On the recordDecember 22, 2010
when we convened this Congress in January 2009, 750,000 Americans were losing their jobs every month. Soon after this Congress began, an auto industry nearly imploded, and within a year an oil well exploded. It was a tough 2 years for our Nation and for so many families. It was also a time of remarkable progress. When this Congress began, insurance companies were free to deny health care to the sick for any excuse they could come up with. The doughnut hole that sent seniors' prescription drug costs through the roof was wide open. Wall Street firms had just crashed our economy, but they were still free to rip off investors while the Nation smoldered. Cigarette companies could prey on children, credit card companies could prey on consumers, and con artists could prey on families' mortgages. Employers were free to pay women less than men, the safety of our food supply was dangerously inadequate, and the definition of a hate crime was shamefully insufficient. Gay men and women who volunteered to defend and die for our country were asked to fight and die for values and principles they didn't have for themselves in America. More than a year has passed since American inspectors were on the ground to monitor the Russian nuclear weapons arsenal. We have turned each of these around.…





