G. K. Butterfield: “today is the 130th day of 2006. Guess how many of those days this House has been in session to address the needs of the…”

“today is the 130th day of 2006. Guess how many of those days this House has been in session to address the needs of the American people? Twenty-nine. Twenty-nine. This is only the 29th voting day of the year here in the House of Representatives. No wonder, Mr. Speaker, the American people have lost confidence in this Congress. The Republican majority would rather recess than tackle the tough issues of our day. Or could it be that the Republicans are simply incapable of governing? House Republicans have yet to pass a budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Before the April recess, the House Republican leadership brought a bill to this floor, but was forced to pull it from consideration after determining that it would fail. Regardless of whether or not Republicans are able to pick up enough Republican votes this week, the fact remains that they have presided over the largest fiscal collapse in American history. Five years ago they inherited record budget surpluses, and they have turned those into record deficits. ____________________”