Floor Statements

Offered By: Mr. Broun of Georgia

Amendment No. 45: Page 23, line 4, after the dollar amount

insert ``(reduced by $1,304,636,000)''.

Page 62, line 2, after the dollar amount insert

``(increased by $1,304,636,000)''.

Offered By: Mr. Broun of Georgia

Amendment No. 46: Page 53, line 13, after the dollar amount

insert ``(reduced by $10,700,000)''.

Page 62, line 2, after the dollar amount insert

``(increased by $10,700,000)''.

Offered By: Mr. Broun of Georgia

Amendment No. 47: Page 54, line 12, after the dollar amount

insert ``(reduced by $250,000)''.

Page 62, line 2, after the dollar amount insert

``(increased by $250,000)''.

Offered By: Mr. Broun of Georgia

Amendment No. 48: Page 31, line 21, after the dollar amount

insert ``(reduced by $6,000,000)''.

Page 62, line 2, after the dollar amount insert

``(increased by $6,000,000)''.

Offered By: Mr. Broun of Georgia

Amendment No. 49: Page 62, after line 2, insert the

following new section:

Sec. 609. None of the funds made available in this Act may

be used to prohibit or limit, based on material content, the

types of traditional hunting and fishing implements used for

hunting and fishing to the extent a specific law or

regulation is in effect on the date of enactment of this Act.

Mr. Speaker, it is my distinct pleasure to congratulate Dr. Stewart B. Simms, Jr. for 30 years of excellent service at Beech Haven Baptist Church.

I am confident that Athens is a better place in which to live, work, and study because of the presence of his fine church. Beech Haven's building stands as a stunning landmark and the reputation of its members as a powerful testimony to the beauty of our God. Beech Haven's success and strength is due, in large part, to Dr. Simms' faithfulness and care.

Many blessings as Dr. Simms continues on his journey of devoted service to the Lord. I not only value his friendship, but I hold him in the highest regard because of his work (1 Thessalonians 5:13).

Mr. Speaker, we have overspent and we are overextended. Now we have to get out of debt.

For the last 20 years, we have been increasing the debt ceiling and allowing Washington to spend more and more of the taxpayers' money. This method of madness hasn't worked, and today, our economy is suffering because of it.

Yesterday, I introduced a unique bill that would lower the debt ceiling to $13 trillion. This proposal would force Washington to make the spending cuts that we so desperately need to pay down the debt.

State and local governments, businesses and families understand, when you've maxed out your credit card, you can't just give yourself a credit increase. Instead, you have to cut spending and pay down your bills. The Federal Government is the only entity that does not understand this.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2409, the Debt Ceiling Reduction Act, because we need to turn this country in a completely different direction.

Madam Speaker, today we asked President Obama, through his virtual town hall, why he won't support the energy bills that have been passed in this House. We also asked President Obama why his administration is keeping American offshore energy resources off- limits.

An example of those bills that were passed by this House are three that came out of the Natural Resources Committee that would have created 1.2 million jobs. President Obama won't support those.

The sad truth is that we already know the answers to these questions, because the administration has made it clear that they want to export American jobs and invest in other countries' resources rather than developing our own. Republicans want to help our economy by creating jobs and creating energy independence, but liberals in Congress are standing in the way.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to consider all the good Republican energy bills would do for jobs, our economy, and our gas tanks. It is imperative that the Senate signs these bills and the President signs them into law.

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

Mr. Chairman, my amendment would reduce the operating budget of the Office of the Defense Secretary by 10 percent, moving roughly $217 million to the spending reduction account.

I have spent a considerable amount of time here on the floor of the House during this appropriations process working hard to find spending cuts across every level of the Federal Government and across nearly every agency.

The Office of the Secretary has roughly $2.1 billion included in this bill for its operation for this fiscal year, which is four times the combined operating budget of the Secretaries in our three previous fiscal year 12 appropriations bills.

