mr. blumenhour. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, i couldn't agree with you more that progress does not have to wait for another election or a new administration. it's interesting to watch what has happened. a year ago there were some threatening to shut down the government over big bird and planned parenthood. then this summer, you know, you mentioned there were some who were seriously arguing that we not honor paying the debts that we've already incurred. >> it wasn't just a few. it wasn't just some. >> yes. later, in fact, this year we had people go home for the christmas holiday over the debate about the payroll tax, but actually the people sometimes are hurt. and we watched folks come back from the holiday and approve what had been essentially rejected, and we're going off to sign off on a conference committee that is extending it for the rest of the year unpaid for, which you couldn't have imagined if you just listened to the rhetoric including some around this table earlier in the year. i was struck by what our chai