Floor Statements

Mr. Chairman, before anyone thinks that I am trying to impress upon them that I am a biblical scholar, I will tell my colleagues I am not, but I happened to listen to one Sunday evening. His name is Father Dennis Carver, and he was in Pass Christian, Mississippi. He was talking about a civilization called the Babylonians. They were apparently a very prosperous civilization, but one of the things that was unique about them is that for the sake of their prosperity, they would literally take their children, put them on an alter, and slit their throats.

Although the gentleman from Iowa's budget does not quite do that, I will say that it is fair to say that we are burdening our children with so much debt that they cannot possibly hope to attain the sort of lifestyle that we have, or remain the world's greatest Nation.

In 1994, the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle), the chairman of the Committee on the Budget, gave a speech on this House floor bemoaning the fact that at the time, every American man, woman, and child was $17,000 in debt as a portion of the national debt. The Republicans took over in 1995. I had hoped things would get better. But since 1995 through today, that same statistic is that every American man, woman, and child is now in debt $22,000. The Republicans have been in charge, the Republican Party. I had hoped they were truly fiscal conservatives. They have proven otherwise.

If we look at American history, during every single war in American history, and I challenge all of my colleagues to question me on this and look it up for themselves, in every other war in American history, they raised taxes to pay for that war. They took the attitude that those of us who were fortunate enough not to be in the front lines, not to be shot at, not to watch our comrades maimed, ought to at least be willing to pay for that. But there is a difference. Only this generation of Americans is saying that we are going to fight a war, we are going to occupy the nation of Iraq for at least 10 years, with a starting force of 100,000 people as occupiers, but, by the way, we are going to stick these young people in this room and the young people back in Mississippi, the young people in Texas, we are going to stick them with the bill, knowing that they will never have a chance to recover from that and they will continue to squander at least $1 billion a day every day of our lives as a Nation on interest on that debt.

The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) and other members of the Blue Dog Coalition have done an admirable job of saying, we have to do better. And I have to tell my colleagues, I am going to vote for the Blue Dog budget, but I would have been willing to vote for any budget that freezes all of the tax cuts, because it is simply not fair.

Two years ago, the gentleman from Iowa and others came to this floor and said the President's tax breaks would not increase the national debt. I say to my colleagues they were $802 billion wrong. At what point do they admit to their mistakes, and at what point do they stop the bleeding?

The Federal debt is still growing. On February 28, 2003,

the public debt was $6,445,790,102,794.08.

The public debt has increased by more than $802 billion

since Congress passed the President's first budget plan on

May 9, 2001. The debt grew $442,337,086,210.23 in the 12

months from February 28, 2002 to February 28, 2003.

There is no surplus except in trust funds. In the first

four months of fiscal year 2003, the Treasury reported a

budget deficit of $97.6 billion. However, the trust funds for

Social Security, Medicare, military retirement, and federal

employees retirement collected $90.2 billion in surpluses to

fund future benefits. Outside these trust funds, the federal

government ran a deficit of $187.8 billion.

During fiscal year 2002, Social Security added $159 billion

to its surplus, and the trust funds for Medicare, military

retirement, and federal employee retirement added to total of

$68 billion in surplus funds. Outside those trust funds, the

federal government ran a deficit of $386 billion. The

Congressional Budget Office reported that fiscal year 2002

had the largest percentage decrease in revenues in 56 years

and the largest percentage increase in spending in 20 years.

We spend almost one billion dollars per day on interest.

The Treasury spent $332.5 billion on interest on the debt in

fiscal year 2002. Military spending totaled $332.1 billion,

slightly less than the interest expense, despite a 14 percent

increase to fight the war on terrorism. Medicare spending

totaled $256 billion, $77 billion less than we spent on

interest.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) for yielding me this time.

To the point on Bosnia, a lot of us had misgivings. I remember going there fully intent on finding kids to tell me it was a bad idea. I met a kid from Ocean Springs, Mississippi. I regret that I cannot remember his first name. His last name is Rhodes. I asked him should we be here. It was a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving. It was snowing and crummy. It is 80 degrees in Ocean Springs, and it is 18 degrees in Bosnia.

