Floor Statements

I thank the gentlelady for yielding.

Madam Chair, let me start by thanking the Appropriations Committee. I do appreciate the work they have done. Look, this is unprecedented. Appropriators cutting tens of billions of dollars, getting to the $100 billion that is so important and what we told the voters we were going to do. I appreciate that.

But I am still struck with this fact: One thing that the American people understand is that spending is out of control. There is no way around it. And several speakers have went through and listed this program that would be impacted, this agency that would be impacted. Look, I understand that. It's not pleasant to reduce spending. I get that. But I always bring it back to what the typical family has to do.

Think about the family out there who is making $50,000 a year and spending $85,000. There are some good things that that other $35,000 is being spent on, probably some very good things. Maybe they are going out to dinner or they have an entertainment night, and they are doing good things, healthy things for their family. But the point is that they are spending more than they are taking in, and they have to cut back, even if some of those things are positive things.

And the Federal Government is even worse because we are taking in $50,000 and spending $85,000 year after year after year, and the President's budget highlights that. We run trillion-dollar deficits for the next decade. We pile up more debt on top of the $14 trillion. This amendment builds on a good bill and simply says, Let's get to a full $100 billion in savings outside of national defense and non-security savings. We think that's a good first step towards putting this country on a path that is actually sustainable, as the gentleman from Arizona pointed out, towards at least reducing our deficit by one-fifteenth. Imagine that, just one-fifteenth. This is what the American people sent us here to do. This is what the American people elected 87 freshmen Republicans to do, just this very thing, to reduce spending.

I just want to finish with this, because sometimes the people of this country say it a lot better than the politicians. In my time in public life, I have never seen the American people more receptive to the things that have to be done to fix this country. They get it. The central question is, Will the political class demonstrate the same commitment, the same courage that the American people have demonstrated over the last year? Let me read you this, and this just came to our office 2 days ago.

``Dear Representative Jordan, my research center receives the majority of its funding from Federal Department of Education sources. If those funds are cut, we stand to lose our programs and, as a result, maybe our livelihoods. However, my greater concern is with the future of this Nation. Federal spending, if not dramatically cut, will inevitably lead to this Nation's ruin and will destroy all opportunities for our children. We must bring sanity back to the management of our Nation's fiscal resources. Jim, our forefathers pledged their lives, their fortune, and their sacred honor to create an exceptional Nation where our rights are endowed by our Creator. If I have to sacrifice my livelihood to maintain this great experiment called America, it's the very least I can do in service to this country. Please stand firm in your fight for fiscal responsibility to preserve this great Nation.''

Colleagues, that's the standard of the American people. That's the commitment we have to meet. That's what this debate is all about. If we don't do this, the future for our kids and our grandkids is diminished. This is about making sure America remains the greatest country in history.

I urge a ``yes'' vote on the amendment.

Offered By: Mr. Jordan

Amendment No. 104: At the end of the bill (before the short

title), insert the following:

I want to thank the distinguished gentleman from California for yielding and for his good work on this resolution and a host of other issues in leading our committee.

The President's executive order directing agencies to take into account the cost of cumulative regulations is an important step, moves us in the right direction, and something that we just, frankly, are getting an understanding of how the Federal Government should work relative to the private sector. Job creators do not live in a world where they are only subject to one regulation issued by one agency. Rather, job creators are subject to a myriad of regulations and compliance obligations enforced by the EPA, the Department of Labor, the IRS, Health and Human Services, and on and on and on.

The utilities sector offers fertile ground to begin understanding how Federal agencies should take into account the cumulative effect of regulations. From early 2009 to 2017, this industry will have to contend with no less than 35 separate regulatory deadlines. Those affected say looming regulatory changes have already caused two power plants to be shut down.

The manufacturing sector: this industry is hit the hardest by cumulative regulatory costs, with per-firm costs at over $600,000--half a million greater than the national average. Small manufacturers bear a proportionately larger regulatory burden, with an estimated cost of $26,000 per employee--more than double the burden faced by other larger manufacturers. The impact of regulations is especially important on small business owners. They serve as both entrepreneurial leaders but also as the regulatory enforcer within their company. The more time spent complying with regulations is less time they can spend meeting the needs of their clients and their customers, growing their business, and, most importantly, creating jobs.

I had an experience a few years ago. One of our manufacturers, a very successful business owner, wanted to meet with our U.S. Senator. I remember this meeting because I'll remember it forever. We were sitting in the meeting and our constituent said to our U.S. Senator, Senator, we can outcompete anybody. We are so efficient at what we do, the way we manage our business, our efficiencies we put in place, we feel like we can outcompete anybody. What makes it tough to win in the international market, what makes it difficult to compete and grow jobs, what makes it really difficult is the stuff you guys do. And he pointed right at the Senator. And it had an impact. He said, It's all the things we have to do to comply. That's what makes it difficult.

