Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, more markets for our products mean more jobs for Minnesotans and for all Americans. That's why I was pleased that President Obama recently directed the U.S. Trade Representative to work through any outstanding issues so that we can move forward with a Colombia Free Trade Agreement. The President is right: more open trade is a win-win for both countries, and we need bipartisan action to pass this trade agreement, but Congress' lack of action has harmed U.S. interests, and it has given a competitive advantage to other countries.

How can American businesses compete when the European Union, Canada, China, and Latin America countries have better access to the Colombian market?

Over 80 percent of U.S. exports of consumer and industrial products would become duty free immediately, but instead, Congress' inaction has cost U.S. exporters more than $1.5 billion in tariffs to Colombia.

Madam Speaker, let's do what is right and quickly pass the U.S.- Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

I thank the distinguished ranking member for yielding.

Madam Chair, this is a very important debate tonight. The budget that is being presented tonight by the majority party would create an explosion of debt--a monumental burden of debt that would be placed on our children and our grandchildren.

It is a budget that will hurt job growth in our country because it raises taxes too much, largely on the backs of small businesses. It is a budget that spends too much. While American families and small businesses are struggling to make ends meet, this budget pushes spending up by over 9 percent this year alone. How many of our constituents are seeing their paychecks rise by 9 percent? It is a budget that will not only lead to record spending and deficits this year, it will double the national debt in 5 years and triple the national debt in just 10 years.

Madam Chair, when I was born, the share of the national debt was $1,500. Today, my four daughters each have a share of approximately $35,000 of our national debt. But the more alarming fact is that if the budget passes, that share and that burden on them will rise to $70,000 for each of my four daughters and each person in this country.

So this budget creates a vicious spiral: Higher taxes will hurt job growth, and this huge debt in the budget is going to force the government to borrow more to pay the bill. By the year 2012, the United States will be paying $1 billion per day just to pay the interest on our national debt. Just think what we could do with $1 billion a day.

Madam Chair, it is our obligation to pass on to the next generation more choices and better opportunities. But if we pass this budget, we risk for the first time that future generations will have less opportunity and fewer choices. We can do better.

The alternative budget plan that has been put together by Mr. Ryan is a better path. It is a path of less spending, less deficits, and less borrowing. It is

time to put our fiscal house in order and reject the budget that is on the floor.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of Senate bill 383, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program Act.

It is clear that both the Bush and Obama administrations, as well as Congress, have failed to include adequate oversight of taxpayer dollars being spent through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the TARP bill.

The lack of oversight and transparency are why one of my first votes in Congress as a freshman Member was against the release of the additional $350 billion in TARP bailout spending that companies like AIG are currently receiving.

When Congress is literally spending billions and billions of taxpayer dollars, it is critical that we have the most stringent oversight and transparency possible. The good news is that we have a chance to act on this important issue today.

The legislation before us gives broad authority for a Special Inspector General to oversee any remaining spending of TARP funds. This bill will provide the Special Inspector General with the authority to conduct, to supervise and to coordinate an audit or any investigation of any action taken with regard to TARP funds. It also will require the Special Inspector General to submit quarterly reports to Congress, while also requiring the Secretary of the Treasury to take action, or certify that no action is necessary, when any problems or deficiencies are identified by the inspector. And of course the bill also requires that the reports on institutions who receive TARP funding be posted on the Special Inspector General's Web site within 24 hours after being submitted to Congress so the public has access to this information as well. Simply put, this bill represents a major break from the past.

Madam Speaker, the American people deserve to know when Washington is spending taxpayer dollars, and we are making every effort with this legislation to ensure that those dollars are being spent wisely. And while some of us, including me, continue to have serious concerns about the sweeping and the expanding role of government involvement in the private sector, I do believe that we can all agree today that increasing oversight of the money that's currently being spent is the right thing to do.

As a new Member, I came to Washington hoping to fix broken policies that have plagued Congress for far too long. We have the ability to make that change, and this bill is a move and a step in the right direction. It will take a bipartisan effort from Congress and the administration, but we must make it.

And along those lines, I want to thank especially the chairman of the Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee, Congressman Moore, for his leadership on this issue and bringing this effort forward in a bipartisan basis.

