Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor St. John's Northwestern Military Academy and to recognize its 125th anniversary.

St. John's Military Academy was founded in 1884 in Delafield, Wisconsin, by Dr. Sidney T. Smythe with the goal of educating young men in a program of physical, moral and religious education that trained student character as well as mind.

The principles are echoed in the academy's motto, ``Work Hard, Play Hard, Pray Hard.'' Dr. Smythe believed that the way to get the most out of a boy is to challenge him and to make him reach just a little farther than he had supposed his arms could stretch. From its small beginnings, the academy grew steadily as it became recognized as one of the leading schools of its kind in the Nation.

Northwestern Military Academy was established in 1888 in Highland Park, Illinois, by Harlan Page Davidson, whose philosophy of education was remarkably similar to Sidney Smythe. In addition to academic classes, cadets participated in athletics, gymnastics, drill instruction and bayonet practice. In 1911, naval training was added to the academy's program and the name was changed to Northwestern Military & Naval Academy, gaining national recognition as an educational experience with a military emphasis.

In 1995, St. John's Military Academy, and Northwestern Military & Naval Academy joined to become St. John's Northwestern Military Academy, located at the St. John's 110-acre campus in Delafield. Though the emphasis has shifted away from the military arts of an earlier day, the discipline, self-confidence, loyalty and camaraderie remain just as strong today. Shaped by each school's strong history, common goals and similar philosophies, the academy continues its long tradition of education and leadership with honor.

Madam Speaker, today I rise in honor of the Sesquicentennial celebration of Buffalo City, Wisconsin. Chartered in 1859, Buffalo City is a picturesque Wisconsin town nestled along the ``National Scenic Byway'' of Western Wisconsin's Great River Highway.

Buffalo City is the oldest incorporated city in Buffalo County. At one time, it was one of the smallest cities in the United States with an area encompassing just over six square miles. Steeped in history, Buffalo City was named after three brothers who raised buffalo on a bluff overlooking the city.

Buffalo City operates under a common council form of government headed by Mayor Bill Bruegger and consisting of four alderspersons. A town based in strong community ties, the common council holds regular monthly meetings for residents, council members, and the mayor to come together to discuss and act on pressing matters.

With a current population of just 972 residents, Buffalo City prides itself on being a close-knit community. Residents participate in such community activities as Little League, 4-H, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Great River Anglers.

The town's location on Spring Lake, a backwater of the Mississippi River, serves as a beautiful backdrop for a variety of outdoor recreational activities for family and friends to enjoy. Scenic parks and nature trails offer picturesque views of the river and bluffs and make Buffalo City a visually striking town that is a great place to live, work, and play.

On July 3rd Mayor Bruegger, local leaders, and Buffalo City residents came together to celebrate Buffalo City's sesquicentennial with music, games, food, and fireworks. Today, I recognize Buffalo City's Sesquicentennial and join in their celebration.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from South Carolina for yielding me this time.

Mr. Speaker, as a former member of the Budget Committee, I rise in proud support of the statutory pay-as-you-go rule. It is time to get real, as my colleague before me just stated, and it's time to get real with the realities we face today. We can argue all day long and point accusatory fingers back and forth about who caused what, but the fact remains that we face a huge American challenge that's going to require a unique American solution to pull ourselves out of the fiscal hole that we find ourselves in today.

This legislation that we have before us today has history on our side. When we had pay-as-you-go budgeting rules in effect in the 1990s, it helped instill fiscal discipline. And then with the help of the American people by growing the economy, it led to 4 years of budget surpluses. We were actually paying down the national debt. We were having a conversation about a lockbox for Social Security trust funds. And then for whatever reason, in 2001 it expired, and the discussion then was whether to reinstitute it--and the fear at that time was that we may end up paying down our national debt too fast, which would be destabilizing. Oh, how I would love to see a return of those days. But instead, it led to a fiscal course of action that doubled the national debt in 8 short years.

Now, this legislation isn't going to be the cure-all. We have a lot of serious work to do. We have an opportunity before us today to reform the health care system, to deliver system reform that will rein in rising costs, which, if it goes unchecked, will bankrupt everyone from families to businesses to public budgets. The fastest growing area of Federal spending today, rising health care costs. We have work to do to make that change.

I also still believe in the merits of an outside independent commission on entitlement reform that would report back with recommended changes so we can address the rising costs of entitlement.

