Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great Arkansan, an outstanding citizen, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and an accomplished businessman; I am proud to recognize Jackson T. Stephens in the Congress.

Mr. Stephens, known as Jack to his many friends, created one of the most successful corporate finance practices in the country based on the principles his father passed down to him. At a young age, Mr. Stephens learned in order to do well, ``we must share opportunities for making money with other people.'' And as his firm grew, so did the hopes, dreams and nest-eggs of many Americans. Today, Stephens Inc. has become one of the Nation's largest investment banking firms.

While many investors focus strictly on making money for their clients, Mr. Stephens focused on earning their trust--and repaying

those who have helped him with incomparable altruism.

Stephens graduated from the Naval Academy in 1947 and has continued to make a major impact on the Naval Academy community and in Annapolis. Mr. Stephens has contributed $10 million, the largest single donation in service academy history, toward the $175 million Naval Academy Foundation's Campaign: Leaders to Serve the Nation.

He has held positions on the board of directors of several major corporations, including the Missouri Pacific Railroad, Burlington Northern, Inc., Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., and Dillards, Inc. In 1989, Jack was awarded the first J. William Fulbright Award for International Trade Development. He received a Distinguished Alumnus Citation in 1965 and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law Degree from the University of Arkansas in 1985. In 1999, Stephens was inducted into the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame.

Mr. Stephens' business acumen is only bettered by his generosity. He is a man who serves as an example of hard work, the success resulting from it and the appropriate way to thank the community from which you came. On behalf of the Congress, I extend my deepest regards for his efforts and gratitude for all he has done to make the world a better place.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the distinguished gentleman from Texas for yielding me this time, and I appreciate his leadership in this body and throughout the country on this issue.

Mr. Chairman, I was down on the floor the other night. We were talking about this very same thing, the budget, the deficits, the debt, and what we are doing to our children and grandchildren. We had this little fellow down here who looked like Howdy Doody, and he had all the answers. One could just pull the string and get an answer. He knew all about it. We have repeatedly had folks come to the well and

talk about how it is the Democrats' fault. I can tell the Members this: If it was not so serious, this would be hysterically funny. I can only imagine what the comedians that make their living that way would do and will do with this situation.

But it is very serious business. We are doing something to our children and grandchildren that they cannot even protect themselves from. We would not consider doing something like this as far as their nutrition or their health care or their well-being would be concerned, but yet we are willing to put this monumental massive debt and this tax that they cannot repeal on them by borrowing money, money, and more money every day in this country and not being responsible.

The Blue Dogs have proposed that if we cut taxes, fine, let us cut taxes, and at the same time let us cut spending to go with it. Let us be honest with the American people. Let us tell the truth. And that is what we are going to have to do when we finally decide to deal with this problem in a responsible way.

Over and over again, we have asked the other side of the aisle, we have asked the administration, please come and let us work together; and we get those answers ``We do not need you.'' Well, they are right. They are having their way. I wonder if things are going so well, if the current plan that we have been under for 3 years is such a huge success, why are we broke? Why are there no jobs? Why are our children going deeper and deeper into debt?

Mr. Speaker, I am honored today to rise to ask for support of H.R. 3059, a bill to designate the Stuttgart, Arkansas, post office, as the Lloyd L. Burke Post Office.

Mr. Burke was born in Tichnor, Arkansas, a small community in the south end of Arkansas County. He later graduated from Stuttgart High School in 1942 and served his country during World War II and the Korean War.

Mr. Burke was a hero to this great Nation. His unselfish acts during times of conflict have already been recognized with the Congressional Medal of Honor for his outstanding courage while serving as a First Lieutenant in the United States Army during the Korean War.

Over the past year, I have received numerous letters from citizens of Stuttgart citing undeniable reasons why they would be honored to name their postal facility after Mr. Burke. I would like to read to you a description of the incidents for which Mr. Burke received the Medal of Honor, as I feel this account best displays his courageous and selfless nature during his service in the Korean War.

