Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, in the past several weeks we have all been back at home spending time in our districts talking with constituents, and I cannot even begin to tell you how energizing that has been. We have talked about tax policy. We have talked about the war or terrorism. We have talked about the ways we can reduce government spending. There are a lot of great ideas out there. And we have discussed the border security issue.

Last year, we enacted several spending cuts. Great work for us. Our men

and women in uniform eliminated key al Qaeda figures, and we eliminated or cut some duplicative and wasteful government programs. We have a lot more to do. And we also passed legislation to work on our illegal immigration problem.

Mr. Speaker, this is going to be a great year. We are going to build on the successes of 2005, and we are going to act on the issues that matter to our constituents. Let's get to work.

Madam Speaker, the world is watching democracy in action today. I applaud our Iraqi allies and thank our men and women in uniform for making this historic election possible. We are reshaping a region responsible for creating terrorism that murdered nearly 3,000 Americans on September 11. Today's election is a step in the right direction.

Madam Speaker, I also want to commend Chairman Sensenbrenner for leading the House in the effort to get a hold on our illegal immigration problem. In both the 108th and 109th Congresses, I introduced the Federal Contractors Security Act to tackle the problem we have seen, a documented and publicized problem, of illegal entrants working for Federal contractors at critical infrastructure sites.

I am pleased the Judiciary Committee inserted many of the provisions of my bill into H.R. 4437 to implement the worker verification system. Chairman Sensenbrenner listened to our concerns and his bill will do so much to address the problem of illegal entry into this great Nation.

Mr. Chairman, I thank Chairman Sensenbrenner and Chairman King of New York for their extraordinary efforts on this bill. I do rise in support of H.R. 4437 today.

We do have a border crisis on our hands, and it is time that we do something about it other than talk. The chairmen have done a great job in bringing this forward. Everywhere I go in my district, Democrats, Republicans, everyone is united in the belief that our border enforcement is out of control and we have to give our border agents the tools they need to protect this great Nation.

My constituents see this truly as an issue of national security and of grave importance to our country. It is one we cannot wait to handle. We have to do something to secure those borders.

I am especially pleased to see that the Judiciary Committee has inserted several items on the bill that I had worked on while I was a member of the committee. During the 108 and 109th Congress, I introduced the Federal Contractor Security Act to tackle the problem of illegal entrants working for Federal contractors at critical infrastructure sites, at sites that are sensitive to our national security. And now the bill makes it mandatory for all employers, including Federal contractors, to use the worker verification system.

This is a system that employers can use at no charge, at no charge, and provide the sense of security that is needed by American citizens that the individuals working are indeed who they claim to be.

The legislation removes the guesswork about a worker's status and separates illegal entrants well before a business has invested time and money to train them.

Again, I want to thank Chairman Sensenbrenner and Chairman King of New York. I want to thank the leadership for their work and encourage support of H.R. 4437. This is something that is good for business. It is good for our Nation's security.

Mr. Speaker, today we are here on the eve of the elections in Iraq, and it is a significant victory within itself. We congratulate our Iraqi friends on that victory.

Also, in Nashville, there is going to be plenty of purple to be seen because that is a voting site for Iraqis in America to gather and cast their vote. We have to congratulate the Kurdish population there on that victory.

I just returned from Memphis holding town halls speaking to a Rotary club. Our citizens understand this. This is a significant step. They are talking to our men and women from the 278th who have returned, families of the 101st who are currently deployed. They know progress is being made. The Army has just surpassed its projections; 5,800 new recruits have signed up because they are committed. They understand the vision. And to celebrate all of this achievement, Moveon.org is taking petitions to our district offices, calling for immediate withdrawal. They just do not understand the significance of today. We celebrate the success of the victories in Iraq.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize the achievements of Suzanne Griffith. For 21 years Suzanne has served with the Bartlett, Tennessee Chamber of Commerce. She has truly helped make our community a better place to live and work, and for that we can't thank her enough.

Suzanne began her career with the Chamber as the first full-time employee, and today she serves as its President. That sort of dedication is rare these days and we should all take a moment to mark the occasion.

During Suzanne's years at the Chamber she helped foster remarkable commercial development in Bartlett. What started as a rural community has become a thriving, economically diverse town that has given thousands of families a wonderful place to live and grow.

