Floor Statements

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

They say that talk is cheap, but for hardworking Americans, the President's talk is very expensive. President Obama has spent the past year making speech after speech about the need for Washington to restore fiscal discipline. But what he says isn't what he does.

During the campaign, Obama promised he would go through the budget line by line to reduce spending. But it seems as though a few lines is all that he has cut. The President began his campaign last spring when he rushed to the microphone to announce his order to his cabinet to reduce spending by $100 million. Then he went to the podium to tout more fiscal restraint by announcing a spending freeze. But we quickly learned that it affects less than 20 percent of the budget.

Recent press reports reveal he cut $1 million in funding for an Olympic scholarship program, and another $2 million subsidy for cotton and peanuts. If the President is serious about fiscal discipline, he is going to have to remove more than a couple of peanuts from his Federal budget. These meager cuts are just another example of the administration's arrogance, ignorance, and incompetence.

The President has proposed a $3.8 trillion budget for 2011, boosting the deficit to a record high of $1.6 trillion, a record he broke last year when he introduced a budget with a $1.4 trillion deficit. Let me put that into perspective. The average deficit when Republicans were in power was $104 billion. The average deficit now that Democrats are in control is $1.1 trillion. What that means is each man, woman, and child owes $46,000 apiece.

As hardworking Americans are struggling to balance their checkbooks, they are frustrated that Congress can't do the same. They aren't just frustrated, they are angry. I share the concerns of the American people. That is why I have introduced H.J. Resolution 75, which is a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution, aimed at reining in the chronic deficits in spending.

We absolutely must stop the outrageous spending by Congress. Our children and grandchildren's future depend upon our doing so. My amendment would make sure that government does not spend more than it takes in. My amendment would also make sure that any extra revenue would be returned to the taxpayers at the end of the year.

After decades of deficit spending it is time to make balancing our budgets the rule, not the exception. For too long Congress has acted as if it has a credit card with no limit and a bill that our children and grandchildren will be forced to pay. Individuals cannot spend more money than they earn, and neither should Washington. The fact is if the family budget cannot afford to go into debt, neither should the Federal budget.

The only way we are ever going to get our economy back on track is by leaving dollars in the hands of individuals, and particularly leaving dollars in the hands of small businesses so that they can buy inventory and can hire permanent employees. Small business is the economic engine that pulls along the train of prosperity in America. We need to stimulate small business, not bigger government.

Congress must now make tough decisions, slow down the rapid growth of government, and get back to the fiscally responsible government that the American people expect and demand. I am committed to doing just that. I urge my colleagues to join in this effort, and I urge the American people to demand a balanced budget from this Congress.

Thank you, Mr. King. I appreciate you yielding.

You have a document there that I know you are going to explain it, but I want to say before I have to leave that my name is on that document. It is the Declaration of Health Care Independence. In fact, I recently signed a copy of the Declaration of Independence. I was honored to do so, as I was honored to sign the Declaration of Health Care Independence.

But what I want to say is the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States cannot be separated. And in fact, the Declaration of Independence in itself, the original declaration penned by Thomas Jefferson, set out the philosophies of

government. The Constitution took those philosophies and embodied it into a foundational principle that this government should be run upon. We have left that idea.

We hear people talking all the time about a Constitution that is flexible and that is changeable and that it is a flowing document. Well, it can be amended. The Founding Fathers set in place the process for amending the Constitution. There have been just a few, over 20 amendments to the Constitution.

It shows the beauty of the Constitution of the United States. I carry a copy in my pocket all the time. I believe in this document as our Founding Fathers meant it, one of very few Members of Congress that believe in the original intent and vote that way here on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mr. Speaker, the American people are suffering. They are suffering, and frankly they are scared, they are angry. They are scared and angry because they see their freedom being taken away from them. And this health care bill that we have been discussing for the last several weeks is something that is bringing that to the head. Because what I see is an American sleeping giant is arising, a sleeping giant that has had some nightmares, nightmares about Obamacare, nightmares about an energy tax that is going to destroy our economy and kill millions of jobs in this country, a nightmare of overgovernance from the Federal, state, as well as local level.

They are angry, they are scared, and they are sleeping giants waking up. And I'm excited about that because, frankly, Mr. Speaker, I think the best days of America are still ahead, but they're not going to be ahead for our children and grandchildren if we continue down this road where government is going to control our health care, what cars we drive, what we eat, how we live our lives. And the American people understand that very firmly; they understand that government is trying to rule them instead of them taking care of their own family's situation.

Most people in America just want to go to work, come home, live a great life for their families and take care of all their family business without all the government intrusion. That is what you are fighting for, Mr. King. That is what I'm fighting for here. That is what the declaration of health care independence is all about. We must return back to the foundational principles.