``On October 28, 1951, intense enemy fire had pinned down leading elements of Mr. Burke's company committed to securing commanding ground when the First Lieutenant left the command post to rally and urge the men to follow him toward three bunkers, impending the advance.

``Dashing to an exposed vantage point, he threw several grenades at the bunkers, returned for an M-1 rifle and adaptor, and made a lone assault, wiping out the position and killing the crew. Closing on the center bunker, he lobbed grenades through the opening, and with his pistol, killed three of its occupants attempting to surround him.

``Ordering his men forward, he charged the third emplacement, catching several grenades in midair and hurling them back at the enemy. Inspired by his display of valor, his men stormed forward and overran the hostile position, but were again pinned down by increased fire.

``Securing a light machine gun and three boxes of ammunition, First Lieutenant Burke dashed through the impacted area to an open knoll, set up his gun and poured crippling fire into the ranks of the enemy, killing at least 75. Although wounded, he ordered more ammunition, reloaded and destroyed two mortar emplacements and a machine gun position with his accurate fire. Cradling the weapon in his arms, he then led his men forward, killing some 25 more of the retreating enemy and securing the objective.

``First Lieutenant Burke's heroic action and daring exploits inspired a small force of 35 troops, resulting in victory over the enemy. His unflinching courage and outstanding leadership reflect the highest credit upon himself, the infantry, and the United States Army.''

Mr. Speaker, I can think of no better tribute to Mr. Burke than to allow his name to live on in the City of Stuttgart. The heroism displayed on October 28, 1951, was an invaluable contribution to his city, the State of Arkansas, and this great Nation for which he served so admirably.

I ask that Members please support H.R. 3059 in honor of Mr. Burke's patriotic achievements.

Mr. Speaker, that great country singer and philosopher Merle Haggard has this wonderful song called ``Rainbow Stew.'' And the words go something like this: ``When a President goes through the White House door and does what he says he will do, we will all be drinking that free Bubble Up and eating that rainbow stew.''

Now, there must be a barrel of Bubble Up in the Republican cloakroom tonight because, if I did not know better, the last two speakers on the Republican side, I would suspect that they might have gotten here by falling off a turnip truck on Independence Avenue. I have never heard such ridiculous goings on in all of my days.

Now, I know that they have not been here very long, and I understand that. What we need is a little bit of sanity. This would be hysterically funny if it was not so painful for the next generation. What we need is a little credibility. What we need is a little honesty from the gentlemen on the other side of the aisle that just voted today to support a budget that will raise the debt ceiling over $8 trillion. And then they come down here and talk about some ridiculous deal that they do not even know what they are talking about and blame the Democrats for it.

The Republicans have been in charge since 1995 in this place. And it is the Democrats' fault? Some of these fraud cases that they are talking about were contracts that were administered by the current administration. You have got to wonder when the turnip truck got through the barricades out here.

When the President came in this January of 2001, the Blue Dogs went to him, we said, We want to work with you. We will work with you to cut taxes. That is all we ask. But if you are going to cut taxes, cut spending. Let us agree on that. Let us work together, and we will do it. And we will all be proud of our work when we get through.

They sent Vice President Cheney down here in room 122, downstairs. I will never forget it. And he said this: ``We think you all are nice people, but we do not need you and we are going to do what we are going to do.'' And they can.

Now, look what we got, a budget that was voted for by the gentleman from Texas this afternoon that is going to borrow another $700 billion from our children and grandchildren. Now, you talk about waste, fraud, and abuse, that is it. There is not any proposal in there to cut spending in a responsible way.

The Blue Dog Coalition has worked and worked and worked to try to get the other side to sit down with us and let us do the responsible thing. We have proposed raising taxes. We have proposed balancing the budget in a responsible way. Then they sent Mitch Daniels, the head of the Office of Management and Budget, and he told us, ``Do not worry, we are going to have so much money after we cut taxes we are going to pay off all the debt. The biggest problem we are going to have is you will not be able to buy any U.S. Treasury bonds; they will not be a safe investment.'' They did just about fix it with the U.S. Treasury bonds: they are not a safe investment anymore. I just wonder what in the Sam Hill these people are thinking about.