From 1984 to 2004, Tennessee recognized Bartlett as a ``Three-Star'' recipient for consistent strong economic growth, expansion, and capital improvements. Suzanne was instrumental in helping Bartlett achieve this record of achievement, and it's a credit to her work that today Bartlett has surpassed the requirements of the ``Three-Star'' program.

The Bartlett we know and love is in no small part due to Suzanne Griffith's work. We thank her for her vision, her hard work, and wish her well as she retires from the Bartlett Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Speaker, you know, you can choose to be negative. You can choose to be positive. And with this economy and this great Nation there is a lot to be positive about. Everybody is writing about it. Even the good old Washington Post talking about we are going to move to cut taxes another $94.5 billion. That is one of the things that makes this economy work. It is why we are seeing record economic growth. Over 4 million jobs created. And today this body is going to take action on H.R. 4297, which already extends tax relief for millions of American families.

There is a provision, sales tax deductibility for States. Sales tax deductibility for individuals who, when they go to file their Federal income tax every April, they can deduct the sales tax they pay every year from that Federal income tax filing. This affects over 60 million individuals, hardworking Americans. We are going to give them tax relief today.

I encourage all Members of this body to support H.R. 4297.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the underlying bill and to oppose the substitute. And this is the reason why: my state, Tennessee, has seen more than $250 million in taxpayer savings a year from the sales tax deduction we passed in 2004.

The Tax Relief Extension Act that we are passing today will extend that. There is no excuse not to support this matter of tax fairness for States like mine. It is great for our economy; it is great for Tennessee's Main Streets. And those hundreds of millions of dollars are being pumped back into those local economies.

My State should not be penalized for choosing an alternative tax system. It is a better tax system. We want to keep it. I know many of my friends who are Blue Dogs supported the tax cut, and I hope that they are going to join us today and vote for the majority's bill. Tennesseeans are watching this vote.

Mr. Speaker, I do not know how many different ways we are going to have to talk about this economy and the fact that it is booming, jobs creation, home sales up, productivity soaring; but some never let facts get in the way of their political agenda.

If you read the New York Times, the Washington Post, or listen to many of my colleagues, you believe that our economy is dismal and we have not created a single solitary new job. One important thing the Federal Reserve noted: since we passed these tax relief measures in 2003, American households have increased their nest eggs, their retirement security, their savings by $10.5 trillion, $10.5 trillion net worth development by American households.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, this bill before us today, this bill has a provision that helps our Nation's songwriters. As chairman of the Congressional Songwriters Caucus, we worked to correct an inequity in the Tax Code that penalizes them when they sell their life's work. The bill solves that.

I thank my friend from Kentucky (Mr. Lewis) and Chairman Thomas for their work on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, we are saluting our veterans from World War II today. Last week, I had the opportunity to spend time with members of the 278th Regimental Combat Team of the Tennessee National Guard, and the 115th Field Artillery Regiment from the Tennessee Army National Guard.

Tennessee was welcoming them home after a year of service in Iraq and around the world. They have done great work. We are proud of them. And I believe their sacrifice is what does keep this Nation free.

Mr. Speaker, it was with sadness and a little bit of disbelief that I heard yesterday of Democratic Party leader Howard Dean's comments that we cannot win in Iraq, and that we are in the same situation as Vietnam.

The pessimism and historical ignorance contained in those statements is simply staggering, Mr. Speaker. I do not know if this is simply wishful thinking by a Democratic leader looking for an angle to slam the White House, or whether Mr. Dean actually believes it. Both options are frightening. I have been in Iraq. I have seen the progress. It is undeniable. It is good for America. It is good for the freedom-loving people in this world. Thank you to the men and women in uniform for their sacrifice.

