americans could lose the extended unemployment benefits next year they would get under the house bill. the house reformed the unemployment reform to focus it on getting the people the training and education they need to get back to work, not just handing out checks. the senate did not. the house protected seniors' health care for the next two years by ensuring doctors in the medicare program don't have their reimbursement cut by more than 27%. the senate did this for only two months. the house provided a one-year extension of the payroll tax holiday ensuring a worker earning $50,000 next year has $1,000 more in their pocket. the senate did this for only two months meaning that the same worker would have less than $200 in their pocket or

$800 less in take-home pay than under the house-passed bill. the house had a pay freeze for federal workers. the senate did not. the house prevented welfare benefits being used at liquor stores and strip clubs. the senate did not. the house protected social security by reducing overpayments. the senate did not. the house included a provision that saves taxpayers $9 billion by cracking down on fraud and abuse that is known to exist in the refundable -- in a refundable tax credit program. the senate did not. the house provided for economic growth and job creation in the high-tech industry through spectrum auctions. the senate did not. the house cut taxes to promote business investment and hiring. the senate did not. mr. speaker, while it may sound like there are grave differences between the house and senate bill. it's not a difference over policy. it's simply a difference of the house deciding to act and the senate deciding not to act on

so many items. the house bill includes commonsense reforms the american people want, and it adopts a number of the president's legislative initiatives which represent the bipartisan cooperation the american people are demanding. all told, 90% of the house bill is paid for with policies the president has endorsed in one form or another. so what's really standing in our way? i've heard the president's people say it breaks the agreement over the discretionary caps in the budgetary control act, but look at that talking point. those caps are adjusted only because we are proposing as the president has before to freeze the pay of members of congress and other federal workers. do the president and the senate really want to risk unemployment benefits on middle-class tax cuts and reimbursement to doctors treating seniors and those with disabilities because they don't want to freeze the pay for members of congress and federal workers? mr. speaker, it's not too late. i urge all of my colleagues to

support a one-year extension of the payroll tax holiday, one year of unemployment benefits with critical reforms and a two-year extension of reimbursements for medicare doctors. i urge my democrat colleagues to name conference committee members to resolve the differences between the two bills. conference committees are a jeffersonian concept and we would be wise to follow the models laid out by our founding fathers. if the senate agrees to work together we will help the american people back to work and get those struggling in this economy the help they need, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, reserves. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, is recognized. mr. levin: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. levin: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. levin letchhet me put this --

mr. levin: let me put this very simply. this is a dishonest procedure. this is a reuss to avoid a straight -- radios to avoid a straight up or down -- ruse to avoid a straight up or down vote on the payroll tax extension. why not do it as called by regular order? that is regular order. because the republican majority is afraid of a straight vote. they are afraid some republicans would vote yes and the senate bill would pass and the president would sign it and it would become law today. and they don't want other republicans on record voting against a payroll tax cut. that is the epitome of a ruse. 39 republican senators, 39, all

but a handful voted for the bill before us. but what has happened since saturday's bipartisan senate bill that speaker boehner said was a good deal? well, the -- they staged a mutiny. and the captain decided to surrender. he decided to join the mutiny to keep the ship from coming to port. but the problem is onboard is millions of passengers waiting to dock. this chart shows the number of passengers. 160 million americans would see their taxes increase. 2.3 million americans onboard looking for work would lose

their critical unemployment benefits. and 48 million seniors, americans on medicare will have access to their doctors they know and they trust would have them jeopardized. so i want to clear, for these people, all of these people, the republican vote today is a vote to nowhere. dick lugar said that. i'm hopeful there are a majority of republicans and democrats today who will proceed because it seems to me it is best for the country as well as all the individuals who are affected. another republican, senator from massachusetts, i quote, house republicans' plan to scuttle -- that's the correct

word -- the deal to help middle-class families is irresponsible and wrong. the refusal to compromise now threatens to increase taxes on hardworking americans and stop unemployment benefits for those out of work. we cannot allow rigid partisan ideology and unwillingness to crow mize stand in the way of working together for the good of the american people. and a third republican senator, senator heller, a former colleague here of nevada, i quote, there's no reason to hold up the short-term extension while a more comprehensive deal is worked out. and i want to quote a letter -- a statement from treasury about the notion that the two-month extension cannot be implemented. and i quote, while any

short-term extension is bound to create some administration -- administrative complexities, it is feasible to implement the bipartisan bill. it is feasible to implement the bipartisan senate bill. this is treasury that is in charge of implementation of this. and the treasury department will work with employers to ensure the smoothest possible implementation. in the current economic situation, any such complications will be outweighed by the economic benefits of ensuring that taxes do not impup on 160 million americans starting on january 1, and i ask unanimous consent that this be placed in the congressional record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. levin: i want to close with what harry reid said. take it seriously. 39 republicans and 50 democrats voted for the bill you won't

let us vote on. you will not let us vote on. and i quote, i have always -- i have been trying to forge one for weeks. he could have said for months. and i'm happy to continue negotiating one once we have made sure middle-class families will not wake up to a tax increase on january 1. so before we reopen negotiations on a year-long extension, the house of representatives must protect middle-class families by passing the overwhelmingly bipartisan compromise that republicans negotiated and was approved by 90% of the senate. end of quote. you will snubbing a bipartisan compromise. you are jeopardizing the lives of millions of taxpayers,

