mr. pascrell: on the federal workers. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from florida reserves. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. million woodall: mr. speaker, i yield myself three minutes to say to the gentleman, he heard it from the gentleman from virginia on my side of the aisle, the respect for federal employees and the job that they do is not a question being debated here today. the admiration that i have for the folks in the c.d.c. in my neck of the woods, the support led by the speaker of the house from my state, speaker gingrich, to double the n.i.h. budget and double again. the kind of work that goes on here is indisputed. i want to show you, mr. speaker, what my constituents also see in their tough times, because it's not just the clerk at the v.a. that hasn't gotten a raise in two years. i was talking with a my friend of mine a clerk in a furniture store. single mom, child, son, 6 years old. hasn't gotten a raise in two years. makes $11 an hour. average median, medi

mr. pascrell. >> thank you, mr. chairman. dr. elmendorf, thank you for coming before us again and opening the pleasant season for the next two years. i want to respond to my brother from georgia what he said before about how we have an increased spending since 2008, beginning january, 2009 when president obama raised his hand. i think we're all here to roll up our sleeves and find a long- term solution to the debt. but just as we know that increased revenue is not going to solve the entire problem by any stretch, neither, we can't cut our way out of budget difficulties either. so when you look at what's happened in terms of budgets since 2009, january, 2009 and now, when there was an increase in spending, we just can't talk about that out of context, why was there an increase in spending. are we spending just to spend, or was this the government's response, our response, whether you voted for it or not, to a very serious problem in the united states of america, people out of work, health care costs going through the roof. so how

mr. pascrell. >> thank you, mr. chairman. dr. elmendorf, thank you for coming before us again and opening the pleasant season for the next two years. i think that -- i want to respond to my brother from georgia what he said before about how we have an increased spending since 2008, beginning january, 2009 when president obama raised his hand. i think we're all here to roll up our sleeves and find a long-term solution to the debt. but just as we know that increased revenue is not going to solve the entire problem by any stretch, neither, we can't cut our way out of budget difficulties either. so when you look at what's happened in terms of budgets since 2009, january, 2009 and now, when there was an increase in spending, we just can't talk about that out of context, why was there an increase in spending. are we spending just to spend, or was this the government's response, our response, whether you voted for it or not, to a very serious problem in the united states of america, people out of work, health care costs going through th

mr. pascrell. >> mr. speaker, we need a balanced approach to reducing our deficit. we need to make responsible cuts, while also raising revenue. this bill is not the way to do it. i have great respect for the gentleman's intellect. this is one of the dumbest bills i have ever seen come to this floor. let's take a look at it, mr. speaker. i rise in strong opposition to this rule. as part of the fiscal cliff deal, we promised federal employees that they would see their first pay raise in over two years on march 27. this is a modest pay adjustment. 0.5% -- when you say $10 billion, we're talking about $1 billion a year. now, a little before a month before the increase would take effect, this bill would break that promise. do you think, americana, that this is going to solve the fiscal problems that the congress and presidents created? my home state of new jersey suffered a devastating blow from sandy this past fall, as did other states. the army corps of engineers and other agencies were on the ground immediately. how dare you ask this pejorative question, what if we t