In Hosea 4:6, God says, ``My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.'' And I am encouraging people to get a copy of the Constitution of the United States. We give out hundreds, maybe thousands, of copies out of our offices in Georgia as well as our congressional office here in Washington. But I encourage people to get a copy of the Constitution. Read it; it's readable. It wasn't written by a bunch of lawyers. And that is all there is to it. In fact, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and every single amendment that has ever been passed, in this little booklet. ``My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.'' America is going to be destroyed for a lack of knowledge if we don't become knowledgeable about limited government and start demanding something else.

Mr. King, you have been very vigilant in coming to the floor over and over again fighting for what you and I believe in, and that is fair and limited government, personal responsibility and accountability. I applaud the efforts that you have made, and I feel very honored to serve with you. I feel very honored to come to Special Orders and speak with you, and I thank you. I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being engaged in the fight. I'm a marine. You're not a marine, but you're a fighter, and I appreciate that. I thank you and yield back.

Thank you, Mr. King.

In Psalm 11, God asks a question. He says, ``If the foundations be destroyed, what are the righteous to do?'' Well, the Constitution of the United States was obviously the foundation of this country. But if you think about it, if it is a living and breathing document, then that means it can be applied by anyone in any manner. What does that have a potential of leading to is nothing but tyranny. Tyranny. And that philosophy is a tyrannous philosophy.

It is the tyranny of the majority. And it's tyranny that destroys freedom and liberty in this country. And I say liberty and freedom. Let me define liberty for you, Mr. Speaker, because I see them differently.

Liberty is freedom bridled by morality. A wild dog is free. True freedom for everybody is anarchy. But we have liberty in this country. Liberty is where my freedom ends, where yours begins, where you and I can come together in a society and we can work for a common good. That is what our Founding Fathers very firmly believed. That is what I believe. We need to work together for our common good.

We are supposed to be, under the Constitution, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, not a government over the people. That is what many in this House, many in the Senate, and many Presidents, even Republicans and Democrats have----

Well, you are right. They are absolutely entrenched in the philosophy that they know best: The government needs to control everything. Well, there is a word for that. It's called socialism, central planning. That is exactly what many people on the other side hold very dear to is they think we are too ignorant to control our own lives, to make our own decisions, so they have to control our health care. They have to control what light bulbs we screw into the lamps in our home. They have to control what

kind of toilet we can have in our bathrooms and what kind of showerhead, what kind of cars we can drive. That is socialism, that is central planning, and that is the road we are going down.

We are on a road towards people losing their freedom, where they cannot make decisions for themselves. This health care bill, proposal-- it's actually not a bill; it's a proposal that the President put forth this morning. I went on the Web site and looked at all the things. There is no bill. The proposal is nothing but the first step in taking over the whole health care system and making it government control so that government bureaucrats control that part of it. We have got to stop it, and it is up to the American people.

Mr. King, you are exactly right. Mr. Speaker, Mr. King is exactly right that there are folks that don't pull out the Constitution. They talk about the Constitution, but they have no clue what limited government is supposed to be under the Constitution. They fight for bigger government, bigger government control, socialism, central planning so that it takes everything away from individuals. And the American people are going to have to stop it by standing up and saying no to ObamaCare, no to an energy tax, the tax-and-trade, or cap-and- trade as they call it, no to forced unionization, no to the illegal aliens in this country--they need to go home; they're criminals. They need to say no to all those things. The American people need to say no to those. We are accused of being the party of ``no,'' but we are the party of ``k-n-o-w,'' because we know how to solve these problems over here on the Republican side if we can just have our voices heard. The American people need to demand that also; that is absolutely critical.

Thank you, Mr. Garrett. I appreciate your yielding this evening.

In Hosea 4:6, God tells us, ``My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.'' Unfortunately, people all over this country have a tremendous lack of knowledge about how much liberty and freedom we've lost in this country. Now, I differentiate between freedom and liberty. I talk more about liberty than freedom. A wild dog is free. Let me define for the American people what ``liberty'' is. ``Liberty'' is freedom bridled by morality.

We have things going on here in this Congress, and we've had things going on in Congress after Congress under both Democratic as well as Republican leadership. We've had things going on with the executive branch under both Republican and Democrat Presidents, and we even have things going on in the Federal court system, all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where rulings are handed down where the American people are losing their liberty.

I am a strict original intent constitutionalist. In fact, I carry a copy of the Constitution in my pocket at all times, and it's in every one of my suits. On my desk, there is a tremendous document. It's called ``The Federalist Papers in Modern Language,'' which is a transliteration of ``The Federalist Papers,'' which are very difficult to read because they're in old-style English. This is in modern-type English. It's not an interpretation. It's just a transliteration. It goes from one form of English into another.