millions of the unemployed and millions of seniors. . to keep harmony within your ranks. you are creating the possibility of a -- of immense discord within the united states of america. we are not going to let you do it. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, reserves. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, is recognized. mr. camp: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield two minutes to the distinguished chairman of the health subcommittee, the gentleman from california, mr. herger. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for two minutes. mr. herger: mr. speaker, taxpayers, small businesses, and health care providers need certainty and predictibility to plan for the future. unfortunately the bill that's come back to us from the other chamber makes our usual habit of only one year-long

extensions look responsible by comparison. the senate bill extends a number of key policies, including the pact preventing a steep cut to doctors' medicare payment for just two months. mr. speaker, we have been down this road before. last year under the previous majority congress passed five separate extensions of medicare physician payment, mostly for just a month or two. several times the deadline meaning payment cuts tookt effect and had to be reversed. the failure to responsibly address the s.g.r. created an unprecedented amount of chaos and confusion, both for doctors and the medicare agency. house republicans have been determined not to let this happen again. that's why we passed a fully

paid for two-year fix. the american people are tired of congress wasting time on political stunts and waiting until the last minute to cobble together half measures. mr. speaker, we still have two weeks before the end of the year to get this right. and there's no reason to think we'll do better in two months. i urge my colleagues to support the motion to go to conference so we can get a responsible solution. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california yields back. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, is recognized. mr. levin: i yield two minutes to a very senior member of our committee, the very distinguished gentleman from new york, mr. rangel. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for two minutes. mr. rangel: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. rangel: i am amazed at the

ability of the majority to change its position so fast. sometimes i wish democrats had the ability to do this. it wasn't too long ago that there was objection for the taxpayers' holiday because of the impact on social security. then there as objection to the unemployment insurance because people on the other side said people wouldn't go look for a job. that they would just stay home and watch television and receive the check. and of course no one can deny that the doctors that prepare -- that give care to 48 million people deserve compensation to what they do. but being here as long as i have, i can see how in the majority a handful of people will try to prove that their constituents that they are not

marching in line with regular order. they would come down here to go along with their senate or leadership, and it's kind of rough to be a part of a party that is so widely split. i had only hoped that they could come up with a better excuse than the fact that two months is not enough time to prevent an increase in the taxes of so many, 160 million people, and i know that everyone in this chamber knows that if the american people that will suffer such a painful , insensitive act was to ask what you wanted for two months and then have the congress to extend it? would you take that or would you want it to be for one year and the possibility of getting absolutely nothing? that is such a fearful, such a

cruel thing to do to gamble with other people's ability to be able to enjoy this holiday season as best they can. and so i don't think that there will be any winners in what's going on today, but i hope that the regular republicans would be able to see their way clear. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, is recognized. mr. camep: -- mr. camp: i yield one minute to the distinguished gentleman from florida, mr. west. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized for one minute. mr. west: thank you, mr. chairman, mr. speaker. last week we voted to have a one-year extension of the payroll tax holiday. last week we voted to a one-year extension of unemployment insurance with reforms. last week we voted to have a two-year suspension of the sustained growth rate for the doctors that provided the care. last year we voted for certainty and voted to restore confidence. we voted for a measure that was paid for, would have no

detriment or negative outcomes to social security. last week we voted for job creating policies and a bill that had 10 to 12 obama approved provisions. we are not afraid to vote. and if you don't want to accept this measure, then continue to vote no. just the same as our colleagues from across the aisle last week voted no. they voted no against what president obama wanted. they voted no against what senator harry reid said he wanted. they voted no against what senator chuck schumer said he wanted. the senate sent us back a two-month extension which is irresponsible and cannot be implemented. and it reflects abject incompetence. i urge all of my house colleagues to vote yes on this motion to disagree with the irresponsible senate amendment and move the conference. or do we just want to continue to see the miracle of people suffer? thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, is recognized. mr. levin: i now yield a minute and a half to the distinguished

gentleman from washington, mr. mcdermott. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. mcdermott: mr. speaker, a famous speech started that we will little note nor long remember what we say here today. but the people, the bible says, by your deeds you shall know them. the republicans have said that it's christmastime. kids are hangling their -- hanging their socks all over the world. and they are all getting up and hoping there will be something in that sock on christmas day. and the republicans have something to put in it. they have a lump of coal. they are going to say to 160 million people, we are going to boost your taxes, here your christmas gift, right?

we are going to say to 2.5 million unemployed people, no unemployment benefits because it's only for two months and we can't -- there's every excuse in the book you can give, but when they get up on christmas, there's going to be coal in their sock. the working poor of this country are counting on that tax break. they have gone out and bought gifts for their kids and they think they are going to pay for them because they have this tax reduction. and you are taking it away from them after they spent the money on the christmas gifts. that's your lump of coal to the middle class. now, for the seniors the lump of coal is, we are not going to pay the doctors, we are going to cut the doctors by 25%. and doctors are going to say, i'm going to limit the number of seniors. remember the lump of coal in november of 2012, folks.

they gave it to you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp. mr. camp: at this time i yield one minute to the distinguished majority leader. the speaker pro tempore: the majority leader is recognized for one minute. mr. cantor: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman from michigan. mr. speaker, tonight's the first night in hanukkah and christmas is fast approaching for families across america. and what do the families see coming out of washington? dysfunction. and half of congress unwilling to do its job. mr. speaker, we were elected to work for the best interest of the american people. and in this tough economy, middle class americans and working families need to know that their taxes won't be going up at any point next year. so far the house has passed a bipartisan year-long plan to ensure that taxes do not go up.

