Joe Crowley: “Just sitting here, I was contemplating the end of the year. At the end of the business that we will conduct today, men…”

“Just sitting here, I was contemplating the end of the year. At the end of the business that we will conduct today, men and women from both sides of the aisle will pass each other in the well or in the hallway, and we'll wish each other health for the New Year. We'll wish each other goodness, happiness. We'll all look forward to going back to our home districts and to spending time with our families, with our friends, to looking back on the year, assessing the good things that have happened and some of the not so good things, but primarily focusing on the good things that have happened to all of us this year. When I often say to people, ``I wish you peace. I wish you peace in the new year,'' I wish you a peaceful mind is what I'm suggesting, of getting home to relax. Nothing that we are doing today will give peace of mind to the middle class in this country. Nothing that we will do today will give them that peace of mind, and I think that is more than regrettable. It's unacceptable that men and women in this country are struggling-- hardworking middle class people who are desperately trying to keep their homes, to afford college educations for their children, to afford health care, to be able to see their doctors, who are trying to put food on their tables, to pay their heat bills, and maybe to afford the rent. {time} 1310 This is not a story that is only in my district.…”