The American worker, the American family, they can outcompete anybody. Let's just get government off their backs so they can do the things that we've been doing in this country for 200-plus years--grow our economy, grow jobs, put families back to work, put people back to work, and improve this situation.

I look forward to the work that our Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs will focus on, trying to understand the cumulative impact that regulations impose on the job creators.

Mr. Speaker, the American people have spoken loud and clear--they want Congress to stop the out-of-control spending that is bankrupting our Nation.

During the campaign last year, Republicans called for reducing non- security, discretionary spending in Fiscal Year 2011 by $100 billion as a down payment toward the cuts needed to get America's finances back on track.

Now that the campaign is over, and the American people have given us one more chance to make things right, they want to see us do what we said we would do.

H. Res. 38 is a good first step--and I'm going to support it--but it does not get us the full $100 billion.

Mr. Speaker, we need to keep the $100 billion promise we made to the American people!

I filed an amendment last night that would keep the $100 billion promise. We would be debating that amendment right now, had this resolution come to the floor under an open rule.

The good news is . . . and I applaud our leadership for taking this position . . . sometime over the next few weeks, we will have another chance to keep this promise as we debate the continuing resolution under an open rule.

Though some say keeping the $100 billion promise would be too difficult, the folks I get the privilege to represent back home say ``This is the least we can do!''

They understand that $100 billion is only about one-thirteenth of the deficit. They understand that cutting $100 billion only gets us one- thirteenth of the way to a balanced budget.

Rebuilding the trust of the people means keeping our word. We need to keep our promise.

Mr. Speaker, due to weather-related travel delays, I was absent from the House Floor during last night's rollcall vote on H.R. 292.

Had I been present, I would have voted in favor of that legislation.

Mr. Chair, despite the clear message sent by the American people in November, the Obama Administration and the Pelosi Congress continue to borrow and spend like there is no tomorrow.

In another attempt to bring some fiscal responsibility back to this Congress, I submitted an amendment yesterday in the House Rules Committee that would seek $149 billion in cuts to offset the $95 billion in new spending in H.R. 4853, the so-called Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2010.

While I am glad to see this bill temporarily stop the Democrats from raising the income tax rates of every American, I am disappointed that it includes a massive increase in the estate tax that will hurt the families, farmers and small business owners in my district and across America.

I am further disappointed that the new spending in this bill will add to the deficit, further burdening our children and grandchildren with debt that must be repaid. We cannot continue to grow our debt and by loading well-intentioned bills with billions of extra dollars in borrowing and spending.

My amendment would do what the American people are demanding we do: stop the out-of-control federal spending! By returning non-defense appropriations spending to FY 2008 levels, we will realize an immediate savings of $80 billion. By repealing the remaining stimulus funds, we save another $69 billion.

Tacking more spending on to bills is a hallmark of Washington politics. It has landed us in record-high debt. We must break away from this trap with a commitment to passing clean bills and eliminating excess waste.

Add at the end of the bill the following:

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

Mr. Chairman, who would have thought we would have witnessed the things we have witnessed in this country over the last 2 years?

Who would have ever thought the President of the United States would fire the CEO of General Motors?

Who would have ever thought in this great country we would see the taxpayers bail out the financial industry and bail out the auto industry?

Who would have ever thought in this country we would have a pay czar--a pay czar--telling private American citizens how much money they can make?

Who would have ever thought in this country we would have a major policy change, done in a completely partisan fashion, when the health care bill passed and when the majority of Americans opposed it?

Who would have ever thought, as OMB pointed out this past week, that we would have a $1.4 trillion deficit--the largest deficit in American history--and a $13 trillion national debt? On the path we are on currently, by 2020, we will have a $26 trillion deficit.

Who would have thought those things would take place?

I would argue, although the other side is going to say, ``Oh, this is terrible. We can't reduce the spending level in this bill to the amount that the gentleman wants,'' this is a modest first step. This is a modest initial step towards providing some fiscal sanity to this town and to this Congress.

My amendment is real simple. It says this bill should go back and we should spend it at 2008 baseline levels. After all, a lot of families are living on something less. A lot of families have had to live on what they were functioning on in 2008. A lot of small businesses are functioning on what they had to in 2008.

Why in the heck can't the Federal Government do the same thing?

