mr. speaker , i yield myself 30 seconds . 
mr. speaker , perhaps the gentleman from new york ( mr. rangel ) xz4003330 is not aware that the senate has included the alternative minimum tax in their reconciliation tax package . 
they have already voted on it . 
so there is no need to provide any assurance from the house side , because the senate has already included it . 
but , again , that is reality . 
the economy is not good because the president told us so . 
leading economic indicators tell us so : the unemployment numbers , the productivity numbers . 
the real problem with my friends on the other side of the aisle is that if reality does not coincide with their rhetoric , they choose rhetoric rather than reality . 
mr. speaker , i yield 2 1/2 minutes to the gentlewoman from connecticut ( mrs. johnson ) xz4002051 . 