I understand the challenges that the Secretary of Defense faces on a daily basis and the enormity of the department he is tasked with overseeing, but even the Department of Defense must do its part to reduce the deficit. I urge support of this amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Would the gentleman yield?

I appreciate the gentleman yielding. Actually, this just cuts the money, 10 percent, out of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. It doesn't go into cutting Special Ops or other funds that the gentleman from Washington, my good friend, Mr. Dicks, was talking about. It just cuts 10 percent out of the Secretary's operating budget.

I just wanted to clear that up. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

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

Mr. Chairman, I am a physician, and I represent Fort Gordon, Georgia. We have a tremendous amount of soldiers as well as vets from the Vietnam area with post-traumatic stress disorder. I am also in the Navy reserve. I was seeing patients earlier today, and I saw a lady who was a sailor, who was an intelligence sailor in Afghanistan. She is suffering from PTSD and all the problems associated with that.

At Fort Gordon, Georgia, we are trying to expand the facilities there to treat PTSD, to do the research and development--that's a teaching hospital as well as a hospital that cares for soldiers. So I applaud my friend from Houston's amendment here. It is certainly an extremely important issue that we are going to face. We are going to face this issue for the next five, six, seven decades as a Nation. We cannot put as much emphasis as this issue is going to demand over the next few decades even. So it's actually an extremely important amendment. I congratulate Ms. Jackson Lee on this amendment, and I rise in support of the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

This amendment eliminates both the Environmental Quality Technology Research account and the management support set to accompany that research under the Department of Army, sending $25.7 million to the spending reduction account.

Much of the research conducted by the Army is of merit and deserves the funding provided. Without some of these research programs, we would not have many of the technologies that protect our servicemembers and make them more effective soldiers. However, I do not see the need for the Army to conduct research on technologies pertaining to environmental quality. This type of research would be best conducted in the university or in the private sector.

Asking the Army to research something that does not directly coincide with their direct mission is imprudent, and these funds would be better used in reducing the burden of debt on our Nation.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment zeroes out the HIV research RDT&E funding under the Department of Army, moving $22.7 million to the spending reduction account. Again, here we see research being conducted by a military that does not focus on the core mission of national security.

HIV research is being conducted in my home State of Georgia at the Centers for Disease Control, as well as at the National Institutes of Health. It is this type of duplication the American people have demanded that Congress eliminate.

This may mean agencies and departments coordinating more effectively to share information, but we must all work together, more sufficiently in the name of reduced spending. I urge support of this amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chairman, my amendment eliminates the environmental protection research under the Department of the Navy, sending $21.7 million to the spending reduction account. Again, we see research being conducted that is not directly related to the Armed Forces' mission, which could and should be conducted elsewhere.

Currently, the Department of Energy, EPA, Department of the Interior, and NASA are all conducting similar environmental protection research like the Department of Defense. This is yet another example of duplicative programs conducting duplicative research. Instead, let's free up the Navy to research technologies that fulfill their constitutional obligation of providing for the common defense of our Nation and its citizens, while decreasing unnecessary spending.

I urge support of this amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chairman, my amendment would eliminate the Navy's funding for NATO research and development and transfer $9.1 million to the Israeli Cooperative Program.

The Secretary of Defense has gone on record stating that, and I quote, ``The NATO alliance has been used by many European nations as a means to subsidize their own defense spending with U.S. taxpayer money.'' I cannot agree more with the Secretary. Many members of NATO refuse to bear their share of the cost and risk.

Instead, Mr. Chairman, we should invest our valuable research dollars in an ally who is more than willing to pull its weight and take the fight to the enemy. The Israeli Cooperative Program is a ballistic missile program comanaged by Israel and the United States that will ensure the capability of our two missile defense programs.

