Floor Statements

I rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. Chairman and Members, funding recommendations included in this bill were made in full compliance with the applicable rules and procedures of the House. On a bipartisan basis, we have scrutinized thousands of Members' requests and recommended funding for those projects that the committee believes are most meritorious. In addition, the Small Business Administration was given an opportunity to vet this project and provided the committee with no negative feedback regarding the project or the grantee. I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment.

I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Posey).

If the gentleman will yield, I think it's important to point out--and I want to say that I share my colleague Mr. Flake's zeal for trying to cut spending and control spending. I know Mr. Posey shares that concern. We all, as fiscal conservatives, are committed to controlling spending. But under the rules that this liberal majority has established, under their PAYGO, this bunch thinks that to cut taxes increases the deficit; and therefore, under the rules of this House, it is forbidden, essentially, to cut taxes and impossible to cut spending.

So, even if Mr. Flake's amendment were passed, the money that he is reducing, $100,000, would churn right back in to the appropriations bill to be spent elsewhere. I know that aggravates Mr. Flake as much as it does me.

We have to reform the budget process. We have to be able, as fiscally conservative Members of Congress, to get up on this floor and offer cutting amendments that actually cut spending. But the game is rigged against taxpayers. Taxpayers are the losers in the way the rules of the House operate. And it is just not right.

Now, Mr. Posey has got a very worthwhile project here in his own district, and that is something that he believes in his heart works. I join in opposing this amendment, but I would ask the Members to help us reform the budget process so we can actually cut spending and cut taxes.

Will the gentleman yield?

We tried in committee, Jeff. Mr. Lewis, the ranking member, offered an amendment in full committee to cut the overall spending levels in the Appropriations Committee, and we were defeated by the liberal majority. So we have made the effort. We are trying. And we are doing it at every opportunity. The frustration is your amendment won't save any money. I join you in wanting to cut, but this won't do it.

Mr. Chairman, the budget deficit this year, this week, for the very first time in history has exceeded $1 trillion. The national debt is now over $12 trillion.

The liberal majority that controls this House, passing the energy tax just before the Fourth of July break, the biggest tax increase in the history of America, the liberal majority that controls this House, passing this ``spendulus'' bill in a single shot, more money than is spent by the entire annual budget of the United States. We are on the brink--this liberal majority that controls the House has taken over the automobile industry, the insurance industry, the banking industry. They're on the brink of taking over the health care industry. And by the way, Business Investors Daily reports today, the health care bill will make it illegal to even buy private insurance.

This is the most massive expansion of government in the history of the United States. This Congress has spent more money in less time than any Congress in history, is about to raise taxes more than any Congress in history.

We are on an unsustainable path for the future of this Nation. It's vitally important for us to control spending. No new taxes, no new spending, no new debt. That's very simple. Yet, the game, the rules of the House are rigged against the taxpayers.

Even if every one of Mr. Flake's amendments were adopted, even if every amendment offered on the floor to cut these earmarks were adopted, taxpayers won't save a dime.

Imagine sitting down to a game of chess, and even if you think you've got checkmate you don't, because the rules are rigged against you. The rules of this House are set up in such a way by the liberal majority that on a spending bill, it's impossible to cut spending. You've got to cut another bill, the budget bill, and reduce what's called the 302(a) overall spending level, which can't be done on this bill.

On the tax bill, you can't cut taxes. It's forbidden to cut taxes under the rules of the way this bunch runs the House. Their game is rigged against the taxpayers, and that's my greatest frustration.

First of all, each Member of this House, no one will do a better job of representing the people of South Carolina than my good friend, Mr. Brown, and he publishes his request on his Web site. This is all done in a very transparent and open way. All of us are accountable to our constituents about the way we run our office, but it is time for the American people to stand up and demand that the rules be rigged in favor of the taxpayers.

I'm sick and tired of this Congress spending money that our kids don't have, of rigging the game or the rules of the game so that we cannot cut taxes, so you can't cut spending. This is a charade. It's not right. It's wrong for our kids, and it's time to cut spending, cut taxes, and quit driving up the national debt.

Would the gentleman yield? I would be glad to engage in a debate.

Madam Speaker, this is a historic day but not for the reasons my colleague has just specified.

Today is the first day in American history the national deficit has reached $1 trillion. We in this Congress have an obligation to do everything we can to preserve the financial integrity of this Nation for future generations, and as a Texan, I know the solution is very simple. It's one that is embodied in these wonderful stars which were worn by soldiers in the Army of the Republic of Texas.

This is a star worn by a young man who served in the Marine Corps of the Republic of Texas, and the lone star symbolizes for Texans that the solution is, to our problem as a Nation, just leave us alone. Let Texans run Texas. Stick to the Constitution.

The Federal Government needs to stick to the very limited powers set out in the Constitution and otherwise leave us alone. Stay away from my bank accounts, stay out of my pocket, get off my back, out of my way. Stay away from my home, my family, my kids, my job, my church, my synagogue.