But today let's go back to what works to address the fiscal crisis that we face. The 1990s shows us the way to do that, with 4 years of surpluses where we were able to turn the corner and provide a more stable financial system for our country. That was squandered over the last 8 years, unfortunately.

So I would encourage my colleagues to reject the proposed amendment, to support the underlying bill, and let's get to work making some tough but necessary decisions for future generations so we don't end up leaving a legacy of debt for my two little boys or to future generations.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Pete's Hamburgers of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin and to recognize their 100th anniversary.

It is reassuring to see that despite these tough economic times many American small businesses are still thriving. It was 100 years ago when Pete Gokey opened Pete's Hamburgers as a small, humble stand selling pan-fried hamburgers. Pete Gokey's life embodies the hard work, dedication, and commitment that have made our country great.

Although we recognize it today for achieving the feat of keeping its doors open for 100 years, the story of Pete's Hamburgers is one founded upon an individual's commitment to public service and hard work. Before opening his stand to sell hamburgers, Pete Gokey was a member of the volunteer fire department in Prairie du Chien. As fate would have it, Pete was selected to be the chef for one of the fire department's community events, at which he was expected to serve fried hamburgers with onions. The hamburgers were a huge success and became the catalyst for Pete Gokey's successful stand.

Gokey was able to turn his stand into a fixture of the Prairie du Chien community. Whether serving hamburgers or volunteering as a fire fighter, Pete Gokey was a man who lived a life based on hard work and service to his community.

Pete's Hamburgers and its quality product have stood the test of time and I proudly stand before this chamber to recognize the success of Pete and his family who have dedicated their lives to something they love: hamburgers.

I applaud the efforts of Pete Gokey and his family members who now run the business and I am proud to see their hard work rewarded by 100 years of business and 100 years of service to the Prairie du Chien community. May their success continue for many more years to come.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my qualified support for the landmark bill before us, H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy Security Act.

Global climate change poses grave risks to our planet, our economy, and our way of life; it, therefore, cries out for bold action to reverse mankind's contribution to the problem. At the same time, taking such action offers us the tremendous opportunity to remake our energy infrastructure to become less dependent on foreign sources of energy, improve the health of our population and environment, and create high- paying jobs here in America.

The sponsors of H.R. 2454 and its many champions here in the House claim that it will do all of these things--that it will ignite America's leadership in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions to sustainable levels, shift our nation's energy paradigm away from polluting sources and into clean, renewable ones, and create millions of jobs for domestic workers. I also believe this is the case. However, I fear that under this bill, progress toward these goals will come at great cost to American families, particularly in the area of western Wisconsin I represent and others like it. I am disappointed we did not have more time to debate the cost of the legislation and address our concerns through additional consideration of the bill in the Ways and Means Committee.

H.R. 2454 will require utilities and other greenhouse gas emitters to hold an allowance for each ton of these gases they emit. In the beginning of the program, the government will give a large number of these away to regulated utilities with the requirement that the value of these free allowances be used to mitigate the cost to consumers. While some people are very comfortable with this arrangement, I am not so confident that utilities will pass on the full value of these allowances to ratepayers. The initial years of the European Emissions Trading System demonstrated that giving valuable allowances to utilities for free encourages them to pocket the value rather

than reducing electricity rates. Whether the bill's additional layers of administration, oversight, and bureaucracy will be effective at preventing this from happening here is an experiment I would rather not impose on my constituents in western Wisconsin.

I am also concerned that the ACES bill is skewed against regions like mine that are rural and heavily dependent on coal for energy. The formula it establishes for doling out the free allowances to utilities provides more to those areas that need them the least--those that have a lot of zero-emission hydro or nuclear power--rather than those areas like Wisconsin that need the allowances because of their higher emissions. The federal government helped subsidize the hydro and nuclear plants in other parts of the country; ratepayers in my district should not have to send more money their way while we seek to realize the same low-carbon generation.

Finally, the bill allocates funds derived from consumers and spends it on such things as international deforestation, investments in technology, and wildlife adaptation. While these are worthwhile goals that will need to be addressed in the context of combating climate change, I do not think we should do so by putting an additional financial burden on those who can least afford it.