So I highly encourage the American people to get these documents. I give copies of the Constitution to anyone who walks into my office here in Washington, D.C., and I give my constituents copies of the Constitution out of our district offices. Every Congressman can do the same. The American people need to become knowledgeable about how much liberty we've lost.

One of the greatest attacks upon liberty is what's going on here in Congress today where the leadership in

this House, where the leadership in the Senate, and where the leadership down Pennsylvania Avenue, in the White House, want to take away your liberty to see your doctor and for that doctor and you to make the decisions that you need to have made so that you have the best quality health care.

Now, Ms. Foxx was talking about the 10th Amendment. I'll go back and read it just to help educate the people because you may have not listened to Ms. Foxx, but listen up, please, Madam Speaker, to what the 10th Amendment says.

It says, ``The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution--'' in other words, those powers specifically given to Congress, the President and the courts ``--nor prohibited by it to the States.'' Those are such things as minting money and having armies and things like that. ``The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.''

So we in Congress can only technically constitutionally pass laws that are specifically given to us by the powers of this document. Article I, section 8 actually lists the things that Congress can pass laws about.

Madam Speaker, this is just a little booklet which contains the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and every single amendment. It's just this little bitty booklet, not the thousands of pages that PelosiCare and ReidCare and ObamaCare entail. Madam Speaker, it starts right here, and it goes to right here. It's 1\3/4\ pages in this little booklet. It's just 18 things. It says, ``The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States.''

Now, Madison was very specific, and Mr. Garrett was talking about that. If you read the Federalist papers, the general welfare, which one of the clauses that has been perverted by Democrats and Republicans, courts, Presidents, and Congress alike, means the general welfare. Not direct welfare, but the general welfare of the Nation.

So we have the ability to collect taxes and pay the debts.

To borrow money on the credit of the United States.

To regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States and with the Indian tribes.

Now, Mr. Garrett was just talking a few minutes ago about this commerce clause being utilized to make folks do something because the leadership here thinks that we have to mandate every person in this country to buy health care insurance whether you want to or not. That has never been done, and it is totally unconstitutional, as Mr. Garrett was saying.

Actually, this commerce clause is one of the three that have been perverted, also. The original intent of that is that we don't lockbox trade within State borders. And we have done that on health insurance, which is unconstitutional in itself.

Republicans over and over again have suggested, and in fact in my comprehensive health care reform bill that I introduced, H.R. 3889, it would allow people in Georgia to buy health insurance in Alabama, which is cheaper, for the same Blue Cross-Blue Shield policy. Why shouldn't we be able to do that? This commerce clause under the original intent should allow us to do so. Republicans have proposed that. Democrats have fought against that.

Going on. To establish a uniformed rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States. So we should have naturalization and bankruptcy laws.

To coin money, to regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and to fix the standard of weights and measures.

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States. In fact, this is one of the few constitutional criminal justice things that the Federal Government is supposed to be doing. Most of the criminal justice laws that the Federal Government has on its books are unconstitutional because we don't have the authority to do them.

To establish post offices and post roads. Post roads during the Founders' time were the highway system. So we do have constitutional authority for Federal roads.

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries. That means patent laws. So we have constitutional authority for patents.

To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court.

Folks, there is only one Federal court that is established in this document, and that is the U.S. Supreme Court. Every single Federal court, every single Federal judge serves at the pleasure of the Congress. We need to start putting checks on these dudes, and ladies, around this country who have actually broken their oath of office when they swear to uphold the Constitution. In fact, every one of us, when we are sworn in, every Congress swears to uphold the Constitution against enemies, both foreign and domestic. Madam Speaker, we have a lot of enemies that are domestic, enemies of the Constitution. This House is overrun by many domestic enemies of the Constitution, and the Senate is full of a bunch of them also. The courts are full of a bunch of them likewise.

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations. That is another one of the few criminal defense laws of the Federal Government.

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on lands and water.

To raise and support armies.

To provide and maintain a navy.

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces. That is for the Army and the Navy, and the Marine Corps. I am a Marine, by the way--Semper Fi.

To provide and call forth the militia.

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia.

To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases over the District of Columbia. So when the District of Columbia decides that they want to have homosexual marriage recognized in the District of Columbia, we in Congress are supposed to tell them no. In fact, I have got a House Resolution that says that.

To make all laws that should be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers.

That is it, folks. That is it. The 18 things that we have the authority here in Congress to pass laws about. There is absolutely nothing in this document that gives Congress the authority to take over the health care system in this country. None.

And when we see PelosiCare on this floor or when we see ReidCare, ObamaCare on this floor, there is absolutely zero constitutional authority.

