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Mrs. ROBY. It's actually 22. Our work today on the floor put the forgotten 15 to a number of 22. I don't know if you're ready for us to start this discussion, but I would just like to read a couple of words.
We have all been carrying around "Where are the jobs?'' Everybody has theirs, I'm sure, in their pocket to remind the people of the United States of America of exactly these bills and what
we have done to reduce regulatory burdens to allow for offshore drilling. The list goes on and on. And even today, the Access to Capital and Entrepreneur Access to Capital was right here on the floor just minutes ago.
But I found myself looking at the thesaurus, looking for a good word for ``forgotten'' because now we're at 22. Instead of picking a great ``T'' word, although there is one and I'll get back to that in a minute, we can look at words like ``abandoned,'' ``blanked out,'' ``blotted out,'' ``omitted,'' ``left behind,'' ``drew a blank,'' but the best one is ``slipped one's mind.''
I think as Americans we have to ask ourselves what's on the minds of those in the Democrat majority in the Senate, because if they were to get out and travel around their district and look into the eyes of the people who are without jobs, who can't put food on the table, who are struggling to make ends meet, I think it might slip them right back into reality.
The President is saying over and over and over again, We can't wait. Yet now we've got the tardy 22. These bills need to be voted on by the Senate. It has been over 900 days since they have even passed a budget. This is unconscionable. This is the United States of America, the greatest Nation in the world; and yet we have a Senate that is unwilling to do the job that the people of America sent them here to do.
So as we continue through this discussion here tonight, we need to focus on the tardy 22, the bills that have yet to be voted on by the Senate.
I thank my friend from Colorado for having this hour tonight.
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Mrs. ROBY. I'd just like to say, I had asked for the totals; I didn't have them written down. But you take the kind of bipartisan support that you're talking about that we received on the two bills that we passed just today, the access to capital and the access for entrepreneurs, you take that kind of bipartisan support--the American people are frustrated because the President is calling this the Republican Congress. This is a bicameral Congress, and whereas we hold the majority in this House, we don't in the Senate.
But you saw the actions that took place on the floor tonight. The first one passed 407-17. The second bill passed 413-11. There is a way to find common ground without compromising principle, and that is what we are doing because the American people are hurting, and we've got to create that environment, and we have by passing these bills.
We are calling on those in the Senate to see our bipartisanship in this House to get Americans back to work.
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Mrs. ROBY. I get asked the question, or I did early on, What has been a shocking thing in your experience in Washington? And I unequivocally can say the most shocking part of this experience of representing Alabama's Second District is really beginning to understand how huge this government is, how the Federal Government right now today trickles down into every crevice of our lives.
And to go with the gentleman from Wisconsin's remarks, we are trying to get government out of the way and allow the private sector to thrive. And we don't have people coming up to us at our town halls saying, when are you going to pass more regulations?
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Mrs. ROBY. I would just say this, too: I think the American people ought to be begging the question to the Senate as it relates to the tardy 22 bills that they have sitting over there on their side that we know will create jobs. They need to ask them specifically, their Senators, why are you opposed to this? What is your sound objective? What is your reasoning? We want to create jobs. We're out of work.
Earlier, I said another word for ``forgotten'' because the forgotten 15 has slipped our minds. It has just slipped our minds. We need to remind these Senators over there. All Americans do. They need to pick up the phone and ask, What's your opposition to these 22 bills that will create jobs and put America back to work so that we can be a thriving economy once more?
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Mrs. ROBY. The private sector is sitting on trillions of dollars. We know that. The money is there to jump-start our economy, but because of all this uncertainty, no one is spending these dollars to reinvest in their private businesses.
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Mrs. ROBY. And getting the government out of the way so that they can thrive.
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