On the recordJune 7, 2012
I come today to talk--as my colleagues have discussed--about the fact that Republicans in the House of Representatives seem ready to pack it in for the year. Led by their majority leader and by the ``my way or the highway'' philosophy they have stuck to all year, they have signaled that they have given up on the work of the American people. From our yearly responsibility to pass appropriations bills, to legislation that would create thousands of good-paying construction jobs, to efforts to stop an impending student loan hike, to a bill that would protect vulnerable American women from violence, House Republicans have now indicated they would rather kick the can down the road. It is unfortunate that this is their attitude--not just for our college students or construction workers looking for jobs or women at risk, but it is statements such as the one the House majority leader made that make every American shake their head. That is because as American families come together around their kitchen table to make tough decisions about their mortgage or how to make tuition payments or even about how they are going to afford groceries, they want to see us coming together to make similarly tough decisions. But as Leader Reid and my other colleagues have made clear: It is tough to legislate from only one side of Capitol Hill.…