Now, God says in his Word, with the multitude of counselors there is safety. And I make a challenge to the Democrats. One Democrat in this House. If one Democrat in this House or one Democrat in the U.S. Senate were to show me in this document where Congress has the authority to pass a bill that takes over the health care system in America and sets forth socialized medicine, as they are trying to do under ObamaCare, I will vote for it. If one person in this House or the Senate shows me where in this document that we have the constitutional authority to do that, I will vote for it.

I make a pledge to my Lord God, my Lord Jesus Christ up above, to the people of the United States, I pledge to vote for it if one, just one House member or Senate member will show me in this document where we have the authority to do so. I am not worried about that pledge, because there is none.

Pelosicare, Reidcare, Obamacare, secret--well, they are all secret bills. They are all in secret, with no transparency we have been promised by the Speaker as well as by the President. There is nothing in this document to give the Federal Government the authority.

Mr. Garrett was talking about that one mandate on individuals which in itself is unconstitutional. There are so many things in this thing-- in fact, in the Senate bill, Mr. Garrett, Madam Speaker, they say we, the next Congress, can't pass laws regarding that

bill to overturn it, to amend it, or to withdraw it, appeal it. That in itself is unconstitutional. We in this Congress can't make a law that subjugates the next Congress to what we pass. That is unconstitutional. It doesn't pass the smell test, either.

The American people, Madam Speaker, are being destroyed for a tremendous lack of knowledge of this document and how much liberty we are losing.

Madam Speaker, it is up to the American people to rise up and say no to Obamacare. To say no to whatever bill.

I understand that the Majority Leader, Mr. Hoyer, today said that, ``The Senate bill is better than nothing.'' So I am expecting with that comment that they are going to try to force down the throats of this House the Senate bill. I pray and hope to God, Lord Jesus Christ, please help us to not pass that bill. It is in the name of Jesus that I pray that. But I just hope and pray that we don't pass any bill that is being presented here.

I have challenged Democrats, many of them individually, to introduce a bill. I will give them the legislative language. And it is totally constitutional, Mr. Garrett, Mr. Speaker--it has gone from Madam Speaker to Mr. Speaker. Welcome. We are glad to have you tonight--to do four things.

One is have cross-state purchasing of insurance for individuals and businesses, which is constitutional under the commerce clause. And we should be doing that under the commerce clause.

To have associations so that associations could be developed. I am a Rotarian. We could have a Rotary International pool. I am a graduate of the University of Georgia, Medical College of Georgia. We could have a University of Georgia system pool. We could have any kind of pool. We could have a construction pool. We could have a college graduate pool. We could have all these pools that anybody in the country could join and have multiple options to buy many different kinds of policies, and it would put a whole lot of market forces into the system to lower the cost.

The third thing is to stimulate the States to set up high-risk pools for those who can't buy insurance because of preexisting conditions.

And, fourth, to have 100 percent tax deductibility for every single person in this country for all health care expenses. There are a lot of people that are left out, and you can't deduct your health care expenses.

Four simple things, all constitutional. I've had many Democrats, Mr. Speaker, tell me they would love to introduce this bill. I will be the first cosponsor, and we could pass that, I believe, in this House. That would put some market forces in the system and would literally lower the cost of health care.

Mr. Speaker, I am a medical doctor. In my medical practice as a family practitioner I have seen how government intrusion in the health care system has markedly run up the cost of health care. A couple of quick examples. I don't want to hog the time, Mr. Garrett, but let me just give this story right quick like.

I was in a solo practice down in rural southwest Georgia, and I had a small automated lab with quality controls to make sure that the results were correct for my patients. Most doctors, if not almost all doctors, want to have good lab results. Many doctors across the country had these small automated labs with quality control. Congress passed a bill called CLIA, the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act. It was signed into law. It shut down my lab and every single doctor's lab in this country.

Prior to CLIA, if a patient came in with a sore throat, running a fever, I would do a CBC, a complete blood count, to see if they had a bacterial infection and thus needed antibiotics, or a viral infection that is not helped by antibiotics. They don't need to spend their money or even be exposed to antibiotics. I charged $12 for that test. It took 5 minutes to do it. CLIA shut my lab down. I had to send patients across the way to the hospital. It took 2 to 3 hours, cost $75 for one test.

Mr. Speaker, what do you think that did to the cost of health care across this country? What do you think that did to the cost of insurance across the country? It ran it up for everybody.

Congress a few years ago passed HIPAA. That has cost the health care industry billions, with a B, billions of dollars, and has not paid for the first aspirin to treat the headaches that it has created. It was totally unneeded.

It is government regulation in the health care system, Mr. Speaker, that has run the cost up so that it is just outrageous. The Federal Government has no business regulating what I do with my patients. It has no constitutional authority to do so.

