On the recordDecember 20, 2011
We've witnessed a shell game played here on the floor of the House of Representatives. Republicans talked about having voted for an extension of the unemployment compensation and for extending the payroll tax, but what they gave with the right hand they took from the left. They said, We give you this, but we cut your benefits to 59 weeks of your unemployment compensation. They all voted against the Affordable Care Act. So in this bill as well, if you have a preexisting condition, they want you not to get health care as you can today. If you're 26 years of age or younger, it would be that you can't get on your parents' insurance policies, which you can today because of the ACA. Also, the doughnut hole would be closed, which it is because of the ACA, but they're against that because they wanted to cut funds to put the America Cares Act into operation. The fact is that Senate Republicans and Democrats didn't vote for a 60-day extension. They voted for time to get together and do a 1-year extension. That's what we need. They had wiser heads. You saw a good reason not to have term limits. First-year Members are acting as if they know everything; and in a petulant way, they have jeopardized millions of Americans. ____________________
