Ann Marie Buerkle: “First of all, let me thank my colleague from the State of Washington for hosting this very special and important Special…”

“First of all, let me thank my colleague from the State of Washington for hosting this very special and important Special Order. When the Obama administration took office, many Americans were so concerned that the administration was too inexperienced to know how to even govern this country; but we soon understood that they were too mistaken to learn and too arrogant to care. Americans continue to see the unveiling of various provisions of the President's health care bill, such as the creation of the Independent Payment Advisory Board to ration health care, a disastrous half trillion dollars in Medicare cuts for new benefits, the betrayal of our friendship with Israel, and the willful pursuit of Libyan ``kinetic action'' in opposition to the wishes of the American people and in defiance of the War Powers Act. We have been betrayed by the choices of the leaders we depended on to steer this ship safely through troubled waters. But I have hope, just like the other Republican women here tonight, that while we have to accept the Democrat leadership's choices for a time, nothing says we have to live with them. I am here in Congress because I have watched the American Dream become increasingly fragile, and I said to myself over a year ago that I would not sit this fight out. Mr. Speaker, this is a fight. This is a fight for the very United States we love so dearly. Both sets of my grandparents came here from Italy.…”