to congresswoman betty sutton, i did not get a chance to work with betty that often. we traveled back and forth on the same flights every now and then. back and forth to ohio. we served on natural resources together but not on the same subcommittee. so i did not get a chance to spend an awful lot of time with betty, but like so many of the other comments that you've heard , she represented her district well, she did it in a very profession al-manar and i want to thank her for her many years of service -- professional manner and i want to thank her for her many years of service. steve latourette. what can you really say about steve latourette? i never once went to steve and asked him a question that he said, hey, can you come back and see me later? i don't have time. he was always willing to stop what he was doing and say, what can i do to help? what do you need to talk about? and no matter what the issue, you could always count on steve latourette being a voice of reason and i had, from time to time throughout my air force career, those rare leaders who could see bene

of steve latourette, who occupies the speaker's chair today, representatives dennis kucinich, betty sutton and steve augsrya. i want to thank steve latourette for his leadership and guidance in congress. i have had a privilege to working with my colleagues in support of our fellow buckeyes and americans. their service will not end with this congress. their innovative ideas and selfless service will be felt long after they leave the people's house. i look forward to their future roles as ohioans committed to advancing the interests of our communities, our state and our great country. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california, the minority leader, ms. pelosi, for five minutes. ms. pells: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i -- ms. pelosi: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i'm glad that our speaker has brought the fiscal challenges to this floor. it's been long overdue. we have been calling on the speaker to bring forth middle-income tax cut now for a very long time. in fact, since l

good as it has been without steve latourette, jean schmidt, steve austria, dennis kucinich and betty sutton. mr. speaker, it has been great knowing these folks. i'm pretty sure that all of them we will see again in one capacity or another. i know steve, that we will see you and jen and emma soon, and mr. speaker, with that, i think our hour's up. we have no more speakers. it's been a pleasure. it's been a privilege and honor to serve with all five of these men and women. and i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. under the speaker's announced policy of january 5, 2011, the gentleman from california, mr. garamendi, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. garamendi: mr. speaker, thank you for the opportunity. we're going to spend a good portion of this hour talking about something that is on everybody's mind, the fiscal cliff. oh my goodness, the fiscal cliff is now just -- wow, 20 days away. so what are we going to do? some have suggested that we really have to deal with entitlements. and i'm here to