I also want to commend the ranking member, Ms. Judy Biggert, for her efforts and leadership as well. I appreciate their efforts to work together in a bipartisan way in crafting this legislation.

And I, of course, want to thank the committee staff for their tireless work that they have put on behind the scenes. They have been an extremely valuable resource.

So, Madam Speaker, the bill we have before us today will help us bring accountability to a program that spends hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money, and I urge my colleagues support. American taxpayers deserve no less.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I would like to now yield 5 minutes to the distinguished ranking member of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa), who takes the role of being a taxpayer watchdog very seriously and works very hard at that effort.

(Mr. ISSA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Madam Speaker, I would now like to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from the 10th Congressional District from Georgia (Mr. Broun).

Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, again, I came to Washington with the goal of increasing transparency and accountability in the way that taxpayer dollars are being spent. I know many of us share that goal. Certainly, the subcommittee chairman does. Unfortunately, it is abundantly clear that the initial TARP bailout funding is being spent without proper oversight. There is no doubt.

When the Federal Government is literally spending hundreds of billions of dollars, it is critical that we have the most stringent oversight of that spending. That is our obligation to the taxpayer, especially now when our constituents are being forced to do much more with much less. They have the absolute right to know that their money-- it is their money--is being spent properly and wisely. This legislation will give additional tools to help ensure that there is proper tracking, proper accounting and proper oversight for all the spending of taxpayer dollars going forward.

As the subcommittee chairman knows, in committee, we heard testimony about the potential for additional waste, additional fraud, additional abuse. This ensures we will have protection from that. So I ask my colleagues to vote in support of this legislation.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, we will not recover from this recession unless small business leads the way by growing jobs. A small business owner from my district, Paul Robinson of Sterling Critical Products in Bloomington, was just in Washington last week. The message he has for Congress is that we need to provide incentives and access to capital for small business--and we need to make sure that no job-killing tax increases are added to their burden.

The $1.4 trillion tax increase that is on the table in the current budget proposal would drive a stake into the heart of our Nation's job creators. The proposal to raise taxes on asset creation by 33 percent would dry up badly needed capital and keep them from creating jobs.

My constituents are living within their means and they're cutting expenses. They expect Washington to do the same. But this budget spends too much, it taxes to much, and it borrows too much.

In these difficult times, we demand solutions that put people back to work. Let's reject these job-killing tax increases and start growing jobs now by supporting small business owners like Paul.

Mr. Speaker, I also agree that taxpayers deserve 100 percent of their money back. But, Mr. Speaker, I would urge our colleagues to vote ``no'' on the rule that is before us today.

Voting ``no'' on this rule today will allow us to consider the very commonsense proposal that we tried to bring up yesterday and now that the gentleman from Florida is trying to bring up once again today, a bipartisan proposal, actually, that would require not only that the bonuses get returned, have the Treasury Department return those bonuses, but, more importantly, put accountability in place so it never happens again. No more excuses. Requiring the Treasury Department to sign off on any future bonuses, requiring the Treasury Department to sign off on any future contracts regarding TARP legislation.

The bill that is being brought to the floor by the majority today was hastily written, as were provisions of the stimulus bill. It is covering the shoddy work that was done in the oversight of the TARP funds, the shoddy work that was put together in the stimulus bill, and it is covering up the shoddy work as well of government incompetence.

Mr. Speaker, let's have a vote for accountability by voting ``no'' on this provision so we can insert better bipartisan legislation.

I thank the gentleman for yielding and appreciate his leadership as well.

Mr. Speaker, I understand that my colleague from Florida will offer my legislation to help recoup the $165 million in taxpayer dollars that were paid out as AIG bonuses as part of the previous question.

Mr. Speaker, when the latest unemployment figures came out and were released earlier this month, America saw its jobless rate soar to over 8.1 percent. That is the highest percentage that we have seen in over 25 years in the United States. This equates to approximately 12.5 million Americans who are currently out of work. Against this grim backdrop, AIG has announced that it intends to pay out $165 million in bonuses to its employees, with a number of those employees receiving more than $3 million. To date, $55 million in Federal money has been used to pay AIG employees directly. Additionally, AIG expects to see total bonus payouts to its financial products division increase by nearly $15 million over the next year.

