i have served longer in the minority and the dean of the house, john dingell, has served. i respect that fact. to say that we are not trying to get to an agreement is a mischaracterization of where we are, mr. speaker. i have associated my remarks with my friend from rochester to make sure that we do not see the sequestered take place or that we do not cool with the fiscal cliff and to say that the package we have the deals with the reduction of 238 cause billion is virtually identical to what pass this house. it is reduced by 100 pages. it is much smaller than what was passed in may by this house. i believe it is a package that is one that can responsibly address -- to be a first step toward something we all know needs to be done. as i talk to democrats, there is recognition. entitlement reform has to take place. with that, i would like to yield two and a half minutes to my good friend, a strong budget hawks, my fellow californian. >> i thank my friend for yielding. mr. speaker, the debate over the fiscal cliff has become so hyperbolic that i am afraid we are losing touch

and a john dingell, where's that rascal? pni -- i know, but i can't stop. [laughter] but dingell and i used them in a conference committee said he would say, look, we are going to get this done and i said who are you going to before the 10 days is over? he named a guy. he said what i should do something with the staff of the committee in the senate? is that i can't come if they are tougher than i am. but then we got together and beat them two days. chuck robb and i were on the iraq study group. both have been? the word compromise now means you are a wimp. that's madness. you can't do it. bruce reid, executive director of the commission cochaired by erskine and i from idaho. i don't know how he got into that. i'm not going to go any further. i see corey logan took it over there, one of my students as however. now anne has cleared her throat three times. and if you have heard it, but i've heard it. stick around because the test of an event like this, i go up and say how's the wind? better than anything you ever bought. [laughter] said now that i'm finished i'

i will say again, i've served as long in the minority as john dingell. i've served longer in the minority in this house, mr. speaker, than the dean of the house, john dingell, has servedment and i understand, i've served 18 years in the minority. and i understand that it is challenging and i respect that fact. to say that, as we're dealing with the very end of this session, that we're not trying to get to an agreement is a mischaracter zk -- mischaracterization of where we are, mr. speaker. i associate myself with the remarks of my friend from rochester as it relates to us not seeing the sequester take effect or we go over the fiscal cliff and to say that the package that we have that deals with the reduction of $238 billion over a 10-year period of time is again virtually identical to what passed this house. it's actually a reduced -- reduced by 100 pages. it's much smaller than what was passed in may by this house and i believe that it's a package that is again one that can responsibly address, be a first step toward something that we all know, mr. spe

i have served as long in the majority as john dingell. i have served longer in the minority then the dean of the house has served. i served 18 years in the minority. i have associated himself with the remarks of mr. rochester to request we do not see the sequester take place or we go over the fiscal cliff, and to say the package we have that deals with the reduction of $238 over 10 years is virtually identical to what passed the house. it is actually reduced by 100 pages. it is much smaller than what was passed in may by this house. i believe is a package that is, again, one that can responsibly address -- be a first step toward something we all know does need to be done. as i talk to democrats, there is recognition that entitlement reform house to take place. i think that is the right thing to do. with that, i would like to yield 2.5 minutes to my very good friend, my fellow californian. >> some of the world a bit from earlier for the consideration of the fiscal cliff bills debated in the house. the first husband debated and passed. that

. >> the institutional counterweight hezekiah spent a lot of time with, john dingell, democrat from michigan has been serving since 1955 and previous to him, his father served in the same congressional district until his father died and his son ran and took his place. dingell used to be thought of as liberal. no to think of him as a liberal now. democrats don't because they marginalize him. they didn't find him liberal to keep them on as chairman of the all powerful commerce committee. i show it to you that even with democrats than it can already, even being removed from the pecking order of power is able to get things done. this one-of-a-kind us how to pull strings on behalf of this district and get parts appropriated, to get bills passed. he passed his pipeline safety bill come essentially regulation bill during the tea party congress almost unheard of. but t-tango is a think a dying breed. his philosophy is to govern from the center. he began writing a bill, which means to bring everybody on board and get them in a room and talk about what they would like. it's not the way of works in tod

and debbie dingell, vice-chair of al gore's campaign in michigan in 2000. debbie, let's start with you. johnhner, speaker of the house, came out the day after the election and said okay we'll put revenues on the table. we will raise taxes but want to do it by limiting deductions. we don't want to raise rates. no real response on that from the president's team. isn't that kind of an olive branch? >> look, i think that democrats and republicans at a senior level understand we can knot go over the fiscal cliff. i think there's a lot of positioning, a lot of posturing. quite frankly sunday talk shows may have even made me a little edgy but as a watcher of washington for a long time we have got leaders that though we can't go over the fiscal cliff and they have to get in a room and start talking. jon: as a watcher of washington, debbie, you've been telling spouses of medical members of congress, don't buy a turkey for instance. >> well, they can buy a ushg it can i but i warned them for weeks do not expect to see your spouses until christmas. i am one who think they will work between christmas an

on friday as he nominated senator john kerry as secretary of state and the new speculation about chuckle over at the pentagon. here are the comments of congressman dingellthe incoming democratic member of the house foreign affairs committee. but there is a huge opposition to the potential nomination of chuckled to become the next secretary of defense, even the president obama has not made his decision. the former senator has come under fire for statements he has made, including one where he referred to the pro-israel lobby as the "jewish lobby." what is your reaction to that remark? >> i think that remark is a troublesome and problematic. it shows that the very best, a lack of sensitivity, and at the very worst, prejudice. i am concerned about the nomination. chuck if has been in the senate for a number of years. there is not only a lot of controversy with that remark, but with some of his boats -- votes. i have been hearing it from what my constituents, mainly in opposition to his nomination. >> you mentioned his boats. there are two sets of things -- he declined to sign some letters in the senate that were related, issues relating to the middle east.