Allen B. West

I want to thank the gentlewoman from Tennessee for allowing me to participate this evening. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for allowing me to have this time. But I want to also pay homage to two great men that are going to be departing this House of Representatives.

I think back to 5 years ago, in December of 2007. I had just gotten back from 2\1/2\ years of serving in Afghanistan, and I decided that I was going to throw my hat into the ring to run for Congress in 2008. I understood what it meant to be a constitutional conservative. I understood what it meant when you talked about limited government, when you talked about fiscal responsibility, individual sovereignty; when you talked about a free marketplace of ideas, where the American people can prosper, and also a strong national defense. But of course the critical thing was I could go back and I could read Locke and I could read Montesquieu. I could read Hobbes or Rousseau. I could read all of the writings of our Founding Fathers. But I wanted to look at two individuals or several individuals that I could see as role models.

So when you get back and you start to look at C-SPAN and say, Who can I model myself after, I can tell you that the two men that are going to depart this House of Representatives--one to go be Senator-elect from Arizona, another going to be Governor-elect from Indiana--were two individuals that I studied.

When I wanted to know about fiscal responsibility, I heard about this gentleman, Representative Jeff Flake from Arizona, who was Mr. Earmark. I, first of all, had to understand, okay, being in the military, what does an earmark mean? Well, I come to understand what it meant, and I come to understand how horrible it is when you look at what is happening with our debt and our deficit and our fiscal irresponsibility.

I came to understand what it meant to have principles and pragmatism and having the courage to stand upon your convictions and continue to push and continue to try to make a difference, even if it seems that you may stand alone. Because that's one of the mottos from a great unit in the 101st Airborne Division, Currahee. We know that from the Band of Brothers what that means, ``stands alone.''

If there is one person that has always stood alone and will continue to do so for the principles that are right, fiscal responsible principles that are right, it's Senator-elect Jeff Flake. Being able to study him and see him and not so much worrying about having a bunch of conversations, but learning by example, helped me to have 2 great years here in the people's House, the people's House where for 22 years in uniform I served to protect, and now I got the opportunity to walk in these great Halls with a great man, who I know will continue to go on to the Senate, where they truly do need some help with fiscal responsibility.

I know that when we look across, just the same as that unit in December of 1944, when they were surrounded, they sent back one simple response, that they were not going to surrender. I think we all know what that one-word response is.

If I could think of one person that will stand on the Senate floor and give that same response, it will be Senator-elect, Jeff Flake.

Now, when I think about the other gentleman, the Governor-elect of Indiana, there was a person that contacted me, and if you talked to him, he will say I was supporting Allen West before it became cool to support Allen West, and that is absolutely 100 percent right. Because Mike Pence understood that it's not about the empty promises of outreach to a community, it's about finding those individuals that really and truthfully do believe in constitutional, conservative principles and supporting them to get them to a position where they can have a voice and they can, in turn, be examples to our black communities. That's what Mike Pence did for me in 2008. He kept encouraging me. And even though we fell short, on that next day, he was the first person to call and say:

I know what type of man you are, and I know what type of fighter you are, and I know you're going to do it again.

Therefore, I ended up being here in 2010. I had the opportunity to be taught, to be coached and to be mentored by a great man, a great constitutional conservative, a man there that will go make a difference for a State, and I think that one day he will make a difference for our great Nation.

So as once upon a time a general said, as he stood there, that old soldiers never die, they just fade away, I'm not going to fade away, because these two men have encouraged me to do something better and do something different, to take off a camouflage uniform and put on a suit and tie but continue to fight for the principles and values that make this country great and that make this country exceptional. I think that's what we see happening right now.

I am so encouraged that we have the right people here in the House, we will have the right people in the Senate and we will have the right people down in our States to make a difference to secure a better future for all of our children and our grandchildren so we do not saddle them with the debt that we're currently looking at, we do not saddle them with the out-of-control spending, and we do not leave them with an unsecure America and an unstable world.

Those men that are going to depart here are going to be part of that transformation, that restoration, that reclaiming of a sense of American pride and exceptionalism that when we look at those words up there, ``in God we trust,'' we will truly inculcate that back into who we are as a people.