But I can tell you this: you can keep trying to fool the American people which will not be successful. You can keep doing what you are doing which is add to the debt load of our children and grandchildren in such an irresponsible way that it will be a horrendous day when the payday comes. And you will be the one that suffers, because I am so old I will probably be dead when it happens. But the young man from Texas over there that is sitting there smiling in such a cute way, he is going to still be around. And he is going to have to pay this tax.

The one tax that you cannot repeal is the interest on the national debt. Now, they want to raise that one as much as they can. And, boy, they are doing it great.

I just cannot imagine why. That is the great mystery to me. Why would you want to do such a ridiculous but, more importantly, irresponsible thing to our children and grandchildren.

Mr. Speaker, this is very serious business. If this was not so serious, I think it would be easy for us to make jokes about some of the things that have been said on this floor this evening.

As I listened to the gentleman from Oklahoma describe this wonderful economy, I could not help but wonder where in the world he was coming up with this idea. We have lost over 2 million jobs in this country. We may have created some, but we have lost a lot more. It does not do any good to distort things or make these things up or make it look like something that it is not.

Come to the First Congressional District of Arkansas and tell someone that does not have a job and does not have health care and their unemployment has run out that things are great in America and they are going to get better because we are going to cut taxes on the wealthiest people in this country some more.

We may have to reduce Social Security and Medicare benefits to do that, but we are going to do it. Things are great in America. People that do not have a job just do not believe this.

It is time for this country and the leaders of this country and this administration to develop some integrity and credibility.

Back in January of 2001, the Blue Dog Coalition reached out to the new administration; and we said, if you want to cut taxes, we will work with you; we would love to do it. Let us work together and cut spending by an equal amount, and let us not get back in the deficit ditch. They sent Vice-President Cheney over to see us and he said this: we think you are nice people, but we do not need you. We are in the majority in both Houses, and we are going to do what we want to do, and they did.

That very year they projected that the budget would have a $262 billion surplus in 2004. It has, in fact, a $521 billion deficit. In 2005, they said we will have a $269 billion surplus. Now they say we are going to have a $364 billion deficit. They said the Medicare bill will cost $400 billion, but now it is going to be $535 billion. They said the war is not going to cost that much; it is going to be real quick, and it is going to be over with. Now it is $50 billion now and $50 billion in a few months, and they do not include it in the budget. They do not even really acknowledge that it exists, but we are still borrowing these moneys from our children and grandchildren.

It is time for some integrity. If we are doing so good, why are we broke? Why are we going in debt by the trillions of dollars? Why are we borrowing this money from our children and grandchildren when they face the perfect economic storm? Record budget deficits and a national debt exceeding $7 trillion, one more than one-third of our debt held by foreigners and growing every day; a trade deficit of $400 billion that contributes to the exporting of jobs; and the approaching retirement of the baby boomers. This is the perfect economic storm; and yet the administration continues to refuse to sit down in a realistic, rational way with both sides of the aisle and let us face this thing that has been created by the Bush administration.

Let us face what has really happened to our country. Let us face what has really been put on our children and grandchildren. Let us not continue day after day to live in a fantasy land and make up an economy and make up the idea that everything's wonderful, when we know, in fact, there are nearly 9 million people that do not have a job in this country. There are 44 million that do not have health care, and that situation gets worse every day.

Most of all, Mr. Speaker, we must be honest with the American people and tell them what is really happening and not continue to deceive our children and grandchildren and put them in a position where they are going to wake up and inherit this great Nation or what was once a great Nation, and it is going to be so far in debt they cannot even pay the interest; and not only that, but the infrastructure will have crumbled. The education system will have been underfunded so long that they cannot fix it, and then we are going to just dump that on them. What responsible person would do that to their own?

Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my deep appreciation for the contributions of Arkansas National Guardsmen currently training at Ft. Polk Louisiana preparing for deployment to Iraq and their families who await their safe return.

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit these fine men and women and witness their training. Designed to mimic what the troops will face in the field, their exercises are impressive in scope and in our troops' ability to accomplish the monumental tasks regularly laid before them.