the senate on the other hand has passed a two-month plan. according to experts, the two-month plan is simply unworkable. families, employers, and workers can't live their lives month to month. washington needs to stop adding confusion and more uncertainty to people's lives. i think we can all agree that the two-month concept doesn't make a whole lot of sense. mr. speaker, bottom line, a two-month patch is irresponsible. that's why the house is taking a stand. we believe all americans deserve certainty. we want a year-long extension of the payroll tax cut which will prevent a tax increase on every american with a job. luckily, mr. speaker, everyone claims to agree. in fact, the president himself said, it would be inexcusable not to extend the payroll tax

cut for a year. the leader of the senate says that we should be working on extending the payroll tax for a year. but only after the new year. mr. speaker, a great virginian once said, never put off tomorrow what you can do today. that man was thomas jefferson. so let us dedicate ourself to that spirit. people across our great country are tired of hearing why washington cannot do things. they are seeing say in and day out that washington is not working together. but we have the ability to give them some hope. let's show the american people that there's a reason to believe that we can work together and deliver results. the truth is, we are not far apart on this issue. the negotiators got extremely close. we owe some stability and good

tax policy to the hardworking people of this country not more gimmicks and political games. today this house will vote to go to conference and work these differences out in regular order. we need to come together in a responsible manner to find common ground where we can accomplish everyone's goal of a year-long payroll tax extension. mr. speaker, there is no reason why the house, the senate, and the president cannot spend the next two weeks working to get that done. america will be waiting. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, is recognized. mr. levin: i now yield two minutes to another distinguished member of our committee, mr. neal, from the great state of massachusetts. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. neal: thank you, mr. speaker.

if just the speaker house, and majority leader could work together. there was a deal over the week end. the speaker of the house accepted the senate's version of that agreement. only to discover in a conference call that he had to back down. the chairman of the ways and means committee, my friend, he doesn't believe what they are doing here for one moment. they are courting disaster. this is the season of advent and christmas for christians. hanukkah begins today. it is the quest for light in our lives to enlighten the american people as to what is taking place here today. 160 million americans are going to lose this tax cut. organized labor and management, they do this all the time. you have a cooling off period. you get to a more benign time. and you negotiate in good faith. you have seen what's happened here. a radical element has seized the republican party.

the senator from massachusetts, senator brown, is on the front page of the "boston globe" today criticizing his own party. dean heller criticizing his own party. richard lugar criticizing his own party. we are arguing today about unemployment benefits in this season for members of the american family who are going to lose those benefits. we are arguing about tax cut for middle income americans today, 160 million strong. for doctors who care for the most vulnerable amongst us as the medicare patients. over their reimbursement rates. when you consider what republicans did during the bush years with those tax cuts for wealthy people, they never flinched for one moment. the rich were rich and they weren't going to take it anymore. . and therm going to reinforce

that idea, cut taxes 10 times in 10 years for the wealthiest among us, we should be voting on what the senate did. let's have an up or down vote and then explain it to the american people. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, is recognized. mr. camp: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the distinguished chairman of the trade subcommittee, the gentleman from texas, mr. brady. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. brady: mr. president, senate democrat leaders, don't vacation until you finish your job. families and small businesses need tax relief for a full year, not just for two months. the house, we've already done our job. we've already passed a full one-year extension of the payroll tax holiday. we've included unemployment reforms for those who are out of work, paying our local doctors fairly in medicare for a full two years, unlocking the keystone pipeline and cutting spending to completely pay for

it. we've done our job, but the democrat-led senate shortchanged the american public by rushing through a partial two-month extension and then hurrying home for their christmas vacation. that's irresponsible. families and small businesses need to be able to plan with confidence for a full year, not just two measly months. president obama said -- you said, mr. president, just last week that the american people deserve a one-year bill. our democratic friends said a one-year bill. the democrats said a one-year bill. well, house republicans are going to hold you to your word by moving forward today to conference committee to work out the differences. we're going to work it out not next year, not when you get around to it but now. that's the next step in the constitutional process and we, house republicans, are willing to work through the holidays to make sure we get the job done

for the american public. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. members are reminded to address their remarks to the chair. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, is recognized. mr. levin: i now yield one minute to the gentleman from georgia, a very distinguished member of our committee, mr. lewis. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one minute. mr. lewis: mr. speaker, i want to thank my friend and my colleague, mr. levin, for yielding. if we go home without passing a bipartisan senate bill we degrade ourselves and this congress. we are out of time. we cannot impinto this holiday season -- we cannot go into this holiday season without helping our unemployed brothers and sisters. we cannot keep our seniors from seeing their doctors. we cannot allow taxes to go up

for millions of americans. what is happening here today is shameful, it is a disgrace. it is unreal. it is unbelievable. we can do better. if we fail today, how will you face your neighbors, family who are suffering? where is your compassion? where is your heart? where is your soul? i say vote no on this motion and pass the senate bipartisan bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, is recognized. mr. camp: at this time i yield four minutes to the distinguished conference chairman, the gentleman from texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for four minutes. mr. hensarling: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, we all need to be reminded why we're here in the first place. we're here because the president's economic policies

have failed. they failed this nation. ever since he was elected, unemployment has been at, near or above 9%. and the people suffer. i believe almost every member of this body believes that we must extend the payroll tax holiday. that's not the debate, mr. speaker. what is most curious, though, is our president. our president has said it will be inexcusable for congress not to further extend this middle-class tax cut for the rest of the year. he didn't say 60 days. he said the rest of the year. the democratic leader has said that she intends the fight to extend these provisions for a full year. and so, mr. speaker, i guess i'm confused. i hear my friends on the other side of the aisle say they want to do this for a year. they say they want to do it for

