Newsroom
December 4, 2012 — Press Item
Today, I signed the discharge petition filed by Rep. Tim Walz that would bring to the Floor an extension of tax cuts for 98% of Americans and 97% of small businesses. These middle class tax cuts were extended by the Senate in July, and the House ought to take action immediately to provide certainty to families and small businesses that their taxes won’t go up on January 1.
December 4, 2012 — Press Item
I am extremely disappointed that Senate Republicans blocked ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities today. Its ratification would enable the United States to play a leading role in helping other nations set policies that expand opportunities for their own citizens with disabilities. Modeled after the bipartisan Americans with Disabilities Act signed into law by President George H. W. Bush in 1990, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities represents a major step forward for individuals throughout the world living with disabilities and hoping for increased accessibility, equal opportunity, and greater independence. I was proud to have worked with former Rep. Tony Coelho and others, including former Republican Sen. Majority Leader Bob Dole, to pass the original Americans with Disabilities Act, and I strongly urge Senate Republicans to reconsider today’s vote and allow this treaty’s ratification.
December 4, 2012 — Press Item
Democrats remain committed to reaching agreement on a balanced solution to the fiscal cliff. President Obama’s proposal would cut the debt by $4 trillion over 10 years, ask our nation’s wealthiest to pay their fair share, and make strategic investments to create jobs and grow our economy. While Republicans have taken the positive step of putting a proposal on the table, it lacks the specifics needed to meet the challenge we face. Why didn’t they include specifics? Because their math doesn’t add up. A significant amount of revenue is needed, which can’t be reached by continuing tax breaks for the wealthy, as Republicans insist on doing.
November 30, 2012 — Press Item
With time running out, it is imperative that Congress take action before the fiscal cliff hits to prevent tax increases on middle class families and turn off the damaging and arbitrary spending cuts of the sequester. Going off the cliff isn’t an option. It will take a balanced solution, and for the first time it looks like some Republicans are starting to agree.
November 30, 2012 — Press Item
Tomorrow, on World AIDS Day, we renew our commitment to fighting this terrible disease and helping to improve the lives of those millions affected by HIV-AIDS worldwide. Together, the United States and other nations have made great advances in treating HIV-AIDS and raising awareness about how to prevent infection. Our commitment to research and the discovery of advances has not waned, and we must not rest until HIV-AIDS no longer threatens communities here in America and around the world.
November 30, 2012 — Press Item
Today House Republican leaders released the legislative schedule for 2013. We must use these scheduled days wisely - not to pursue partisan agendas, but to work together on behalf of the American people. Our nation still faces a number of challenges that we will need to continue addressing next year. We must remain focused on creating jobs, growing the economy, and pursuing a responsible, balanced plan to reduce the deficit. I hope we will set politics and partisanship aside and work together to keep our country moving forward.
November 30, 2012 — Press Item
“Everybody believes we ought not to go off the cliff. Sequester is not a good idea, and if we went off the cliff it would have substantial adverse effects on the economy. Nobody wants to go over the cliff including, in my opinion, [Speaker] John Boehner. However, we ought not to hold hostage middle-class tax cuts.”
November 29, 2012 — Press Item
We are deeply disappointed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to seek symbolic non-member observer status through the General Assembly of the United Nations. We have long believed the only way to achieve a two-state solution is through direct negotiations leading to a peace treaty fully accepted by both governments and both peoples. We are concerned that today’s unilateral action by President Abbas represents a repudiation of the Oslo Accords and a setback for the peace process. To be clear, non-member observer status puts the Palestinian people no closer to achieving statehood, and may in fact set back this goal by inflaming tensions and making already difficult negotiations even harder.
November 29, 2012 — Press Item
I am deeply honored to have been elected by the Democratic Members of the 113th Congress to serve another term as our party’s Whip. Our Caucus’s strength comes both from its diversity and from our unity as we stand up for the values of fairness and equality we share as Democrats.
November 28, 2012 — Press Item
Today, the full Senate is considering the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a landmark treaty that will strengthen the rights and freedoms of individuals with disabilities throughout the world – and which was reported favorably by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in July. The Disabilities Convention draws heavily on the Americans with Disabilities Act, which Congress passed in 1990 with broad bipartisan support, and the Convention has already been championed by an array of leaders from both parties. Its ratification will send a strong message that the United States is committed to the human rights, equal opportunity, and full inclusion of all who live with disabilities in our country and every other. I was proud to have helped lead the effort, along with former Rep. Tony Coelho and others, to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act, and I join in calling on the Senate to agree to the Convention’s swift ratification.