We have to go back to the drawing boards and work on a constitutional basis and present in a step-by-step approach and a constitutional approach ways of getting the Federal Government out of regulating the health care system. Let the marketplace regulate it. Because I know without a question that the marketplace, unencumbered by taxes and regulations, is the best control of quality, quantity, and cost of all goods and services, including my services as a medical doctor.

But, again, I challenge one Democrat in this House or in the Senate to show me where it is constitutional for us to pass PelosiCare, ReidCare, ObamaCare, and I will vote for bill. They can't do it because it is unconstitutional. Thank you, Mr. Garrett.

If the gentleman would yield for 30 seconds. And I thank you for doing so, because we have some other speakers, and I have taken a long time. I apologize to the other speakers for taking so long.

But you are right. What does it mean to the American citizen about this bill? Not only that it is unconstitutional, which it is. But if you have private insurance, the cost is going to go up.

We have been told by our President: If you like your health insurance, you can keep it. But it is going to be more expensive if this is passed than it is today, and it is going to go up a lot faster, higher. Your doctor and you can't make decisions. Some government bureaucrat in Washington is going to be making those decisions for you.

Medicare people are going to have the Medicare money cut, the pot that is available for Medicare to be cut markedly so there is going to be more rationing of care. There already is some, but it is going to be worse. I as a doctor am already regulated and told who I can put in the hospital and how long they can stay there. That is going to get a whole lot worse. So it is going to affect the quality of care.

The American people need to understand: The cost of your health insurance is going up. The quality of care that your doctor can give you is going down. Markedly going down. And you are going to be mandated to be--basically, it is a process of transferring everybody into a single-payer health care system. Socialized medicine. That is what our President said. That is their objective. And so it is going to be disastrous for everybody.

Thank you, Dr. Gingrey, for yielding.

I have a 19-year-old son. His name is Paul Collins Broun III. We affectionately call him ``Bear.'' Collins and his friends have a peculiar type of language. They talk about something being ``bad.'' Well, to me, if it's bad, it's bad, but when they say something's bad, they really mean that it's good. Well, we've developed a similar kind of language here in the leadership of this House, in the leadership of the Senate, as well as the leadership down Pennsylvania Avenue at the White House. When they say something is transparent, they mean opaque. When they say that there is a new era of openness, that means secrecy. That is exactly what we're seeing. It's unfair to the American public. It's unfair to their representatives, both Democrat and Republican alike.

We have a newspeak here in Washington. It's a newspeak where transparency actually means opaque and obscure, where the American people are being kept in the dark, where major policies are being proposed that are going to radically change how health

care--as well as every aspect of life in America--is going to be done, and it's not fair. The American people need to stand up and say no. They need to say no to this newspeak. They need to say, Mr. President, Nancy Pelosi, Madam Speaker, Harry Reid, Mr. Majority Leader, we want openness. We want transparency. We want a new era of open government so that the American people can understand what's going on up here in Washington.

It's absolutely critical that the American people stand up and speak to the leadership and demand something different, that the American people demand that nothing is passed, particularly on health care, that is going to radically change the economic future of our country, that is going to radically change the way people live because anything and everything can be brought under the aegis of health care. I think probably we are going to see way beyond the things that are going on today where government is trying to control what we eat, how we live, what kind of car we drive.

Certainly.

Well, this is not about health care. It's about the government. It's about government control. It's about government telling people how to live, government making decisions for us. It's taking away our liberty. And we see right now New York City is trying to control the amount of salt in everybody's food.

This health care plan can tell us what kind of car to drive, whether we can own guns or not to protect ourselves and our home, whether we can teach our children the way that we, as parents, believe that our children ought to be taught.

This is the largest takeover of liberty and freedom this country has ever seen. The American people need to stand up and say no to this obscure, opaque, secret process that this leadership of this House and the Senate across the other side of the Capitol and the administration, the Obama administration, and the leadership are doing, because it is totally, totally against everything that this country stands for.

They really have.

Well, Dr. Gingrey, thanks for yielding back.

And you are exactly right, the American people were promised many things by this Speaker: transparency, openness, the new era of a clean government with a prosecution of corruption. Nothing could be further from the truth. This Speaker has not fulfilled those promises to the American people.

The American people need to stand up and understand that they are really in control. The Constitution of the United States, which I believe in as it was originally intended, starts off with three very powerful words. In fact, I have a copy in my pocket. I carry a copy all the time. It starts off with three powerful words, ``We the people.'' This is the government that is supposed to be for the people, by the people, as President Lincoln said.

