Floor Statements

(Mr. KINGSTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. KINGSTON: Mr. Speaker, article II, section 2, clause 2 of the United States Constitution says that the President must seek advice and consent from the U.S. Senate when appointing his principal officers. That's why it's so alarming that this President has appointed 36 czars, most without the consent of the U.S. Senate.

It let people like Van Jones--an admitted Communist who came up through a Marxist organization called STORM in Oakland, California--and puts him as a principal adviser of the President of the United States without the Senate having any say-so.

I've introduced the Czar Accountability Act. So far, this doesn't seem to bother one Democrat in the House of Representatives that the President seems to be sidestepping the Constitution. Maybe what should bother them is the fact that not one czar has come before the Appropriations Committee to justify and ask for his or her budget, yet these people make $150,000, $170,000 a year. Where is the Democrat Party? Does party come before constitutional duty?

You know, the Founding Fathers moved for balance of government and equal division, and that's what they had in mind.

Madam Speaker, I rise to commemorate the retirement of Mr. Earl W. Rilington, Sr., from a lifetime of service to the pulp and paper industry of southeast Georgia.

Mr. Rilington spent his early childhood in Sylvania, Georgia. He has been a resident of Savannah for over 50 years. In 1969, he married his high school sweetheart, the late LaVenia Salley Wyley Rilington, and had their first child, Earlonda.

Mr. Rilington was employed with Union Camp, and later, International Paper for 40 years. He began work in the box plant as a slitterman in 1969, making boxes to be shipped all over the world for everyday uses. He attended school at Savannah State University and earned a promotion to electrician in 1973. As an electrician, he ensured the operational efficiency of all major plant equipment such as boilers and presses. The Rilington family has a noteworthy history with International Paper. Mr. Rilington's father, Willie V. Rilington, Sr., was employed with International Paper's predecessor, Union Camp for 23 years as a box car loader and truck driver. Earl's son, William Michael Rilington, is currently in training for instruments and controls with International Paper.

As Mr. Rilington enters his well-deserved retirement he can look forward to pursuing his hobbies, spending time with family and friends and traveling. Whether at the bowling alley every Monday and Thursday night or leading the Usher Board at Conner's Temple Baptist Church, we can be assured that our country is what it is today thanks to the contributions he has made throughout his lifetime. I rise today to recognize Mr. Rilington as a model husband, father, and citizen. We commemorate his retirement from a lifetime of service to the pulp and paper industry of Southeast Georgia on this day October 30, 2009.

Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct conferees.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I yield myself such time as may consume.

I want to say this, as my friends on the Appropriations Committee know on the other side, that this concern really is far beyond this bill. I do believe this process, particularly on the subcommittee, has been open and that Members on our side of the aisle have had plenty of time to read it.

However, I know there are Members who are not on the Appropriations Committee who are constantly criticizing our committee for doing things, and I believe that they do deserve the time to view the bill. It is a $23 billion bill in terms of the discretionary spending and I think around $80 billion for the nondiscretionary spending. So $100 billion is probably worth 3 days of scrutiny.

Yet, I think what's really more concerning is because the process of appropriations has gone through regular order--and I think the gentleman from Wisconsin and the gentlewoman from Connecticut have done a great job of being open to all members of the committee and all Members of the House on it--other bills which have been significant, which have not gone through our committee, did not have the sunshine of this bill or the sunshine of some of the other bills.

And so a lot of the things that are concerning the constituents back home right now--and I think that Mr. Baird from Oregon has picked up on--is that people are thinking about the stimulus bill, $787 billion. And I know that the gentleman from Wisconsin had hearings in December on that, and we were appreciative of it, but a lot of the Members of the House did not have the opportunity to read that bill and scrutinize it as much as they would like to. And then the most recent one was the cap-and-trade bill, which Members were aware was getting amended at 3 a.m. and we were supposed to vote on it the next day. We convened 6 hours later at 9 a.m.

Now, we also have out there in the realm of possibilities a massive health care bill, a bill that the CBO has scored at $1.29 trillion, and our constituents are very concerned. In fact, I've never seen a petition like this before, but there's actually been a petition sent up to Members of Congress saying, Will you agree to read the bill before you vote on it? And I think that's a fair request by our constituents, the minimum bid, for Members of Congress, to read the bill.

And I think that the Appropriations Committee can lead by example on this by allowing 72 hours, but I think there are also concerns, you know, perhaps this should be regularly part of the process when we have a large spending bill. This one's $100 billion; again, the health care bill is $1.29 trillion. People deserve the opportunity to look at it.

