ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: i thank the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. speaker, this is a very tough place to put america. not members of congress. we are paid to come here and do our job. but it's a very tough place to put america. and so i have a simple state of facts present today and listen to my other colleagues, which i will, because it is a tough decision to in actuality support legislation that seems to be driven by thoughts that the only way to get something done is to hold a whole country hostage and a whole congress hostage. on the brink of august 2, we're now throwing something on the floor that is arguably supposed to be helpful. i am concerned that there are nuances in this legislation that will hurt people that we all care about, but it's a tough decision not to say yes to having america pay her bills. i hope for once that once we get past today that we will not in any way yield again to the voices of 87 members who care nothing about america and simply cares about their way or the

ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: i thank the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. speaker, this is a very tough place to put america. not members of congress. we are paid to come here and do our job. but it's a very tough place to put america. and so i have a simple state of facts to present today and listen to my other colleagues, which i will, because it is a tough decision to in actuality support legislation that seems to be driven by thoughts that the only way to get something done is to hold a whole country hostage and a whole congress hostage. on the brink of august 2, we're now throwing something on the floor that is arguably supposed to be helpful. i am concerned that there are nuances in this legislation that will hurt people that we all care about, but it's a tough decision not to say yes to having america pay her bills. i hope for once that once we get past today that we will not in any way yield again to the voices of 87 members who care nothing about america and simply cares about their way or t

ms. jackson lee, for five minutes. ms. jackson lee: i thank the speaker. we will be gathering this morning in a number of conferences and caucuses to assess the work over the weekend that addresses a procedural process that most americans were never made aware of for the last 100 times since 1917 that we raised the debt ceiling. it is tragic that these two words have become such dastardly words in the american psychic and the american vocabulary. and it has been characterized as reckless spending in washington. more than what it is which most americans do at the end of the month and that is to pay their bills. i had the privilege of joining in a balanced budget process in the 1990's and frankly it was a joy. it was good to do good things in a bipartisan manner on behalf of the american people. out of that process came something called the children's health insurance program that helped insure over these last couple of years millions and millions of children and, yes, we had a balanced budget. in the course of it, of course, in the rush of doing that budget

ms. jackson lee: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. it really is about justice for all. the question becomes as we go into our conferences and caucuses, who will this help? will it help the small businesses who are the backbone of america? will it help the students who are now standing at the doors of colleges and seeing them slammed shut? will it help those in nursing homes who now because of drastic cuts in medicaid will see their place of abode lost? will it help the hospitals who care for the sick because there is no medicare reimbursement or medicaid? we are going to be looking at this to see how it helps or hurts the american people. but i tell you who it helps. big businesses, are they going to now step in and create jobs because when we cut across the board public sector jobs will be cut all across america. it has always been the government that stoops and comes in to raise the american people up when there i

ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: i thank the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. speaker, this is a very tough place to put america. not members of congress. we are paid to come here and do our job. but it's a very tough place to put america. and so i have a simple state of facts to present today and listen to my other colleagues, which i will, because it is a tough decision to in actuality support legislation that seems to be driven by thoughts that the only way to get something done is to hold a whole country hostage and a whole congress hostage. on the brink of august 2, we're now throwing something on the floor that is arguably supposed to be helpful. i am concerned that there are nuances in this legislation that will hurt people that we all care about, but it's a tough decision not to say yes to having america pay her bills. i hope for once that once we get past today that we will not in any way yield again to the voices of 87 members who care nothing about america and simply cares about their way or t