Mr. Speaker, most troubling is that this $165 million comes directly out of the nearly $170 billion that U.S. taxpayers have given to AIG over the last 8 months. In only 8 months, $170 billion.

In early March, AIG announced a corporate loss of nearly $62 billion. That is the single greatest quarterly loss in U.S. history of any corporation. While Americans are struggling to put food on the table, I wonder if they are going to be able to ever see the repayment of their investment in the companies that they are participating in, companies like AIG who are paying bonuses, which is the height of irresponsibility. This money belongs to the American public. It does not belong to the executives at AIG. So I, like my constituents, am shocked. I am shocked at the corruption, especially when AIG's actions come at the expense of America's public. To pay bonuses which in some circumstances can be as high as $6.5 billion is really antithetical to what the U.S. Government should stand for and the very reason the U.S. Government was lending this money in the first place. Allowing AIG to spend taxpayer money on paying these bonuses can only be seen as reckless incompetence.

The legislation will do three things:

Number one, it is going to require that the Treasury Department recoup all of the bonuses that have been paid.

Number two, no more excuses. It will require the Treasury Department and the Treasury Secretary to sign off on any future bonuses with his signature.

And, number three, it would require the Treasury Secretary to sign off on any future contracts as a part of any ongoing TARP legislation. That is where accountability is needed for the American taxpayer.

Mr. Speaker, we were sent here by our constituents to bring accountability back to government and protect the taxpayers from reckless spending. I strongly urge my colleagues to do just

that. They should vote ``no'' on the previous question.

We have a chance to do this today, Members. This is the issue of urgency today. This is nothing but bad government incompetence. It is not acceptable for the Treasury Secretary to throw his hands up in the air and walk away from this. Congress should act today. We should move forward, vote ``no'' on the previous question, and defeat the rule so that we can consider this very important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the Eden Prairie Eagles boys hockey team that won the Minnesota State High School Class AA Tournament just this past weekend.

Minnesota is known as the ``State of Hockey,'' and I submit we have the highest quality high school hockey tournament in the Nation. Led by coach Lee Smith, the talented Eden Prairie team had a tough road to the title.

They beat defending State champion Hill-Murray in the opening round, and they followed that win with a victory over a tough Blaine team. In the final, they defeated a tough Moorhead team as well, 3-0, to win the school's very first high school hockey championship for Eden Prairie.

As a resident of Eden Prairie myself, I am especially proud of the Eagles. I ask my colleagues to join me in offering our praises and congratulations to the coaches, the parents and the talented group of scholar athletes for a great season. And I also heartily applaud the school spirit of the student cheering section, which was the largest at the tournament.

Madam Speaker, temporary protective status for Liberians living in the United States will expire at the end of this month. In my district, the thriving Liberian community is on edge as this date draws closer. I know many of them personally. They have established homes, they have raised families, they have opened businesses and they have entered the fabric of our community.

While progress has been made in stabilizing Liberia in recent years, it remains a nation still recovering from civil war. Unemployment is near 80 percent. Democracy is in its early stages now, and we all know how challenging that process can be. Many of the same fears and concerns that brought thousands of Liberians here in the first place have not been alleviated.

Liberia is simply not ready to absorb the number of people who will be forced to leave the United States if this deadline is not extended. That is why I sent a letter to President Obama last month urging him to extend the deadline by

granting deferred enforced departure for Liberians living in the United States. I am reiterating that call today, and ask my colleagues to join in this important effort.

Madam Speaker, I rise to pay special tribute to the 35 residents of the Third Congressional District of Minnesota who are currently serving as Peace Corps Volunteers around the world.

I also want to thank the Peace Corps itself for the important work it has done since its founding in 1961 to promote understanding with other countries.

As we approach the 48th anniversary of the Peace Corps on March 1, 2009 and celebrate National Peace Corps Week this week, we are all very grateful for the work of this wonderful organization and the many volunteers who do so much for so many people.