More impressive than the accomplishments, however, were dedicated Arkansans; far from home and preparing to go farther. They did not complain about living in tents, carrying heavy gear or the long days of hard training. And when this country called them to service, they did not hesitate.

As they prepare for their mission, it is imperative we consider more than their coming task,

we must remember who they are. They are fathers, mothers, sons and daughters who will soon be in harm's way. In Arkansas--and elsewhere-- they have families who love them and communities that will miss them.

We cannot thank these brave men and women enough for their sacrifice. We can only salute their commitment and do what we can to support them when they return. On behalf of Congress, I extend our deepest gratitude to our men and women in uniform.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor one of Arkansas' finest citizens, Lon Mann. I am proud to recognize Lon in the Congress for his invaluable contributions and service to his profession, his family, his state and this nation.

A third generation farmer, Mr. Mann returned from World War II to continue in the family tradition as a cotton producer and ginner as a partner at McClendon Mann & Felton Gin Company in Marianna, AR. He was a leader in the revitalization of the National Cotton Council of America and served as its president as he advocated for America's cotton farmers. He also served as president of the Mid-South Ginners Council and the Agricultural Council of Arkansas, as a trustee of the National Cotton Council's Cotton Foundation and was rightfully inducted into the Arkansas Agricultural Hall of Fame. Mr. Mann was the recipient of numerous awards including the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service ``Cotton Achievement'' award, the Harry Baker Award from the National Cotton Council and the Horace Hayden Cotton Ginner of the Year Award in 2000.

Mr. Mann's efforts extended beyond the cotton fields into the community as Chairman of the Board of Methodist Hospital and Health Systems in Memphis, TN, and president of the Marianna-Lee County School Board.

Lon Mann was a faithful and dedicated husband to his wife, June, a loving father to daughters June, Louise and Burkley and son William, and the proud grandfather of six grandchildren. Throughout his life, he was dedicated to serving his fellow citizens as a leader in both his profession and his community, and he deserves our respect and gratitude for his priceless contributions. I will be forever honored by our friendship.

On behalf of the Congress, I extend sympathies to Lon's family, and gratitude for all he did.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great Arkansan and an outstanding citizen. I am proud to recognize Jay Lawhon in the Congress for his invaluable contributions and service to his community, his family, his state and this nation.

Mr. Lawhon was born on a small farm near Harrison in northwest Arkansas in 1919. After serving in the Navy in World War II, Mr. Lawhon moved to southeast Arkansas to become a vocational agriculture teacher. He served as principal of McCrory High School before beginning his career in the seed industry. Mr. Lawhon opened Lawhon Farm Supply in the late 1950's, and passed the thriving business to his son, Noal, in 1975 in order to begin his work as a missionary.

As lay leader in McCrory's Methodist Church and founder of the World Christian Relief Fund, Mr. Lawhon made several humanitarian trips to Bangladesh when floods and famine struck in the 1970's. He later traveled to Haiti to help build a hospital and continued to visit the country to teach Haitians to drill and repair wells for water and plant trees.

Jay Lawhon was a faithful and dedicated husband to his wife, Lillian, a loving father to

Noal and the proud grandfather of two grandchildren and one great- granddaughter. Throughout his life, he was dedicated to serving his fellow citizens as a leader in both his profession and his community, and he deserves our respect and gratitude for his priceless contributions. I will be forever honored by his friendship.

On behalf of the Congress, I extend sympathies to Jay's family, and gratitude for all he did to make the world a better place.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great Arkansan and an outstanding citizen; I am proud to recognize Samuel Konecny in the Congress. His recent death was a great loss to his community, his family, his state and this nation.

As a third-generation farmer and a member of the Arkansas State Plant Board, he was proud of his efforts to preserve the Grand Prairie. His desire to conserve was highlighted when he allocated 53 acres of virgin prairie to the Department of Arkansas Heritage and received the Arkansas Conservationist of the Year award.

Mr. Konecny served his country with distinction as a retired captain in the Arkansas National Guard and served as company commander for the local unit. He and his unit were deployed throughout the Central High School crisis and helped break the stranglehold of segregation when he escorted ``The Little Rock Nine'' safely to school.