Let Texans run Texas. Let Ohio run Ohio. That's what these young men were fighting for in the Army of the Republic of Texas, and that's what we,

as fiscal conservatives, are fighting for here today.

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

Mr. Chairman, as the designee of Mr. Lewis, I am pleased to offer this amendment today to give the House an opportunity to keep funding for multilateral assistance at last year's level. In fact, this is actually a 1 percent increase, trying to keep it as close to inflation as we can. I would prefer, as a fiscal conservative, to cut far more at this time of record debt, record deficit, of increasing unemployment; but we want to give the liberal majority some opportunity to cut somewhere. And if we will not cut foreign multilateral assistance simply by keeping the level of funding at last year's level, plus a little 1 percent bump, where will we cut?

In our personal lives, if we have a financial downturn, someone in the family loses a job, if there has been a financial hardship of some type in your personal life, if as a business you have suffered a dramatic downturn in sales, if you lose money or your income is reduced, then all of us in our private lives in the private sector understand that you start to cut expenses. The first thing to go, for example, in the private sector certainly is discretionary dollars in advertising. Or in a personal life, as much as I might like to have a swimming pool or expand the house, you just don't do it when your income is reduced; and the United States of America is in a similar situation.

The Nation is hurting. Unemployment is climbing. We have lost a record number of jobs. Under the new liberal leadership of this Congress, our new liberal administration in the White House, this Congress, this President has spent more money in less time than any Congress in the history of the United States.

In the first 6 months of this year under the budget adopted by this new liberal majority, the amount of debt created in the first 6 months of this year exceeds the amount of debt created from the time of George Washington to President George W. Bush. The national debt now exceeds $11 trillion. The deficit exceeds a trillion dollars. We as a Nation are on a path to become Argentina if we don't stop spending money.

So those of us in the fiscally conservative minority have offered in the Appropriations Committee multiple amendments. We have offered amendments on the floor to the limited extent we can under these very restrictive guidelines. We, in the conservative

minority, have offered amendments to cut 5 percent; 1 percent; 10 percent. On every bill on every occasion, we have searched for some way, somehow that the liberal majority might try to save some of our kids' money.

It hasn't happened yet. I haven't seen a cut yet that the liberal majority will agree to. This amendment today is simply to title V, multilateral assistance, asking that we keep funding at 2009 levels. In fact, the 2009 spending level is a 16 percent increase over 2008. And the programs, the international organizations that are included under title V, include Global Environmental Facility, a clean technology fund. There is even a new and completely unauthorized climate technology fund and strategic climate fund that costs a total of $300 million. These have not been approved by Congress, and they are just stuck into this bill. I know there are a lot of noble, good things accomplished by our foreign aid bill.

One that is near and dear to my heart is my support for the State of Israel. I personally support Mr. Weiner's amendment. I think Saudi Arabia can certainly afford to pull their own weight. But our good friends in Israel, I think one of the reasons God blesses the United States of America is America is the sword and shield of Israel. We have an obligation as a Nation to stand behind our friends around the world and help them. But at a time of economic downturn, at a time when so many Americans are losing their jobs, and at a time as we as guardians of the U.S. Treasury have an obligation to try to save money everywhere we can and follow Dave Ramsey's advice, don't spend money you don't have; don't borrow money to pay off borrowed money, the amendment is offered today in all sincerity to try to hold the line.

And if we won't cut here, Mr. Chairman, where will we cut? If we won't cut spending for multilateral assistance to foreign aid, which all of our constituents get, if we won't cut at the edges in money that we don't need to spend at this level for foreign assistance, where will we cut?

Are we not going to save any money anywhere, folks? This is a $500 million savings to keep us at 2009 levels.

Will the gentleman yield?

Thank you very much for yielding. I did vote against $2.6 trillion of spending under President Bush, and I voted against the farm bills. And I voted against----

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank Mr. Price of North Carolina.

Our Subcommittee on Homeland Security is, I think, a terrific example of how the Congress ought to operate. I am one of the most dedicated fiscal conservatives in the House. Our subcommittee is made up of people of very strong beliefs on both sides of the aisle, but we don't work in that committee with regard to party. We don't even mention party labels. I have done my best to really erase that term from my language and focus on what's fiscally conservative and fiscally liberal.

But this committee really has to work on what is good for the Nation. We have to work together in a way, I think, that has--I hope the leadership of the Congress would use the work of this subcommittee, the work of all the subcommittees on Appropriations, as a model.

It's important, I think, for this Congress in this time of record debt and deficit to do what's right for the country, do what's right for the kids and our grandchildren, and focus on ways to be fiscally responsible. At a time of record debt and deficit, at a time when the national debt is now approaching $11 trillion, at a time when the deficit is at record levels, at a time when the new President has laid out a budget and foresees record debt and deficit as far as the eye can see, we in the Congress have a special responsibility to be guardians of the Treasury, do everything in our power to control spending and avoid unnecessary increases in spending.