So as we go forth, we talk about this thing called the fiscal cliff, I know that these men understood what the right type of tax policies are that create economic growth. We are not about wealth redistribution. We are about wealth expansion. We are about that American Dream that can take an inner city kid from Atlanta, Georgia, and allow him to be standing here today speaking to the American people before incredible men that will go and do more incredible things for this great Nation.

I believe that we are standing on the verge of a new dawn for America. But all we have to do is go back and recommit to those principles and value that our Founding Fathers accepted, that our Founding Fathers wrote in the Declaration, that they improved and perfected through the Constitution, and now they're looking at us in this generation to be the ones that carry it on. 236 years. And I believe that we will be around for another 236 years.

The test for us right now is do we believe that America is about a bigger government? Or do we believe that America is about an indomitable, entrepreneurial spirit? And if we believe the latter instead of the former, then we will have those right tax policies, we will have the right regulatory policies, and we will have the right monetary policies so that we are not printing more money and devaluing our dollar so that we see commodity prices going up.

Will we, once again, have our small businesses grow, which is a reflection of our entrepreneurial spirit? But, most importantly, will we respect the individual, their sovereignty, their rights, and their freedoms, and make sure that we have the strongest, most powerful military that will cause people to say, we will not challenge you, because they know that what we stand for, this that we will defend, is something that we truly do believe in.

So as this may be my last time speaking here on this House floor, I can tell you that the principles and values that we stand for as constitutional conservatives, you don't have to be in the House of Representatives to continue that fight, because it's a fight worth doing, but it's a fight worth doing because I've had some great men and great women to be examples for me as I go forward.

There are many men and women that are standing on freedom's ramparts, our watchmen on the walls, that are trusting and depending on us right now to make sure that their service, their sacrifice, and their commitment shall not be in vain.

So I thank you all. I thank you for your coaching and your mentoring. I thank you for the example that you set. I thank you for allowing me to be here to speak on this night.

May God bless America, and may God keep us all forevermore.

Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to stand today and recognize Tom Kaiser for his selfless devotion to his fellow veterans and brothers in arms.

Mr. Kaiser is a proud member of the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Jewish War Veterans, Korean War Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Sons of the American Legion.

As a member of these veterans organizations, Mr. Kaiser has displayed an unyielding sense of duty in making the sacrifice that our veterans have displayed throughout the years known to south Florida residents.

Mr. Kaiser, as the head of the Boynton Beach Veterans Council, was able to establish the Boynton Beach Veterans Park and oversaw many dedications at the park to veterans of all wars. The park now has 32 monuments and benches to honor the branches of service. Further, Mr. Kaiser has arranged to have local schools visit the park to learn about our history and the many wars it has taken to promote the freedoms that we hold so dear.

He also helped many World War II Veterans obtain the French Medal of Honor. At this time, they have honored at least 300 veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I drive down Federal highway almost daily when I am home in south Florida, and not a day goes by when I do not see the POW/MIA signs along the road. We all have Mr. Kaiser to thank for installing those onto such a busy highway for all to see. We hope that these signs will one day stretch from Key West to the Georgia state line.

As a 22-year active duty retired Army Lieutenant Colonel, I know the sacrifice and sense of duty that all veterans feel. I know that many of our veterans do their job, not for recognition, but for love of country and selfless devotion to their fellow brother in arms.

Mr. Speaker, today, however, Tom Kaiser deserves this recognition for all the hard work he has displayed throughout the years, ensuring that our veterans' sacrifices are never forgotten, and that our future generations may carry the torch that he has helped carry. May Mr. Kaiser always remain steadfast and loyal in these altruistic pursuits.

I want to thank my colleague for allowing me to come here.

This is not a charade. I served 22 years in the United States military, and I was part of a reduction in force coming out of Desert Shield/Desert Storm, and I know what these types of cuts will do to the military. Also, this is what these types of cuts will do to non-defense discretionary.

The sequestration will put at risk all that we have

accomplished in education and weaken programs that help

children, serve young families, send young people and adults

to college and make the middle class American Dream possible.

Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan.

Secretary of Defense:

This mechanism of sequestration will force defense cuts

that, in my view, would do catastrophic damage to our

military and the ability to be able to be protect our

country.