And the kid said, Yeah. I was dumbfounded. I said, Why? He said because I am keeping women from getting raped. I am keeping children from getting murdered. I am keeping old folks from getting drug out into the street and getting tortured at night. That is why I joined the United States Army, to be a good guy.

Tonight we vote to commend the 250,000 young Americans, just like Private Rhodes, who are doing the very same thing.

To my colleagues, I would say every other generation of Americans, check the record, every other generation of Americans voted to pay the cost of those wars right then and not stick the young Private Rhodeses with that bill. Let us not be the first generation of Americans that after we welcome the Private Rhodeses home, stick them with the bill from this war.

I am going to vote for the resolution because it is exactly right, but I am going to vote against their budget because they are sticking those 250,000 young Americans and their children with this bill. That is inexcusable. Let us vote for the troops. Let us vote to pay the bill. Those of us fortunate enough not to be on the front lines, not to watch our buddies lose an arm or leg, their vision, not to watch our buddies die, at least ought to be willing to pay the bill for this war right now and not stick our kids with it.

In the past 2 years, we have run up $802 billion worth of debt. That is no prize to hand those kids when they come home. Let us support the troops and pay for this war right now. Let us be honest with the American people and leave them a Nation that is worthy of their sacrifice.

Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

I thank the gentlewoman. I think it is important that we remind the American public where we are now. When we passed the Bush tax cuts in May, just 2 years ago, our Nation was $5,643,680,010,418 in debt. Less than 2 years later we are $6,445,790,102,749 in debt. That is an increase of over $800 billion. If you were to track the American debt from the founding of the American Revolution through the Vietnam War, our Nation had borrowed that much money in about 180 years. In less than 2 years, our Nation has borrowed that much money. What is particularly frustrating I think for all of us is the complete flip-flop on the part of our Republican colleagues.

The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert) has been the Speaker of the House now for, I believe, 1,500 days or something very close to it. In those 1,500 days, he has never scheduled a vote on a balanced budget amendment. I find this a bit ironic, because on March 17, 1994, then- Member Hastert said clearly, ``Until our monstrous $3.4 trillion deficit is eliminated, interest payments will continue to eat away at the important initiatives which the government must fund. I will not stand by and watch Congress recklessly squander the future of our children and grandchildren.''

As I pointed out, the debt has increased $2 trillion since the Speaker said that, then-Member Hastert. Yet he will not allow a vote on a balanced budget amendment, and we are not even sure he is going to allow a vote on the Blue Dog budget. As we know last year, it was so thoroughly convoluted in the Committee on Rules that we were not given a clear opportunity to offer it as an amendment. I hope, Mr. Speaker, you will do so this year.

I would also remind you that on that same day, you said, ``The American people have wanted a balanced budget amendment for a long time, because they know it's the only way to force Congress to make spending choices.''

Mr. Speaker, if you meant what you said in 1994, we are willing to help you do just that, but you have got to give us a vote on it.

There are some other interesting quotes. The next year, January 25, the Speaker said, ``Mr. Chairman, a national debt of $4.5 trillion, you can see how it's growing, should finally convince every Member in this Chamber that Congress has got no discipline to solve its own problems. This balanced budget amendment will put discipline upon us.''

Mr. Speaker, I wish you would live by those words and give us a vote.

Here a few days later, ``The American people want their government to be fiscally responsible. They want us to balance the budget in order to lower our debt and make our children's future brighter.''

We could not agree with you more. You were right in 1995. Why are you not for a balanced budget now?

Some other friends of mine on the other side of the aisle have said similar things. Now Majority Leader Tom DeLay, it has been a while, March 11, 1994:

``We are showing what we would do. If the Republicans were in charge of this House and in charge of the Senate, it would be a much different America. It would be a much different government.''

In the past 2 years, or less, you guys have run up $800 billion in new debt. It is obviously different. I do not think it is better, but there is always time to change. I think one of the ways that you can change is to allow a vote on the floor next week of the Blue Dog budget, which would get us back on the path to a balanced budget.

The gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay) had some interesting statistics. This is from a speech that he gave on the House floor in 1995:

``In 1980, each child born that year immediately inherited a debt of $4,000. That is government debt. By 1985, because no balanced budget had been adopted, the children that year had inherited a $7,600 debt. By 1990, our children were burdened with almost $12,800 in debt.''

This is again from Majority Leader DeLay's floor speech from 1995:

``Each year every child born in America this year will begin life with a debt of more than $16,700. Is it any wonder that young families have trouble saving money for a down payment on a house? Is it any wonder that the Federal Government's consumption of more than one- quarter of all our economic activity is driven in interest rates and stifling economic growth?''

When the majority leader made that comment, our Nation was about $4.3 trillion in debt. We are now $2 trillion further in debt, so I think it is fair to say that your $16,000 debt that you made reference to is now a $25,000 debt for every American man, woman and child. Yet what really troubles me, and I could go on and on pointing out very important Members of the Republican Party: the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert), the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier).

One thing that strikes me as an American who tries to be objective about all of this and who kind of enjoys watching other people's political races, I remember distinctly then-candidate Al Gore being severely beaten about the head and shoulders for flip-flopping on the abortion issue. I know many people in this Chamber have different opinions on this, but my Republican colleagues reminded the American people that Al Gore ran as a pro-life candidate only to change to a pro-choice

and accused him of flip-flopping. That is probably true. But if that is true, then how can the Speaker and the majority leader, the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas) and others who came to this floor and gave eloquent speeches, and they were eloquent speeches, about the importance of balancing the budget, the importance of a balanced budget amendment, that deficits are bad, that interest payments on the debt are bad, how can they now look the American people in the eye and say they are good?

It is a fair question to each of you. It is a fair question the American people ought to be asking my Republican colleagues. Do not try to tell me that you never said it, because it is in the Congressional Record.

So the question is, what did you really believe in? Did you believe it when you said it then, or do you believe it when you are saying deficits are not important now? Because they are totally opposite. And all I think the American people are asking for is some honesty, some honesty in budgeting, and some concern about the future of this country, and that we quit sticking our kids with the bills.

The last thing I am going to say, and it is the analogy I use back home because everyone understands it, there is not a Member in this body who would go out and buy a car, and say, ``I don't care what it costs, I don't care what the payments are, because my 6-year-old child is going to pay the bill.''

There is not a Member in this House that would go out and buy a house and tell the realtor, ``I want the nicest house in the county. I don't care what it costs, I don't care what the payments are, because I am going to stick my grandkid with the bill.'' That is precisely what we have been doing as a Nation, and in less than 2 years we have stuck our kids and grandkids with an $800 billion bill.

The Blue Dogs will give you an opportunity next week to start turning that around. We are going to give you an opportunity to be men of your words. I hope you will join us in trying to balance the budget.

Mr. Speaker, I would hope that you would live by your own words and give us a vote on a much-needed balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak. I very much want to thank the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Berry) for what he had to say. I too heard the President of the United States just a couple of weeks ago stand

in this well and tell the American people we would not pass our problems on to the next generation. Maybe the President does not read his own budget. I would hope he does. He signs it before he sends it to us. Maybe the President is not aware that since the passage of his budget and his tax cuts that our Nation's debt has increased by $758,108,651,628.89. The first $2 trillion budget in American history incidentally was not submitted by a guy named Dukakis or a wild-eyed liberal named McGovern. It was submitted by George W. Bush. The first $2.25 trillion budget in American history was not submitted by a wild- eyed liberal. It was submitted by George Bush.

Mr. Speaker, I would hope someone in this body would explain to me that when the tax cuts take place with great fanfare, they take place during the middle of the day or during prime time TV. But when my Republican colleagues want to raise the debt limit and burden the next generation with these bills, that vote takes place about 3 or 4 in the morning. You will notice there will not be a reporter up there. Most of our constituents will be asleep. If they are proud of raising the debt and seeing to it that an even larger percentage of our Nation's budget is squandered on interest and we are squandering a billion a day, that is a thousand times a thousand times a thousand, then why will you schedule a vote to raise the debt at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning? Why will you change the House rules so that now, by just the adoption of the President's budget, we automatically raise the debt if you are proud of that?

