Martha Roby

I was going to say in June for the first time in 44 months, small businesses cited taxes, taxes above poor sales as the single most important problem that they are facing today. Taxes.

But the problem with our farming communities is that they are, in a lot of instances, they own a lot of land. So they have wealth when it comes to land ownership, but they may not have the cash. And so when the government comes along to…

You mentioned your colleges in your district. Actually, there are some great colleges in or right nearby in Alabama's Second District: Alabama State University, Faulkner University, Troy University, and Huntingdon College. But let me just…

Without the input of the private sector that is actually impacted by the very regulations.

Didn't you have the opportunity to question a witness on your committee and ask very specifically as it relates to energy? If I watched the hearing correctly, you were unable to ever get really until the final admittance that, in fact…

To quickly add to that, in the Dodd-Frank Act, there are 36 rules implemented, and it will grow to the 400 required under that act. That goes to your point exactly.

If you talk to the Greatest Generation, you know that is not what this country was built on.

I would even add to that and say that I've had business owners in my district who have lodged complaints about what we talked about before, this punitive regulation, but they don't want you to go to bat for them because they're afraid it's…

Just to jump in real quick, have you heard from your employers back in the district where you go and you do these site visits and they immediately tell you not just how overregulated they are but how excited the regulators are to come into…

I thank you both. Again, to all of our veterans and military servicemembers and personnel, we just say thank you. And I urge my colleagues to support the National Defense Authorization Act this week, as we move through the open process…

Thank you to my friend from New York. I appreciate you being here tonight and controlling the time for a little while. As we have a few more minutes, I would like to yield to the gentleman from Virginia.

We need to give States and districts more flexibility in how they achieve results.

It is an important endeavor that will have a clear and direct impact on the future strength of this great nation.

The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest.

If my school is failing and I don't have a choice to go anywhere but that school then that incentive doesn't exist.

The private sector is sitting on trillions of dollars. We know that. The money is there to jump-start our economy, but because of all this uncertainty, no one is spending these dollars to reinvest in their private businesses.

I would just say this, too: I think the American people ought to be begging the question to the Senate as it relates to the tardy 22 bills that they have sitting over there on their side that we know will create jobs. They need to ask them…

I get asked the question, or I did early on, What has been a shocking thing in your experience in Washington? And I unequivocally can say the most shocking part of this experience of representing Alabama's Second District is really…

I just want to say to all of our colleagues on the floor tonight, it's so important to the gentlelady from Washington not to wait, that she's spending her birthday night on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives fighting for the…

I want to interject quickly. You talked about the forest products industry. And since 2006, it's already lost 31 percent of its workforce. That's nearly 400,000 high-paying jobs located in mainly small, rural communities. And without…

Just to go back to what I was talking about with International Paper, the cost of implementing boiler MACT regulation when combined with the anticipated cost of implementing other pending air regulations would place at risk 36 mills…

Again, thank you to all of the freshmen who are here tonight and the States you represent, the districts you represent. We all are here to work for America and American jobs. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to doing this again…

And becoming less dependent on Middle Eastern oil is all about these very energy bills, that, again, we have shown consistent leadership on just in the 6 months that we've been in the majority. I go to the gas pump. I pump gas in my car. I…

And, again, at forums like this tonight, as I stated at the beginning, Americans deserve the truth, and the strongest truth comes directly from the mouths of Americans who are feeling the pain in their homes and in their businesses. I…

Thank you. And as we move into a discussion now, with the little bit of time we have left, it's like owning a business that brings in $100,000 worth of profit, yet you owe the bank $400,000. That, again, goes to the example that you made…