And the Homeland Security bill in front of the Congress today is one that was again put together by our subcommittee, Mr. Rogers, working with Chairman Price. Everybody in the subcommittee participated. I am very grateful to you, Chairman Price, for working so closely with all of us and putting this bill together.

Without the increase for bioshield, the funding level for Homeland Security is about what--actually, below the level of inflation. At a time when we are under attack from foreign terrorists who are going to use any means at their disposal to sneak into the United States to kill Americans, it's important that we do everything in our power to protect this Nation.

Homeland security is one of those areas where there are no parties' labels, where we have an obligation to work together, and we've done so on this subcommittee. We have profound concerns and differences on the overall spending levels of the appropriations bills as a whole, of the omnibus spending bill that we passed earlier this year, of the spendulus bill that was passed earlier year, of the tremendous unprecedented increases in spending we have seen in this Congress, but on this subcommittee we've all worked together.

I'm particularly pleased to follow my friend from Texas, Mr. Cuellar. All of us in the Texas delegation have worked together so well in securing our southern border. Henry Cuellar and I were elected together, and Ciro Rodriguez, who serves on the subcommittee with me, who represents the Del Rio area.

Henry and Ciro and I were elected to the Texas legislature in 1986. That friendship that we formed from 1986 has served us well today. And we've worked together in establishing a program called Operation Streamline, a zero-tolerance program where we are enforcing in Texas existing law, with largely existing resources, to arrest and prosecute essentially everybody that crosses the border illegally between Del Rio and Zapata County, with a result that the crime rate has plummeted. In Laredo, they have seen about a 60 percent drop in the crime rate; in Del Rio, over 70 percent drop in the crime rate; and the lowest level of illegal crossings since they began to keep statistics.

This is a piece of good news the Nation needs to hear, that our border is far more secure in Texas because we're enforcing existing law, applying common sense, and working together in a partnership between State and local authorities and the Federal authorities.

We have, in Texas, I think, demonstrated that Texas, we always keep Texas first in our minds regardless of party. And I want to thank the chairman and our ranking member for putting together a bill that focuses on national security and includes the interests of all Members from all parts of the country.

Madam Chair, parliamentary inquiry.

Madam Chair, could we ask the Clerk to please read the text of the amendment so we can be sure which amendment is before the House.

Madam Chairman, I rise to claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Madam Chairman, the gentleman from Arizona's amendment purports to be fiscally conservative.

I have, as a Member of Congress over the years, established one of the best fiscal conservative ratings in Congress. I voted against $2.6 trillion of spending under President Bush, $1.3 trillion so far under this President. I've consistently been ranked as one of the most fiscally conservative Members of Congress. And we, each of us, are elected by our districts to use our good judgment, to use discretion and, in my case, fiscally conservative standards in those spending requests that we push forward, those that we set aside. I've worked aggressively with my ranking member and members of this committee to try to save money in this bill and others.

But the city of Houston, Harris County, has suffered in just the most recent hurricane, Hurricane Ike, which just hit the gulf coast. It hit Houston the hardest, $2.1 billion worth of damage to southeast Texas that the Federal Government has reimbursed. The city of Houston alone, Harris County, home damage: $8.5 billion worth of damage to homes in Harris County.

Now, I asked for very little as a Member of Congress to try to help the people of Houston. One area where we need help is in flood control. One area where we clearly need help is in mitigation to prevent additional damage.

In fact, because of the work I've done as a member of the Appropriations Committee and in the very few areas I asked for help on are national security, border security, medical and scientific research, and in flood control. And in flood control, the homes along Braes Bayou, for example, didn't flood. The Texas Medical Center, Mr. Flake, did not flood as a result of this hurricane because of work that I was able to do with the help of my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee, the Harris County delegation working together.

Mr. Flake's amendment would strike all Federal funding for all of Harris County flood control. His amendment not only would save no money. To all my fellow fiscal conservatives out there watching, that would be one thing.

Your amendment saves no money, and you would eliminate all Federal flood control money for all Harris County, which just got hammered by the biggest hurricane to hit southeast Texas in my lifetime.

Now let me yield briefly to my ranking member, Mr. Rogers, and I would be proud to yield to my chairman, Mr. Price.

In a fiscally conservative way I may add. And I'm proud to yield to my chairman, Mr. Price, from North Carolina.

Thank you, Mr. Rogers.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would also say that each one of us, as Members of Congress, how I for myself have said from the moment I was appointed to the Appropriations Committee, I have published every request that I submit for designated spending on my Web site. I was the first Member of Congress to send a Twitter message from the Oval Office, the first one to send a Twitter message from the floor of Congress. I love technology. My hero, Thomas Jefferson, always said to try all abuses at the bar of public opinion. And I believe very strongly in transparency and openness. I published every appropriations request I have ever made on my Web site since 2003. I was the first Member of Congress to do so. I published every appropriation, designated funding request, that I received on my Web site since 2003. I believe I was the first Member of Congress to do so, because I don't ask for much. I will not make a funding request for a private individual or a private company. I limit them to national security, border security, local units of government, State Government, or the Texas Medical Center, God bless them, the great work they are doing at M.D. Anderson Hospital, medical or scientific research, the Nation's space program or flood control. The Houston ship channel will silt up in 6 months unless we on the Appropriations Committee direct the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge it. They would not have built a railroad bridge connecting Galveston Island to the Texas mainland unless the Homeland Security Committee, and I want to thank Mr. Rogers and Chairman Price again, for connecting the Galveston Island to the mainland. That is not even in my district, nor is the Houston ship channel.

