Walz Floor Speech on Middle Class Tax Cuts

Statement

Today, Congressman Tim Walz delivered remarks on the House floor calling on House leadership to bring forward a bill to extend the middle class tax cuts immediately. Below is a transcript of his remarks.

"Mr. Speaker, my discharge petition at the desk is really an approach that the American people spoke loudly in. Every single one of us just came through an election and the message was abundantly clear to me. Why do you continue to bicker? Why do you continue to stand on the floor and make these ridiculous kabuki dance statements with one another, when it shouldn't be that difficult?

"We came out of a Constitutional Convention, and when they asked James Madison what the secret to this new government was; compromise, compromise, compromise. Mr. Speaker, to sit here and do what we're doing, not bringing this forward and releasing the tension on the middle class, making sure the economy knows there's stability amongst taxes, is holding our economy back, and to be very honest it's insulting to the American people.

"This is a nation that won two world wars. This is a nation that split the atom. This is a nation that put a man on the moon. This is a nation sending pictures back from mars and curiosity. You know what? Sign the discharge petition, bring it to the floor, get 435 votes, put it online for 24 hours, send it to the president and by three o'clock tomorrow a big chunk of the fiscal cliff is done.

"Don't insult the people with things that aren't true, don't tell them that it's not about compromise, and don't sit here and pretend like we're working when we're not. They know better, they're smarter, they deserve better.

"Bring the discharge petition to the floor, allow Members to vote for it, give the American people what they want; stability and a Congress that works, and let's move on to other pressing issues. I yield back."

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