a year. they're just not willing to vote to do it for a year. that's most curious, mr. speaker. i don't think i understand it. it's what the president asked for. it's what the american people deserve. they don't want us to punt the ball. they want us to do our job. and so there's no point of contention on whether or not it should be extended. the question is whether we're going to do it for a full year or punt the ball down the field and once again disappoint the american people. we stand ready to work over the holidays to get this done. that's the question. are you willing to work over the holidays or are you not willing to work over the holidays? the american people, most of them will have to work over the holidays. why shouldn't we be willing to do this? and, you know, mr. speaker, i guess it's curious how many people are unaware of this thing called a conference committee. since the dawn of the

republican, these are how things are settled between the house and senate. if you don't remember sisks 101 -- civics 101, you can go and watch "schoolhouse rocks" video. they will appoint conferees and come negotiate in good faith except the senate democratic leader said he wouldn't do it. the house democratic leader said she wouldn't do it. so it kind of begs the question, mr. speaker. do they want to make laws that benefit the american people at a time of need or do they want to perpetuate a campaign issue that maybe they believe helps their campaigns? that's really the question. and last but not least, mr. speaker, we ought to pass laws that actually work around here. abc news reported last night, quote, holiday passed by senate, pushed by president cannot be implemented properly, experts say. well, isn't that interesting.

the national payroll reporting consortium that handles payroll for about a third of the private economy said, quote, this could create substantial problems, confusion and cost affecting a significant percentage of u.s. employers and employees. the associated builders of contractors, the people who go out and actually build things in america have said, quote, this sort of temporary fix underscores congress' uneven ad hoc approach toward the economy and causes more harm than good for america's job creators. the leading building trade association in the nation said their 60-day plan will cause more harm than good. mr. speaker, house republicans have craft a good and reasonable bill. it's one year that does what the president asked us to do. it does what the american people asks us to do. it's actually paid for. it doesn't increase the

deficit, and it blocks tax increases. i don't know how my friends on the other side of the aisle think we will do this without it. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, is recognized. mr. levin: it's now my privilege to yield two minutes to another member of our committee, a distinguished gentleman from california, javier becerra. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for two minutes. mr. becerra: i thank the gentleman for yielding. my friends, we've seen this movie before. house republicans once again are driving our government and our economy to the edge of the cliff and this time they replaced 160 million workers and millions of seniors in the front seat of that car.

they are refusing to allow 435 members of this house to vote on a bipartisan proposal passed by 89 out of 100 senators next door. my republican colleagues know that this bipartisan bill passed by the senate would pass on this floor and it would save working americans from having their taxes increased during the holidays. the truth is republicans are feuding amongst themselves. house republicans are fighting with senate republicans and quite frankly they're fighting with republicans throughout this country because a majority of them support the president's payroll tax cut. mr. speaker, once again the people, republicans and democrats alike, are way ahead of the politicians. they want us to get our work done and get it done now. let's stop showing the american people b-rated movies on the floor of the house and pass the senate bipartisan legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back.

the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, is recognized. mr. camp: i yield three minutes to a distinguished member of the ways and means committee, the gentleman from louisiana, dr. boustany. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized for three minutes. ms. hanabusa: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank -- mr. boustany: thank you, mr. speaker. before coming to congress i was a cardiovascular surgeon. just like doctors all over this country, we're there 24/7 to deal with problems. now, i remember distinctly one night christmas eve, in fact, i was getting ready to sit down with my family for dinner and an 86-year-old man had a ruptured an rism who went into shock. we saved his life, long story short. we had a duty, an obligation to our patients. by god, to put physicians in a position of seeing a 27%, 28%

cut in reimbursement is just untenable. why? it's not because of the positions. it's because of patients who are going to lose access. medicare beneficiaries, seniors, those with disabilities who will lose access to care in a situation where we're already seeing that eroding access. we have an obligation to act because the consequences are not good. with regard to all these provisions that we're trying to extend. this house passed a bill last week. it was a very responsible bill with good reforms, and it gives two years' stability period for physicians and those patients who desperately need this care. and what did the senate do? what did the senate do? the senate capitulated, the senate caved and the senate basically just gave up with contempt for the american people. that's what it comes down to. they basically are content with

allowing confusion and disruption and chaos and uncertainty for patients who deserve good, high-quality care. they did the same thing to those who depend on these unemployment benefits and the same, and the same for those who depend on this payroll tax cut during this holiday season. we're going to pass a bill today that basically says we're going -- we want to go to conference to resolve these differences and the senate has an obligation to the american people to stand with us and follow its constitutional duty to go to conference to resolve these disputes, these differences in a time-honored way. mr. speaker, the senate has an obligation to the american people. the senate has an obligation to carry out its duty to the american people. we can get this right. let's do it and be done with it, but let's get it done and let's get it done right and i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, has 10 minutes remaining. the gentleman from michigan -- 10 1/2 minutes remaining. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, has 15 1/2 minutes remaining. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, is recognized. mr. levin: thank you. i now yield two minutes to another distinguished member of our committee, the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized for two minutes. mr. blumenauer: i thank the gentleman. some say that the house republican leadership pulled the plug on the senate bipartisan bill because they were afraid of their republican tea party freshmen perhaps. but what is clear is that we're not being allowed by the republican leadership to vote on the senate bill because the republicans are afraid of their moderates, their independents, their reasonable, unhardliners. the measure of this congress is

that the house doesn't act until they are forced to as a result of self-imposed, crisis-induced deadlines. and then if they can't get their own way on an agenda that could never be passed through regular order in both chambers and signed by the president, then they throw a tantrum. and what we are dealing with today is a legislative tantrum. . i don't like the two-month extension. it has some difficulties and uncertainties, but there will be far more uncertainty and difficulty if there were a two-week gap or a two-month gap. where 700,000 people in early january will lose their unemployment benefits. two million in the next two months. if we simply would follow regular order, allow a vote on the senate, we could build on

