As a Nation, we can do better. More importantly, as a Nation, for the sake of our own soul, we have to do better.

I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Inouye) and the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Lautenberg) are necessarily absent.

I many times would have welcomed a police officer rather than a ruler-wielding nun in my class.

Mr. President, I have visited Africa many times. When I have, I have left with an amazing impression of this great continent and all that it contains. It really does lure one and draw you back to the different places in Africa that offer…

Mr. President, I have to answer some of the comments made earlier by the Republican leader as he talked about the state of negotiations between the President and Congress as we face the fiscal cliff. He said at one point that the President…

Mr. President, let me first echo the comments of the Republican leader, Senator McConnell, about our colleague and friend, Senator Dick Lugar of Indiana. It has been my good fortune now for some 16 years to serve in the Senate with Senator…

I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Inouye), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Lautenberg), the Senator from Missouri (Mrs. McCaskill), and the Senator from Nebraska (Mr. Nelson) are necessarily absent.

I am honored to be here with the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Pat Leahy.

I think they were doing the right thing.

These children should not be in adult prisons, and our legislation will help with that, especially when you are talking about at-risk youth, many times needing mental or drug rehabilitation, not prison.

I wonder who is really tough on crime. It may look soft, but we are tougher.

Thank you so much, Congressman Garamendi, for leading this hour where, hopefully, we can get just some of the facts out about Medicare and Social Security. I, too, want to concentrate on Medicare. First of all, I want to ask this…

Yes. I finally am going to be able to take care of it. So a couple of things I want to reiterate that I think are just myths. One, I already said that we already means-test Medicare. Number two, that raising the age of eligibility--and our…

Let me just say on that point, though, on the cost savings, that's why when the Affordable Health Care Act passed, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that it saves--people said, How are we going to afford that? How are we going to…

I just want to say that this is not about party. This is about people who know the realities of life--Democrats, Republicans, Independents and, I'm sure, some people who are identified with the Tea Party. They don't want to see this…

Your 92-year-old mother, when she goes into the hospital, if she didn't have--she probably does have--a supplemental insurance policy, the copayment on the first day in the hospital, which some seniors have to pay out-of-pocket, is well…

We can do it. And I hope that everyone will stand with our President who has said that we're not going to raise the age of Medicare and that the Republicans now first have to agree that we're going to ask the wealthiest people in our…

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn. The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 9 o'clock and 2 minutes p.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, December 12, 2012, at 10 a.m. for…