That is why I introduced H.R. 2757, the Consumer Assistance Rebate for Energy, or CARE, Act. This bill would have ensured that any money raised by the government as a result of climate change legislation would be given back to consumers directly to help them cope with any price increases for energy and consumer goods. The EPA stated in its analysis of the ACES bill that this type of approach is the least burdensome on low-income consumers, and that it achieves greenhouse gas reductions at a lower overall cost than the ACES system of free allowances to businesses and utilities.

While I wish my concerns about consumer protection had been addressed more fully in the bill before us, the legislation has changed for the better since being reported out of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and there is enough in the bill to recommend it that I am willing to support its passage today so that it will move to the Senate where it can be improved further.

The American Clean Energy Security Act will live up to its name in many ways. It will transition our energy systems away from unsustainable, polluting fossil fuels and toward clean, renewable resources such as wind, solar, biomass, and hydrogen. It will provide an unprecedented investment in the technologies and industries of tomorrow, creating more than 4,000 jobs in my Congressional District alone, and millions nationwide.

America is the nation that invented solar cell technology decades ago, and the investments we make in the coming years will allow us to regain our leadership in the world and be the center of innovation and industry that will drive the clean energy revolution.

The bill also includes funding to help our natural resources, and fish and wildlife in particular, adapt to the changes in their habitat that have already begun.

Finally, the bill includes opportunities for farmers, ranchers, and foresters to be a part of the climate solution, which is critical for my district, where agriculture remains the largest industry. The USDA, in consultation with EPA, will establish a program where businesses and utilities can meet their greenhouse gas obligations by paying farmers who help sequester carbon. This new revenue stream will be very important in helping the agriculture sector cope with higher costs for energy, fuel, and fertilizer.

Again, I wish we had had more time to deliberate on this extremely large and complex piece of legislation. I wish the bill contained more direct, more transparent ways of compensating consumers. I wish the bill treated regions equitably. But I support strong action on climate change and the creation of millions of new jobs, and I will vote to move this bill forward in the hope that the Senate will pass a bill that works better for more Americans.

Madam Speaker, on June 8, 2009, I missed rollcall votes 311, 312, and 313 due to family reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on each of those votes.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend for yielding me this time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the rule and for the supplemental. In Wisconsin we have had the largest call-up, the largest redeployment of our guard units since the Second World War. Many of our companies in western Wisconsin have had deployment ceremonies, tremendous sacrifices that our troops are making as well as their families to serve our country. This supplemental ensures that they get the tools and the resources and the equipment that they need to do their job as safely and as effectively as possible. It is the least we can do given what they are doing for us.

I also want to commend the dean of the Wisconsin delegation, the Chair of the Appropriations Committee, Mr. Obey, because he recognized the huge shortfall when it came to Farm Service Administration loans for our family farmers. The demand was exceeding the authority that we gave them to give out these ISA loans which is important for them to have so they can buy the seed so they can plant it in the ground and stay in business. And 47 of the 50 States were reaching shortfalls in this manner. It was brought to Mr. Obey's and others' attention, and they took immediate action in order to rectify it before we had a wholesale reduction in family farming throughout the country. So I commend the chairman of the Appropriations Committee.

I urge my colleagues to support the rule and the supplemental.

Madam Speaker, I was unable to have my vote recorded on the House floor on Thursday, May 7, 2009, due to a family commitment. Had I been present, I would have voted in favor of H.R. 1728, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act (Roll No. 242).

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 39th annual Earth Day celebration. While our Nation is facing many other important and difficult challenges, I think it is incredibly important that we take this day to reflect on the status of our environment and how each of us affects it individually. Little decisions made in our own daily lives snowball into large changes that have tremendous impact--a fact worth remembering.

Earth Day founder and Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson is the perfect example of just how great an impact one person can have. Born in the small town of Clear Lake in northwest Wisconsin, Sen. Nelson went on to become governor of the state and then U.S. Senator. He founded Earth Day in 1970 to put pressing environmental issues on the national political map. Now, 39 years later, Earth Day is celebrated in 175 countries, helping motivate and mobilize hundreds of millions of people to commit to better environmental practices and policies.

Not all of us can have this same kind of global influence, but Earth Day's message of collective action means that each of us has a role in preserving our world for future generations, one step at a time. For instance, if each of us simply replaces one incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent bulb, we would prevent the annual emission of greenhouse gases equal to those of 2 million. We also would save enough electricity to shut down two dirty coal power plants. At the same time, American families would save money, as CFL bulbs use 75 percent less electricity than traditional bulbs--a win-win for the environment and the consumer.