this glimmer of bipartisanship from the other body. allow your members to vote. who knows where it could lead. we actually may be able to solve some of these long-term problems. thank you, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, is recognized. mr. camp: i would ask if mr. levin would like to yield again to even up the time. mr. levin: thank you. i now yield two minutes to another distinguished member of our committee, mr. pascrell, of the great state of new jersey. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. pascrell: almost good afternoon, mr. speaker. this is not a fraternity house. this is the house of representatives. yet what have we wrought? i heard someone, two people say on this floor, quoted the president of the united states, they should apologize to him

immediately, that the president was urging us to vote a one-year plan. he wasn't asking us to vote on your plan for a year. you know what he thinks about what you proposed. and it didn't even come up in the senate. in fact, 39 republicans, that's 82% of the entire delegation of the republican senate, and 89% of the total senate voted for this compromise. i know you hate the word. compromise is -- does not mean you surrender your values or principles. compromise is what was the basis of the forefathers. that's how we got a constitution. nobody was happy with that constitution. they didn't get everything they want and you're not going to get everything you want. so you better get it out of your head right now. through the speaker, through the speaker. the majority leader, wonderful

cliches, he forgets that only two years ago a republican member of the house sponsored a two-month payroll tax holiday and had 59 co-sponsors. we have amnesia, selective amnesia. he changed his tune this saturday. he was against the idea of a short-term gimmick. this saturday he said it's a good deal. it's a victory, he said. he claimed victory. reminds me of another victory i heard a couple years ago. once the same members of this party in this caucus rebell, the speaker reversed his course. keeping the payroll tax cut in place as we figure out a way to extend it for the year, reduces uncertainty among employers and the families in my district, the workers of my district, and i ask that we reconsider what we are doing today. thank you, mr. speaker. have a wonderful day. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. members are reminded to address

their remarks to the chair and not other members of the body. the chair will now recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp. mr. camp: i yield two minutes to the distinguished member of the ways and means committee, the gentlewoman kansas, ms. jenkins. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman kansas is recognized tore two minutes. miss jenkins: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, folks are mad out there. they are mad because what congress is doing or not doing in many cases makes absolutely no sense. as a c.p.a. i'll tell you that handling tax policy on a month to month basis isn't just irresponsible, it's down right crazy. according to the nonpartisan national payroll reporting consortium, the cost of complying with the two-month extension proposed by the senate may actually harm many small businesses. in fact, implementing the cuts on this short timeline may not even be possible. in addition to being a c.p.a., i'm also a mom. and i do just about anything to be working out of our topeka

office this time of year so that i could spend the evening with my kids, but agreeing to a tax policy that is so short lived that it costs not just our government but also our small businesses big bucks is not one of them. the american people are exhausted. they are sick and tired of congress kicking the can down the road on hard decisions. so i can our leaders in the senate, are your vacation plans more important than good policy? why will it be easier to negotiate a deal in february than it is today? come back. we still have time. work with us to do the job we were elected to do. let's make the hard decisions today. let's extend the payroll tax cut for the entire year and let's not do it on the backs of a generation more focused on santa right now than they are on tax policy. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from michigan,

mr. levin, is recognized. mr. levin: i yield three minutes to the gentleman from maryland, mr. van hollen, who is ranking on the budget committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for three minutes. mr. van hollen: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman from michigan. the american people should understand very clearly what's going on here right now. and that is that the republican majority in this house of representatives is refusing, is refusing to allow a vote in this house on the senate bipartisan compromise. they are refusing to even allow a vote on a bill that received 89 of 100 votes in the senate, including 85% of the senate republicans. what are they so afraid of? it's very clear that the republican leadership is afraid that that same bipartisanship that took place in the senate will take place right here in the house. because they don't want a bipartisan bill. otherwise we would have a vote on it. what we are witnessing today,

mr. speaker, is the triumph of tea party extremism over the good of the country. the sad part is we probably shouldn't be surprised because it was just a few months ago that the republican leadership was opposed to extending the payroll tax cut at all. they originally said that raising taxes on 160 million americans would be ok. no problem. i have a long list of statements from republican house leaders to that effect. then two things happened. a whole lot of economists told us what was common sense, that in fact if you raise taxes on 160 million americans, it will hurt the economy. and it also begins to sound a little strange for our republican colleagues to be skellously -- zealously protecting tax breaks for special interests and millionaires while allowing tax increases on 160 million americans. so they changed their story. then it was we couldn't do this because it was going to hurt the social security trust fund. that coming from the party that wanted to privatize social

security. and then the social security actuary told us and the country that it wouldn't take one cent from the social security trust fund. so now we have a whole different story today. now the same folks who were opposed to any continuation of the payroll tax cut say they oppose the bipartisan senate bill because it was only for two months. now they are preventing a vote on that bill. the consequence is going to be very clear. january 1, 160 million americans are going to see their payroll taxes increase. at the end of the day the republican majority here in the house is going to go home, they are going to go home, but you know what will remain here? the senate bipartisan bill because we will never have voted for it. so at any time in the next several weeks we can all come right back here and in a matter of five minutes send that bill to the president's desk which he said he will sign and make sure that we avoid a payroll

