Dan Coats: “I have been on this floor many times over the past 2\1/2\ years, and here we are again, talking about yet another fiscal…”

“I have been on this floor many times over the past 2\1/2\ years, and here we are again, talking about yet another fiscal cliff, another drama, another soap opera playing out before us. The American people are wondering what in the world is going on down there in Washington? How come we can't get resolution to some of these problems? Why can't we remove the dark cloud of uncertainty about the fiscal future of this country? It is stifling economic growth. We are growing at an anemic 4-to-5-year rate of less than 1 percent. That does not put people back to work. That does not solve our unemployment problem. It only makes it worse. That does not revive an economy. Even with all the new discoveries in energy and the lower cost of manufacturing and more competitiveness, we have not revived the economy for the American people--whether they have just graduated from school with a degree and can't find a job except at maybe a fast-food restaurant, or whether they are a middle-aged man or woman who had their hours cut back, or they have been laid off; whether it is a family trying to save for their children's education--people are hurting all the way up and down the line and it is frustrating. It is frustrating for all of us.…”