Of course, I believe we can always improve regulations to make them better.

Did you realize that there are organizations from Florida in the Everglades that are begging for these regulations?

from a human health point of view regulation is essential because the marketplace is not self-correcting.

These are exactly the kinds of bipartisan constructive initiatives our committee and Congress should support.

God knows. I have, in my district, probably a 35 percent African-American male unemployment rate, black. I want to create jobs.

I think we would make a much more responsive contribution if we submit one together, with recommendations on which we all can agree.

I think the President, in fairness to him, heard our colleagues and tried to create a balanced approach.

I think we need to do both.

At some point, we have to say wait a minute, let us get off this merry go round and begin to create jobs for people.

Government does have a role. Private business has a role.

We saw what Standard and Poor's did.

Let me tell you what worries me.

They say, what about them in a recession, what about the secretary who is only making $50,000?

At some point, we need to say, wait a minute, let us get this right.

At some point, there is no one in this room who, if you had a house, you would repair it and maintain it.

In a day and age when China is spending 9 percent of their GDP on infrastructure, we are spending less than half of a percent.

We are paying less taxes, percentage of GDP, than we have in a long time.

Their concern was that there were Members of Congress that were going around talking about not raising the debt ceiling.

To say that we cannot afford to make these investments right now when our economy needs it most and get 14 million people back to work is quite frankly absurd.

One of the greatest threats to our national security is our failure to properly educate every single one of our children.

it has always puzzled me, you know we hear these comments that we should not raise taxes on the richest of the rich during a fragile economy

we have got employees who have taken a 5 percent to 10 percent cut. And we have got Federal employees who their wages have been frozen

we are about to--we have got some folks who are getting ready to run out of unemployment benefits

When the economy is only growing a point and a half, a lot of economists feel that this is not the right time to be finding fiscal restraint.

Why would you want to impose restraint on an economic recovery that is already fragile? You are removing spending power from the economy at a time when it needs it.