tax increase on 160 million americans. make sure folks who are unemployed through no fault of their own get unemployment compensation. make sure that doctors will continue to be paid when they treat medicare patients so they can serve those patients. it will be sitting right here for three weeks. why? because the republican majority won't let us vote on it. i would be happy to yield 30 seconds to my friend, the chairman of the ways and means committee, to tell us why you refuse to a lou--allow a vote on the senate bipartisan bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, is recognized. mr. camp: i would just say that if minority leader pelosi and senator reid appoint conferees, there is no reason for taxes to go up. with that i yield -- mr. van hollen: you didn't answer my question. mr. camp: regular order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is out of order. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. camp: i yield two minutes to the distinguished member of the ways and means committee, the gentlewoman from tennessee. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlewoman from tennessee is recognized for two minutes. mrs. black: thank you, mr. speaker. fixing something for two months is not fixing something. it's a band-aid and it's bad policy. i have been a nurse for over 40 years and i'm going to use a medical analogy to illustrate this point. if someone were to come into the emergency where i'm working with an issue, medical issue, and i said to them, i'll give you a choice. we can either fix your problem for two months or we can fix your problem for a year. i have no doubt that the patient would choose certainty of one year over two months. for the past 10 months i have been visiting individuals and businesses in my district and what i continually hear from them is that uncertainty is hurting them and it's hurting our economy. now, the house sent a bill to the senate that contains some certainty. and we get back a two-month band-aid. in this bill we had certainty

for businesses. certainty for doctors. certainty for individual taxpayers. and certainty for our seniors. there is a need for a two-year extension on the medicare reimbursement for our doctors to ensure that seniors receive access to care. there is a need for a one-year payroll holiday for individuals and businesses. as has already been said, the national payroll reporting consortium, a nonpartisan group, have expressed concerns to members of congress that the two-month payroll tax holiday passed by the senate and supported by the president cannot be implemented properly. we also need a two-year extension or fix for our unemployment benefits to give certainty to businesses and also to individuals. mr. speaker, i am frustrated that the senate kicked the can down the road one more time.

for only two months after we sent them a bill that was not only bipartisan, yes a bipartisan bill passed by this house, but also had good job policies. i came back to d.c. yesterday to do something better. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, is recognized. mr. levin: i now yield two minutes to a very distinguished member, the gentlelady from illinois, jan schakowsky. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from illinois is recognized for two minutes. ms. schakowsky: i thank the gentleman for yielding. don't blame congress for not working together. blame the house republicans who can't even work with each other. the one and only reason this house of representatives is not voting for the bipartisan senate bill to provide relief to middle class taxpayers, seniors, and disabled people on medicare and jobless americans is because it would pass.

that's right. the republican scam was to bring up the bill supported by 90% of the senate and then kill it. but on the way to this slaughter, a funny thing happened, sensible republicans basically said, you want me to vote to abandon millions of middle class americans without the help they need this holiday season? no way. so the sanctimonious rhetoric you hear today from the republicans is nothing but talk. baby talk. if they don't get their way exactly, then they won't play. what they are saying to millions of americans saying happy han can to middle class americans -- hanukkah to middle class americans who are lighting the first cannel tonight and won't get their $1,000 tax break. happy new year to our seniors and people with disabilities who may lose their doctor.

merry christmas to the jobless americans desperate for work, looking for work, who barely survive on their unemployment checks. the house republicans are the grinches who stole your christmas. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, is recognized. mr. camp: i yield two minutes to a distinguished member of the ways and means committee, the gentleman from new york, mr. reed. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for two minutes. mr. reed: thank you, mr. speaker. to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, it's not $1,000 payroll tax reduction just as was quoted by my colleague who just spoke. the senate bill is two months. it's $160. so let's be clear and honest with the american people. what we are talking about here in the house of representatives on our side of the aisle today is that we want to do our work. yes, we want to be with our families for christmas. and we want to be home ringing in the new year with our family

and friends, but you know what? the american people deserve better. we are willing to stay here and do the work. not do band-aid type of policy. tax policy on a two-month basis? are you kidding me? that is ridiculous. we need long-term solutions to our problems in america. we need to put the political bickering aside. two months is not a solution. it's dodging responsibility in the senate. . we stand and rise to support today. and it is a vote. we will have a vote to reject the senate position with this amendment and its band-aid policy and we will send a clear message to the american people that we in the house of representatives are about finding solutions long term, one, two years at a minimum and we're willing to do the work and i call on the senate to

come back to d.c. and finish the job. hardworking taxpayers of america deserve no less than for all to honor our oath and our responsibility to govern through solutions, not political games. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, is recognized. mr. levin: could you verify how much time each side has? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, has 7 1/2 minutes. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, has five minutes. mr. levin: i now yield 2 1/2 minutes to the very distinguished colleague from florida, ms. wasserman schultz. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from florida is recognized for 2 1/2 minutes. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in firm opposition to this motion to go to conference. without a vote on the senate bill to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits. it is deeply disappointing and troubling that we'll be denied the opportunity to vote on the senate's overwhelmingly bipartisan compromise that would bring relief to millions of

america's working families. now our republican colleagues have said, pass the one-year bill that passed the house last week. well, talk to your republican colleagues in the senate. four times the senate republicans -- excuse me, four times the senate democrats tried to bring up your bill and four times a senate republican objected. facts are hard. if we do not pass this bill, 160 million americans will face a $1,000 tax increase as we go into the new year. if we do not act in my home state, nine million floridians will see this tax increase next year. if we do not act, 2.2 million unemployed americans will lose their unemployment benefits. and if we do not act, 48 million seniors will face the specter of having to find new doctors due to cuts for reimbursement rates. i've received countless constituent calls, letters and email, many of them very personal and emotional. just this morning i was especially moved by a note from a single mom, christine, with a

