Chris Van Hollen

I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

I am very pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), a member of the Budget Committee and the Ways and Means Committee.

It is now my privilege to yield 4 minutes to a fellow Marylander, Mr. Hoyer, the Democratic whip, who has spent a lot of time focused on budgets to empower our economy and to make sure we do so in a fiscally responsible manner.

I now am very pleased to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), a terrific member of the Budget Committee who is focused on lots of important issues including the challenge of poverty in America.

I would just point out that we hear a lot about the global aggregate numbers, but the distribution of those cuts is important. If you look at the portion of the budget that we have, historically, used to invest in education, to invest in…

As you know, the value meal on that McDonald's menu 10 years ago cost more than the value meal today. This is just to get about math and budgeting in a transparent way.

So, to the extent that that is your question on the budget, I am happy to join with you on that. I wish you would join with us now in reconsidering your proposals to change the student loan calculations, but we may be asking too much at…

Mr. Garrett, what I said was I support the part of your amendment that puts them on budget.

I know I sound like a broken record. Our colleagues keep saying they want more information, but the bill specifically excludes a major portion of information. I now yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from New York (Mr…

So when you boost demand for labor, in this kind of economy, you actually reduce the unemployment rate because those people who were looking for work can find more work, right?

I thank my friend. By the way, it doesn't just help those struggling families. The Congressional Budget Office says it helps all of us--it helps the small businesses and merchants in our communities--because, if those struggling families…

At this time I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), a great member of the Judiciary Committee.

I now yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady from Maryland (Ms. Edwards), my colleague and friend on the Transportation Committee.

I thank my friend, Ms. Slaughter. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is right. As I said at the outset of my comments, I support the bipartisan agreement. I think it is a small step forward. But the gentleman knows we will be debating that issue…

I thank my friend, Mr. Woodall, for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I would just point out--and I think the gentleman knows this--we have not seen a single proposal from our Republican colleagues to extend unemployment insurance because there is a…

I thank the gentleman. So after all this refusal to negotiate, you now want to set up a fake committee on deficit reduction where you refuse to even include the idea of reducing the deficit in part by shutting down tax breaks for big oil…

I have never heard that offer until this moment, Mr. Chairman, ever.

What you are saying is that default on any obligation would send a very bad signal?

That is an unnecessary self-inflicted wound.

Our view is that your tax plan does exactly that, because you say you are going to get the top rate down to 25 percent...

We think that we need to have a balanced approach because if you do it only by cutting on the health care side, you are going to be asking Medicare beneficiaries...to take a big hit

I would just, again, ask that the majority in this House allow us a simple vote on our plan to replace the sequester to save over 600,000 jobs.

The responsible way to do it is the way the law prescribes.

The Republican budget would not be in balance in 10 years if not for the Medicare savings in the Affordable Care Act.

To tie the defunding of the Affordable Care Act to the debt ceiling is to say, well, we're going to attach something that will increase the debt to a provision on the debt ceiling.