Floor Statements

Will the gentleman yield?

You know, you hit a point that seniors are thinking about. They're thinking that they're on a fixed income. They're looking at rising prices, whether it's at the gas pump--we talked today about solving American energy issues, but they're thinking about the rising commodity prices.

I brought with me a bank note, this is an official currency note from the Bank of Zimbabwe. If you look at it, and I know it's going to be difficult, but it's a $100 trillion bank note. A Wall Street Journal article said, How to turn $100 trillion into $5 and feel good about it. It's worth about $5 on eBay. They quit printing them in 2009.

It drives home the point that the policies of this administration are increasing the cost of commodities, the cost of fuel, devaluing our currency, and that applies to health care as well.

Seniors are concerned. They've got every right to be concerned. One thing about the Republican budget, and one thing that the gentleman from Arkansas is trying to point out, that we're trying to solve the problems of this Nation here in this body. This Republican freshman class is taking the bull by the horns to bring home the issue to the American people and let them know we're trying to solve these problems. So I commend him.

This isn't about oil company profits. This is about supply and demand. We don't have the supply necessary to meet the energy needs in this country. But the American people know that we've got the resources here in this country, whether it's offshore, on the Outer Continental Shelf, or on Federal lands that have currently under this administration been taken off the table for energy production. Supply and demand drives the price. We are reliant on foreign sources of oil, and a foreign group known as OPEC determines the price of that oil they sell to us. We've got the resource in this country. This legislation will put the gulf back to work, meeting the energy needs for the American people.

I'm a small business owner. I doubt many people that serve in this body have ever run a business, met a payroll, and tried to meet their overhead. I can tell you what $4.85 a gallon in August of 2008 meant to my small business only running two trucks on the road. I can only imagine what the loggers, what the truckers, what the farmers, and the other industries in the Third Congressional District of South Carolina are feeling today with the experience of rising oil prices.

The gentlelady from Florida said that in the summer, prices go up. We're not in summer yet. Prices are going up because of supply and demand. We have the opportunity to meet our demand right here by harvesting American resources for our American energy needs.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your leadership on this issue.

Our friends across the aisle here want us to use this debate today to demagogue this issue and demonize American energy producers. Let us refocus on what this debate is really about today.

Mr. Chairman, this administration's policy of drill there, not here, has helped produce the record gas prices that we are facing today. Rather than fueling our economy with American energy independence, this administration has fueled overseas oil producers by shutting off domestic exploration. And now, today, we hear the other party tell us that raising taxes on American energy production will somehow make prices go down. This is insane, Mr. Chairman, as any economist can tell you.

We need to end the de facto moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico on the permits there. We need to reopen the West to exploration. We need to open up ANWR for exploration. We need to allow American entrepreneurs to do the work of the free market and get this economy moving again.

Energy production is a segue to job creation. This bill will begin the process of releasing the potential of American energy. This means tens of thousands of American jobs producing American energy for American households and businesses.

I urge my colleagues to help this economy. Pass this bill, and let's put Americans back to work producing American energy.

God bless you. God bless America.

Mr. Chairman, folks, no prepared remarks, no fancy speeches. I brought with me a financial calculator. And regardless of how you calculate the numbers, America is spending too much money.

You know, for 3 years in a row we spent over a trillion dollars more than we were bringing in as a Nation. We are over $14 trillion in debt. This budget puts us on a very clear path to paying back the national debt, to reducing and ending deficits in a very timely manner, to protecting the future for our children and our grandchildren, our most precious resource as Americans.

I urge my colleagues to get behind this budget, vote for it, and let's put the American spending in priority. Let's stop the spending insanity here in Washington, D.C., and let's do what we tell the folks back home we are going to do, and let's get our fiscal house in order.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that my name be removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 1081.

On this day in 1743, our Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson, was born.

But I rise today to talk about the National Auctioneers Association celebrating National Auction Week. I'm proud, as an auctioneer for over 16 years, to serve with fellow auctioneer in our Auction Caucus here in Congress, Representative Billy Long from Missouri.

Auction and auctioneers help families and businesses all over this great land sell trillions of dollars worth of assets every year.

And so I will leave you with this thought: Hey, now, wouldya give 25 now, 35--sold.

And we sell it every day.

Mr. Speaker, every evening across this great land, after homework is finished and the supper dishes are cleared and the children are put to bed, Mom and Dad sit down at the kitchen table, they sharpen their pencils, and they take out a pad of paper, and they struggle to make ends meet.

Whether their budgeting technique is different than the house next door, they know, without a doubt, that they cannot have their monthly bills exceed their monthly take-home pay. If the bills are higher than the monthly pay, they have to make changes.