3-year-old daughter from my congressional district. she wrote, i am pleading my case to you out of desperation, to extend unemployment insurance. these benefits help her provide food and necessities for her daughter. too many of my colleagues like to paint unemployment beneficiaries with one insensitive and cruel brush. this woman isn't sitting around. she was laid off from her job this fall and has only been on unemployment for a couple of months while she looks for another job. my constituent's story, while personal and moving, is unfortunately not a unique one. my republican colleagues who callously ignore the needs of middle class americans by refusing to vote on the payroll tax extension and unemployment benefits are sending the message to millions of working families that despite their efforts to look for and find work in this delicate economy, they simply don't care. the house republican leadership needs to allow a straight up or down d vote on the -- up or down vote on the senate bill that passed 89-10 with strong bipartisan support. clearly they're afraid it might pass. i urge you to listen to the

plight of constituents like christine who said, i'm asking that they give people more time to find work by pushing these dates back further. i'm having a very hard time trying to find work that will accommodate my living expenses for might have self and my daughter -- for myself and my daughter. she's only been on unemployment since sebt september. she needs her help. pass this bill. and stop playing politics with people's lives. thank you, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, is recognized. mr. camp: i yield a minute and half to the gentleman from louisiana, mr. scalise. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. scalise: thank you, mr. speaker, and i thank the gentleman from michigan for yielding. what we're talking about here today, mr. speaker, is the difference between passing a tax policy that would only last two months or passing a tax policy that lasts the entire year. you know, during these next week and a half while families are sitting at home doing their budget for next year, they're going to be making their budget for the entire year of 2012, not just for two months. yet what the senate sent over is a plan that would only kick the

can down the road and we'd be right back here again having this same debate in two months. and people are sick and tired of this kind of absurd action from congress. you know, if you look at earlyics courses, anybody who takes their -- -- early civics courses, anybody knows that when there's a difference between the house and senate, then the two sides get together and work out those differences. that's what the legislative process is about. and clearly we have a difference. we think the policy should be for an entire year as even the president has said and the senate sent us over a two-month patch that doesn't even fix the problem. in fact, outside groups like national federation of independents -- independent businesses said this would hurt small businesses. yet what do we get from the other side? minority leader pelosi, mr. speaker, said she will not appoint any house democrat to participate in the negotiations. she just said this last night. so in the spirit of christmas you've got the minority leader saying she's just going to take her toys and go home. that's not the responsible thing to do. let's stay here, let's get the

policy right, let's do our work and let's have the senate do their work too for the american people. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, is recognized. mr. levin: i now yield one minute to the distinguished gentleman from georgia, mr. scott, david scott. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one minute. mr. scott: thank you very much, and i appreciate the opportunity to come down and to say a few words on this. ladies and gentlemen, i'm so glad that the people of this country are tuning in to what's happening on the floor of this house of representatives. what we are seeing is a great dysfunction in the republican party and the house of representatives. here's the situation. the american people are hurting. 160 million american people do not need their taxes to go up. there are 2.2 million american people who are without unemployment benefits who will have those unemployment benefits not extended.

and there are seniors, 48 million of them, who will not be able to go and visit their doctors. america's hurting and what does the republican party in the house of representatives want to do? they want to hurt them some more by not even allowing a vote on a compromised bill. that was passed by the senate with 89 votes, 39 of them members of the senate republican party. ladies and gentlemen, what's at stake here is a fail tour to compromise -- failure to compromise. that is the key. when hamilton and jefferson failed to compromise, it was john adams who brought them together. where would this country be if that had not happened? ladies and gentlemen of america, wake up and realize that this is not just the tea party people or republicans or democrats. it's a party of all of us.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one minute. the gentleman from georgia's time has expired. regular order will be had on the house floor. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. camp: i yield a minute to the distinguished gentleman from georgia, mr. kingston. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one minute. mr. kingston: i thank the gentleman. the president of the united states has said it would be inexcusable not to extend the payroll tax cut for one year. ms. pelosi, mr. hoyer have said the same thing, as have dozens of other leading democrats. i agree with them and so does a bipartisan majority of the house who last week voted to extend the tax cut for one year. now, why do we support it for one year? because two months only gives uncertainty to this fragile economy. uncertainty, families can't plan, businesses can't plan and jobs can't be created. so why do the democrats want the two months? sadly, because like they're

democrat colleagues in the senate, they want to go home. but you know what? there's a 200-year-old mechanism for ironing out senate and house agreements. it's called a conference committee. now, your leader has decided not to point -- appoint this committee. you want to compromise, that's what this vote is all about. we want to compromise. we know we can't get everything we want. but unlike the senate we're not saying it's our way or the highway. we're saying compromise. vote yes on this vote and let's compromise and let's get this done. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, is recognized. mr. levin: i now yield one minute to the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. harky -- mr. marky. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for one minute. mr. markey: mr. speaker, tax cuts delayed are tax cuts denied. last year just before the holidays, the house republicans extended the bush tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, no strings attached.