Now, I also know, having served in the majority, how difficult it is to manage a bill in a House with 435 independent contractors and conflicting schedules, and then you go to the really hard job and that's the other body, and sometimes it's difficult to get everybody just in the room at the same time. But that's why we passed last week in the House a continuing resolution, which actually builds in some time now, that we will have--should the other body pass that this week, we will have until October 30 to pass these bills. So the 72 hours won't put in jeopardy any of the funding levels or force the government to go back on some money or scramble around. So we do have until October 30, but there certainly would be no reason to wait that long. We're just asking for 72 hours.

And we feel very strongly about this. We have done this already on the energy and water bill, and I think that we're just concerned about spending, Mr. Speaker.

That's kind of what this bill boils down to, and again, it goes well beyond the Appropriations Committee and certainly beyond this bill, but we are hearing from the folks back home, and I represent Georgia. Mr. Baird represents Oregon. I share his concern. We have a discharge petition on his bill trying to get it on the floor of the House right now. I don't know if it's bipartisan, but 160 Members have already signed that discharge petition expressing concern to have more time to read bills once they are out of the conference committee.

I reserve the balance of my time. We do not have any other speakers on this side, so if my colleague is ready to yield back, I would be, too.

No, I do not have any speakers, and I'm ready to yield back the balance of my time.

With the exception that I have been admonished that, as I was looking at the Speaker from Oregon, I was thinking Oregon. Mr. Baird is from Washington, and so I'm asking for forgiveness from Mr. Baird. And they're both great States, of course, and I just want to make sure that's a matter of record.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn. * * *

I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to make a unanimous consent request because I am very sorry that my office inadvertently put my friend, Mr. William Clay, on a bill which he did not intend to cosponsor. It was our mistake, not Mr. Clay's. So I ask unanimous consent that we remove the name of Mr. William Lacy Clay from H.R. 3226.

I thank the gentleman from Georgia and the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

I wanted to speak about the F-22 issue because, as we know, the Senate has cut off funding for it, but I do have some concerns about our fighter fleet.

Currently, the military inventory is 3,500 fighter aircraft. That's 2,400 for the Air Force, 1,100 for the Navy and the Marine Corps. Most of these aircraft were purchased at high annual rates during the 1980s. These aircraft will reach the end of their service in the next 10 years.

So what we're talking about is something that maybe could be more important in the next decade or within the next decade than might be to people today, but the Air Force will replace the A-10, the F-16, and the F-15 with the F-22 and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

To give you an idea of some of these ages, there are 350 A-10s with an average age of 28 years, 470 F-15s with an average of 26 years, 220 F-15s with an average of 17 years, 1,200 F-16-S's with an average of 20 years. We have roughly 140 Raptors to replace the fleet and have no F- 35-S's and will not have them until 2013. And of course the F-22 production line will end in 2011. That's the Air Force.

Now, as respects the Navy, the Navy will replace the carriers and F/ A-18 Hornets with Super Hornets and the F-35-Js, Joint Strike Fighters. The reason they're doing this is to have 125 carriers with an average age of 14 years each, 620 Hornets with an average age of 19 years.

I thank the gentleman.

What I will do, I will submit some of these statistics for the record. But I guess the bottom line is that we're very concerned with the need to replace the aging fleet in the Navy and in the Air Force, and I believe keeping the F-22 line open resolves some of this.

The Defense Committee has worked very hard on this. There's been a lot of good bipartisan dialogue. I know both sides care about it, whether you're for or against this amendment, but I think that at this time we need to go on this very cautiously and very slowly.

I appreciate the chairman's and the ranking member's leadership on this issue and look forward to continue working with you.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding earmarks I received as part of H.R. 3326, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010.

Request information: Representative Jack Kingston

Mr. Speaker, I just got this e-mail from JoAnne Lewis in Coffee County, Georgia. She's with the Economic Development Authority. She says that Wayne Farms is now closing down, another 165 jobs lost. This brings Coffee County, Georgia's, total job loss to 2,979, or an unemployment rate of 16\1/2\ percent. Mr. President, where's the stimulus package? Where are the jobs?

Now, on top of this comes Speaker Pelosi. She's planning to ram through a $1.2 trillion government takeover of the health care system. This will cause a $534 billion tax increase and a $208 billion tax increase on small business and farmers. Therefore, more layoffs, and more unemployed. Mr. Speaker, this is not the change the folks in Coffee County, Georgia, can use. They need jobs.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding earmarks I received as part of H.R. 3293, the Labor, Health & Human Services, Education & Other Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010:

Representative Jack Kingston

Request information: H.R. 3293, Department of Health & Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration Account

Recipient information: $1 million, Southeast Georgia Health System, Carlton DeVooght, 2415 Parkwood Avenue, Brunswick, GA 31522

Description: This program will establish a full spectrum of pediatric and adolescent care, including preventative immunizations and well care for Medicaid and uninsured patients in Glynn, Camden, Brantley, McIntosh and Wayne Counties. This pilot project will allow the system to cut costs of the ER, keeping health care costs down across the system.