I thank the gentleman from Georgia, and I thank you for your leadership on this issue. One of the things that we are so fortunate to have in this body is such a wide variety of experience from our Members that bring that experience to bear here as we look at how we grow the economy, how we exercise economic opportunity, how we make certain that free enterprise stays free. Just as the gentleman from Georgia has mentioned, it is no secret, everybody knows that this economy, this wonderful U.S. economy, truly is our Nation's, our world's economic engine. It is the envy of all of the world. It is, I guess, something that is really a little bit uniquely American. There is something about us. We strive to do things a little bit better. Maybe it is that Yankee ingenuity. Maybe it is that we are out here with that good old common-sense know-how, but we are always trying to do things faster, better, more efficiently, more effectively; and one of the things we certainly want to do is to build a strong economy so that our children know that they are going to have hope and opportunity and the ability to dream big dreams and create a really exciting life for themselves and for their families. I guess that is just kind of the American way of doing things. We try to improve it. Give us something, and we are going to build a better mousetrap. Then we are going to figure out how to get that mousetrap into the marketplace.

In today's economy, we look at it and we say, How do we get that into a global marketplace? We know in order to do that it means you have to stay competitive. We know that as you look at policies, creating the right environment so that job growth can take place, so that economic growth can take place, that when we see that right environment created, then free enterprise and the private sector take over and they do what they do well. The gentleman has shown us the charts which tell this story. You go back and you look at 2003 and look at when those tax reforms were implemented, and what we saw was an economy that took off.

What we are seeing is consistent economic growth every single month. We are reaping the benefits from that. We see that our GDP growth continues to be very consistent. It was 4.1 percent last quarter. There are some really wonderful benefits that come from this. As the gentleman mentioned, 4,460,000 new jobs. Those are new jobs. Many of those jobs are jobs that are basically in new sectors, technology sectors, sectors of the economy that will lead to an economic renaissance and lead to an economic renaissance in this country.

It works out to be 194,000 jobs a month that we have been creating over the past several months, and I find it so interesting that the unemployment rate is near all-time lows. When we look at the charts on that, we see that as these tax reforms have been put in place, and I applaud the Senate, I applaud the administration, and I certainly applaud the leadership in this House for pushing forward these tax reforms in 2003, and as we see those going into place and we see the GDP growth and we see the jobs creation and we watch the unemployment level fall to near historic lows, there is also another benefit from this.

Our colleagues who are joining us here on the floor this evening certainly are watching this one with us, and it is that we are seeing the deficit reduced through two ways. We have talked so many times on this floor about there being two ways that we work through reducing the deficit and reducing the size of government and right-sizing the Federal Government, and that is, we reduce spending and continue to work to root out waste, fraud and abuse, focusing on that spending column, but at the same time, we put the focus on economic growth. That is where our focus rightfully should be.

This is an aggressive economy, and it is, therefore, a reason, and tomorrow this House is going to move forward and take some excellent steps to pass a bill that is going to continue these tax reforms.

At this time, I am going to yield back to the gentleman from Georgia so that he can yield to another of our colleagues, and we can continue with our discussion this evening on the benefits that lie ahead by extending these tax reforms and continuing to work toward having a Federal income tax system that is flatter, that is fairer, that is simpler and having one that is going to work to energize our economy. I will yield back at this point for further discussion.

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I would like to yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina for a couple of minutes. She is going to talk with us about her time on the road this week with the President as the President visited in her area in North Carolina, and she had the opportunity to not only talk tax reforms with the President, but to listen to her constituents in North Carolina and to hear what was on their mind as they enjoyed that visit and as they had prepared for that visit. At this time, I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina and I thank her for taking the time this week to look at how workers continue educating themselves and preparing and participating in a changing economy, a changing job market.

I mentioned the diversity of experience that comes to this body and what goes into looking at these policies and how we remain competitive, what we need to do to be competitive and the decisions we make, how tax and government budgeting and spending affects the budget. The gentlewoman from North Carolina spent her time in education. Ms. Foxx came to us after working at post-secondary education and looking for avenues to best encourage individuals to become lifelong learners, to continue improving and honing those skills so that they were productive in the job market, and I thank her for her leadership.

I thank her for the time spent with the President and with the North Carolinians this weekend as they were able to showcase their facility and showcase what they are doing to be a leader in being competitive in a global economy.

At this time, I would like to recognize the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) who has worked tirelessly not only on budgeting and not only on looking at how we budget, but looking at what happens with tax policy and the ramifications that that has throughout our economy, both for our large businesses, our small businesses and for our families. We appreciate the leadership that he has brought to the budgeting issue, looking at both sides of that ledger, your inflows and your outflows.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling).

If the gentleman will yield, I want us to talk a little more about the deficit dropping, because that is one of the true benefits that we do see from this.