This amendment takes us back to 2008 levels, which was before the bailouts, before the so-called ``stimulus,'' before the out-of-control spending. Remember, since 2008, there has been a 38 percent increase in this bill. So this takes it back to a reasonable level, and I would argue this is a modest first step that the American people want us to take.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Just a couple of quick responses to the chairman's comments.

Mr. Chairman, first of all, I voted against the bank bailout, the TARP bailout. If my memory serves me correctly, the gentleman voted for that proposal.

Second, the chairman's comments about how this is such a dramatic cut is a great example of how out of touch this town is with the American people. All this amendment does is say let's spend what we spent just 2 years ago, in 2008. Go talk to average Americans. They think that's probably something the Federal Government could do--spend what we were spending 2 years ago.

Also, remember that this bill is a 38 percent increase over 2008. That's on top of the transportation spending that was in the stimulus bill. So it's even bigger than 38 percent, this increase over 2008.

Finally, I would say this: If big government spending, if big government taxation, if big government regulation were going to get us out of this economic mess, well, heck, we'd have been out of it a long time ago because that's all this government has been doing for 2 years.

Mr. Chairman, I will just close with this. How bad does it have to get before we can begin to reduce some spending around here? Do we have to have a $2 trillion deficit? Do we have to get to $30 trillion in debt? I mean, how bad does it have to get before we can start to do those things that make sense and that will guarantee a prosperous future for our kids and our grandkids?

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Madam Speaker, I am honored to commend to the House the work of the Champaign County Bicentennial Historical Marker Committee to promote the career and contributions of Urbana native and vaudeville legend Billy ``Single'' Clifford.

Born Clyde Shyrigh, Clifford was born in 1869 in Urbana, Ohio, to Levi and Sarah Shyrigh. His love of music was evident from his early childhood, when he would stage performances in the family barn. Clifford began appearing with a traveling circus at age 10, where he further developed his singing and dancing skills. This led him ultimately to a successful vaudeville career, with performances along the East Coast and throughout Europe.

Clifford built the Clifford Theater in 1905 on the site where his family's barn had stood. The theater was the first of its kind in Urbana, with an 80-foot stage and a seating capacity of 700. In addition to performances by a vaudeville troupe formed by Clifford, it hosted many notable entertainers through the years--including the March King, John Philip Sousa.

On July 24, the Champaign County Bicentennial Historical Marker Committee and the family and friends of Charles L. Mott will dedicate a marker celebrating Clifford and the Clifford Theater. I am honored to join them and the people of Champaign County in commemorating this event.

Madam Speaker, I was absent from the House Floor during yesterday's three rollcall votes.

Had I been present, I would have voted in favor of H. Res. 1472, H. Con. Res. 126, and H. Res. 1219.

Madam Speaker, l was absent from the House Floor during yesterday's three rollcall votes.

Had I been present, I would have voted in favor of H. Con. Res. 288, H. Res. 546, and H. Res. 1407.

Madam Speaker, I am honored to commend to the House the outstanding contributions of Lieutenant Colonel Theodore M. ``Ted'' Epple to the Army and to our nation.

Since August of 2007, Colonel Epple has served as commander of the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, Ohio, where so many have worked since World War II to provide cutting-edge military equipment to our armed forces. During his service in Lima, he deployed to Iraq for a year in support of the Defense Contract Management Agency's efforts there.

Throughout his military career, Colonel Epple's dedication and valor have been recognized by his peers and superiors. Among numerous other awards and commendations, he has earned a Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Joint Service Commendation Medal.

A 1988 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in leadership studies, Colonel Epple also earned a Master of Science degree from the Florida Institute of Technology. He and his wife, Barbara, are the proud parents of Ben, Matthew, and Bentley.

Madam Speaker, Colonel Epple will relinquish command of JSMC to Lieutenant Colonel Yee Hang at a June 15 ceremony at the facility. On behalf of the people of Ohio's Fourth Congressional District, I thank him for his distinguished service in Lima these past three years. I am proud to join everyone at JSMC in wishing him and his family every success as they move to a new chapter in their lives.

Madam Speaker, Ohio's National Statuary Collection Study Committee was asked to compile a list of distinguished Ohioans from which one could be recommended for recognition in Statuary Hall. As the citizens of Ohio now weigh in on this list, I want to highlight the many accomplishments and distinguished record of public service of one member of that list, the late William Moore McCulloch.

William McCulloch was born in Holmes County in 1901. He attended the College of Wooster and in 1925 earned a law degree from The Ohio State University. He subsequently established a law practice in Piqua, from which he was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1932.

McCulloch quickly ascended to the speakership and became the first person to serve three consecutive terms in that role. He resigned from the Ohio House in 1943 to enlist in the Army, where he served our great Nation in the European Theatre during the Second World War.

