Hank Johnson: “I thank the gentleman from Minnesota, my junior in the House. When I say that, I mean we're both juniors, having served…”

“I thank the gentleman from Minnesota, my junior in the House. When I say that, I mean we're both juniors, having served now in our third terms. We will be officially recognized, I guess if we're fortunate to make it back for the 113th Congress, that will be our fourth term. We will be seniors, and we will be permanent seniors as long as the voters allow us to be. And we certainly want to do what the voters want us to do here. What the voters of the Fourth Congressional District of Georgia tell me over and over and over again, day in and day out, 24-7, is that jobs is the issue, and they want us to pass the President's job creation bill. They don't understand why simple proposals that will create jobs and reinvigorate our economy are something that we can't come to grips with here on the House floor. And I tell them to keep the faith, but I also tell them where the problem lies. It is not with the President. It's not with the Democrats in the House of Representatives. It's with my friends on the other side of the aisle, the Tea Party-Grover Norquist Republicans who want to balance the budget. Their main issue is balancing our budget. And certainly our budget needs to be balanced, and that's something that we should do. It's not our first priority. Our priority right now, and I agree with the people of the Fourth District, it should be jobs.…”