Rick Berg

I want to thank the gentleman from California.

It's been a distinct honor for me to represent the people of North Dakota in this Congress, the 112th Congress.

I ran for Congress because I believed that we needed to continue to have an economic environment, an economic climate that has stability and encourages growth and encourages jobs. And I'm sure we can all agree that there is more work that needs to be done. But I'm hopeful in the days, the weeks, the months, and the year ahead that we can finally come together, not as Democrats and not as Republicans, but as Americans who are concerned about the future and concerned about that next generation. In doing so, I know

that we will tackle the challenges that our country faces.

I'm always proud to tell the people I meet that I represent North Dakota. Down here in Washington, we are the envy of the Nation. We have the lowest unemployment in the country, a budget surplus, we are seeing unprecedented economic growth, and one of the brightest futures ahead.

To the great people of the State of North Dakota, I want to express my deepest gratitude for giving me the opportunity to be North Dakota's voice, a voice here in the U.S. House of Representatives for the last 2 years. I would also like to thank my staff for their hard work. I've put them through some long hours serving the people of North Dakota, and I know the people of North Dakota appreciated the hard work and the dedication that they brought forward.

My faith in the democratic process is unwavering, and I truly believe that America's brightest days are ahead. Serving the people of North Dakota in Congress was an adventure and an experience of a lifetime. It's something that I will always look back at with pride and appreciation. Personally, I'm not sure what lies ahead, but I'll say this: it will be great spending a lot more time in the great State of North Dakota. Thank you, and may God bless.

I thank the gentleman for yielding and joining me in this amendment. I rise to support our amendment to ensure States continue to have control over regional haze regulations.

When Congress first established EPA's Regional Haze Program, it acknowledged that regional haze and visibility regulation has to do purely with aesthetic value and not public health. For that very reason, Congress emphasized that the States, not EPA, should be the decisionmakers when it comes to regulations of regional haze.

Instead of empowering States to do what's best for their citizens, the Obama administration has, again, imposed another costly one-size- fits-all regulation for the producers of energy, who are the most critical job creators in my State and across the country.

Our amendment will limit EPA's availability to override States' management of regional haze, and it empowers States to implement their own regional haze management plans, the plans that best fit their individual needs.

It's time to stop the war on coal, and I urge my colleagues to support our amendment on the underlying bill.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to support this critical piece of legislation to stop the tax hike.

We have a choice to make here: We can support job creators like small business men, farmers, and ranchers that have made North Dakota's economy so strong, or we can abandon them and allow our Nation to go over the so-called ``fiscal cliff.''

I have to remind my friends on the other side, this is something we talked about in a recent Ways and Means hearing. Small businesses are not ``the wealthy.'' They are not pocketing huge profits. They are trying to grow their businesses by reinvesting back into their business. That's what's creating jobs.

At a time like this, we need to create jobs. We can't afford the Democrat plan which will increase taxes and decrease over 700,000 jobs. We need stability. We need certainty. And we need to pass this legislation so we can provide stability and certainty to our job creators until we complete comprehensive tax review.