I am especially proud of my dedicated constituents who are currently serving our country and the people of the world as Peace Corps volunteers: Joseph Adams in Surinam; Melissa Cuddy in Guatemala; Kristina Denison in Zambia; Bradley Engelsma in El Salvador; David Garfunkel in the Dominican Republic; Patricia Godchaux in Moldova; Alyson Hatchett in Costa Rica; Laura Hoffman in Bulgaria; Sarah Horns in South Africa; Ledor Igboh in Ghana; Franklin Jadwin in Peru; Andrew Jondahl in Senegal; Briana Juster in Guatemala; Jennifer Katchmark in Botswana; Jessica Kolb in Kazakhstan; Sarah Litchy in Ethiopia; Erin Luhmann in Kyrgzstan; Michael Luke in Romania; Kari Nelson in Senegal; Molly Nicholls in Macedonia; Mary O'Brien in Senegal; Derek Olson in Uganda; Martha Pakan in Mexico; Nichol Perkins in Nicaragua; Charles Powell in Honduras; Claire Reuning in Benin; Nicholas Rossi in Burkina Faso; Charles Seltzer in Dominican Republic; Braden Shannon in El Salvador; Gabriel Sidman in Honduras; Melanie Siler in Kazakhstan; Illyria Turk in Bulgaria; Janet Utecht in Mexico; Maria VanOsdale in Senegal; and Laura Van't Land in the Philippines.

Madam Speaker, I applaud each of these individuals for their service to our country and to the people of the countries in which they are working. And thank you to the Peace Corps for 48 years of critical service to the world.

Mr. Speaker, welcome to the Alice in Wonderland world of congressional budgeting, a place where Congress calls for fiscal responsibility, but then spends well beyond our means, even as the budget deficit grows to over $1.4 trillion.

We're all too familiar with the litany of the spending that's already occurred this session; $350 billion for the TARP bailout, $787 billion for the pork-filled stimulus bill, and this week, right after the so- called fiscal responsibility summit, Congressional leaders will bring up a giant omnibus spending bill that will spend another $410 billion, an 8 percent increase over funding from last year, and has over 9,000 earmarks. My constituents aren't seeing an 8 percent increase in their paychecks.

The nonpartisan Brookings Institution also cited recently, and I quote, ``these are just not deficits as far as the eye can see, but they're trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see.''

Mr. Speaker we're making sacrifices every day. Congress should continue to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, we need a stimulus bill that will put people back to work and create jobs. We don't need a big government spending bill that has become a grab bag of special interest spending.

I have several concerns about the bill, but I would like to speak today about a specific issue involving special education funding.

Like most of my colleagues I'm sure, I hear all the time from educators--teachers, parents, superintendents--about special education funding. When the federal government enacted the special ed mandate back in 1974, it promised to provide 40 percent of the funds.

But it has only provided about 17 percent annually, which means local school districts have to make up this shortfall. This is patently unfair to our local school districts.

But now this bill contains a particularly troubling provision that would further exacerbate the problem. The stimulus bill contains restrictions on special education funding that would not provide the needed relief to local schools because it would only allow them to use the funds for specified programs and services--not give local school districts the flexibility they need to make up for the current shortfall in funding. Even worse, the ``maintenance of effort'' provision in the stimulus would force states and local schools to sustain spending in these tight budget times or lose their federal funding.

And the conference report extends this mandate from two years to three years--through 2011.

Mr. Speaker, our teachers play an exceptionally integral role in shaping our children and our Nation's future. They understand the needs of each student--far better than Washington bureaucrats ever will. We need to ensure that our educators are properly equipped and given the proper decision rights in how to make each child succeed.

I believe we should allow local schools more flexibility, and I urge the Secretary of Education to keep that important principle in mind as he implements the ``maintenance of effort'' provision.

Madam Speaker, I am trying to figure out, why are we spending another $650 million on television coupons when Americans need jobs? Why is Congress continuing on this path of wasteful Washington spending when we can do much, much better?

The current economic mess that we are in right now was created by spending and borrowing money that doesn't exist. So why are we doing more of the same? People are hurting. Many people have lost their jobs, and Americans are genuinely worried about the future. Last week, we considered a stimulus bill of $819 billion in a so-called stimulus; actually, it is over $1 trillion when you think of the debt payments that are included. This is enough to give every family in the country close to $11,000. And what is this money for? $600 million to buy new cars for government workers; $150 million for honey bee insurance. And, of course, $650 million for television coupons. And the list goes on and on.