Mr. Speaker, please explain to me and explain to the American people why a group of people is elected to govern this country who promised to balance the budget, who promised to be fiscally responsible, yet in the over 1,400 days that Speaker Hastert has been Speaker of this House of Representatives, he will not even schedule one vote on a balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution. We vote to condemn people across the world. We vote to commend people across the world. We have cast 25 votes since this session started. The way I figure it, thus far Congress is being paid $1,000 per vote this year. But you cannot find time, Mr. Speaker, to schedule a vote on the most important thing of all, which is balancing the American budget so that this generation does not ask the next generation to pay our bills.

Mr. Speaker, answer back. Would you go out and buy a car, go out and buy a Lexus and say, I don't care what it costs, I don't care what the interest payments are because my grandkid is going to pay for it? Would you go buy a house? The same deal. I want the most expensive house in town; I don't care what the interest payments are because my kid is going to pay for it. That is the way you are running this country.

What is particularly sad is that you promised the American people you would not do that. That is how you got in the majority. And then you flat turned around and did just the opposite. You will not let us vote on the balanced budget amendment, you are running up $300 billion a year deficits, and your only answer to that is more debt and more tax cuts.

I will remind you, Mr. Speaker, in every other conflict in American history, when we asked our young people to put their lives on the line, the rest of Americans were asked to pay the bill, right then and there. And quite frankly, the wealthiest Americans were asked to pay the most. The inheritance tax was a wartime tax. The luxury taxes were all wartime taxes. The folks who got to stay home and enjoy the benefits of America paid while someone else did the fighting. But at least they paid.

What do you say now, Mr. Speaker? You say those who have the most should pay even less and, by the way, the kids from across town, the kids from across the tracks, let them go get shot in Afghanistan, let them go get shot in Colombia protecting a pipeline owned by Occidental Petroleum. Let that kid get shot in Iraq and, by the way, send him the bill for this war when he gets home.

Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of good people in this body. A majority of people in this body came to this body saying they were going to be fiscally responsible. Where are they now? Where are they going to be tomorrow when we vote on a $300 billion bill that not one Member has read, that no one has any idea what sort of stuff is buried in it? Mr. Speaker, where are they going to be tomorrow? Because if those people care about their country, they will let us vote on a balanced budget amendment. If they care about their country, they will vote down this bill tomorrow until they have had a chance to read it. If they care about our country, they will quit sticking our kids with their bills.

Mr. Speaker, we are barely 3 hours into this Congress and the political hedonists of this Congress have struck their first blow. You know hedonism, if it feels good do it regardless of the consequences.

Well, that is exactly what those people who have voted repeatedly to raise the debt limit and to stick our children and our children's children with our bills have done. Now they want to do it even better.

One of the few things that controlled their urge to run up the bill and stick our kids with it was at least a law that

said we had to vote to raise the debt limit. Now they want to do away with that law. They want a rule that says if they pass a budget we do not have to raise the debt limit.

I would remind them that in the 19 months since the Bush budget became law, that we have stuck our children and our children's children with $749,529,498,242 worth of new debt. It did not stimulate the economy. It stimulated the debt. It is political hedonism. You heard it here first. You are going to hear it a lot.

Just a little while ago the Speaker of the House said, ``We pledge to fight those who would endanger our freedom.'' Those of you who would bankrupt our Nation will destroy our freedom. And, therefore, just as the Speaker pledged to fight those who would endanger our freedom, I pledge to fight you tooth and nail on every effort to increase the national debt and every effort to hide the way that you do it.

The last time we had to have a vote, it was scheduled for three o'clock in the morning.

My dad's taught me a lot in life; but generally, one of his best rules is anything a person does past midnight, they are probably not very proud of, and I am sure my colleagues were not proud of the fact that they raised the debt limit. So now my colleagues do not want to have that vote at all.

Mr. Speaker, I am opposing these rule changes; and I would ask every Member to do so who believes in accountability, believes in standing up and talking to the citizens and saying, yes, I did that and this is the reason why or, no, I did not oppose this rule. If my colleagues have come here to hide from the truth, if they have come here to stick their children and their children's children with their bills, then vote for it.