Todd Tiahrt: “I thank the Speaker. Mr. Speaker, they say that in America all you need to do to be successful is to work a half a day…”

“I thank the Speaker. Mr. Speaker, they say that in America all you need to do to be successful is to work a half a day, and you can choose whether it's the first 12 hours or the second 12 hours. The American people probably expect double from their government these days when we have serious challenges to our economic and national security. So what is Congress doing? Are we doing what it takes to be successful to solve these problems? No. We're not starting business today until noon. Congress is sleeping in. Maybe we're on California time, but I will wager we will not be here until midnight. Any Third World dictator would be pleased at the way we are operating today. Our economy is in a precarious situation. We learned this morning that oil is at $120, could go to $200 per barrel, that gas is at $4, easily could go to $5. We're still denying our intelligence community the tools important to keep this country safe. And Congress is sleeping in. Many of us came to Washington sacrificing a good, normal lifestyle in our respective States' districts to serve this nation and work hard to help make America stronger, but we're not being given a chance to do our job.”