On the recordDecember 13, 2012
I would like to respond very briefly to my colleagues from Texas. The fiscal crisis was not manufactured, it was enacted--enacted into law, a law passed with the support of both political parties in the hopes that we would never, ever reach this day. We can still avoid it, and we should. I hope cooler heads will prevail and we will reach some bipartisan agreement because I think all of us agree it would be a negative impact on our economy if we, in fact, go over the cliff. I sincerely hope there will be a good-faith effort on both sides. But this fiscal cliff was created by law passed by Democratic and Republican leaders and sent to the President. So this is clearly something we envisioned as the last straw. Let's hope it is one that we will avoid.