So bill by bill they discuss what they have to pay. They discuss things like the power bill and the rent and the mortgage, the car loan, the credit card payments. Mom and Dad cut out the things that they can do without. Maybe it's the golf membership for Dad. Maybe it's the weekly pedicure for Mom. Whatever it is, they know they have to make tough and real decisions.

It's time to stop the spending insanity here in Washington, D.C.

America, your Nation is broke. We cannot continue to borrow 42 cents of every dollar we spend. We cannot continue to spend a trillion dollars more each year than we're bringing in; and we definitely cannot do that year after year, raking up over $14 trillion in debt that our children must one day pay.

And your Congress is struggling with cutting a paltry $61 billion from a $3.8 trillion spending plan. It's like we're arguing over what station the radio is on while the car is going off the cliff.

In the American kitchen, Dad looks at Mom at this point, and he says, Honey, something's got to change.

Your House of Representatives, folks, they've passed a spending plan. The Senate has failed to act. They haven't even come across with even their best-case-scenario spending plan. Even if it's the status quo of spending a trillion and a half dollars more than we are bringing in this year, they haven't brought anything across the aisle. So how do you negotiate if one body has brought their best plan and the other body hasn't done anything?

Yesterday, I was proud to vote to provide military pay for the guys and gals across this great land that are standing on the wall defending the liberties that we have. They deserve to be paid. They don't deserve to stand on that wall and wonder if back home Mom is wondering if the power is going to stay on, if she's going to be able to pay the rent, or if she's going to be able to put food on the table for her children. That's the American way, to take care of the military.

I was no prouder than to stand on the steps of the United States Senate yesterday and implore, encourage, ask, beg the majority leader in the Senate to get to work, to come to the table with a real solution, because I don't want to be with my colleagues many years from now dying in our beds waiting for one chance, hoping for one chance, to trade every day from this day to that for another chance to come back here and do what we should do as Americans, and that's fund our government, get our spending under control, and protect the future for our children.

I thank the chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 471, the Scholarship Opportunity and Results Act, and against the Norton amendment.

Coming from South Carolina, for 8 years in the general assembly, we debated the positive benefits of school choice. I have heard every argument. But what I have seen prior to 2009 is that here, in D.C., school choice was a model for the Nation as a very successful program. We have seen the positive impact of injecting free market principles into the education system here in Washington, D.C. We have seen thousands of students' lives changed. We have seen them line up for a chance at a better life because they could escape a failing school and have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Because all students learn differently, it is imperative that we empower parents. And that is what it is about, empowering parents to make choices for the education of their children; give them the ability to choose the best educational experience for their child, whether it is public, charter, private, or home school.

Neither the State nor the Federal Government knows what is best for our children. We do as parents. Parents know what is best for their children, and parents and teachers should have the freedom to work together to find and create motivating learning environments that are necessary for every child to succeed.

This bill restores to the parents the ability to make the right choices that this administration and the previous Congress stripped away, and it provides an escape from the failed bureaucratic system of the District of Columbia.

Without question, when students are placed in a learning environment that best fits their individual needs, our educational system will become exceptional. This bill brings more transparency and accountability to the program, raises the scholarship amounts for both elementary school and high school students, as my colleague from South Carolina said, and caps the administrative costs. This bill takes a successful program and makes it even better, and does so without spending new taxpayer dollars or growing the size of government. In fact, school choice saves the government money while providing a better education for the children.

It is my hope, Mr. Speaker, that other States will follow suit. Even as parental school choice is working for American students and families in Washington, D.C., we have also seen its effectiveness in States like Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Florida, where the achievement gap between white students and minorities is disappearing. My home State of South Carolina is debating school choice right now in their legislative session, creating a bill that would expand educational choice opportunities for all children across my home State. And I urge my fellow colleagues in South Carolina to get the job done and pass that legislation.

Let me thank the Speaker of the House for introducing this bill. I thank him for his leadership of parental choice on behalf of Washington, D.C.'s families and students who demand effective schools.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the Norton amendment and ``yes'' on the SOAR Act.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor life and the work of a ministry that is literally saving lives in the State of South Carolina. But before I begin, let us pause to recognize our friends in Japan and the tragic loss of life there.

The Piedmont Women's Center is a Christian ministry in the Upstate, providing love and compassion to literally thousands of young women each year who face unplanned pregnancies. By offering free pregnancy tests, limited ultrasounds, and confidential counseling, they have protected the most innocent among us, the unborn.