These are fiscally conservative, prudent requests, Mr. Flake. You in Arizona, I have to tell you, are just not familiar with Harris County. I don't think you will find any Member of Congress with higher fiscally conservative standards than I have. And I think the request is entirely appropriate. It is absolutely necessary for an area that got hammered by the hurricane.

And I urge defeat of the Member's amendment because it won't even save money.

Thank you. Madam Chairman, Kitt Peak--I'm not sure what part Arizona Mr. Flake has, but every piece of legislation passed by Congress directs the Congress--Jeff, which part of Arizona do you have? Excuse me.

Due south. I'm an amateur astronomer, a passionate fan of Kitt Peak Observatory. Let's say Congress passes a piece of legislation to designate funding for Kitt Peak Observatory. Every bill Congress passes designates funding. All of us have an obligation----

We have to be fiscally conservative, Mr. Flake, on every bill, not just appropriations.

I will happily take the challenge. I'm ready.

Would the gentleman yield?

Did you do an analysis by geography? For example, those of us on the Texas gulf coast that get hammered by hurricanes need help with flood mitigation. Did you analyze it geographically and see what percentage goes to the coastal areas of the United States or the floodplains of the Mississippi River?

Would the gentleman yield?

Mother Nature targets all districts equally, Mr. Flake. But when it comes to floods and hurricanes, they target the gulf coast. When it comes to floods from the big rivers, they target the Mississippi River Valley.

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. 2892, the FY2010 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill:

Requesting Member: Congressman John Culberson.

Bill Number: H.R. 2892

Account: Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Predisaster Mitigation account.

Legal Name and Address of Requesting Entity: Harris County Flood Control District, 99000 Northwest Freeway, Suite 220, Houston, Texas 77092.

Description of Request: Provide $1,000,000 to the Harris County Flood Control District for the voluntary acquisition and demolition of approximately 38 homes located deep in the floodway and floodplain of the White Oak Watershed of Harris County, Texas. The Harris County Flood Control District is charged with devising the flood damage reduction plans for the county, implementing the plans, and maintaining the infrastructure covering a 1,756 square mile area.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

The issue which my colleagues from California have brought up is extraordinarily important, and I would like at this time, if I could, to yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Nunes).

I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Daniel E. Lungren).

How much time do I have remaining, Mr. Chairman?

I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Nunes).

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, I think we have engaged in a very healthy and productive debate tonight that illustrates the very profound and important philosophical differences of the fiscal conservatives in the House and those in the majority who are, with good intentions, doing everything they can to take care of the Nation's needs, but at a far higher price tag.

I as a fiscal conservative and member of this committee appreciate very much the work that Chairman Mollohan has done to include both Members of the minority and the majority in putting together this final bill, but I as a conservative have profound concerns about the level of spending in this bill and other bills.

I, for example, looking at the amendments before us tonight that we have discussed, I see Mr. Price of Georgia's amendment. Representative Price was asking that we cut this bill by 1 percent, one penny out of every dollar, and allow the individual agencies to

decide where to reduce that penny out of every dollar. To me, that is an absolutely sensible and in fact frankly a modest approach to dealing with the size of the Federal deficit and the debt.

We, today, Mr. Chairman, in this Congress and every one of us as guardians of the Treasury, as stewards of the trust given us by our constituents, have a responsibility first and foremost to think about the next generation; to think about the amount of money that we are spending and the fact that the money we spend today is, as Mr. Campbell said, being borrowed from the Chinese; that that debt will have to be paid; that we as a Congress have to remember on every vote on every issue and every opportunity that we get that we should find ways to save money.

It is entirely appropriate and reasonable for this Congress to trim expenses wherever we can at a time when the national debt is at record levels, when the deficit is at a record level, when we have already, as we stand here tonight as a nation, accumulated over sixty-thousand- billion dollars worth of unfunded liabilities that must be paid by future generations.

Medicare runs out of money in 96 months. We have saddled our children and grandchildren with a level of debt never before seen in our Nation's history since World War II. And for what end? We in this new fiscally liberal majority in Congress passed this massive bill, what they call a stimulus bill, that all by itself spent more money in one stroke than the entire annual budget of the United States.

The bailout bills, which I also voted against, I voted against $2.6 trillion of spending under President Bush. I have already had to vote against about $1.3 trillion of spending under President Obama. Those of us in the minority, the fiscal conservatives in the minority, are doing everything we know how to do to bring to the attention of the American people the urgency and immediacy of the problem, that we as Congress have got to stop spending money. No new debt, no new taxes, no new spending has got to be the watchword for this Congress.