And individuals who are at home and watching and listening to this conversation that we are having tonight, they can go to the Treasury Department Web site, they can go to the Congressional Budget Office and they can pull up these figures so that they can see these are solid figures. These are not our numbers. This is not political spin. These are figures and facts. This is what has been reported.

We know that Federal tax revenues increased in fiscal year 2005 by $274 billion. We know that that is the reason this deficit is $138 billion lower than it had been estimated to be. Now, this is the reason that we are seeing such a change in what the deficit is. This is the reason we are seeing growth.

The gentleman mentioned the policies, the robust economy and what are some of the benefits that come from this. What happens with small business when there is more money left at the end of the month and they can get in there and say, you know, we want to do some things. Business investment. Reinvestment in the business that you own. That is up over 10 percent. It is up over 10 percent. That is men and women that believe in what they are doing.

I will gladly yield, yes.

If the gentleman will yield, let us talk about some of these provisions that are in the bill that is going to be before us. Because we do not want the Democrat tax increase to take place, and that is why the leadership in this House is working to be certain that we pass our Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act. And if individuals are going to go on and look at this, it is House Resolution 4297. I think they would like to see some of the provisions that are in here.

The gentleman from Texas and I have worked long and hard on one provision which is in here, which is continued deductibility of State and local sales taxes from your Federal income tax filing. In my State of Tennessee that is something that is mighty important, because we are one of those great States that does not have a State income tax. We have fought hard in Tennessee to be sure that we stay income-tax free, and we are.

We want to continue this deduction. It is a deduction that we worked hard last year to get restored, and we thank another gentleman from Texas, Mr. Brady, for his incredible leadership on this issue, and we thank the leadership of the House for working so closely with us on it. But that sales tax deductibility is something we encourage everyone in this body, everyone who is in a State that does not have a State income tax to support this legislation tomorrow because it is so important to the individuals in our States. It is estimated that in Tennessee this is worth about $1 billion a year to the State of Tennessee.

If the gentleman will yield, yes, for those of us in nonincome tax States that means that you are voting to take that deduction away from them.

Another one that you would be voting to take away is the above-the- line deduction for out-of-pocket teacher-classroom expenses. Extending that deduction for our Nation's teachers is included in this bill.

I have so many of my friends that I went through college with who are teachers, and many of them have been teaching for about 30 years now. This is something that is important to them, because they spend a lot of their out-of-pocket money buying little things, buying little things that are going to enrich the classroom day.

The above-the-line deduction for higher education expenses, as I was saying earlier, the research and development tax credit, now that is something that is so important to our companies in this country. When you talk about the BioShield projects, biotech developments in agricultural products, in pharmaceuticals, when you talk about technology and the needs that we have there for our Nation's first responders, for our military, all of that comes in research and development.

When you talk about looking at what businesses are investing in as they are working, our small business manufacturers, whose output is up for the first time in a couple of decades, they are investing in this research and development to build a better mousetrap.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas for comment on this.

Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is exactly right because that is what it would be. At this time of year, coming in and voting a tax increase, voting a tax increase on our Nation's small businesses, voting a tax increase on our Nation's families. To us, that is unacceptable. We know that the rate of economic growth in this Nation, the jobs growth, has shown that the tax reforms that have been passed work and they yield results.

Another provision that is included in this bill is the welfare-to- work tax credit. As the gentleman from Texas was saying, individuals who may not have had a job are able to get a job because of the growth we are seeing in the small business sector. And the welfare-to-work tax credit for those businesses that are hiring individuals who have received public assistance for an extended period of time, that would go away. So then it becomes a tax increase on those businesses if they are no longer able to avail themselves of that.

The 15-year depreciation period for restaurants and for leasehold improvements for that industry, that is included in this bill. I know in so many of my towns in the 7th Congressional District in Tennessee, this is very important to these small businesses. They depend on this. They need this.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia.

The gentleman is accurate on that. Individuals that vote no on this tomorrow would be voting to increase that on our Nation's teachers. They would be voting no on State sales tax deductibility. They would be voting against that, for all of our constituents in Tennessee and Texas and Washington State and Wyoming and other States across the Nation that enjoy that sales tax deductibility.

