On the recordFebruary 9, 2011
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the past several weeks, I have had the incredible privilege and honor to be traveling up and across my district, the First District of Minnesota, from the plains of Worthington to the Mississippi River Valley at Winona, listening and holding grocery store stops and hearing what the American people are talking about. They're not talking a lot about ObamaCare. They're talking a lot about jobs. They're talking a lot about moving the country forward. And this is a place that, I have to tell you, it was 18 below zero yesterday when I left. These are hardy folks. They're used to weathering tough times. They're also the place that gave root to, in a collective effort, the Mayo Clinic. They're also a place that is one of the top leading producers of food in this Nation in feeding the world. Also, a place where we generate--the fourth largest of any State in the country--the fourth largest amount of wind power and innovating down that road. To be able to walk those streets, to go to those grocery stores--and in Mankato, where my office is located, you hear a lot of people talk about Main Street. That was the Main Street Sinclair Lewis was talking about. That's where he lived when he wrote his famous novel about what it means to grow up in rural America and what it means to collaborate together to grow this country.…





