Rep. Janice Hahn spoke on the House floor hours before the fiscal cliff deadline. Her office released this transcript of Hahn's remarks:
Tonight in Times Square, hundreds of thousands of people will be there at midnight to watch that ball drop. But here in Congress, we’ve also dropped the ball.
We are in the final days of the 112th Congress. And no one expected us to be here on the House Floor on New Year’s Eve.
But here we are, racing towards that fiscal cliff—towards higher taxes on the middle class, on slashed investment for the American people – including nutrition for mothers and infants, education for our children, and our infrastructure.
What part of the “cliff” sounds like a good plan? I know I’m not the only one who has spent time with families that it will hurt. I know I’m not the only one who has visited the businesses that are worried that our country could have another recession.
We should not be playing this game of chicken. There is too much at stake to have politics as usual. We have an opportunity to prevent the fiscal cliff, but in order to do so we must act as a unified Congress. So I say to all my friends and colleagues, Democrats and Republicans: Let’s get this thing done.
Tonight when that ball drops, let’s make sure that we haven’t also dropped the ball.
