ms. pelosi. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. pelosi: thank you very much, madam chair. ranking member. thank you, mr. speaker. why did i sort of smell smoke when i heard this debate? it's reminiscent of nero fiddling while rome burned. the american people are waiting for us to get the job dobe here, not to make a myriad of excuses about why stuff hasn't been done. you're bringing up a rule that says we should take -- have suspension authority. let's bring the middle income tax cut up under suspension. i believe and i am willing to take the chance that this house would give over 2/3 of a vote to middle income tax cuts. a tax cut which gives -- do i detect your smirk to mean you don't think republicans won't vote for middle income tax cuts? should i take it to mean you will continue to hold middle income tax cuts hosstanl, giving tax cuts to the wealthiest people in our country? the unfairness of it is appall, the fact that it increases the deficit is disgraceful. and that it does not change -- create jobs is a big mistake for us t

ms. pelosi. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. pelosi: thank you very much, madam chair. ranking member. thank you, mr. speaker. why did i sort of smell smoke when i heard this debate? it's reminiscent of nero fiddling while rome burned. the american people are waiting for us to get the job dobe here, not to make a myriad of excuses about why stuff hasn't been done. you're bringing up a rule that says we should take -- have suspension authority. let's bring the middle income tax cut up under suspension. i believe and i am willing to take the chance that this house would give over 2/3 of a vote to middle income tax cuts. a tax cut which gives -- do i detect your smirk to mean you don't think republicans won't vote for middle income tax cuts? should i take it to mean you will continue to hold middle income tax cuts hosstanl, giving tax cuts to the wealthiest people in our country? the unfairness of it is appall, the fact that it increases the deficit is disgraceful. and that it does not change -- create jobs is a big mistake for us t

ms. pelosi would have gone along with it? i've really got to think that they never would have. >> i agree. there's an interim position. you don't have to give him that power but you can agree to raise the debt ceiling now to get us through the next hurdle. i don't even think they'll do that. >> andy friedman, thank you very much. may your prediction come true. >> take care, tyler. >> indeed. i'll second that. a major exclusive with bank of america ceo brian moynihan. find out what he told diana olick with the future of america and the impact of the fiscal cliff. we're back in 2:00. try running four. fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, wh

ms. pelosi, for five minutes. ms. pells: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i -- ms. pelosi: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i'm glad that our speaker has brought the fiscal challenges to this floor. it's been long overdue. we have been calling on the speaker to bring forth middle-income ta cut now foa very long time. in fact, since last summer when it passed the united states senate. the president stands ready and poised with his pen to sign it. democrats in the house have a discharge petition to bring that bill to the floor. what stands in the way is an act on the part of the republican majority to bring a middle-income tax cut to the floor of the house. which across the country has almost universal support and which i think in this body, given the right to vote for it would have overwhelming support. up until know, everybody in the country, in pact in the world, have been talking about what's going to happen, those who pay attention to such matters, what's going to happen to the -- in the budget debate in the congress and with the president . at last thasubject co

ms. pelosi, for five minutes. ms. pells: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i -- ms. pelosi: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i'm glad that our speaker has brought the fiscal challenges to this floor. it's been long overdue. we have been calling on the speaker to bring forth middle-income tax cut now for a very long time. in fact, since last summer when it passed the united states senate. the president stands ready and poised with his pen to sign it. democrats in the house have a discharge petition to bring that bill to the floor. what stands in the way is an act on the part of the republican majority to bring a middle-income tax cut to the floor of the house. which across the country has almost universal support and which i think in this body, given the right to vote for it would have overwhelming support. up until know, everybody in the country, in pact in the world, have been talking about what's going to happen, those who pay attention to such matters, what's going to happen to the -- in the budget debate in the congress and with the president . at last that subje

ms. pelosi. ms. pelosi: i thank the gentleman for yielding. tonight we come to the floor to pay tribute to two people, barney frank and john olver, who in many ways could not be more different. they are the same in this respect, they have made both of them important marks on the congress of the united states. what's special about them is that they are so different but in their shared values, in their effectiveness, on their knowledge of the issues and their ability to persuade our colleagues to join them in a vote, they share that talent. especially those values representing massachusetts in the congress. i had the privilege of serving with john olver on the appropriations committee. so i saw firsthand and very close up his extraordinary mastery of the facts of the substance before us and his political astuteness to find a way to get the job done as the chairman and ranking member of an important subcommittee of appropriations, transportation. he -- better known as h.u.d. he and -- he's a cardinal, a cardinal. that's what they call them. cardi

ms. pelosi, for five minutes. ms. pells: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i -- ms. pelosi: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i'm glad that our speaker has brought the fiscal challenges to this floor. it's been long overdue. we have been calling on the speaker to bring forth middle-income tax cut now for a very long time. in fact, since last summer when it passed the united states senate. the president stands ready and poised with his pen to sign it. democrats in the house have a discharge petition to bring that bill to the floor. what stands in the way is an act on the part of the republican majority to bring a middle-income tax cut to the floor of the house. which across the country has almost universal support and which i think in this body, given the right to vote for it would have overwhelming support. up until know, everybody in the country, in pact in the world, have been talking about what's going to happen, those who pay attention to such matters, what's going to happen to the -- in the budget debate in the congress and with the president . at last that subje