and this year republicans won't even allow a vote to extend middle class tax cuts. republicans want to procrastinate, democrats want to legislate. when it comes to millionaires, the republicans are santa claus. for the middle class, they're the griverage. this isn't -- grinch. this isn't mission impossible, mr. speaker. we don't need tomorrow cruise to save seniors, the middle class -- tom cruise to save seniors, the middle class and the unemployment. we just need to pass the senate compromise right now. but not allowing -- by not allowing an up or down vote on this compromise, the republicans are raising a curtain on their real priorities. millionaires and billionaires. americans don't need any more meetsings or debate, they just need us to make sure their taxes do not go up on new year's day. today we can protect the middle class. the seniors and the unemployment by passing this bipartisan

compromise right now. do it now. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, is recognized. mr. camp: i yield one minute to the distinguished chairman of the select revenue committee, the gentleman from ohio, mr. tiberi. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio is recognized for one minute. mr. tiberi: mr. speaker, this debate is in many ways surreal. i lived in civic -- civics 101 that the house is a co-equal branch to the senate. members of the other side say, well, this is a compromise. it's a compromise in the senate. not the house. the house has spoken. the senate says, my way or the highway. now, i understand that that's how it's kind of become around here and i know there are friends on the other side of the aisle who are upset with the senate when they've done it on other bills, when they were in the majority. this is enough. the american people deserve better. we need to get back to regular order. we need to compromise between the house-passed bill and the senate-passed bill. that's the way the founding fathers wanted it. compromise between the house,

the senate, not between the senate and the senate. for two months, for the american people. that's outrageous. they deserve a year. a full year to have a payroll tax holiday. not two months. come on, ladies and gentlemen. let's send the senate a message. come back to washington, do your work, give the american people a year, not two months. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: how much time is there left, please? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, has three minutes. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, has 1 1/2 minutes. the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: mr. camp, are you going to close? i yield myself the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. levin: you know, i remember when i was doing arguments before a court and a judge would

ask me a very salient question that would get to the heart of the matter. and that's where we are today. there's this question to the republican majority. if you're so sure of your arguments, why not allow a vote on the senate bill? otherwise everything you've said is a smoke screen. it's because you're afraid you'd lose it. or you don't want some people voting no on the record. that's really what this is about . and there's a second question. if you believe in bipartisanship , why not allow a vote on a bipartisan bill in the senate? i quoted three senators and

three more now have spoken out, senators snow, wicker and grassley. senator grassley says, if it doesn't pass the house today there's a chance the payroll tax holiday will be lost. and senator wicker says, i'm surprised the house isn't willing to take a two-month time-out to do something more lasting. so, i think the answer is, again, you're talking about bipartisanship -- your talk about bipartisanship is totally shallow. the previous speaker said, the senate said it's my way or the highway. no, that isn't accurate. the speaker of the house said to the senate, get on the road and pass a bill and never said, don't do it. he said, do it.

, no the problem is that many people -- no, the problem is that many people in the house didn't want to extend the payroll tax in the first place. and you sent over a bill that deleted 40 weeks of unemployment insurance for the millions who are looking for work and can't find a job. so, today we have no choice. but to vote no and insist that this obligation be met in this house of representatives, vote, vote, vote on the bill that the senate passed. . and your denial of allowing us a vote is a denial to the people of this country who are uninsured as of december 1 for unemployment. who need medicare care, and also those who need the

continuation of the payroll tax cut. that's what all of this is about. and anything else is a pure smokescreen that all the american people will see through. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, is recognized. mr. camp: mr. speaker, i yield myself the balance of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. camp: what we are voting on today is to disagree with what the senate did to our bill. we are voting to disagree to the senate amendment. once that's adopted, the house message on this bill goes back to the senate and the senate then has -- is the only body in possession of the bill and we cannot move forward to resolve the differences between the house and the senate until speaker -- until leader reid and representative pelosi appoint conferees. so we are voting to disagree with the senate. let me just say two months isn't long enough. you have heard a lot of people talk today in this debate.

it's embarrassing that we are doing tax policy for two months, but it's not just house republicans who think we need a longer term extension, it's supporters including many of our nation's democratic governors. i received a letter that i ask unanimous consent to put into the record, actually went to our leaders, last week for 16 of the nation's governors, democratic governors after we approved 3630, they called for a swift passage of a one-year extension. not two months. one year. that's what the house bill does. what's more that's what the senate bill specifically rejects. i urge that we vote to disagree with the senate amendments and let's get on to a conference. let's resolve this this year so we can make certainty in our code, certainty for all of those people who are out of work, and certainty for those seniors who are -- who need to see a physician for more than two months, but for two years. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: all time for debate has expired. pursuant to house resolution 502, the previous question is

ordered. the question is on the motion by the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp. all those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is agreed to. without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. mr. levin: i ask -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: i ask for a recorded vote. mr. camp: mr. speaker, i request the recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman asks for the yeas and nays. mr. camp: yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 229, the nays are 193 and the motion is adopted. without objection, a motion to reconsider is laid upon the

table.

the speaker pro tempore: the house will come to order. house will come to order. the house will come to order. for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland rise? mr. hoyer: mr. speaker, i have a motion to instruct at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will designate the motion. the clerk: motion to instruct conferees offered by mr. hoyer of maryland. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 502 the motion is considered read. pursuant to clause 7 of rule 22, the gentleman from maryland, mr. hoyer, and the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, will each control 30 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from maryland. mr. hoyer: thank you, mr. speaker. the house is not in order.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is correct. the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. hoyer: mr. speaker, it is december 20. i yield myself four minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hoyer: mr. speaker, it is december 20. and the republicans are using it as a day to dis-- dissemble. protecting -- pretending to support a tax cut for working americans while making it uncertain and delayed. we of course, as we all know, could pass the senate bill by 2:00 today. send it to the president. and provide certainty to working americans come january 1, that

tear taxes will not -- that their taxes will not go up. the choice, i suggest, to all of you is not between 60 days and one year, because at least we all say we're for one year, we are for one year. we will support a one-year extension. but we know the senate has been unable to agree and so they sent us back an agreement that they could agree on, to give us 60 days to get to that one year. instead house republicans refused to even bring the senate's bipartisan compromise to the floor. 89 u.s. senators voted for a compromise and you will not bring it to the floor. and you create uncertainty