The people have the power. They have the power to demand openness. They have the power to demand transparency and stop this secrecy and stop the veil that's going on up here. In fact, I challenge any Democrat in this House or in the Senate to show me anywhere in this document that we have the authority, constitutionally, to take over the health care system. It's not here. I challenge any Democrat to show me in the Constitution where we have the authority to pass this health care bill that they're taking. They won't find it. It's not there.

The American people can demand from their elected representatives within the House or the Senate something different than we have today. Former U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen once said when he feels the heat, he sees the light. What he means by that is when the people who elect him, or reelect him, contact him and say, You're headed in the wrong direction. You need to head in a different direction, when enough people contact him, that's putting heat upon the elected representative. The elected representative, if he wants to be reelected, will start paying attention to enough of those phone calls, emails, faxes, and visits and will start seeing the light.

We need to shine the light of day. The American people can control the light in their hand right now today by getting on the telephone, getting on their computer, by calling their Representatives, by calling their Senators, their district offices or their offices up here, and saying no to this government takeover of health care, saying no to this obscure, secretive process that Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Barack Obama are undertaking, and saying yes to the openness and transparency we have been promised by Ms. Pelosi as well as Mr. Obama.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

As you and our colleague from Tennessee, Dr. Roe, were talking about the Senate bill and as you went on, it just occurred to me that I spoke just earlier about the Newspeak in the leadership in Washington--in the House and the Senate as well as in the Presidency--and about how ``transparency'' now means being obscure and opaque and how ``openness'' means being in secret.

As to the deals that are being struck, from everything we understand in my language, when people are threatened with harm if they don't go in a certain direction, that's called ``extortion.'' If somebody is offered a perk or money or something for going in a particular direction, that's called a ``bribe'' if one accepts it.

Mr. Speaker, we're having a lot of extortion and a lot of bribery going on in this process. I will repeat that. There is a lot of extortion and bribery going on in this process, and the American people deserve better. The American people deserve more. They need to stand up and reject this process of secrecy, of obscurity, of opaqueness, of broken promises, and of everything that we see going on in this House.

Mr. Speaker, I'm a family doctor. I have examined the Pelosi and Reid health care bills, and I have made a diagnosis, and the American people need to listen up to this diagnosis.

If you like your health insurance today, the price is going to skyrocket, and you're not going to be able to keep it eventually. If you're on Medicare, you're going to have a hard time finding a doctor that will accept Medicare because of the massive cuts. If you're a veteran and dependent upon TRICARE, forget it.

Mr. Speaker, my prescription is that we need to trash the Reid and Pelosi health care bills, work in a bipartisan manner, do this in an incremental way to lower the cost to everybody, and work to make something that makes sense for the American public and keeps the good quality health care we have in America.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the soldiers, civilians, and military families stationed at Fort Gordon for their service and dedication to the United States, and to honor the lineage of Fort Gordon as an indispensable communications installation and training center in our Nation's history.

Fort Gordon was originally conceived as Camp Gordon on October 18, 1941, as an answer to America's fight in WWII Europe. Camp Gordon was home to three Army Divisions--the 4th Infantry Division, the 26th Infantry Division, and the 10th Armor Division. All served with distinction in the liberation of Europe from the Nazi tyranny. It was not until March 21, 1956, that Camp Gordon was given permanent status and renamed Fort Gordon.

Since that time, Fort Gordon's soldiers and civilians have continuously served with distinction in Vietnam, Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and in current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. All the while, the military family members were providing support while dealing with the hardship of long and often times multiple deployment separations.

In June 1986, the United States Army Signal Regiment was established and Fort Gordon was designated as the home base for the regiment. Fort Gordon is home not only to the Army's premier signal training center, but it is also home to deploying active and reserve Army units. The soldiers in these units take the lessons learned from the battlefield in order to incorporate the lessons into the signal training curriculum and in research and development. This functional and technical analysis has lead to the development of mobile subscriber equipment, the Army's communication architecture and information mission area, which include integration of automation, communications, and visual information.

Fort Gordon's role as a communications leader was not achieved through individuality but through a combined effort of the Army and the citizens of Augusta who together have fostered a strong community. Margret Mead said it best when referring to the strength of a community, ``never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.'' These committed Augusta citizens were and are an essential part of Fort Gordon's history that has led to a safer and secure America.

Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 931, making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, HUD, and related agencies for FY 2010, and on rollcall No. 932, recognizing the 10th anniversary of the activation of Echo Company of the 100th Battalion of the 442d Infantry, and the sacrifice of the soldiers and families in support of the United States, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 933, commending the soldiers and civilian personnel stationed at Ford Gordon and their families for their service and dedication to the United States and recognizing the contributions of Fort Gordon to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom and its role as a pivotal communications training installation, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 934, recognizing and honoring the National Guard on the occasion of its 373rd anniversary, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 935, H. Res. 845-- recognizing the United States Air Force and Dyess Air Force Base for their success in achieving energy savings and developing energy-saving innovations during Energy Awareness Month, and rollcall No. 936, H.R. 2278, to direct the President to transmit to Congress a report on anti- American incitement to violence in the Middle East, and for other purposes, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 937, H. Res. 915, encouraging the Republic of Hungary to respect the rule of law, treat foreign investors fairly, and promote a free and independent press, and rollcall No. 938, H. Res. 907, recognizing the Grand Concourse on its 100th anniversary as the preeminent thoroughfare in the borough of the Bronx and an important nexus of commerce and culture for the City of New York, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, the economic engine that pulls along the economic train of prosperity in America is being derailed. America's entrepreneurs, America's small business men and women are this country's economic engine. They are the backbone of our economy. They create most of the new jobs here in America.

Mr. Speaker, they have waited long enough for the so-called stimulus to kick in. In fact, they have been waiting far too long. Mr. Speaker, where are the jobs? It's time for us to scrap this failed policy. It's time for Congress to stop wasting taxpayer time and money. It's time to give a real jolt to the economy and stop taking so much through high taxes and more debt.

Mr. Speaker, I introduced H.R. 4100, the JOBS Act, to do just that. My bill, the Jumpstarting Our Business Sector, or JOBS Act, is a commonsense and simple approach. It provides a 2-year moratorium on capital gains and dividends taxes, two taxes which directly inhibit or derail a business' ability to reinvest their revenue into creating now jobs. It reduces the two lowest tax brackets by 5 percent. It cuts the payroll tax rate and the self-employment tax rate in half for 2 years. Additionally, it reduces the corporate tax rate by 10 percent for 2 years.

In fact, the United States already has the second highest corporate tax rate in the world. It's incredible that our economy has prospered for this long under such an extraordinary tax burden.

At this time of great economic turmoil, it's only logical to curtail this massive tax and allow our business sector to propel us back onto a stable economic footing.

Finally, just as important, my JOBS Act recoups any and all unspent stimulus dollars, putting them to work instead of towards waste.

Now is the time for a new way forward. For 11 months, the so-called stimulus has been tried and tested. Unfortunately, it has failed. But there is no reason to keep going down the same track and throwing taxpayers' money down a rat hole towards a failed plan. And there is certainly no reason to keep sending money into Georgia's imaginary congressional districts, double zero, 27, 86, or any others that the government has identified.

The American people demand something better than more government and more debt. They deserve more, something better than more unemployment insurance and COBRA extensions. We need to stop handing them dead fish and, instead, hand them a fishing pole.

Mr. Speaker, I've introduced H.R. 4100, the JOBS Act, to answer their call. And I urge my colleagues to lend their support by cosponsoring this important legislation and keeping that economic engine of small business on the right track to economic prosperity.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay respect to the memory of Staff Sergeant Justin M. DeCrow, one of the 13 victims that died in the tragic and senseless attack at Ford Hood, Texas, on November 5, 2009.

Staff Sergeant DeCrow is survived by his wife Marikay and their 13- year-old daughter Kylah who currently live in Evans, Georgia. Justin was described as a loving father and husband with an ``infectious charm and wit that always put others at ease.'' This is what many of us aspire to be, but it seems Justin was an exemplary person to display such character.

We owe Staff Sergeant DeCrow's family an answer as to why this has happened and to ensure that it never happens again. I pledge to all the victims and their families that I will do everything that I can to find the answers as to why this act of terror took place.

Dr. Gingrey, thank you so much for yielding tonight, and I appreciate the opportunity to come here to try to help our colleagues and hopefully the American public to understand what we are dealing with with this PelosiCare bill. And what is apparent thus far, since it has just been out, I can't say for certain, but it is apparent within the Senate bill, the ReidCare bill, of where we are going as a Nation.

The American people need to understand something very clearly, and that is there is going to be rationing of care, as Dr. Gingrey was just talking about, and we are already seeing the beginning of this.

Mr. Speaker, over the August break, I went up to Canada and I talked to Canadian patients. I actually lived in Canada many, many years ago for a short period of time. I didn't talk to doctors, but I talked to Canadian patients, since we hear our Democratic colleagues holding that up as the kind of model we need to go to.

Mr. Speaker, the American people need to understand very clearly that the Canadians have marked rationing of care. I talked to women in their forties and fifties who never, ever have been told that they needed a pap smear and never have had one. What Dr. Gingrey was just saying, Mr. Speaker, about this recommendation that women not have mammograms until they are after 50 years of age, I have seen patients in my own medical practice in their thirties who have been diagnosed and treated for breast cancer. In fact, I had one lady 29 years of age in my own practice who found a lump in her breast. She came to me, she got a mammogram and went to surgery and was found to have breast cancer at 29 years of age.

