I don't know the answer to that, Anderson. But the question is not whether John Boehner can survive or whether Steny Hoyer can survive. The issue is, will the best interests of America survive?

I don't think I've seen anything just like this with the stakes so very high and every leader in the Republican Party believing that we ought not to put the credit of the United States at risk and possibly default for the first time in the…

The American public was concerned mainly about two things in this last election: A, jobs--trying to get opportunities for themselves and their children and young people to earn a living. They were also concerned, correctly, about the debt…

I thank the ranking member for yielding. Mr. Chairman, we are still feeling the effects of a crisis that largely came about because the referees who oversee the soundness of our financial system were not on the field. We took the referees…

Ladies and gentlemen of this House, I am pleased to rise with my colleague and dear friend Barbara Lee to focus on an issue that all too frequently is ignored. I rise to speak as we are engaged in an extraordinarily important discussion…

I thank my friend, the ranking member of the Budget Committee, Mr. Van Hollen, for yielding. The American public are rightfully very distressed with the Congress of the United States. They're distressed that at a time of great challenge…

I don't think that there is a Member here who doesn't believe that America is in poor fiscal health. But the question facing us is this: do we value fiscal responsibility enough to make hard choices, give up some of what we want, and come…

I voted because I believed we needed to get to fiscal responsibility, and in fact we did, and we balanced the budget 4 years in a row, and George Bush inherited a $5.6 trillion projected surplus. Not debt. Not deficit. And 22 million jobs…

I thank the gentleman for his comment. Given the fact, as the gentleman pointed out, that this crisis has been known to us for over 5, 6 months now, that we were going to confront this, I understand that in the Cut, Cap, and Balance pledge…

I thank the gentleman for his information. I would say that it's my understanding now that we are, as the gentleman has pointed out, going to be meeting on Monday, and we will be voting on Monday at 6:30 rather than commencing on Tuesday…

First of all, of course, I didn't say anybody wants their taxes raised, including me. I would like to have all the prices for things I buy cut in half, a 50-percent-off sale. We all like that. I like going and using my credit card--it's so…

I'm not sure the gentleman answered my question with condition two and three of the Cut, Cap, and Balance pledge. Again, I haven't read the legislation. So I see the pledge. I'm not sure what's in the legislation. I thank the gentleman for…

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a wonderful day of celebration. Today we celebrate the 85th birthday of an extraordinary American, an American who has served over five-eighths of his life in this House, an American whose father served before…

I thank the gentleman for his scheduling information. I want to pursue what I presume is the reason for not having the district work period that was originally scheduled. My presumption is that we are concerned about the impending arrival…

Those of you who are new to this body, what Mr. Barton has just said, if you want an example of a truly great legislator, a legislator who has year after year sat down with both sides of the aisle, with all the different interest groups…

I thank the gentleman for that observation. I know the gentleman has said in the past that he believes it would be a very bad situation for our economy and for our country if we did not extend the debt limit. Am I correct that the…

I thank the gentleman for his comment. The gentleman, I understand, does not like me to look back. But the problem with being around for some time, you hear people say that this isn't going to work or that's going to work, and you know…

I thank the gentleman. Reclaiming my time, very interesting comments he makes. Of course, he leaves out some things. He talks about the jobs that were lost. Those jobs were lost of course as this administration took office. This…

I am pleased, as the gentleman knows, to hear that you want to stop the spiraling deficits that confront our country. I will repeat again because the gentleman keeps mentioning this, and I have enough experience to know what has happened…

Last month, the House voted against defunding the American military mission in Libya. That was the right decision, and it still is: along with our NATO allies, we intervened in Libya in response to Moammar Gadhafi's violent repression of…

Last year, Congress voted to repeal the counterproductive and unjust policy of ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'' But despite overwhelming evidence that repeal will strengthen our military, despite strong support for repeal among our troops and…

I thank Mr. Berman for yielding. I thank Ms. Ros-Lehtinen for bringing this resolution to the floor. And I am pleased to join my colleague and friend, Mr. Cantor, in strong support of this resolution. I believe there is only one lasting…

I believe the President is absolutely correct. By passing this resolution, the House will make it clear that it agrees that a real peace can only come through negotiations between the two sides. That peace will only last if both sides buy…

I thank the gentleman for yielding. The previous speaker deludes himself, and he is my friend, if he thinks the message we send today goes only to the President. The message will go to all the world, the message will go to Muammar Qadhafi…

China has just hosted the Libyan opposition in China, and the opposition controls eastern Libya and is making progress in the west. I believe that the wrong decision today will significantly compromise that progress. Qadhafi wrote us a…