I thank the gentleman for his comments. It doesn't get--we've been here 59 days, in this Congress. Not a single bill has been brought to this floor which will deal with the sequester, not one. As a matter of fact, we've only met 17 of the…

I thank the gentleman for his comments. Let me only observe that the bills which the gentleman has now discussed for 3 weeks running, on which we've had colloquies, are no longer available in either the Senate or the House. He knows that…

I thank the gentleman for the information. I also thank him for his reference to the march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma to Montgomery, which we will commemorate. That march occurred on March 7, 1965. Yesterday, we had the honor…

We are now 2 days away from failure- triggered, ideologically driven, and irrational budget cuts called ``sequester.'' It is an extraordinarily bad policy that 229 Republicans voted for on July 19, 2011. These cuts could be incredibly…

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Today, Mr. Speaker, we continue an unfortunate and unnecessary countdown to the irrational and reckless automatic cuts the Republican policies will impose. The countdown stands at three days. Unless…

We have now entered the final week before the dangerous, arbitrary, and irrational policy of sequestration, which Republicans proposed first in their cut, cap, and balance bill in July of 2011. If I were the majority leader, Mr. Speaker…

I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, Steve and I were both in the senate, and you have a president in the senate. That's why he was referring to you as Mr. President. I understand that, Steve. I am pleased to join Marcia Fudge…

We are on the brink of achieving the Republican policy of sequester. Why do I say it's the Republican policy? Because on July 19 of 2011, 229 Republicans voted for their Cut, Cap, and Balance bill, which said that the alternative to…

there is not time to debate in the time I have available how we determine Federal pay. I was a sponsor of the Federal Employee Pay Comparability Act which George Bush signed back in 1990. I know a little bit about this. America is…

I thank the gentleman. And the perception around the world that America is a serious situation. How sad. How shameful. The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time of the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) has expired.

Is the gentleman aware that 2 weeks ago and this week the majority has denied us the opportunity to offer an alternative?

The gentleman who preceded me is new to the Congress of the United States. I've been here for a little longer than that, some 32 years. This is the least confidence-building Congress, last Congress and this Congress, in which I have ever…

The President spoke to us last night and he talked to us about avoiding the sequester. I was at a political event being interviewed and a gentleman, Mr. Pompeo from Kansas, was with us as well, and he spoke before I did. He talked about…

Tonight, the President will once again walk into this Chamber and lay out a vision for how to strengthen America in the years ahead. Properly, part of that vision will include the need to solve our deficit challenge and address the looming…

I thank the gentleman for his comments. I thank him for his work on this as well. This is a critically important issue, and I am hopeful that we can come to an agreement which will provide for the passage of that piece of legislation and…

Reclaiming my time if I can, the gentleman voted for the Budget Control Act. How much in cuts were in the Budget Control Act? $1.2 trillion, as I recall, or $1 trillion, excuse me, $1 trillion, which is why we had the Supercommittee to get…

We're not going to resolve this argument, Mr. Speaker. It's the same litany on both sides. The difference is, the gentleman cannot name a bipartisan commission that doesn't say that we need both sides of the equation addressed if we're…

Let me finish my thought, if I can, Mr. Leader. So I say to you, right now, you're talking about a plan. Paul Ryan said yesterday the Founding Fathers would be upset with the President for not coming up with a plan. The Constitution…

Well, as the gentleman knows, I've been one of the leaders, certainly on this side, and in this House, to get to a balanced plan. A balanced plan, yes, does include revenues. You want to say get more money from the American people. We buy…

I thank the gentleman for his comments. It's good spin, but it's not substance. It was a silly bill. The Senate passed it and the President signed it because it was the only way we could make sure that we did not put the creditworthiness…

Of course, that's what we all agree on, but, frankly, that rhetoric does not substitute for action. Automatic budget cuts, known as the sequester, as you know, would cut U.S. growth in half in 2013 if allowed to go into effect. The CBO…

Which deals with a cost of living increase. Am I correct? And I yield to my friend.

I thank the gentleman for his information. I might ask a preliminary question. When the gentleman refers to the bill that is to be considered next week, I presume he is referring to the cost of living adjustment increase? With that, I…

I thank the gentleman for his comments. I disagree with his conclusion because, clearly, what we're dealing with is a cost-of-living increase similar to that which is given to Social Security recipients and others to make sure that the pay…

In reclaiming my time, the gentleman, respectfully, misstates what I said. There are a lot of people sacrificing and a lot of people who don't have jobs. I want to talk a little bit about that as we deal--or don't deal--with the sequester…