In recent years we have witnessed countless other examples of individuals making decisions that help them go green. For example, Wisconsin leads the nation in anaerobic digesters, which take livestock manure and convert it into biogas that produces clean, renewable energy. Additionally, schools across our state have been able to save on their energy costs and help us meet our carbon management goals by utilizing biomass energy projects. These are just two ways people in my district and my state are doing their part.

On this Earth Day, as I recognize and applaud the actions of countless people around the world, I also challenge each of us to continue our efforts. We must take additional steps to meet our shared environmental challenges and to leave this world a healthy, vibrant, and beautiful place for generations to come.

Madam Chair, I rise today in support of H. Con Res. 85, the Budget Resolution for Fiscal Year 2010.

Budgets are all about priorities. This budget makes it clear that the priorities of this Congress are the priorities of the American people. During the greatest economic crisis our country has seen in a generation, the budget before us starts us on a pathway to recovery.

The resolution makes critical investments in education, health care reform, and energy independence that are necessary to restore our economy and put the country in a position to remain globally competitive. Additionally, the budget begins the tough work of returning to responsible fiscal policies.

This budget builds off of the strong commitment Congress made earlier this year in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which provided approximately $53 billion for the Department of Education, with further support for early childhood education, the tools to achieve high standards for elementary and secondary school students, and efforts to help more Americans obtain a college degree. By investing in our children, we are investing in our future and the prosperity of our country.

I remain convinced that in order to turn our country's economy around, we must transform our outdated, inefficient, and costly health care system. This budget commits to doing so. Not only does the budget resolution make critical investments in medical research and innovation, it also provides a framework for comprehensive health reform. I look forward to working with the Speaker to achieve this critical goal.

It is clear that if our country wants to remain competitive, modernizing our health care system is not our only challenge. We also must reduce our dependence on foreign oil. This addiction does not just undermine our national security, but it threatens our environment. The energy challenges our country faces are severe and have gone unaddressed for far too long. Although there were significant investments and tax incentives made in ARRA, this budget goes further by supporting more renewable energy and energy efficiency programs. Finally, the budget includes instructions on legislation that will promote energy independence over the long run.

Finally, and most importantly, this budget cuts the deficit in half in just over four years. In 2001, the previous Administration inherited record budget surpluses--$5.6 trillion projected over ten years--but squandered it all and more, leaving a record deficit of over $1 trillion for 2009 alone. The President did a very tough and honorable thing this year when he presented his budget to Congress with an honest assessment of our financial situation, marking a return to budgeting and fiscal responsibility principles that will help get our fiscal house back in order.

Serious and swift government action was absolutely needed at the beginning of the year to help put our economy on the road to recovery, but now that ARRA has passed it is equally as important to start addressing unfunded obligations we will have down the road. I have long been a proponent of a fiscal commission to examine our long term fiscal obligations and make legislative recommendations to Congress. I fully supported the bipartisan budget summit earlier this year and was happy to participate in the meetings. I know the President is as committed to this issue as I am and I look forward to working with him further on solving our long term fiscal challenges. This budget is a good step in the right direction.

The Budget Resolution before us today makes the tough decisions to get our economy and country back on track. I urge my colleagues to vote yes on this common sense responsible Budget Resolution.

Well, I appreciate my good friend from Washington for yielding a little bit of time, and I want to join you in this Special Order a little bit because there are a lot of exciting things happening right now in the area of alternative and renewable energy development, but especially to commend you for the leadership that you've given, not only to the Congress but the rest of the Nation, in trying to challenge our vision, where we're going to go as a country, as a people, to put us on a glide path toward energy independence, to break our addiction to foreign energy sources, and to be smarter consumers of energy at the end of the day.

I was one of probably many in this Chamber that read my good friend's

book on this subject, ``Apollo's Fire.'' That's not a shameless plug for royalty's sake, but it was a good read, because you did cite in the book many examples, a lot of the innovation and creativity that's happening throughout the country now in this field.

That's why I'm excited with the current Obama administration and the urgency that they see and the priority that they're making in a new energy future for our country.