ms. pelosi: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding and i rise in support of his resolution, his very important resolution to condemn the acts of a lone gunman in newtown, connecticut. and to also condolences to the families and members of the community. i join him in the words of this resolution, in saluting the courage of the teach, and administrators who gave their lives to save the children in their care. to thank the first responders who arrived on the scene, to not only get survivors to safety but to end the succession of killings that were happening. those first responders, mr. speaker, they leave their homes every day knowing they're going to face danger. and they did that day as well. but in the face of it, they were heroic, as well as the teachers and the counselor and the principal of the school. this has all been made very clear to us by our colleagues, congresswoman delauro, who has been a priority for her. of course congressman murphy, senator-elect murphy who represents this district wi

ms. pelosi, the democratic leader, did not make a tax proposal that would give people over $1 million a year, a $50,000 tax break, which is exactly what the republican plan would do, number one. number two, the proposal that the president put on the table has $1.2 trillion in cuts, if you consider interest savings, which is more than the cuts here and we'll also deal with the sequester. the republican proposal out of financial services would increase the likelihood that the taxpayers would have to fail out the financial industry again. mott reduce it. and they strip away the independence of the financial consumer protection board so lobbyists would meddle so they look out for lobbyists' interests rather than the interests of the american people. so this is another example of trying to help the folks at the very top at the expense of the rest of the country. and mr. bachus, it wasn't me that made the 40% comment, talking about dividing america. that was the comment made by the republican candidate for president. with that i yield to the distinguished lady from new york, a member of the approp

ms. pelosi, mr. reid, mr. mcconnell and others, sitting in the office trying to get to specific agreements. this president's willing to do that. and he has done it. he's shown that he's willing to do it in 2011 and you and i were in the room watching it happen. now, did it result in what we wanted and that was an agreement? it did not. that was unfortunate. but this president's willing to do it. hopefully both sides are willing to do both sides of the ledger, which the gentleman points out, revenues and spending, balanced package, getting us to where we need to be. i'll move on to another subject unless the gentleman wants to make another point. ok. debt ceiling. i'm very worried about the debt ceiling, mr. leader. i think the debt ceiling is something that you and i have expressed both publicly and privately ought not to be something that really we put at risk. i frankly think all the leaders that i've talked to on the republican side and on the democratic side think that when you incur debts as the united st

ms. pelosi: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank you for yielding, mr. miller. i know that we have a time limitation so i will begin by associating myself with the remarks of congresswoman eshoo who speak so -- spoke so beautifully and knowledgeably about our colleagues who are leaving from -- who are from california, who are leaving. i rise today to thank my colleagues who are friends and our partners from the great state of california. the members we honor in this special order, i'm going to just do this because it's way down low. demonstrate the extraordinary divert of our great -- diversity of our great state. they hail from the greater los angeles area to san diego. they bring california's wide range of interests and aspirations to the floor of the house every day. working side by side with the entire california delegation, their service, our service has been -- has strengthened the golden state, the commitment of our departing members has strengthened the congress, their achievements have advanced the character of our country. each of these members has bro

ms. pelosi: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank you for yielding, mr. miller. i know that we have a time limitation so i will begin by associating myself with the remarks of congresswoman eshoo who speak so -- spoke so beautifully and knowledgeably about our colleagues who are leaving from -- who are from california, who are leaving. i rise today to thank my colleagues who are friends and our partners from the great state of california. the members we honor in this special order, i'm going to just do this because it's way down low. demonstrate the extraordinary divert of our great -- diversity of our great state. they hail from the greater los angeles area to san diego. they bring california's wide range of interests and aspirations to the floor of the house every day. working side by side with the entire california delegation, their service, our service has been -- has strengthened the golden state, the commitment of our departing members has strengthened the congress, their achievements have advanced the character of our country. each of these members has bro

ms. pelosi: thank you very much, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, as we all know in the course of the election the president made it very clear that he was courting the extension of the middle class tax cut and that everyone, 100% of the american people, would benefit from it. 100% of taxpayers, small businesses, wage earners, and the rest. the republicans are saying that rather than passing that they want to hold it hostage to giving an additional tax cut to people making over $250,000 a year. that's not negotiating. that's hostage taking. so today on the floor of the house the democrats have proposed a discharge petition which if it receives 218 signatures, that's only a couple dozen republicans joining the democrats, would automatically come to the floor and i predict would receive the overwhelming support of the house of representatives. the miles per hour people want us to work together. we are in -- the american people want us to work together. we are in agreement on this subject. why? why my republicans -- republican colleagues, can

ms. pelosi, spoke of that got no votes in the united states senate. not one vote. no votes here. the plan that the president has presented which would substantially -- not just raise taxes but substantially raise spending, if you isolate the president's ideas of simply raising taxes on the -- whatever he calls the top 2% or those that have a household income of $250,000 and above, what you essentially do, mr. speaker, is very quickly lose 700,000 american jobs. and that's the answer that this administration fails to include in their talking points. that there is a huge impact. part of that impact, mr. speaker, comes from the problem where dividends, dividends, are those -- that money that comes back as a result of an investment, would rise essentially from 15% to whatever a person's top tax rate is. meaning it could go at least under the scenario that the president wants to 39%. that means from 15% to 39%, that window, that value in between, is what people reinvest in their companies. they reinvest that, many times, in small business, and that's the job creation element. when you