The doors of this life-affirming ministry opened 20 years ago this day next door to the largest abortion clinic in South Carolina. In 1991, a group of Christians came together and decided to collectively start a ministry funded by individuals, churches, and businesses to offer real alternatives to those in crisis.

The staff and volunteers of the Piedmont Women's Center can hold newborn babies who have been given the gift of life because of their ministry. They have countless stories of real people, like Liza and her boyfriend, Peter, who came into their center early one Saturday morning with the intent of ending their pregnancy at the abortion clinic next door, a story that I would like to submit and share with you today.

Minutes before this young couple came through the door, the four volunteers at the center joined hands and prayed that God would do a work of redemption in someone's life that morning. Their ``Amen'' had barely been voiced when the door opened and Liza and Peter, mistaking the center for an abortion clinic, entered and announced they were there for their appointment. In 10 minutes, the life of their 12-week- old unborn child was scheduled to end.

Realizing that they were not at the abortion clinic, they started to leave. The director boldly stepped up and asked them to use the 10 minutes before their appointment to talk about their decision. They agreed.

Alone, Liza went into the counseling room with the director while a volunteer talked with Peter about their unborn child. Later, Peter was invited to join Liza, who had made the decision to trust our director and have an ultrasound. This decision would change their lives forever.

Our volunteer nurse sonographer silently prayed, and with her highly skilled touch, the cold steel of the ultrasound machine came alive with activity. Liza and Peter were mesmerized as they observed the antics of the little life they had conceived. They both melted at the sight of their precious child and completely changed their minds about their abortion.

They wept as they tried to contain their excitement. Not only had a baby been saved, but before their eyes the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords had penetrated their hardened hearts and allowed them to see past their fears and enabled them to accept their child as God's creation.

Liza shared that she was an adopted child, and Peter said his family had offered to help financially so they could continue their college education. They walked out of the center teary-eyed and full of joy, their shining countenance giving evidence to the change that had taken place in their hearts.

Lenna Fox Neill, the CEO for the past 20 years at the Piedmont Women's Center, said she is continually encouraged as she sees more and more in her community who are giving of their time, energy, and resources to see that all life is protected and respected.

Piedmont Women's Center helped establish the South Carolina Association of Pregnancy Care Centers 10 years ago for the purpose of providing a network across the State of compassionate ministries to care for women in need. The abortion rate through collaborative efforts of ministries and legislation has reduced the rate of abortions in my home State of South Carolina almost 50 percent in the last 20 years.

While Congress is fighting to defund Planned Parenthood and protect life at conception, the staff and volunteers at the Piedmont Women's Center are on the front lines every day literally saving lives.

I would like to congratulate the Piedmont Women's Center and their CEO, Lenna Neill, on reaching their 20th anniversary. I thank them for their commitment to protecting the most innocent among us and wish them God's blessing as they continue to spread their ministry across the Palmetto State.

May God bless you, the unborn, and may God continue to bless America.

I rise today to speak on behalf of the people of the Third Congressional District of South Carolina to express our condolences to the people of Japan in the wake of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake that struck off the northeast coast of Japan this past Friday and the devastating tsunami that claimed the lives of thousands of people.

I have visited Japan twice, once back in 2007 and again in 2009 when I took my oldest son. It's a beautiful country; and I know the people of Japan to be a resilient, generous, and hardworking people. In this time of inexpressible suffering and need, please know that the people of South Carolina and the people of America stand with the citizens of Japan.

May God bless them, and may God continue to bless America.

As a new Congressman back in January, I was never prouder than when I took this floor to take part in reading the United States Constitution. That day, I brought with me to the podium a copy of the Constitution that I carry in my pocket every day.

Ronald Reagan, in his farewell address to the American people in January 1989, said: Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three little words, ``We the people.''

We tell the government what to do, President Reagan stated, it does not tell us. A simple phrase, ``We the people . . . '' put down by our Founding Fathers who defined self-government. Self-government. Those words ring true.

I think daily about that government that they formed--a limited government, one with powers for each branch that are clearly spelled out in this document, clearly defined. And, you know, we are a long ways from the limited government and enumerated powers that they strived to corral.

I am concerned that we don't read and study the United States Constitution enough in our public schools like we used to when I grew up. I am worried that we the people don't know or remember why our Founding Fathers divided power into three separate branches of government, why they defined the powers of each, and why they were inclined to spell out our liberties in a Bill of Rights.

They formed this government that has lasted well over 200 years. But after they formed that government, they decided that they better spell out the liberties. In fact, they had to do that in order to have the States ratify this great document.