My colleagues on the conservative side of the aisle here have done our best to lay out a series of amendments to give the Congress choices between cuts, as in Mr. Price's amendment, which would give the agencies the discretion to go in and find how to save that penny out of every dollar, versus Congresswoman Blackburn's amendment, which is an across-the-board cut of 5 percent from each program. We have had other amendments tonight, such as Mr. Jordan's amendment to cut $12 .5 billion out of the bill.

We are facing a national debt of over $11.6 trillion today that is accumulating at the rate of, as Mr. Campbell pointed out quite correctly, over $2 trillion a year. These TEA parties that we saw spring up all across the country spontaneously represent a deep-seated and well-founded fear among the American people that this Congress is completely out of control with the new leadership and the new President spending money at a rate never before seen in American history. It is true, as Mr. Hensarling said, that never before have so few spent so much in so little time. We in the minority, the fiscal conservatives in the minority today, have laid out tonight, Mr. Chairman, a number of thoughtful alternatives.

My friend Mr. Campbell, I would like to yield my remaining time to him so he can talk about some of the ideas he laid out and some other members of the Republican Study Committee.

Mr. Chairman, I want to sincerely thank Chairman Mollohan, Ranking Member Wolf for the bipartisan manner in which this bill was put together. Mr. Mollohan truly has, and Mr. Wolf, opened up this process to all members of the committee to participate. Majority and minority views are included, and it is, truly, the bill was put together in an open, bipartisan way, which I'm very grateful for.

And I especially also want to thank Chairman Obey, Mr. Lewis, Chairman Mollohan and Mr. Wolf for the strong commitment that they have made to invest in the sciences, the National Science Foundation, the scientific work that's being done at NASA and NOAA. The scientific advancement that this Nation makes, and throughout our history, has been one of the most important factors in the advance of America throughout our history. And I'm very, very pleased at the investment the committee is making in scientific research.

However, I do have some serious concerns about the bill's reduction in funding from the budget request for NASA's human spaceflight frame.

Mr. Chairman, if I could engage in a colloquy with you, sir, to ask about the manned spaceflight funding and what the committee, what the country and NASA can expect as this bill moves through the legislative process.

Mr. Chairman, I want to ask if you'd agree that the United States must maintain its world leadership in space exploration, and that, in order to lead the world, America must have a robust human spaceflight program; and also, that NASA's human spaceflight program must have a clearly defined mission, and that Congress and the Obama administration should fully fund that mission. And also, Mr. Chairman, that Congress and NASA should do everything possible to mitigate the 5-year gap between the retirement of the shuttle and the initial operating capability of the next generation of human spaceflight.

And then finally, Mr. Chairman, that the Appropriations Committee, we will all work together in an absolutely bipartisan and open way to fully fund the mission of NASA's manned space program as defined by the Augustine Commission, the Obama administration and this Congress.

Mr. Chairman, I'm very confident that under the leadership of Chairman Mollohan and Ranking Member Wolf that these proposed reductions from the President's budget request will be reviewed once again after the Augustine report is completed in an announcement from the Obama administration on how to proceed in human spaceflight. We genuinely appreciate the chairman's commitment to fund that recommendation with, of course, the input of the authorizing committee and the Appropriations Committee, because for America to surrender the high ground of space exploration, Mr. Chairman, would be as dangerous today as it would have been for General Meade to surrender the high ground of Little Round Top and Cemetery Hill at the Battle of Gettysburg. If General Meade had surrendered the high ground, I don't think there's any doubt that the United States would have lost the Battle of Gettysburg. And just as certainly as America would be at the mercy of our enemies, in position to lose any future war, if America surrenders the high ground of outer space to other nations.

I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

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. 2847, the FY2010 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations bill:

Requesting Member: Congressman John Culberson.

Bill Number: H.R. 2847

Account: Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Byrne Grant account.

Legal Name and Address of Requesting Entity: Texas Border Sheriff's Coalition, 4141 Pinnacle Suite 213, El Paso, Texas 79902.

Description of Request: Provide an earmark of $4,850,000 to the Texas Border Sheriff's Coalition. It is my understanding that the funding would be used to pay for overtime, hire additional deputies, and purchase equipment for the Sheriffs along the Texas-Mexico border to secure the border against drug and human smugglers. Texas Border Sheriff's Coalition was organized on May 4, 2005 and is represented by the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of each respective county along the Texas-Mexico border. Texas Sheriffs are empowered by the Texas Constitution to protect the lives, property, and the rights of the people, maintain order and security in the United States along the Texas border with the Republic of Mexico to enforce the law impartially, and provide police service in partnership with other law enforcement agencies and community partners. Sheriffs are totally accountable to the people of their county.

The Texas border county sheriffs have received funding from Congress in the last 3 appropriations cycles to defend our borders. They are using this funding to put more deputies on the streets, purchase equipment, and reduce illegal crossings.

Requesting Member: Congressman John Culberson.

Bill Number: H.R. 2847

Account: Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, COPS account.