An avid churchgoer, Mr. Konecny was a member of Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Stuttgart. He was a 4th Degree Knights of Columbus and helped initiate the Slovak Oyster Supper.

Maybe most importantly, Mr. Konecny was a man of great generosity both with his money and his time. He was instrumental in persuading Riceland Foods and Producers Rice Mill to encourage members to donate rice to the food program to feed the hungry. He spent many hours of his life helping people in need and performed many acts of charity throughout his church and community.

A devout public servant, he served as a supporter and legislative liaison to former Governors Bill Clinton and Jim Guy Tucker and was a long-time sergeant at arms for the Arkansas State Senate. Sam Konecny was a man of honor, religion and compassion. On behalf of the Congress, I extend sympathies to his family, and gratitude for all he did to make the world a better place.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great Arkansan and an outstanding citizen; I am proud to recognize Louis Ramsay in the Congress. His recent death was a great loss to his community, his family, his state and this nation.

Born, raised and educated in Fordyce, Arkansas, Mr. Ramsay left his home town to play quarterback for the Razorback football team at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. After earning a pre-law degree from the university, Mr. Ramsay served as a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps in Europe in WWII where he was awarded the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters. He was discharged from the U.S. Air Force Reserve as a Major.

Mr. Ramsay lived his life serving his community in every capacity imaginable. He worked at the law firm baring his name, Ramsay, Bridgforth, Harrelson & Starling, and was Chairman of the Executive Committee and Emeritus Director of Simmons First National Corp. He was the only person in Arkansas history to have been elected and served as president of both the Arkansas Bar Association and Arkansas Bankers' Association.

He served as chair to Arkansas' Sesquicentennial Commission in 1985, appointed by then-Governor Bill Clinton. In 2003 he was inducted into the Walton School of Business, Arkansas Business Hall of Fame and a faculty fund was soon established at the University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business in honor of Mr. Ramsay and his wife.

Mr. Ramsay was a role model for us all. A man who worked hard and did his best to give back to his community more then he took from it. On behalf of the Congress, I extend sympathies to Louis' family, and gratitude for all he did to make the world a better place.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great Arkansan, an outstanding citizen, an accomplished farmer and a World War II Veteran; I am proud to recognize Stewart E. Jessup in the Congress.

Mr. Jessup was a third generation rice grower who, with his wife and sons, farmed approximately 3,000 acres of rice, soybeans, wheat and milo at their farm at Lodge's Corner, Arkansas. He also served his country with honor in World War II as a first lieutenant navigator aboard B-29's in the Pacific theater.

When Mr. Jessup wasn't tending to his farm or serving his country, he spent his time restoring antique tractors and engines--a painstaking art that demonstrated his extreme focus and deep patience.

He served his community loyally as a member of the Arkansas State Water Code Study Commission, Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board, Farmers Home Administration--Arkansas Advisory Board, Stuttgart Grain Drying Cooperative board of directors, Arkansas County ASCS Committee, president of the Arkansas County Farm Bureau, and chairman of the DeWitt School Board.

Mr. Jessup was an Arkansan by choice, a veteran by duty and a farmer by nature. On behalf of the Congress, I extend sympathies to his family, and gratitude for all he did to make the world a better place.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time of the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Tanner).

Mr. Speaker, it is a sad day when we have to come to the well of this House and talk about the credibility gap of the President of the United States. It is the most disappointing thing to have the President issue a budget that is just simply fantasy. He just simply made up numbers.

Mr. Speaker, there is no funding in the budget for Iraq and Afghanistan, and we know that that is going to have to be done. It fails to address the repeal of the AMT, which we know is going to have to happen if there is going to be any fairness left in the Tax Code. Then, he puts out an economic report on this Nation and talks about how good it is to outsource jobs, to shift our jobs overseas. Where is the credibility?

Over and over and over again, we are presented with a report or a request or a budget or appropriations bills that just simply do not have any credibility.

