Jim Costa: “I thank the Congressman from California. Congressman Mike Thompson, I think, expressly indicated why he is a Blue Dog…”

“I thank the Congressman from California. Congressman Mike Thompson, I think, expressly indicated why he is a Blue Dog and, over the years, his efforts to bridge the gap, to reach across the aisle, to get something done; because he recognizes, as do all of us Blue Dogs, that the political dysfunction that is occurring here in our Nation's Capital is real. It has measurable costs, and it is preventing our country, sadly, from solving the problems that our constituents send us here to solve, whether it is the economic recovery that could be stronger, whether it is fixing our Nation's deficit, whether it is fixing a broken immigration system, or an array of other issues that are pressing, that are important to the people back home. The next gentleman who would like to address our Congress is the gentleman from the great State of Illinois, Congressman Dan Lipinski, my colleague and classmate from Illinois' Third District.”