Legal Name and Address of Requesting Entity: City of Houston, Mayor's Office of Public Safety & Homeland Security, 900 Bagby, 2nd Floor, Houston, Texas 77002.

Description of Request: Provide an earmark of $1,350,000 to the City of Houston to acquire interoperable communications equipment so that the city's first responders can communicate on a 700MHz trunked public safety radio system that will provide full and continuous interoperability with the 800MHz regional radio system. Communications in the Houston area are hampered by incompatible and aging equipment, disparate radio systems, and limited funding. First responders in Houston are responsible for protecting the highest density of critical infrastructure in Texas, including the Port of Houston, the petrochemical industry, the largest medical center in the world, and extensive commercial assets.

Requesting Member: Congressman John Culberson.

Bill Number: H.R. 2847

Account: Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Byrne Grant account.

Legal Name and Address of Requesting Entity: City of Houston, Mayor's Office of Public Safety & Homeland Security, 900 Bagby, 2nd Floor, Houston, Texas 77002.

Description of Request: Provide an earmark of $350,000 for the Targeted Narcotics Enforcement Team (TNET) in Houston. TNET is an enforcement group whose mission is to carry out investigations addressing the broad spectrum of drug trafficking in and through the Houston region. Their goal is to identify, target, and disrupt or dismantle major drug trafficking organizations operating on a regional scale. TNET also works through its coalition of investigators, attorneys, inspectors, and citizen groups to target the dealers and end users that make the drug trafficking organizations profitable. With drug violence spilling over into the streets of Houston, this funding will help provide resources needed for TNET to continue their mission.

Requesting Member: Congressman John Culberson.

Bill Number: H.R. 2847 Account: Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Operations, Research and Facilities account.

Legal Name and Address of Requesting Entity: The JASON Project, 44983 Knoll Square, Suite 150, Ashburn, VA 20147.

Description of Request: Provide an earmark for $4,000,000 for the development of standards-based science curriculum for middle school students and professional development programs to increase teacher effectiveness. America's economic prosperity rests on scientific and technological prosperity. Every major organization representing education, business and government has documented the critical situation in U.S. science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and issued a call for aggressive action. This initiative by The JASON Project will be used to develop a standards- based science curriculum for middle school students, and professional development programs to increase teacher effectiveness. These materials will help prepare U.S. students to enter a competitive global workplace in the STEM fields, enabling our nation to remain at the forefront in research, development and technology.

Madam Speaker, I just finished speaking to the Bunker Hill and Wilchester Elementary School students, and I want to bring to the attention of the people here in the audience and out there the cover of the new Economist magazine which expresses beautifully the terrible, terrible burden that this Congress, this liberal majority, is passing on to our kids.

Now, there was debt run up under the previous administration. I as a member of the fiscally conservative minority voted against $2.3 trillion worth of new spending under the previous administration. I already voted against $1.6 trillion in this administration. And no matter who you are, fiscal conservative or liberal, each one of us needs to remember as parents, as husbands, as responsible citizens, that we cannot pass on a burden of debt to our kids.

On every vote on every issue, we need to remember that our children are inheriting the biggest debt and the biggest deficit in our Nation's history. As bad as the deficit was under Mr. Bush, the Economist points out it will quadruple this year and stay over $1 trillion a year out into the future.

Madam Speaker, on every vote on every issue, this Congress needs to cut spending. No new taxes, no new spending, and no new debt.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. Patricia L. Starck for twenty-five years of outstanding achievements as Dean of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Nursing and to recognize her contributions to the health of Texans and countless others through her leadership in nursing education.

Dean Starck has shown exemplary leadership in addressing the national nursing shortage. Under her leadership, student enrollment in the School of Nursing and the number of faculty have nearly doubled; philanthropic giving has increased more than twenty-fold; the number of endowed scholarships has risen from two to twenty-four and the number of endowed chairs from one to thirteen; and seven research endowments have been created. She was appointed by Governor Rick Perry to serve on the Statewide Health Coordinating

Council and also serves as co-chair of the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Study Advisory Committee.

Under her leadership, the School of Nursing has embarked on several new programmatic endeavors. Dean Starck worked tirelessly to ensure the creation of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program, a practice doctorate degree focused on patient quality outcomes. The University of Texas School of Nursing at Houston was the first school in Texas to offer a Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) degree. During her tenure, the School has also established the Women's Health Care Nursing Program; the Center for Nursing Research; the Center on Aging; the Pediatric Nursing Practitioner Program; the Neonatal Nursing Program; the Acute Care Nursing Program; the Adult Health Nursing Program; the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, Education and Research; the Biological Sciences Laboratory; and the Nursing Leadership and Administration Program.

Dean Starck has also contributed to scholarship and research in her field, receiving fourteen grant awards for her work; publishing forty- five articles for journals; publishing and serving as editor on eighteen publications; and collaborating on and leading twelve clinical research projects and six education research projects for instructional distribution.