I think right now, Mr. Speaker, it's very simple. George Santayana had a quote back in the 1920s and said:

Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat

it.

At the end of World War I, we cut our military, then came World War II. At the end of World War II, we cut our military, then came the Korean War. At the end of the Korean War, we, of course, did the exact same thing, and, of course, we had to chase communism all over the world, Vietnam.

As I spoke about earlier, I participated in the RIF after Desert Shield/Desert Storm. This sequestration does one simple thing: It takes the Army and Marine Corps down to 1940s levels.

It puts 200,000 of our men and women in uniform on the streets.

It makes our United States Navy go to 1915 levels. Currently, we have a naval force of 283 warships. It goes down to 230.

It takes our Air Force down to the smallest Air Force we have had in modern history, when we created the United States Air Force. It cuts nontactical fighter squadrons.

If you talk to any of our service chiefs, if you listen to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs who talks about hollowing out this force, we should not be doing this at a time when we all see what is happening in the world right now, when the United States of America has had a sovereign piece of its territory attacked. We have had an Ambassador that has lost his life. The message that we are going to send is that we are going to do nothing?

This legislation says, very simply, we have passed a plan out of the House. The Senate, if you don't like our plan, come up with your own plan. Mr. President, you are the Commander in Chief. Come up with a plan.

One of the things that you learn as a young officer, that if you ever get into a firefight, you are ever in an ambush, to do nothing means that people lose their lives. I will not stand here and do nothing at this time because those are my friends still in uniform; those are my relatives that are still in uniform.

Now, I did not have the ability to be selected to be on the supercommittee--maybe because I have only been here as a freshman--but that does not mean that I will not be an adult and present a solution that says, very simply, If you don't like what we passed in the House, then do something. Come up with a plan.

We just heard the debate about the continuing resolution, a continuing resolution we have been forced into because we have a Senate that has not passed a budget in close to 3 years. We have a Senate that has not taken up any appropriations bills.

Well, I will tell you--and I will reach out to my colleagues from the other side--at least here in the House we have done something. But we have been forced into a position with this sequestration to say we have got to come up with a solution. The supercommittee did not meet its enacted mandate.

Does that mean we're going to stop? Does that mean that we're going to look at the men and women in uniform and say we will allow this to happen? Did that mean that we're going to look at other people that are affected by these non-defense discretionary cuts?

All I'm saying is, with this piece of legislation, those who have come up with a plan, tell us what you want so that we do not have this occur. Think about the second- and third-order effects that will come to this.

We are talking about the people that will be lost in uniform.

No, I will not yield, so please--thank you.

We're talking about the Department of Defense civilian positions that would be lost. We're talking about the defense industrial base, the technology that is going to develop the next generation of weapons systems for our men and women that will be lost. We're talking about a critical decision for the way ahead for the United States of America.

And I understand what has been said about this balanced approach that the President sent over in his fiscal year 2013 budget. They had $1.9 trillion of new taxes, but yet it never balances at any time. If it was such a good plan, such a good budget, no one here took it up. That's my concern.

This is a last chance for us to be the adults, to do something, to stave off this sequestration. The House voted. The House sent a piece of legislation out in May. The House voted on the Sequestration Transparency Act. We still have not gotten anything.

The Director of the OMB, Mr. Jeffrey Zients, testified before the Armed Services Committee he has no plan. All he did was sit there and say that, if you guys would stop with these tax cuts not being brought up on the rich, then this would not happen.

What is a fair share when the top 1 percent pays close to 37 percent of taxes? That's not the debate, Mr. Speaker. The debate is what we're going to do about this sequestration.

If the gentleman will yield, it says that it would be replaced. If you come up with a plan, it will be replaced.

We voted to cut defense spending by $487 billion. We're talking about additional. And when you talk about raising these taxes, Ernst & Young had an independent report that talked about the adverse ramifications that will come from raising taxes.

Obviously, one thing we fail to understand, small business operators, subchapter S corps, LLCs, you're going to ruin this economy and more job losses by raising those taxes.

I'm not talking about Bain Capital. You said raise taxes on individuals. I'm talking about personal income.