Just today, I had the owner of a company in Manitowoc, Wisconsin--I represent a district in Wisconsin--called Orion Energy, which has developed what is called the Apollo Light Tube. It doesn't use any electricity. It merely harvests the light of the day in order to focus it in the light-up manufacturing of floors, churches, schools--zero CO2 emission, obviously--and it's tapped into the electric grid of that building so that if it's a cloudy day, the regular energy source kicks in so you maintain a constant light ambient for work conditions or for customers in that building.

But the payback is roughly 4 or 5 years on it. And this is the type of thinking that we need to keep spurring and keep encouraging in the country that's going to help us get out of the energy box that we're in right now.

I think you've recognized for a long time that time is of the essence on it. President Obama understands that the recent reduction in energy prices are very temporary in nature and that once a recovery starts taking place both at home and abroad, we are in all likelihood going to see a rapid escalation of energy costs and then everyone looking at each other trying to figure out who to blame that we are back in this energy box again.

So I would hope that, again, with your leadership and like minds in the Congress today, working with the current administration, who I think really does get it, that we have an opportunity to lay the foundation for a sustainable energy future in our country in anticipation of this cycle coming back again with increased energy costs.

I think time is of the essence. We have got to work hard to get it right at home so we can share this with the rest of the world. If we're ever going to have any chance of averting the global catastrophe of global warming, a lot of that leadership and creativity is going to have to occur right here first at home, with the right incentives and with the right blueprint to accomplish it.

I thank my friend from Washington State again for his leadership.

If the gentleman would yield on that point.

If there's anything worse than having to deal with rising waters, flood waters, it's having to deal with it in freezing temperatures. That's exactly what has hit North Dakotans right now. As a Member who I think

has more miles along the Mississippi River than anyone else in this place, we've had our fair share of flooding in the upper Mississippi region. Even when the waters recede, it takes weeks and months for the cleanup to occur.

I share in offering our best wishes and hopes and prayers for those going through this very difficult time and I'm confident that the United States Congress and the current administration will respond with the type of help and assistance that those communities are going to need in order to battle out of this mess right now.

Of course, Representative Pomeroy is probably the most distinguished sandbagger in this place. It's an area of expertise you really don't want to claim. Unfortunately, he's had his fair share of experience. I'm sure those communities are going to fight through this again.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Gundersen Lutheran's Norma J. Vinger Center for Breast Care on becoming the first breast cancer treatment center in the nation to achieve the highest level of distinction from the National Quality Measures for Breast Centers (NQMBC) program. The honor was presented to Gundersen Lutheran because they ranked at or above a designated threshold of performance for 90 percent of the measures specified by the NQMBC. This honor reflects the center's commitment to providing the highest level of quality care to breast cancer patients and their families at the lowest possible costs. I am extremely proud Wisconsin's Third Congressional District is home to a breast care facility that is a national leader in the measurement of treatment and outcomes.

The Norma J. Vinger Center for Breast Care provides state-of-the-art patient and family care emphasizing prevention, education, early detection, and clinical research. Their approach to breast care is holistic and interdisciplinary with a staff that includes experienced physicians, surgeons, nurses, and technologists who are skilled in the latest methods of early diagnosis, treatment, and reconstructive surgery. The Norma J. Vinger Center for Breast Care has discovered numerous breakthroughs in research and breast cancer care that have provided countless patients with hope and access to the most advanced care available in the country.

In addition to the NQMBC honor, Gundersen Lutheran is also one of two organizations in the country that has every available accreditation for the full scope of breast care, diagnosis, and treatment from the American College of Radiology. The Center also boasts two fellowship- trained clinical breast radiologists that specialize in breast cancer care. The Center for Breast Care has demonstrated continued excellence in measuring and comparing quality performance. The staff is also committed to utilizing new advances in technology to ensure that the Center remains a national leader in breast cancer care and research.

Providing care that promotes early detection, is outcome based, and utilizes innovative technology is the most efficient way to administer health care. I am proud to have this La Crosse based breast cancer facility in Wisconsin's Third Congressional District and hope that the great work they are conducting will serve as a model for the rest of the country.

Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Our country is in the midst of a crisis unlike anything we have seen since the Great Depression. The number of Americans filing for unemployment rose for every state last month, and the numbers for January are not promising. Our credit markets are still frozen, meaning businesses on Main Street are not able to borrow to make payroll. Manufacturing production has hit a 28-year low. Individuals and families are not able to pay their bills and all the while have watched their retirement accounts dwindle.

