Steven Holt: “I thank the gentleman. As we've heard the gentleman from Maryland say many times, ``Representative'' is not just a…”

“I thank the gentleman. As we've heard the gentleman from Maryland say many times, ``Representative'' is not just a title. It's our job description. We need to hear from our constituents. And our constituents have told us over and over again this year what they want. They want middle class tax relief. {time} 1310 They want a farm bill. They want the postal service fixed so it can pay its bills. They want passage of the Violence Against Women Act. It's a long list of things that they feel we can do to help Americans. We've had an opportunity to hear from people because the leadership sent us home a month and a half ago where we could hold town meetings while they allowed us to do nothing here. We heard from our constituents very clearly--not just from a small segment, not just from a few special interests, not just from a few percent for whom everything seems just fine, thank you. But we heard from all sorts of Americans who say, Help. Please. Get to work. You've heard this is the least productive Congress in a generation, in a long generation; and that's by design. The majority sets the schedule. They scheduled very few days in session, very few committee hearings, very few markups. So even the do-nothing Congress, as my friend from Missouri said, even the Congress that Harry Truman called the do-nothing Congress was much more productive than this one. So why did the majority close up shop and head home until after the election?…”