Tom Harkin: “we are now 23 days from the end of the last fiscal year, and 15 days before the election. So far, this Congress can be…”

“we are now 23 days from the end of the last fiscal year, and 15 days before the election. So far, this Congress can be defined more by what it has failed to do than what it has done. The majority has so far succeeded in killing a number of critical initiatives needed by working families and senior citizens. The list of legislative corpses could fill several obituary pages. Here is the report card on this Congress: Patients' Bill of Rights, not done; prescription drug benefit for Medicare, not done; school modernization and renovation, not done; class-size reduction, not done; minimum wage increase, not done; pay equity, not done; farm bill reforms, not done; gun safety measures, not done; campaign finance reform, not done; hate crimes legislation, not done; Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act, not done; college tuition tax deductibility, not done; long-term care tax credit, not done; child care tax credit, not done. That list could go on and on but I think that summarizes it pretty well. One might ask, what have we been doing around here this year? Quite frankly, not a heck of a lot when it comes to the people's business. And not only regarding the agenda, there are important authorizations and reauthorizations that have not been authorized. Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the first time since 1965 that Congress fails to reauthorize.”