She has brought honor to the School and to herself as the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions, including the 2005 Health Policy Award; the Presidential Award for Distinguished Contributions and Sterling Leadership, the XIV Congress on Viktor Frankl's Logotherapy; the Griffin B. Bell Distinguished Lecturer, Georgia Southwestern State University; Sister Bernadette Armiger Award, American Association of Colleges of Nursing; Nursing Excellence Leadership Award, Houston Organization of Nurses; Distinguished Professional Woman's Award, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Committee on the Status of Women 1993; Collaboration Between Nursing Service and Education Award, Council Deans/Directors and Nurse Executives; Woman of Excellence, Federation of Business and Professional Women; Outstanding Woman in Education, YWCA Honoree; Leadership Texas; and Lifetime Membership, Alumni Association, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Nursing. She is a member of Sigma Xi, Sigma Theta Tau and Phi Kappa Phi societies; and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

Congratulations to Dr. Patricia Starck for twenty-five years of outstanding work for The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Nursing, and best wishes for the years to come.

Thank you, Mr. McKeon. I would like to build a new extension on my house, Mr. Chair. I'd like to have a lot of things, but cannot afford it. All of us as individual Americans in our private life and business life live within our means.

As the gentleman from Tennessee said so eloquently, our local and State governments must operate within balanced budget requirements. They must live within their means. They don't build facilities or operate programs that they cannot afford to pay for. And the Federal Government is at a pivotal moment in the history of this Nation.

This new leadership in Congress, the new liberal leadership here in the Congress, our new President has, as Mr. McKeon said so well, taken over and nationalized huge segments of the banking industry, the automobile industry, the insurance industry, the mortgage industry. And here today, this leadership has presented to the Congress, to the Nation, for the first time, the Federal Government is going to get into the school construction business.

At a time of record debt, at a time when the Nation must focus on its fundamental financial security, we are stepping into an area where the Federal Government has never really gone before.

The bill, section 1, reading from the bill, Mr. Chair, page 5, ``Grants under this title shall be for the purpose of modernizing, renovating, or repairing public school facilities, based on their need.'' Absolutely noble purpose. But we cannot afford it.

Page 10, section 103, ``Allowable uses of funds. A local education agency receiving a grant under this title shall use the grant for modernization, renovation, or repair of public school facilities.'' And a long list--repairing, replacing, installing roofs, walls, plumbing systems, et cetera. This is a bottomless pit.

Ross Perot's famous phrase, ``a giant sucking sound.'' We're going to hear a giant sucking sound out of the United States Treasury paying for utterly endless repairs and construction of local school buildings while we could use this $40 billion just in southeast Texas.

In 8 years, Medicare is exhausted. Let that sink in. In 96 months, the trustees of the Social Security and Medicare system just reported yesterday that Medicare is exhausted, Mr. Chair--in 96 months.

This is an urgent, critical emergency. The United States of America needs to follow Dave Ramsey's advice and live on a little beans and rice. Focus on the fundamentals. This stuff isn't complicated.

We are in this magnificent Chamber surrounded by the greatest minds in the history of the civilized world. I look here at a portrait of my hero, Thomas Jefferson, and of George Mason. My hero, Mr. Jefferson, liked to say that if you apply core constitutional principles, the knot will always untie itself.

Here today Congress needs to focus on the fundamentals, keeping America on a path to financial security and solvency. It is not complicated. Let us follow Mr. Jefferson's wisdom, follow the Constitution and the separation of powers, and limit the Federal Government to those functions set out in the Constitution. At a time of critical financial emergency, when literally Medicare payments will stop in 96 months, let's focus on the fundamentals, America. Congress needs to quit spending money; no new taxes, no new debt, no new spending, and save our children from being buried in a mountain of debt that they cannot pay.

This is a noble purpose, but we cannot afford it, anymore than I can afford to build an extension on my house. I cannot borrow money to pay off borrowed money. That is what this bill, what this Congress, what this liberal leadership has been doing since January when we all got sworn in, spent more money in less time than any Congress in history.

I am not playing favorites. I voted against $2.3 trillion of new spending under George Bush. I have already voted against $1.6 trillion of new spending under this bunch. This cannot be sustained. We are living on borrowed money. These Treasury bonds are being bought by foreign investors and foreign national sovereign wealth funds that our kids are going to have to repay.

This isn't complicated. Let's get back to the fundamentals. As Mr. Jefferson said, the knot will always untie itself, if we will only follow the Constitution. There is nowhere in the Constitution that it is authorized for the Federal Government to get into the business of school construction. This will literally become a bottomless pit, Mr. Speaker.

I am, as every Member of Congress, as committed as anyone to making sure our local schools are well built and maintained and our kids have a safe environment that is a good place for them to get an education. But let that be done by the local and State governments who are best suited to do it, who know the needs better than anyone else, and will pay as they go. And let us in Congress follow Dave Ramsey's advice and live on a little beans and rice and don't spend money we don't have, Mr. Speaker; and let's just stick with the fundamentals that these great men and women left for us, this great Nation, this great treasure, this great trust we all have.

