On the recordDecember 20, 2011
I thank the gentleman from Michigan for yielding time. Mr. Speaker, if we ask the American people what they want, I think it would be glaring. Do they want the House bill that protects seniors' access to doctors for 24 months, or do they want the Senate version for 2 months? Do they want a Federal unemployment benefits extension for 13 months, or do they want that for 2 months? Do they want payroll tax cut extensions for 12 months or for 2 months? Do they want a payroll tax break for $1,000, or do they want it for $167? Do they want pay freezes for Members of Congress and for Federal workers, or do they want those freezes to go away like the Senate version states? Do they want unending unemployment and food stamp benefits for millionaires, or do they want that to continue? Then they would want the Senate version. Do they want requiring Social Security numbers for refundable child tax credits, or do they want that to go away? This is a good one: Do they want to prevent access to welfare benefits at strip clubs and liquor stores like the House version we passed last week? Or do they want that to go away in the Senate version? If we asked the American people, I think their answer would be glaring and clear. They want certainty. Right now, the Senate version throws the American family a life preserver drifting in a sea of uncertainty. The House version reaches out to them and pulls them out of that sea of uncertainty, putting them in a lifeboat.…
