Joe Cunningham: “I do not think our side was even going to talk on this. The partisan bickering, the rancoring that goes on here, I think…”

“I do not think our side was even going to talk on this. The partisan bickering, the rancoring that goes on here, I think that the American public can see what we are facing from our colleagues on the other side. They want to stay, all right. They want to stay not over policy, but for politics. Do you know what I am most resentful about? That the other side and the last few speakers that talked about said that Democrats are the only ones that really care about education. The Democrats say they are the only ones that really care about school construction or Medicare or Medicaid or prescription drugs. I worked most of my life here on this House floor. I fight, every ounce of my survival, to make sure that those issues are taken care of, not only for our children, but for our seniors as well. The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert), the Speaker of the House, is a teacher and a coach. In his heart and in his mind and in his soul, he cares deeply about education. I was a teacher and a coach both in high school and in college. It is one of the main focuses that I have. And for the other side to say that, we are so mean and rotten because of our policies. Well, let me tell you what the politics of this are. We will stay and fight for education. We will stay and fight for prescription drugs and for our seniors and health care. I will not allow the other side to mislead, for example, on school construction. We could have school construction today.…”