I thank the gentleman. I don't think he answered my question about the debt limit, therefore, my presumption is unfortunately it will continue to be an item used as leverage, holding hostage the creditworthiness of the United States to…

I don't think he backtracked. What he said was, and what we have said continually is, on the revenue side, if you're going to have a balanced package on the revenue side--this is his specific proposal: he's made a number of proposals on…

Reclaiming my time, we had that discussion in terms of specifics. I pointed out to the gentleman last week, and I'll point out to him again today, the President has in his budget 23 pages of cuts, including, very frankly, with respect to…

I absolutely believe that we need to pay for that tax cut over the 10-year plan that we try to come up with to get us to a place that we can agree on being the objective in 2022 or 2023 as to where we want to be as a country in terms of…

I thank the gentleman for his comments. It is a discussion the country is having. It's a discussion we need to have, and we need to have it honestly with one another. The gentleman knows my position: it's not taxes or spending; it's if you…

I thank the gentleman for his comments, and I agree with him, as he knows, to staying here until we get this problem solved. America expects it. America, more importantly, needs it. The economy needs the confidence of a resolution of this…

I thank the gentleman for his comments. Of course, we have this discussion on a regular basis. I'm sure everybody in America looks forward to this discussion. Obviously, when the gentleman talks about small businesses, he is essentially…

I thank the gentleman for that information. The Members will find that helpful. The majority leader mentioned last week and reiterated this week that we will not adjourn the 112th Congress until we've averted the fiscal cliff. I think the…

I thank the gentleman for his comments. We had originally thought that we would not be meeting on Monday. I want to make it clear to Members that the majority leader has indicated that we will be meeting on Monday and coming in at 6:30, so…

If the gentleman will yield, what I have said is everything needs to be on the table, not that I agreed with everything that would be on the table. I have some very substantial reservations about age increase. Particularly--it was in the…

Well, of course, again, we have a disagreement. And this list--I can't read it either, so you couldn't read it from there.

I thank my friend for yielding. I want to thank the chairman of the Rules Committee for his efforts as well. Ladies and gentlemen of this House, we talked a lot about, correctly, creating certainty, alleviating uncertainty, alleviating…

We'll put that on the floor, and every Member of this House, all 435 Members, will have the opportunity to say to the American people, Yes, on December 12, we're going to tell you that on January 1 your taxes will not go up. Give us that…

I would be glad to yield to my friend, the majority leader, for his favorite 10 or 15 or 20 minutes of the week to inquire of the schedule for the week to come.

I thank the gentleman. Obviously, we are coming here to meet and we're focused on the fiscal cliff, but there are other things that we could be, hopefully, resolving in the time that we have available to us between now and the end of the…

The gentleman has indicated there is other business that needs to be done. Let me briefly address those. The farm bill, obviously, continues to be not resolved, not addressed. The Senate passed a bill, as the gentleman so well knows…

Well, we have a fundamental disagreement because the gentleman continues to want to focus on spending. I think that's right that we focus on spending. But again, debt is not caused by spending; it is caused by buying things that you don't…

I thank the gentleman. I want to say two things. First of all, I want to clarify, and I think I did clarify, that $800 billion clearly is in your proposal. When I said the President agrees with that $800 billion, he agrees to getting to at…

I thank the gentleman for his observation. He and I do share the view that we need to address both the revenue side and spending side of our budget. My view is, and I've said this on a regular basis, what we really have is not necessarily…

Thank you for that information. I also want to congratulate the gentleman for providing for the week of the 17th. I know none of us want to do that, but I appreciate the majority's focus on the business that has not been done. I also…

I thank the gentleman for his comments. I thank him for the early notice on next Friday. First, Mr. Leader, if I could, we have the ending as next Thursday. I want to clarify for Members so that they know: we will not be in session next…

I am pleased to yield to my friend, the former majority leader--I guess he still is the majority leader--the newly elected majority leader for the next Congress and congratulate him on his election.

I thank the gentleman for that response; and I am hopeful that we can, in fact, proceed on that for the farmers of America. Obviously if we don't pass something by December 31, on January 1 prices for the Federal Government will go up very…

Let me move on, if I can, because there are a couple of other issues. I know the gentleman indicated that you didn't include one. I think you did include the farm bill. Could you tell me what you think of the status of the farm bill…

I thank the gentleman. Madam Speaker, again, the gentleman says that I'm technically correct. I presume that means I'm correct. The bill that I'm asking to be brought to this floor to pass will not raise anybody's taxes. What the gentleman…