Representative Jack Kingston

Request Information: H.R. 3293, Department of Health & Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration Account

Recipient Information: $100,000, Coastal Medical Access project, Pat Kota, 2605 Parkwood Drive, Brunswick, GA 31520

Description: This program will expand clinical care and add new services at CMAP's

Brunswick clinic, including chronic disease management and dental and vision care. Program expansion meets the needs of many uninsured residents in Glynn and McIntosh County who cannot access health services.

Representative Jack Kingston

Request information: H.R. 3293 Department of Education, Fund for Improvement of Post-secondary Education

Recipient information: $457,000 Armstrong Atlantic State University Cyber Security Foundation, Randy Grubb, 11935 Abercorn Street, Savannah, GA 31419

Description: The goal of the Cyber Security initiative is to provide subject matter expertise to students in cyber and homeland-security issues as they relate to academic curriculum, training, and special research and development projects.

Representative Jack Kingston

Request information: H.R. 3293, Department of Health & Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration

Recipient Information: $993,000, Bacon County Hospital, Cindy Turner, 302 South Wayne Street, Alma, GA 31510

Description: The equipment purchase will help the hospital decide whether to retain the patient in Bacon County or transfer to a trauma care center quicker and more accurate. As a result, healthcare dollars will be saved, patient's lives improved, and resources utilized more efficiently.

Representative Jack Kingston

Request information: H.R. 3293, Department of Health & Human Services Administration for Children and Families

Recipient information: $300,000 The Marcus Autism Center Farah Chapes 1920 Briarcliff Road Atlanta, GA 30329

Description: The Marcus Autism center will use the federal funding to develop a statewide service delivery system supporting children with Autism and related disorders. Funds will link existing academic/ research and clinical models together providing a cohesive continuum of care for the patient population.

Representative Jack Kingston

Request information: H.R. 3293, Department of Labor, Employment Training Administration

Recipient information: $350,000, Atlanta Christian College, Dean Collins, 2605 Ben Hill Road, East Point, GA 30344

Description: ACC will use these funds to help supplement the development of a satellite campus in Savannah to bring college to working adults. This satellite campus will help ACC to equip working adults to obtain employment and/or advance to higher wage jobs.

Mr. Speaker, back in November, Hank Paulson, the Secretary of the Treasury, and President Bush came to Congress in a rush that the financial sky was going to fall out if we did not pass the TARP bill, the financial bailout for Wall Street. Now, we were told that if we didn't do it, that stock portfolios and savings of Americans all over the country would decrease, maybe as much as 30 or 40 percent. Well, in that spirit of panic that frequently happens in this town, we did pass TARP. And what happened to your IRA back home? What happened to your savings account? What happened to your stock portfolio? Unless you're extremely lucky and unusual, your assets dropped by 30 or 40 percent. So much for the $700 billion bailout.

And then in January, President Obama, using the same panic tactic, came to us and said, we have got to pass a second stimulus program. Keep in mind we had already passed one under President Bush in May of 2008. But we had to pass, in a hurry, something big, something dramatic, $790 billion for a stimulus program. Why? Because the unemployment rate was 8 percent. But this would give us immediate results, President Obama promised. And so that was passed by Congress.

And yet, now, unemployment is approaching 10 percent, and in States like Michigan, as high as 15 percent; 2\1/2\ million Americans have become unemployed since the passage of the stimulus program. And now we have the same Washington-knows-best experts telling us that we have to pass major health care reform by next week, August 1.

Now, I want you to think about this. This is 17 percent of the economy, and we would put it in the hands of the Federal Government. It would set up a scheme where there would be a health care czar that would run and stipulate insurance policies all over the country; and in order to sell insurance in the United States of America, you would have to go through this bureaucracy and enter into an exchange. And there, inside this closed circle defined by the Federal Government, you would compete against a government option

which would have the rules rigged in its favor. And if you, as an individual, did not do that, you'd have to pay a 2\1/2\ percent surcharge. And if you, in a small business, did not offer insurance to your employees you'd have to pay 8 percent.

Is that the best way to get things done? A huge, $1.2 trillion expense on top of the TARP bill, on top of the stimulus bill, on top of the war in Iraq, on top of all the other problems that we have, we're now going to go out and spend $1.2 trillion and tax virtually everybody in America to do it. We can also look at the Canadian or the German or the British system and see the rationing that it leads to. And we know, if you live around a border State near Canada, that when they need to see a doctor, they come to the United States of America.