The bill before us today attempts to remedy these problems with a timely, targeted, and temporary stimulus program to get the economy up and running again, while at the same time addressing the negative effects that the current recession has had on individual Americans. This is not a time for Congress to be timid; we need bold action on several fronts to get people back to work and get the economy back on track. This plan is a nationwide effort to create jobs by investing in clean energy, health care, education and infrastructure, while cutting taxes for American families and businesses.

As a member of the House Ways & Means Committee, I am proud of the work that we did in assembling our part of the larger stimulus bill. Our plan provides tax relief to working families, assistance with healthcare costs, and extended and enhanced unemployment. The plan also gives small and large businesses tax incentives to hire people and purchase new capital.

Specifically, H.R. 1 includes a tax cut to 95 percent of all Americans through a refundable tax credit of $500 for individuals and $1000 for families. Instead of a refund check in the mail, workers will see an uptick in each of their paychecks when the tax cut takes effect. This will provide extra money each pay period for workers to purchase essential needs like food, clothing, and gas.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act also includes several small business tax items that will help stimulate the economy. Specifically, the bill contains an extension of bonus depreciation and small business expensing that was proven to be effective after the first stimulus bill was passed in January 2007. The bill also includes a provision that allows businesses that have suffered a net operating loss to carry back that loss to offset their current year's tax liability.

I would like to commend the Senate Finance Committee for including a provision that I have long championed in their version of this legislation. The provision would allow S corporations that convert from C status to sell assets they held at the time of conversion after 7 years--instead of 10, as required under current law--without incurring the 35% ``built-in gains'' (BIG) tax. This fix, which appeared in my broader S Corporation Modernization Act of 2007 (H.R. 4840), would temporarily release capital that is sorely needed by small businesses today. In fact, according to IRS statistics, hundreds of thousands of S corporations are potentially sitting on billions of dollars in appreciated assets that they cannot access or redeploy due to the prohibitive tax implications of the BIG tax. I look forward to working with Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Rangel to ensure that BIG relief remains in the final recovery package sent to President Obama.

In addition to the many important tax provisions included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the bill also makes meaningful and important changes in our health care system. First, this legislation moves our hospitals and doctors towards a nationwide interoperable electronic health records system, a step that will not only improve the quality of care provided in this country but will help us all save money.

It is my hope that in implementing the Act's health information technology (HIT) provisions, Secretary-nominee Daschle will strike a careful balance on privacy standards to ensure that patients' personal health information is fully protected without precluding important activities from moving forward, such as quality improvement efforts, medical research, and outcomes-based reimbursement. In addition, as HIT adoption progresses under this legislation, it is crucial that Congress remains vigilant to ensure that all providers--especially those in rural areas, such as critical access hospitals--do not fall behind. We must not allow a technology divide to emerge in this country's health care system.

In addition to the investment in HIT, H.R. 1 also includes important funding for comparative effectiveness research, a crucial step that we must take if we are to move this country towards a value and outcomes based health care system. By arming both patients and providers with the best available information, we can ensure that data and the clinical evidence are guiding the care that is given. With both HIT and comparative effectiveness research in place, we can finally begin to control the over-utilization and poor decision-making that have pushed the cost of health care in this country to untenable levels.

As critically important as the investments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are to digging this country out of recession and economic stagnation, we must not use it as an opportunity to abandon fiscal discipline. In fact, the causes and roots of this financial crisis make it more important now than it ever has been to get the federal budget and our long-term unfunded obligations under control. Once our economy returns to stable footing, I would strongly urge Congress and President Obama to undertake significant budget reform efforts to ensure that we are not leaving a legacy of debt for our children and grandchildren.

Our current economic crisis is an extraordinary challenge, but also an extraordinary opportunity. If this country is to successfully address the many, serious challenges we are currently facing--from an expensive and failing health care system, to the need for a greater reliance on American-made renewable energy--we cannot be blind to fiscal realities. We must take a serious, thoughtful approach to the money we both collect and spend as a federal government.

I know that many are skeptical of this plan before us today. I am skeptical as well. Though this package may not be perfect, I do not believe we have the luxury to wait as more Americans lose their jobs every day. This bill provides a shot in the arm for our economy which will start lifting the spirits of Americans and stop the oncoming economic chaos.

Mr. Chair, I support this important legislation that will jump start our economy and get Americans back to work.