Everywhere I travel around my beloved Palmetto State and around this country, I ask folks: What are your First Amendment rights? And almost to a person, they mostly answer: Freedom of speech. But, you know, let me remind you here today that the first thing our Founding Fathers addressed was your freedom of religion. In fact, the first sentence in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution says Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

They do that before they address your freedom of speech, before they address your freedom of the press, before they address your right to peacefully assemble or your right to petition this government for redress of grievances. Folks, I remind you that our freedoms are slowly being eroded in this country, and I believe that we as Americans need to get back to doing what we did in that first week in this United States Congress, and that is take this document out, read it, understand what our Founding Fathers were trying to do when they said we the people will govern ourselves.

Mr. Chair, with the federal budget deficit soaring past $1.5 trillion dollars, our national debt is no longer simply a pressing economic problem. It is a looming catastrophe. If we do not reduce government spending immediately and by massive amounts America will never recover. The annual deficit alone equates to nearly $5,000 for every man woman and child. That means we are spending $5,000 per person more than we take in each year. The amount of total debt our government has accumulated is much too great for our citizens to even fathom at $14 trillion.

I agree with the nonpartisan Eagle Forum citizen advocacy group which recently stated that if we do not drastically reduce spending now, the problem won't simply be that our children and grandchildren will be saddled with debt. Our currency will become worthless, economic growth will become nearly impossible and our nation will be plunged into a modern equivalent of the dark ages. Our only choice is to drastically reduce the size and cost of our government. It is not possible to raise taxes high enough to pay for all the spending the President wants. Despite the tremendous work ethic and resourcefulness of the American people, it is no longer even possible for the United States to grow our way out of this mess. Freezing spending is not enough. Merely trimming spending is not enough. We need to cut and cut deeply. Representatives Jim Jordan and Scott Garrett and Senator Jim DeMint have proposed $173 billion of discretionary spending cuts over the next two years, $16.1 billion in cuts to Medicaid, ending the ``stimulus'' program which will save $45 billion, and ending government ownership of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saving another $30 billion. This proposal is an excellent start. It is necessary. And it may be America's only hope if we wish to avoid an economic calamity.

Madam Chair, I rise today in support of this amendment.

Folks, it's time to stop the spending insanity in this country. The American people know the government's too large, it spends too much money, and indebts future generations. We are $14 trillion in debt and we are $1.5 trillion in the red this year.

I am part of an 87-Member freshman class that said go back to the drawing board, get us a hundred billion; but don't stop there. Do not stop there. We have got hard decisions to make in this body. Everyone's got to row this boat if we are going to survive as an American government. We have got to stop. I support this amendment, and ask you to do so as well.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I won't take the full time here.

This amendment deals with the Legal Services Corporation, which is a relic from the Great Society, originally known in the 1960s as the Office of Economic Opportunity Legal Services, and later renamed.

Folks, let me remind you that we have a trillion-and-a-half-dollar deficit spending and we have $14 trillion in debt. We can't afford to keep paying for liberal trial lawyer bailouts like the LSC. This is low hanging fruit if we are serious about cutting spending in this body. This is exactly the kind of program that we would be cutting if we had a Byrd-style committee in place. That's why we need to pass House Resolution 82.

This amendment effectively zeros out the LSC, allowing only a small amount for agency audits to continue. This cut is in the DeMint-Jordan Spending Reduction Act, which would eliminate the program entirely.

A number of groups have advocated for the abolition of the LSC. Human Events describes the LSC as one of the top 10 ``most outrageous government programs.'' Stephen Moore of the Wall Street Journal calls LSC ``a slush fund for special interests.'' And the Americans for Limited Government's Bill Wilson says: ``This corporation just serves as the legal arm for left-wing causes and should be abolished.''

In noting the LSC's penchant for taking cases it has been legislatively barred from being involved in, the Heritage Foundation declares: ``Obviously, if LSC would stop wasting funds representing people it isn't supposed to, it would have more money to spend representing needy people.''

Americans for Tax Reform calls LSC ``ineffective'' and notes that their ``services are duplicated by State and private agencies.''

And just recently, the Cato Institute notes that the LSC ``too often uses tax dollars for lobbying and other political advocacy activities'' and adds that the LSC ``should be abolished.''

I go back to the amount of debt that we have in this Nation and the deficit spending that we have in this fiscal year. Again, this is low hanging fruit and if we are serious about cutting spending, this is an easy one for us to deal with.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Offered By: Mr. Duncan of South Carolina

Amendment No. 110: Page 208, line 14, after the first

dollar amount inside the quotes, insert ``(reduced by

$324,400,000)''.

Page 208, line 15, after the first dollar amount inside the

quotes, insert ``(reduced by $324,400,000)''.