Lois Capps: “I yield myself the remainder of my time. Mr. Speaker, I will say to my colleague from New York, being here in December…”

“I yield myself the remainder of my time. Mr. Speaker, I will say to my colleague from New York, being here in December, as you mentioned a few times, it was December 22 that Senator McConnell--actually several Senators said to us, Don't just be here, but get to work. Again, I acknowledge that, today, the conferees are meeting for the first time. In closing, I just want to make a few quick points: first, to remind our colleagues what is in this motion. It simply says that the conference should finish its work and report it back to the House by February 17. It doesn't speak to specific outcomes, just that we get our work done and do it in a timely fashion. It is very clear that we need to come together and work on the problems that the American people have sent us here to address. They are rightfully tired of the endless drama and the political posturing in Washington, D.C. They know we can do better, and we know it too. Second of all, we pretty much agree on the need for the basic provisions of this bill--the extension of the payroll tax cut, a tax cut for middle class, hardworking families, an extension of unemployment benefits, and a doc fix for Medicare providers for the rest of the year. Third, it sounds like we all want to get these issues resolved as quickly as possible. There was a lot of agreement here on the floor during the past hour.…”