I am asking my constituents, is this how you would spend your hard- earned taxpayer money? I don't think so. It is no wonder that the American public is growing weary of this economic plan, and polls show a declining support. And do you know why? Because the American public is smart.

But why does a broken Congress continue to move on the same path, to spend hard-earned taxpayer money on the same old deficit plans that do little to create jobs and get our economy going?

Madam Speaker, I think we can do better. I think we must do better. Let's heed the President's call for swift bipartisan action, a plan that would provide immediate real stimulus to create jobs in this economy, not one that explodes the budget deficit on wasteful programs. Let's help families and small businesses with tax relief. Congress is focused on the wrong priorities with this bill. Spending $650 million, deficit spending $650 million, is the wrong priority. We should focus on job creation.

I thank the gentleman.

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased that the President has asked for swift action to spur the economy in the need to usher in a new era of responsibility. I also agree that Congress must act immediately to help get our economy back on track.

My concern with the bill that we are addressing here tonight is that it is acting irresponsibly. This stimulus bill has essentially now turned into a supplemental spending bill. The budget deficit is already more than $1 trillion this year alone. What is Congress proposing? More borrowing and more spending.

After this bill passes, Mr. Chairman, the annual budget deficit will surpass $2 trillion in just 1 year. Just this 1 year. An economic stimulus should be quick and it should be immediate. However, the recent analysis by the Congressional Budget Office shows that only 7 to 8 percent of the infrastructure spending, which is valuable in this plan, will be delivered in the economy in the first year alone, and less than half will be spent in the first 2 years.

Mr. Chair, a real fiscal stimulus is one that will put people back to work and focuses like a laser beam to help protect and preserve and, most importantly, create jobs. Why aren't we focusing tonight on helping small businesses do what they do best?

We need to make sure that we are allowing those small businesses, the entrepreneurs, the risk-takers, the innovators, and the self-employed, do what they do best, and that is create jobs. Unfortunately, this bill has become a grab bag of special interest spending, and many of these may be some worthwhile projects, but they should not be snuck into a stimulus bill.

Instead, let's focus on changing politics as usual and working together and finding real solutions to put people back to work.

I thank the gentlelady. Mr. Speaker, I rise also in support of the resolution that is before the body here today to oppose the release of the second tranche of TARP funds.

We are being asked here today to spend another $350 billion of American taxpayer money. Now the lapses right now that we have already seen in accountability and in transparency in the first tranche of bailout funds have not been remedied. And we don't even know exactly how that first $350 billion was spent just a few months ago. Furthermore, the scope of how future funds will be spent has moved beyond the intended purpose of TARP in the first place. That program now has turned into a grab bag for a variety of special interests that are lining up to attain more taxpayer money.

Congress is not being strategic. It is not being smart or prudent. We owe it to the American people to analyze and to scrutinize where the first tranche of bailout money went so that we don't throw good money after bad.

Just one day ago, our new President in his eloquent inaugural address called for a ``New Era of Responsibility.'' I completely agree. And I believe that Congress needs a new era of responsibility as well, especially in how it spends taxpayer money. The release of these new funds will only add to our massive budget deficit, which is going to be passed on to future generations.

Mr. Speaker, enough is enough. The House should strongly oppose, on a bipartisan basis, another $350 billion because it lacks the appropriate transparency, oversight and accountability. And we shouldn't borrow and spend and bail out our way to get our economy back on track.

Mr. Speaker, the definition of ``insanity'' is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Three months ago, Congress rushed to spend $350 billion of taxpayer dollars without adequate hearings and deliberation. The result was a lack of transparency and accountability, a disappointment in how the massive funds were spent and a bloated Federal budget deficit. But here we go again. This Congress is now proposing to do the exact same thing.

Another $350 billion bailout is not the answer my constituents are looking for. The people in my district in Minnesota are struggling to make ends meet, and they're worried about the future. We must take concrete steps to jump-start our economy and put people back to work. It's time to stop exposing taxpayers to any more undue risk. It's time to stop saddling them with unnecessary debt.

Mr. Speaker, Congress should reject another $350 billion bailout, and instead, it should focus on preserving, protecting and creating jobs to get our economy going again.