Another one they would be voting no on is the savers' tax credit for low-income workers who contribute to retirement savings accounts. We talk about doing things that will assist those who are working and need a hand up and need a little bit of help. Focusing on that savers' tax credit, that is something we want to do and we want to see that continue.

The gentleman from Georgia is exactly right, that is something that is

included in this bill, the provisions for our Nation's teachers.

Mr. Speaker, there are over 91 million Americans who own shares of stock in companies in this country, 91 million Americans who have invested in that capital creation process, invested in these companies. When we talk about capital gains and dividends, sometimes we think as you are saying, well, that is just somebody else. That does not apply to me. But for individuals that have 401(k)s and retirement plans, yes it does. What we are seeing is that 51 percent of our tax- paying senior citizens are claiming dividend income, and 47 percent of total dividend income earned in America is by senior citizens.

Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is precisely right on that. Again, the bill tomorrow is H.R. 4297. It is the Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act, and it is called the tax relief extension because these are reliefs that were passed in 2003. As we have continued to talk through the evening, these are the provisions that have really created this robust economy that we are seeing, 4.1 percent GDP growth just this last quarter. I think it is so important that we keep our focus there. This is a booming economy. This is a growing economy. We are seeing regularly that there is jobs creation that is taking place in our communities.

I love it when I am out in my community, and I know the gentleman from Texas has the same experience, and you are driving down the street and all of a sudden you see an entire group of new stores that are going in. Generally they are small businesses. You walk inside and there is an excitement and energy there that is just indescribable. There is so much of that happening in this Nation's small businesses.

As people have seen their rate of taxation reduced, they have had a little bit more income left with those businesses that they can go back in and reinvest in those businesses, or gather that capital together to start that business or start that small manufacturing plant. That is why we see the business reinvestment dollars up 10 percent. That is why we see jobs creation taking place, why we are seeing over 4 million jobs, 4.46 million jobs created since we started down this path of reforming taxes, reducing those taxes and freeing up free enterprise.

A couple of other provisions. Talking about your district and the way this bill tomorrow will affect your district, in this bill, H.R. 4297 tomorrow, there will be a technical correction in there that affects this Nation's songwriters, which of course, so many of them live in my district, and I do believe that they are definitely some of the most creative people and such an important part of our creative community.

But for years, when a songwriter wants to sell their catalog, which is their life's work, it is like selling that small business that Eddie has and that so many of our constituents have, then

they have been taxed at ordinary income tax and had to pay self- employment. This is their retirement. This is their nest egg they have pulled together. And a correction that we will make tomorrow will affect so many of those songwriters that are in Memphis and Nashville and down in Austin and in those areas because it will allow those catalogs to be sold and those individuals to pay a capital gains tax like other small business owners, there again, leaving more money and more of that nest egg for them as they retire and as they are seniors, and allowing them to look at how they do things better, how they grow those small businesses. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Talking about our homes and construction and home sales. In October, home sales reached 7.1 units in October. And the thing that is so interesting is that is just off the historic high of home sales which was in June of this year when there were 7.3 units that were built or were sold. So whether it is new homes being built, whether it is existing homes, the home sales, how amazing that we are seeing home sales reaching such high numbers in both the new construction and the existing home sales category. And I yield back to the gentleman from Texas.

I thank the gentleman from Texas, and I thank him so much for being here to talk with us tonight about why this is important legislation and why it is important that we stop a tax increase on the American people. And we have talked about so many of these issues tonight.

Mr. Speaker, this economy is booming. Inflation is low. Unemployment is near historic lows. We saw that 4.1 percent growth with the quarter that ended in September of 2005. And I think it is important to realize that this just did not happen. It did not just happen. And I know that my constituents certainly remember the recession the President confronted when he took office, and they remember the impact that September 11 had on our economy. We did not bury our heads in the sand when that happened. We rolled up our sleeves. We got to work. We passed tax reforms and tax relief, and tomorrow is our opportunity to extend that.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all Members of this body to join us in supporting H.R. 4297 tomorrow.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained by traffic. Had I been present for the vote on H. Res. 438, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, the Lord knew what he was doing when he sent us Adrian Rogers. And we're so very thankful for that gift.