Following the war, McCulloch returned to his law practice in Piqua, but his passion for elective service led him to run for and win a 1947 special election to Congress. He readily won respect from all sides of the House for championing limited government and sound fiscal policies--but most notably for his groundbreaking work on civil rights issues. McCulloch worked behind the scenes with the Eisenhower White House to ensure passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960. Because of these successes, during deliberations on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, President Kennedy famously said of McCulloch, ``Without him, it can't be done.'' President Johnson called him ``the most important and powerful force'' behind that legislation.

As ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, McCulloch also played key roles in

crafting and passing the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. He won accolades from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights for this vital work, as well as for defending the Voting Rights Act when it was reauthorized intact in 1970.

McCulloch did not seek re-election in 1972, returning to Piqua to resume the practice of law. He passed away in 1980 and is interred in Arlington National Cemetery. The people of Piqua renamed their public square in his honor last year.

Madam Speaker, William McCulloch's statesmanship, political foresight, unwavering conservative principles, and commitment to freedom and dignity inspired all who knew him and served with him. Honoring him by inclusion in Statuary Hall would allow countless generations to be inspired by his distinguished record of service in the future.

Mr. Speaker, 40 days. April 15 by law is when we are supposed to have a budget resolution in place. And yet here we are, 40 days later, no budget resolution.

No budget when we have a $1.4 trillion deficit, $12 trillion national debt. I mean, look, let's just be honest; the Democrats are going to take a pass. They are just going to take a pass on setting priorities and establishing a budget, and they are just going to keep spending. American families, American small business owners, they don't get to take a pass.

I am reminded of the old TV ad--I think it was the Wendy's restaurant who had this ad. The lady walks up and she says as she is handed the bun, ``Where's the beef?''

I think the same thing is being asked by the American people. They are going to be handed the bill. They are asking the question, where's the budget? Where's the priorities, where's the guidelines, where's the work we are supposed to do. Where is it being done? Why isn't it being done?

Let's get focused, and let's do a budget that actually sets priorities, sets the spending guideline and actually balances. Imagine doing something like that.

Madam Speaker, it is with great pride that I commend to the House the dedication of the Veterans Freedom Flag Monument in Lima, Ohio.

Twenty-five feet high and 36 feet long, this unique, five-panel monument is the largest free-standing American flag in the nation. It pays rich tribute to the more than 43 million veterans who have sacrificed for the many freedoms we enjoy.

The idea for the monument dates back to 2002, with design bids solicited the following year. Ground was broken and construction commenced in 2007, with much of the work performed by volunteers of all ages working regardless of weather conditions.

Appropriately, it sits on land adjacent to Lima's Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, where so many have worked since World War II to provide cutting-edge military equipment to our armed forces. This land was leased in part from the Norfolk Southern Corporation and the General Dynamics Corporation, which operates JSMC for the federal government.

Members of United Auto Workers Local 2075 at JSMC spearheaded construction efforts and worked diligently to raise money for this important project.

Madam Speaker, the UAW will host a dedication ceremony at the monument this Saturday, when it will be formally accepted into the Johnny Appleseed Metropolitan Park District. On behalf of the Fourth Congressional District of Ohio, I congratulate the monument committee and everyone else who aided in construction and fundraising to make this fitting tribute to our veterans a reality.

Madam Speaker, it is my honor to commend to the House the admirable service of R. Stanley Crosley, chief of the city of Sidney's Department of Fire and Emergency Services, as he retires after a career of more than three decades with the city.

Joining the department in 1978, Stan was tapped to serve as chief in 1992. Under his leadership, the department has continually met the challenges inherent to the lifesaving work entrusted to it. The chief is hailed by his colleagues and peers for setting up a joint city- county fire investigation unit, initiating firefighter wellness programs, and expanding Sidney's fire prevention program.

Stan was named Shelby County Firefighter of the Year in 1977. He received the county's Distinguished Service Award in 2002 and the Ohio Fire Chiefs Association's Distinguished Service Award in 2006. In addition, he served as President of the OFCA from 2002 to 2004.

His dedication to civic duty is further expressed in his work with the Shelby County United Way and Wilson Memorial Hospital.

Stan received the department's Distinguished Service Award, its highest honor, at a Sidney City Council meeting earlier this month. This Friday, the department will host an open house where the public will gather to thank him for his 32 years of service on their behalf.

I am proud to join the Chief's fellow firefighters in congratulating him on his long and distinguished career in public safety. He established a solid foundation on which his successor can continue to build to the benefit of everyone in Sidney.

We wish Stan and his wife, Carole, every success as they move to a new chapter in their lives.