{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2012-12-31-pt1-PgH7474", "2012-12-31", 112, 2, null, null, "FISCAL CLIFF", "HOUSE", "HOUSE", "ALLOTHER", "H7474", "H7474", "[{\"name\": \"Robert J. Dold\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", null, "158 Cong. Rec. H7474", "Congressional Record, Volume 158 Issue 171 (Monday, December 31, 2012)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 171 (Monday, December 31, 2012)]\n[House]\n[Page H7474]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n                              {time}  0930\n                              FISCAL CLIFF\n\n  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from\nIllinois (Mr. Dold) for 5 minutes.\n  Mr. DOLD. Mr. Speaker, I want to first start off by thanking my\nfriend from Missouri for his service and working with him on\nlegislation in the past.\n  Just to pick up on what he said about our World War II heroes, we do\nneed to put the country first. I think that certainly we're here on New\nYear's Eve and we're upon the fiscal cliff. What we do need to focus on\nis how do we find that common ground, because what we do know is I\nbelieve Democrats and Republicans alike want to put our country on a\ncourse to some fiscal discipline--we hope. Is there a course where we\ncan find enough common ground to move it forward so that we don't have\na downgrade, so that we don't spike unemployment, so that the markets\ndon't go down.\n  Mr. Speaker, I'm a small business owner. I employ 100 people. For me,\nit's 100 families. I meet a budget and a payroll. What they're looking\nfor when I talk to people back home, they're looking for some\nstability, they're looking for certainty, and what we're doing here is\nnot providing any of those things. And yet I do believe that there is a\nspirit of comity that we want to find that common ground and move\nforward.\n  I'm sorry that we're here on New Year's Eve and that we haven't\nsolved this problem long ago. I will say, Mr. Speaker, that the House\ndid send a bill in August over to the United States Senate. Going back\nto my time as a small business owner, I can just tell you, if I'd given\nsomething to one of the people that I work with, marked it ``urgent''\nand put it on their desk months ago and it sat for month after month\nafter month, something would be wrong. Well, in essence, Mr. Speaker,\nthat's exactly what we've done. We sent something over to the United\nStates Senate months ago, marked it ``urgent'' because this is talking\nabout the direction, the fiscal direction of our Nation, and yet\nnothing is coming back.\n  Unfortunately, Washington works on brinksmanship. We don't want\nbrinksmanship; we want stability. The world is watching, and we need to\nfocus on the common ground to move things forward. We want to make sure\nthat we can keep tax rates low. We want to make sure that we can bring\nadditional revenue into the Federal Government. I believe that's going\nto be through growth. That's going to be sparking the American spirit,\nthat entrepreneurial spirit across our country to bring more dollars\ninto the Federal Treasury, to get more people back to work.\n  The thing that's amazing, Mr. Speaker, is there's a lack of\nleadership, a lack of leadership here in Washington, D.C., that's\npalpable. We need to move forward.\n  During the budget season, those on the other side of the aisle,\nmyself, some of my colleagues on my side of the aisle, put forth a\nbudget, the first bipartisan budget in a generation, based upon the\nSimpson-Bowles plan, talking about the need to bring additional revenue\nin, talking about the need to put spending cuts out there because\nWashington has this sense of spending, Mr. Speaker. Republicans have\noverspent; Democrats have overspent. I'm not here to point the finger.\nWhat I am looking for is a solution to the problems we face. My hope is\nthat we can get those done today. The American people demand it, the\nAmerican people need it, and the world is looking to America for\nleadership.\n  Mr. Speaker, on a different note, I want to rise today to recognize\nan extraordinary lady, a great American, one who raised four children\nand instilled in them a love of family and country, taught those around\nher the idea that your integrity determines your identity. In fact, she\ngave me that plaque, and it hangs in my room today.\n  I want to say it again, Mr. Speaker, because I think it is so very,\nvery important: Your integrity determines your identity.\n  She also instilled a fantastic work ethic in those around her. A\nteacher, first of special needs children, then in English as a high\nschool English teacher for a number of years, she left the teaching\nprofession to have a family and then became an entrepreneur. She went\ninto the private sector, helped people get jobs, put food on the table\nfor families, and helped those families get an education.\n  Mr. Speaker, this great American lady celebrates a birthday today.\nI'm sorry that I'm not with her, but I am in spirit. Happy birthday,\nMom.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2012-12-31-pt1-PgH7474"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0501790093258023, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}