I thank my good friend for yielding me this time. In a second, I want to address the issue about the expiration of the Bush tax cuts.

First, it's just not accurate to claim that we have been operating under a very closed process. I know the leadership on the Democratic side and certainly the chairmen of the Appropriations Committee and the Ways and Mean Committee were open to suggestions for good ideas to be included in this economic recovery and investment act.

In an unprecedented fashion, the newly-elected President, President Obama, visited Capitol Hill to meet directly with both Senate and House Republicans to hear their thoughts about the recovery package.

I have very limited time. Maybe you can get some time on your own.

That is why I am proud to be able to stand and support this economic recovery package and commend the chairmen of the Appropriations and Ways and Means Committee for the package they put together because I believe it is bold, I believe it's going to be fast-acting, I believe it's going to create jobs, but I also believe it's going to end, which is an important feature of what we are trying to do, contrary to what they are trying to do with their substitute, so that we don't continue to incur unfunded liabilities out into the future. In fact, I reluctantly oppose the substitute because it undermines the help and support that so many struggling working families need in this country right now.

For instance, their substitute would eliminate the Making Work Pay tax credit that will provide tax relief to 95 percent of Americans in this country. In fact, it effectively eliminates 23 million low-income families from any tax relief whatsoever.

It also eliminates tax relief for families with over 16 million children by doing away with the expansion of the child tax credit that we have included in our bill. It would also eliminate the American Opportunity tax credit that will provide tax relief for more than 4 million students.

But, in a very clever way, they indefinitely extend the Bush tax cuts, which are universally recognized today as benefiting the most wealthy by saying that we cannot do any tax reform in this country--

They say that we cannot do any meaningful tax reform in this country so long as the unemployment rate does not dip below the 2008 numbers, which would be anywhere from 4.8 percent to a little over 5 percent. And everyone knows that that will be years from now, under the best circumstances, before that unemployment rate drops below that number.

So, in a clever way they are adding to this unfunded obligation for an indefinite numbers of years out, increasing the debt burden that our Nation currently has, and jeopardizing our children's future by extending those tax cuts indefinitely.

I encourage my collages to oppose this substitute of support H.R. 1.

Mr. Speaker, during rollcall vote No. 27, I mistakenly recorded my vote as ``yea'' when I should have voted ``nay.'' As American families and our economy continue to struggle, it is imperative that we give the Secretary of the Treasury the tools he needs to help put out economy back on track. With the improved accountability and transparency measures the House passed yesterday in H.R. 384, I believe that is necessary to release the second $350 billion for the Troubled Assets Relief Program.

Mr. Speaker, I rise as one of the leaders of the new Democratic Coalition in strong support of this resolution. And I commend my two good friends from Tennessee and California for bringing this resolution before us and for the leadership that they have consistently shown on all matters pertaining to fiscal responsibility in this place.

This legislation is the proverbial disinfectant that we are in desperate need of. By systematically requiring the committees of jurisdiction to periodically hold hearings in order to identify and root out waste, fraud and abuse and mismanagement in the Federal agencies and with the Federal programs, it's an important step for us to get our fiscal house in order.

This is a bipartisan problem, and it's going to require a bipartisan solution for it. So I'm encouraged that our friends across the aisle also see the need and the necessity to move forward in this systematic fashion to deal with it. This, coupled with President-elect Obama's decision to create and to appoint a chief performance officer in the White House, I feel, is a good, 1, 2 punch in order to root out some of the redundancy and excess waste and abuse that takes place with Federal programs.

But we should also be clear that this is a first step of many steps that we will have to take to get our fiscal house in order.

Unfortunately, the economy's tanking and in the short-term, we're going to be dealing with a stimulus package which will all be deficit financing; and there's great consensus that we have to do it. But in the long term, the picture looks very bleak.

In fact, the Treasury Department last month issued their annual audit report that shows that over the next 75 years, we have a $57 trillion unfunded liability facing our Nation; clearly, a glide path to unsustainability. That's more the net worth of all of us in this Country. And at some point we have to put a formal process in place, whether it's the creation of a fiscal commission or some form of bipartisan budget summit to deal with a long term strategy to get this fiscal house back in order. A $57 trillion unfunded liability sets the next generation up for failure. This, along with more efforts on fiscal responsibility, is something we're going to have to come to grips with very shortly. I encourage my colleagues to support the resolution.