Freshman Democrats Celebrate Completeing 100-Hour Agenda

FRESHMEN DEMOCRATS CELEBRATE COMPLETING 100-HOUR AGENDA

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Ms. HIRONO. I just wanted to make a comment about what you just said. You know, there is rhetoric, and then there is action. So while we had hours and hours of debate on all of these bills that we dealt with in the first 100 hours, when it came down to action, so many of the Republicans voted with us. So as the saying goes, ``Where's the beef?' And frankly, I just want to share with my colleagues from the majority-making class, of which I am very proud, there was an article written in a local newspaper back home about me and how I am doing here, and they quoted a professor from University of Pennsylvania, a political science professor. I don't know why they asked somebody from the University of Pennsylvania. But he teaches a class on how Congress works. And he said, basically, freshmen are hardly ever seen and they are never heard from. Well, nothing could be further from the truth in our class. Not only were we seen, but we were heard from. We were encouraged to speak out. And I think every single one of us had an opportunity to speak on all of these bills, as I certainly did. And so I came here because I really wanted to be responsive to the American people. And as the New York Times only yesterday said, that the House has now approved legislation directly addressing public concerns. And I think that is why we feel really gratified to have been a part of this historic session and to be reminded that prior Congresses, the 104th, 105th, 106th, 107th, 108th, 109th Congresses in the month of January, were taking a break. And we didn't.

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