Dr. Rogers lived a life of service. He lived a life of grace. And we cannot help but be inspired by his accomplishments. For 32 years he preached a message of love, hope, and salvation. His inspirational leadership was on display each Sunday as anyone of the 30,000 Bellevue Baptist Church members can tell you.

Dr. Rogers not only reached out into his community, he reached out across America and this world to spread God's message. His years at Bellevue spreading the Word to millions through his Love Worth Finding ministry and his leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention will be remembered in the lives he changed and the example he set.

He was a great, great shepherd and a humble servant.

Regardless of the titles and leadership positions, we all know that Pastor Rogers was most proud to be a loving husband, father, and grandfather. On this day our prayers are with his family whom he loved so much. We thank the Rogers family for sharing him with us for all these years.

We will miss Pastor Rogers but we are grateful for his life. I rise today to mark the passing and recognize the service of a beloved Tennessean.

Mr. Speaker, few words sound as good as ``welcome home.''

This is especially true for our men and women in uniform returning from the Middle East where they've been battling terrorism.

In Tennessee we're celebrating the return of our State's 278th Regimental Combat Team. We couldn't be prouder of them, and we want them to know how grateful we are.

Their service and dedication should inspire us all. They placed others above themselves. They fought not to conquer but to free. They fought to put right a terrible evil in this world. They fought so that others might know hope and freedom.

And they fought so that future generations of Americans would not have to live with the terror that we know all too well.

Their deeds placed them among the elite few in American history--in world history.

As Tennesseans, we know the separation has been rough and the days have seemed longer with them so far from us.

Their return has answered our prayers and we're so glad to have them back where they belong.

We are proud of the brave and noble thing they have done for us, and for our country. And we can't thank them enough. We will never forget those 10 among them who aren't returning, those 10 who made the ultimate sacrifice. They will live on in the freedom they've helped preserve. Their families and friends are in our thoughts and prayers.

From a grateful, grateful Nation we salute them, and we salute their families.

God Bless America and our 278th.

Mr. Speaker, my Democratic colleagues are coming down here and accusing us of slandering our friend and fellow Member, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha), and that is absurd. It is not about him, and it is not about any of us. It is about foreign policy and national security, and, quite frankly, this idea on the left that we can and should immediately withdraw is not only a bad idea, it is dangerous. How do you tell a 19-year-old American, fighting, bleeding for their country, that it is all pointless? How dare you do such a thing?

You may not agree with the way things are being managed, but do not minimize the importance of what we are doing in Iraq. You all on the left opened up this debate. I think they have been itching for a fight for a long time from the way their comments have sounded, and now they would like

to sneak out of the room and avoid this topic.

The left in Congress wants a debate on the idea of immediate withdrawal, and since they have been wanting it, we are going to have it. The left wanted to go out. They wanted to talk about this with no regard for the big picture, with no regard for constituents, who have families, who are fighting. Well, now, we are going to have to stand here, they are going to have to stand here. And they are going to take the heat and take the debate.

We are fighting because we do not want our kids living in a world dominated by terrorism. We are fighting for freedom.

The left works real hard to isolate Iraq from the Middle East and from the global war on terrorism. The left actually thinks terrorists separate Iraq from the war on terrorism.

We know that is not true. We know it is not true.

I do not believe America is willing to give up on what is the war for the Free World. I do not think they are willing to give up on the war for the Free World.

The left wanted the debate. Let us have the debate. They are going to lose the debate. The American people have stronger backbones than the radical left.

Mr. Speaker, we were down here on the floor talking about this bill one night. I got an e-mail from a gentleman out in California, identified himself as a liberal Democrat. And he said, your House speech got it right. Programs started with the best of intentions will eventually outlive their usefulness, but their built-in bureaucracies have political champions that will not let these programs die ever.

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we are seeing. We have before us a deficit reduction plan that would put us on a track to reforming government and yielding a savings. It is a good solid plan. It is a good solid start. Unfortunately, our friends across the aisle do not get it. Ronald Reagan had it right. There is nothing so close to eternal life on earth as a Federal Government program. And the reason that is true is because these folks built a bureaucracy to themselves out of 40 years of Democrat control and they have had a choice and they have chosen to support the bureaucracy. They have chosen not to reduce those programs even when Democrat governors of our own State in Tennessee say the Medicaid programs have to be reformed. They choose not to support those.