mr. yarmuth. there he is. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for being here and for your testimony. quick question in relation to something that mr. garrett raised the issue of the -- however you characterize it, fine tax under the affordable care act. you said there were no new taxes in this budget. if i'm not mistaken, that final budget or tax was in existing law prior to this budget being submitted. therefore by the chairman's own standards those things that are in existing law you don't get credit for or blamed for. the implication that in some way this budget raised revenue through that vehicle doesn't meet the standard the chairman said. would you agree with that? >> i think it's important in this budget there are no increases on families earning less than $250,000 and, in fact, important tax breaks, including the america opportunity tax credit which is up to $10,000 for tuition credit, tax against tuition, which is important as part of our global competitiveness and ensuring that people can afford to go to college. so the middle class is -- we need to rebuild and make sure th

mr. yarmuth: thank you, madam speaker. it's been more than two years since the supreme court rendered its citizens united decision and american politics is becoming more corrupt by the dollar. election season is flooded with special interest money claiming the deep skepticism that is fed up with the government. superpacs have raised approximately $181 million, an increase of over 1200%. our system allows for cooperations and extremely wealthy individuals to influence elections without any accountability and this must change. i am a supporter of the disclose 2012 act which would shine the light on the secret money in political campaigns. it would allow s.p.r. pacs, outside groups within 24 hours of making a campaign expenditures and it forces leaders of cooperations and other outside groups to stand by their campaign ads by appearing in them and stating they approve this. until we get big money out of politics we will never be able to responsibly address the major issues facing american families. the speaker pro tempore: fo

mr. yarmuth: madam speaker, there's no question that our economy is recovering. the private sector has added jobs for 23 straight months, putting 3.7 million american workers back on the job. last week in my district, g.e. opened its first new manufacturing facility and the first new product line at louisville's appliance park in more than 50 years. because of our recovery act investments, 1,300 workers will be back on the job at appliance park and hundreds of those jobs are coming back from china. when the private sector can rely on the federal government as a partner, jobs and economic growth follow. and that's exactly what we are seeing today in my district and across the country. we decided we are not going to surrender the lead in innovation to the chinese and the rest of the world. and as a result we are revitalizing american manufacturing. we are making it in america. but we can't stop now. madam speaker, as we begin to debate the federal budget, we must continue to invest in american innovation and ingenuity the way we have in louisville and so many other

mr. yarmuth: the opposite is true. if minimalist government works, somalia would be a rich, stable, and secure, and canada would be a hell hole. afghanistan would be a coveted destination and denmark would be like a leper colony. to be fair, the authors say our government is often too slow to react, it has always answers and needs to be more flexible and more effective. we all agree with that. what we need to do is find a way to create a government that is efficient that sets the right direction for our country and then lets the innovative spirit of this country take hold and find the answers to our problems. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, mals. recently, the president of the united states indicated that he will be sending legislation to the congress in order to get america back to work. he also indicated that he would use the