Mr. Speaker, this is the beginning of the process of rationing of care that we already see the Federal Government doing just in anticipation, in my belief, of what the PelosiCare, the ReidCare, the ObamaCare bill is going to do. You see, the Democratic Party's health care reform plans which have been introduced in the House and the Senate will allow you to have anything that you want as long as the boss would allow you to do it. Boss Hogg is going to determine whether a patient can have a mammogram, as we already see in the Federal Government saying we need to stop these mammograms for patients that desperately need them from a medical perspective.

This comparative effectiveness panel that is going to be set up in Washington, D.C., they are going to look at how to spend dollars. They are going to use age and dollars on how to make health care decisions, which means that senior citizens are going to be denied care because they are going to determine that it is not effective to spend dollars on seniors' care as opposed to spending it for young people's care. So this mammogram recommendation is just the harbinger of where we are going.

One other thing, Mr. Speaker, that the American people need to understand is that not only Boss Hogg is going to tell them whether they can have surgery, whether they can have a mammogram, whether they can have a pap smear, whether they can have lab tests, MRIs, CAT scans, but Boss Hogg and another group is going to tell the American people what their health insurance looks like.

So we have heard the President over and over say that if you like your current health insurance policy, you can keep it. That is a bald- faced lie. It is not true, because the health care czar panel is going to dictate every single health care policy in this country. Not only in the public exchange, but also everybody's private insurance in this country is going to be dictated by Boss Hogg, the health care czar panel in Washington, D.C.

They are going to say whether that insurance will pay for insurance coverage for those mammograms, and they are going to use this recommendation that just came out this week to deny women under the age of 50 of being able to get those mammograms that their doctor thinks that they need and that they think that they need. There are medical indications for those mammograms, but Boss Hogg is going to say

``no'' because it does not fit within the parameters of the insurance that the Boss Hogg health care czar panel is going to put into place.

I thank you, Dr. Gingrey, for yielding.

Carrying down that same road that you were talking about, I have practiced almost four decades as a family doctor. I have done colonoscopies and sigmoidoscopies. We do routine digital rectal examinations on patients for prostate cancer. We do PSAs routinely in screening. We do cholesterol screening and blood sugars and hemoglobins and all of these different tests that the American people wouldn't understand unless they have those diseases or have studied those things.

But you're exactly right, Dr. Gingrey. The screening for, for instance, colon cancer, we do a lot of checking stools for blood, doing flexible sigmoidoscopies even colonoscopies for colon cancers. Frequently even at colonoscopies we take out polyps that could turn out to be cancer if they're not removed.

This cost-effectiveness panel, Boss Hogg, very probably is going to cut off all that screening. And you're going to have more people get prostrate cancer, more people get colon cancer, more people get breast cancer, more ladies get cervical cancer because those screening tests that Dr. Gingrey is talking about, Mr. Speaker, very probably are going to be cut off and denied to patients because they have to stop paying for all these tests because of the comparative effectiveness. Particularly when you look at it, young people from old people compared to how you spend your dollars, we're going to have tremendous rationing of care.

So everybody in this country is going to have their insurance dictated by Boss Hogg, the Federal Government. Everybody is going to have their care dictated by Boss Hogg, the Federal Government. Everybody in this country is going to have a Federal bureaucrat standing between them and their doctor. It's not right and the American people need to stand up and say ``no'' to the ReidCare bill. They need to say ``no'' to the PelosiCare bill, no to ObamaCare. And let's lower the prices for everybody.

Republicans have many, many bills that we've introduced. I have introduced one myself, H.R. 3389, which is a comprehensive bill. It does not add one nickel of increased spending to the Federal Government, and it puts the patient and doctor in charge of those health care decisions.

Dr. Gingrey, I appreciate your doing this Special Order, and I appreciate your bringing these very pertinent things to the attention of the American public by doing this Special Order. And I just applaud what you're doing here because in Hosea 4:6 God says, ``My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.'' And the American people are going to be destroyed for a lack of knowledge about what this PelosiCare bill is going to do or the ReidCare bill is going to do that Barack Obama is pushing down the road. We've got a steamroller of socialism that's going to cost jobs and destroy the quality of health care, and the American people need to stand up and say ``no.''

Thank you, Dr. Gingrey. I appreciate it.

Madam Speaker, on December 23, 1776, just days before the Continental Army won a great victory at the Battle of Trenton, General George Washington asked aides to read passages from Thomas Paine's The Crisis. That great book, which lifted the spirits of the army from the darkest depths, famously begins, ``These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that

stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.''