Let's not destroy the financial solvency of this Nation by continuing to expand the power and scope of the Federal Government into areas it was never intended at a time of critical financial emergency, when a mere 96 months from now Medicare payments run out. We can do something about it, but it takes action today. It is something we can all do together as Americans to make sure our kids do not inherit a debt they cannot afford to repay.

I am proud to join my colleague Mr. McKeon and the Republican--excuse me, conservative members of the minority. I am going to try to avoid saying party labels. I think it is too important at a time of national emergency. We need to focus on no new debt, no new taxes, no new spending. I am going to quit saying Republican or Democrat. It is being fiscally conservative and responsible. I am proud to join the fiscally conservative and responsible members of the minority who are ready to lead this Nation back into solvency in opposing this utterly irresponsible liberal piece of legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise to honor a Houston institution, Three Brothers Bakery, on the occasion of its 60th anniversary. On this day in 1949, brothers Sigmund, Sol, and Max Jucker opened Three Brothers Bakery on Holman Street in Houston, Texas. They started with nothing but their hands to mix the dough--a literal interpretation of the term ``handmade.'' Eventually word spread around Houston about their delicious baked goods, and their hard work and determination paid off when they moved the bakery to its current location on South Braeswood in May of 1960.

The story of Sigmund, Sol, and Max Jucker is a tribute to the qualities that make America great. In 1941, the brothers and their family were sent to Nazi concentration camps. The three brothers and older sister survived the Nazi atrocities and on their liberation day, May 8th, 1945, the three brothers were actually all together in the same camp due to the ingenuity of their older sister, Jennie. Later they all immigrated to America, where their entrepreneurial spirit took hold and they continued the family tradition of baking which began around 1825. The three brothers were the fourth generation of bakers in the Jucker family. Using the family recipes to make rye, pumpernickel, challa, strudels and other Eastern European style baked goods, the brothers were soon rewarded with the a large and loyal customer base at Three Brothers Bakery.

Three Brothers Bakery continued to serve the Houston area until it was forced to close temporarily after Hurricane Ike, the third most costly storm in American history. The family--Sigmund, Sol's widow Estelle, and the fifth generation of Juckers, Robert and his wife Janice--could have taken the insurance money and closed the bakery permanently, but their deep commitment to the community and the family's baking history compelled them to rebuild and continue using the recipes passed down by their family for nearly 200 years, in addition to all the other pastries and beautiful, delicious cakes created for Americans.

Congratulations to Three Brothers Bakery for the last 60 years, and best wishes for the years to come.

Mr. Speaker, the TEA parties that took place across this country on April 15 represent the tip of the iceberg of intense frustration among taxpayers and Americans of all walks of life. Everyone in America feels instinctively that this Congress and President are spending too much money and are growing the government too fast. We are on the brink, Mr. Speaker, of what is literally a fork in the road for the United States.

We will either on the path laid out by the budget proposed by the majority, the liberal majority--and I try to avoid party labels because this is about what's in the best interest of America being fiscally conservative or fiscally liberal. The fiscally liberal majority has laid out a budget that will put America on a path to become Argentina. The fiscally conservative minority, led by the very able ranking member of the Budget Committee, Mr. Ryan, has laid out a very thoughtful, fiscally conservative alternative.

Mr. Ryan recognizes, as do those of us in the minority--those fiscal conservatives who are working together to lay out thoughtful alternatives--that America needs a little dose of Dave Ramsey, the financial guru, who, in our personal lives, recommends and knows, as we all know, that you can't pay off borrowed money with borrowed money. Dave Ramsey quite correctly points out, when you've run up too much debt, you stop.

Those TEA parties across America, Mr. Speaker, were the American people speaking out and telling Congress, ``Stop it. No new taxes. No new debt. No new spending.'' Any elected official

who neglects that very sincere and heartfelt message from their constituents is in serious trouble in the next election.

This country is in serious trouble. Let's deal with it in a thoughtful, fiscally conservative way by controlling spending, by cutting spending, by cutting taxes, by letting Americans keep more of their own hard-earned money so they will invest it to create jobs and to create wealth as we know works. Historical fact shows that keeping more of my own money allows me to invest it in the way I see best that will lead to job creation, that will lead to personal growth.

America needs a strong dose of Dave Ramsey's good medicine, and that's what the alternative budget--the motion to recommit by Mr. Ryan--attempts to do, which is to get America back on a path toward fiscal prosperity. If we don't act in a fiscally conservative way immediately, the Comptroller of the United States has said in a letter sent to my office last March that, in a short 12 years, the American Treasury bill, the American T-bill--the safest investment in the history of the world--will be graded as junk bonds. Now, that's an incredible assertion from the auditor of the United States. The Comptroller of the United States says that the cumulative unfunded liabilities created by this Congress are so massive that, if we don't stop spending and start to control spending, T-bills will become junk bonds.

Mr. Chairman and Mr. Speaker, I urge the Members to listen to their constituents. Just say ``no.'' Thank you. No new spending. No new taxes. No new debt. Support Mr. Ryan's motion to recommit.