And we have also seen in States like Massachusetts, where they have a government option, that it takes twice as long to see a doctor as it does in Los Angeles. We also know that this plan will do away with Medicare Advantage. I don't know if the AARP realized that when they endorsed the bill, but this not only does away with Medicare Advantage, but it cuts Medicare itself. And then, between you and the doctor comes the bureaucrat, because you don't get a second opinion under the government-run health care system. What the doctor tells you, that sticks. You can't go to three or four doctors because the bureaucrats in Washington who make the rules don't allow it.

These are things that concern me. They concern Democrats and Republicans alike, seniors and young people entering into the workforce. That's why I think we should slow this system down. And when you hear somebody say this does not require a senior citizen to have a consultant with their doctor and the government bureaucrat every 5 years, on their end-of-life plan, they're wrong because that is in the bill. Every 5 years senior citizens are supposed to report to some bureaucrat and say, here's my 5-year end-of-life plan, and as President Obama said himself, and we are going to strongly encourage hospice.

Well, you know, I'd rather have my mom make that decision as my dad, who is now dead. I'd like to have her make that decision just as he did, with his doctor, not bringing in a government bureaucrat, and not having to have some sign-off by some government bureaucrat. That should scare anybody who's parents are alive or any senior citizens.

Indeed, there are better ways to do this thing: association health plans that would allow small businesses to band together and get the economies of scale that the big purchasers of insurance can get; medical savings accounts, which would allow you to have deductibles; many other options. We can look at them. We need the time. Let's make the time count. Let's pull Democrats and Republicans together for the best product for America.

Madam Speaker, I submit the following:

Chatham Area Transit Bus and Bus Facilities

Requesting Member: Congressman Jack Kingston

Bill Number: HR 3288, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

Account: FTA--Bus and Bus Facilities

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Chatham Area Transit

Address of Requesting Entity: 900 E. Gwinnett Street, PO Box 9118, Savannah GA, 31401

Description of Request: bus and bus facilities

Glynn County Airfield and Taxiway Improvements

Requesting Member: Congressman Jack Kingston

Bill Number: HR 3288, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

Account: FAA--AIP

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Glynn County Airport Commission

Address of Requesting Entity: 295 Aviation Parkway Suite 205, Brunswick, Georgia 31525.

Description of Request: airfield drainage rehabilitation and general aviation taxiway expansion

North Berrien Industrial Park Infrastructure Improvements

Requesting Member: Congressman Jack Kingston

Bill Number: HR 3288, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

Account: HUD--EDI

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: The Berrien County Economic Development Authority

Address of Requesting Entity: PO Box 724, 201 North Jefferson, Nashville, Georgia 31639

Description of Request: The funding would be used for design and construction that includes installation of a new sewer system that will serve the new industrial park.

Ray City Street Scape and Safety Improvements

Requesting Member: Congressman Jack Kingston

Bill Number: HR 3288, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

Account: HUD--EDI

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: City of Ray City, Georgia

Address of Requesting Entity: 704 Main Street, Ray City, Georgia 31645.

Description of Request: The funds would be used for streetscape and safety improvements

Offered By: Mr. Kingston

Amendment No. 2: Page 14, line 11, insert before the period

the following: ``Provided, That not less than $20,000,000

shall be used for technology-based overpayment prevention,

detection, and collection infrastructure investments to

conduct such reviews''.

Mr. Speaker, last October, President Bush and Hank Paulson said to the Congress we need to bail out the financial services industry. We have to do it bold and we have to do it quick or the financial markets will tumble. Well, we passed the $700 billion TARP program, and still stock portfolios, savings of Americans all through the country dropped by 30 or 40 percent.

In January, Nancy Pelosi and President Obama told us that we had to act bold and fast to pass the stimulus program because the unemployment rate was 8 percent, and now 2.5 million jobs have been lost since that and unemployment is up to 10 percent.

And now the same Washington-knows-best mentality is telling us to rush through a government takeover of health care by August 1. This will result in a bureaucrat taking the place of

your doctor telling you what procedures you will have. It will result in a $1 trillion Federal program. It will result in rationing and a huge tax increase on farmers and small businesses.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have to slow down. Let's learn from the stimulus program. Let's learn from TARP. Let's slow down the process.

Madam Speaker, I submit the following:

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding H.R. 3170, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act of 2010.

Requesting Member: Congressman Jack Kingston

Bill: H.R. 3170

Account: Small Business Administration

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: City of Alma

Address of Requesting Entity: 884 Radio Station Rd., Alma, GA 31510

Description of Request: Funding in the amount of $500,000 for business and infrastructure development to entice small businesses to the area and encourage growth in the community.