Mr. Chairman, we have never had a greater need for missile defense, not only in this Nation, but in the Middle East with our great ally Israel. We have no greater ally in the Middle East than Israel. And our research programs should reflect our commitment to those allies who stand ready and willing to partner with us to protect our mutual interests. This would strengthen that mutual interest and strengthen that partnership.

Mr. Chairman, I urge support of this amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

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

Mr. Chairman, this amendment is nearly identical to the amendment that transfers NATO research to U.S.-Israeli missile defense. This one simply takes the $4.4 million in the Air Force's NATO R&D program and places those funds in the Israeli Cooperative Program for Israel and the United States, who are cooperating to develop a missile defense system that will help them and, as well, help us.

We must stand by Israel now and always. My amendment makes a positive step towards growing our relationship and solidifying security in the Middle East. It will help Israel, but it will help the United States also.

I urge my colleagues to support my amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Will the gentleman yield?

I thank the gentleman for yielding. I appreciate his support of this amendment.

And I will remind Members that Iran is developing short-range, medium-range as well as long-range missile technology, as well as it is developing a nuclear weapon. We have never needed this kind of joint research with the Israelis to help prevent not only a missile attack or further missile attacks on Israel, which they get every day, but we need, for our own defense, to put more money into this instead of supporting NATO.

I think this is extremely important that we plus up this missile defense research for Israel, for our own selves, and I thank the gentleman for supporting the amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw my request for a recorded vote on amendment Nos. 21 and 22, to the end that they stand disposed of by the voice votes thereon.

Mr. Speaker, my constituents know that Washington could learn a lot from using just some good old-fashioned Georgia common sense. I want to tell you a quick story. Earlier this month after one of my town hall meetings, a mayor from a small town in my district came up to tell me about the hard times that her city has been dealing with recently. Unemployment has shot through the roof, and many businesses in Hoschton, Georgia, have been forced to downsize or shut down completely. The mayor told me about how tough times have also required her to make some bold choices about Hoschton's budget. Ultimately in efforts to keep the town afloat, she ended up slashing their budget by a whopping 67 percent. The mayor said to me, ``Everything has to be put on the table. Nothing can be impossible to cut.''

My liberal Democrat colleagues need to take note. It's long past time for the Obama administration to stop spending money like there's no tomorrow. There is a tomorrow, even though right now, with over 9 percent unemployment, that tomorrow is looking pretty bleak.

America's runaway spending has gotten so far out of control that it's hard get a grasp on the amount of debt our Nation is in or how long it will take us to repay the almost $14\1/2\ trillion that we have borrowed.

Americans don't want excuses anymore; they want solutions. They want less spending and more jobs. They want burdensome regulations removed from the backs of small businesses who can put so many more people back to work. They want more free choice and less big government when it comes to their day-to-day lives.

Washington needs to follow the lead of small cities, small businesses, and families who are tightening their belts all across this country. That small Georgia town in my district that cut 67 percent of their budget to deal with their financial crisis ought to be a model and a blueprint for the Obama administration and for Congress.

Offered By: Mr. Broun of Georgia

Amendment No. 21: Page 30, line 18, after the dollar amount

insert ``(reduced by $9,140,000)''.

Page 31, line 17, after the dollar amount insert

``(increased by $9,140,000)''.

Offered By: Mr. Broun of Georgia

Amendment No. 22: Page 31, line 6, after the dollar amount

insert ``(reduced by $4,424,000)''.

Page 31, line 17, after the dollar amount insert

``(increased by $4,424,000)''.

Offered By: Mr. Broun of Georgia

Amendment No. 23: Page 9, line 6, after the dollar amount

insert ``(reduced by $216,556,400)''.

Page 161, line 12, after the dollar amount insert

``(increased by $216,556,400)''.

Offered By: Mr. Broun of Georgia

Amendment No. 24: Page 30, line 11, after the dollar amount

insert ``(reduced by $25,798,000)''.

Page 161, line 12, after the dollar amount insert

``(increased by $25,798,000)''.