Our Nation is facing the perfect economic storm in a very short period of time. We just saw the charts. The deficit is in a nose dive, and nobody knows what to do about it. The cost of the interest that each family will have to pay in this country in the next 10 years is going to reach over $10,000 per family, a tax that cannot be repealed. We have the President's own economists talking about what a good thing it is that we are outsourcing high-tech jobs from this country.

Where is the credibility? None of this makes any sense.

The President just the other day in New Hampshire made a speech and said the Federal Government's got plenty of money. We do not need any more money. We have got plenty of money.

Where is the credibility? If we have got so much money, if the economy is doing so well, why are we broke? Why are we losing jobs? Why are the prospects for the next generation so dismal?

When this generation came into office, the Blue Dog Coalition that I am a member of met with the Vice President first. And we said, Mr. Vice President, we want to work with you. If you want to cut taxes, let us talk about it. Let us figure out a way to cut spending so we can make this work and we do not get back in the deficit ditch, because many of the people in that room at that time had dealt with this before, and they knew how tough it was. And he said, You do not understand. We have the majority. We do not need you. We think you are nice people, but we just do not need you. And we are going to do what we want to do, and what we want to do is have massive tax cuts and let somebody else worry about the deficit.

This is the same man that said in a meeting in the White House with the President, Deficits do not matter.

Well, tell that to these families that are going to have to come up with $10,000 to pay the interest on the national debt as their part. But, again, where is the credibility? Over and over we see this.

Then the Blue Dogs met with Mitch Daniels, the head of the Office of Management and Budget, and he explained it another way. Also, again, we did not understand. We had these massive surpluses. There was money flowing in the street, and he said this to us, You do not understand. We are going to have so much money, and after we cut taxes we are going to have even more. We are going to have so much money that we are going to pay off all of the national debt, and there will not be a safe place to invest your money. There will not be a U.S. Treasury bond anymore.

I remember him saying that so well. I wish Mr. Daniels was here tonight to face this perfect economic storm that we are about to pass on to our children and grandchildren because I think it is a terrible, terrible thing; and I think it is time that there be some credibility introduced into the national debate, and it needs to be brought to the table by the President.

Mr. Speaker, this is the most shameful attempt to deceive the Greatest Generation. The question that continues to go through my mind is why would you want to do this to these good people. They survived the Depression, they fought World War II, and they built this great Nation into what it is today.

Being an Anglo-Saxon, male Protestant, I have not known the hurt of being excluded or denied my rights like my dear friend the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis). After having served on this conference committee, I have an idea of what that must feel like. At every attempt to be a part of this conference, the House Democrats were ridiculed, humiliated, used every trick that they could imagine to try to make us feel like we just simply should not be a part of this act, and we are not. This is the Republicans' deal. Let them have credit for this sorry piece of work.

I can tell my colleagues, I do not also understand why they would want to continue to give billions of dollars to the drug companies and to pass an act that would make it possible for the drug companies of this country to have the exclusive right to continue to rob the senior citizens. The burden of this dishonorable act rests on those that have written it and those that will vote to pass it.

I suspect that our Founding Fathers must be very sad this evening, but let it be known henceforth and hereafter, the Republicans did this to our seniors, and the Democrats fought every last step of the way to try to keep it from happening.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California, and I appreciate his leadership on this matter for many, many years.

In the document that founded this great Nation, it says all men are created equal. Under this bill, the drug companies are a lot more equal than the seniors I can tell my colleagues. Why would we for any reason prohibit the negotiation of lower prices by Medicare? Why would we do that?

Tonight, we make a choice. We either serve the drug companies or serve our seniors. I find this a very easy choice to make. I choose to serve our seniors. I will not be a part of the continued effort to allow the prescription drug manufacturers of this country to rob the senior citizens of America.

Mr. Speaker, I rise at this time to just express my gratitude and the gratitude of my caucus to the two gentlemen who have worked tirelessly for years on this issue, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel). And I hope that this entire body, even though they have been treated shamefully and disgustingly by the Republican leadership and by this conference committee, I hope that everyone here this evening will join me in thanking them for the magnificent job that they have done for America and America's seniors.