Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the valiant efforts of Sergeant Einar H. Ingman, Jr. of the United States Army.

Sergeant Einar H. Ingman, Jr. was awarded the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy in Korea.

Members of Sergeant Ingman's company were pinned down by pinned down enemy fire that wounded all squad leaders and several other men. Then Cpl. Ingman assumed command, reorganized and combined the two trapped squads, and proceeded to charge the enemy machine guns alone. He took out one crew with a grenade before being hit by a second machine gun. Seriously injured, and with incredible courage and stamina, Cpl. Ingman rose and killed the entire gun crew using only his rifle before falling unconscious from his wounds. As a result of this singular action, the defense of the enemy was broken, his squad secured its objective, and more than 100 hostile troops abandoned their weapons and fled in disorganized retreat.

It is for his courage and unwavering devotion to duty that I am proud to honor and remember the actions of Sergeant Einar H. Ingman, Jr.

honoring major general patrick henry brady

Mr. Speaker, tonight, we want to have a conversation about immigration and immigration reform because we recognize that in 1986, when Congress and the President came together for immigration reform, it didn't work. It didn't work for immigrants; it didn't work for our border; and it didn't work for America. Just recently, we've seen that our Senate

has come forward with proposed legislation, and that too doesn't work. It's a proposal that doesn't secure our border. It's a proposal that won't work long term for America.

We're here to address the problems that we face in this country with real solutions that work for people and work for our country. We're here to say that we're with you. If you want to work hard and you want to contribute to our American economy, we're with you. If you want to obey our laws and if you want a shot at our free enterprise system, we're with you. If you believe that America has a right to secure her borders, to know who's coming in and out of our country, we're with you. If you want to pay taxes and pledge allegiance to America, we're with you. And if you want your shot at the American Dream, we're with you.

We're a party that looks at the big problems in our country, and we come out with big solutions to fix those problems. We're not a party of ``no.'' We are a party of solutions. That's why I'm honored to be here tonight with a few of my fellow colleagues to talk about the solutions in regard to immigration, solutions that are going to work. And that' why I'm honored right now to yield to the gentleman from Illinois for his thoughts on immigration.

It is that very point. It is that lack of trust with the American people and Washington, D.C. That's why we want to go through a step-by-step approach, analyzing immigration and immigration reform.

The gentleman from North Carolina said we're here to fight for people. We're here to fix a broken system, and we're here to make it work. We want to have a reform bill that is going to actually be fair-- be fair to those who have come to participate in our economy, but be fair to people who are Americans that say we are a country of laws, and we also are a country of immigrants.

I think the key first step is border security. We have to debate, negotiate, discuss what does border security mean. Once we agree on what border security is, and once we secure the border, we can go to the next phase, which is to say we have millions of people who have come into our country, what's the fair way to treat them. In my opinion, and I am open to hearing feedback from all kinds of people as we have this conversation and debate, I haven't dug my heels in. But, number one, we have to say, do you get to go to the head of the line and become a U.S. citizen when you've come here without documentation? I don't know that that's the first step after border security. But what I do think we have to say is if you've come here and you've participated in our economy, we can offer some kind of legal status, a legal status that isn't citizenship, but it's a legal status that says we're not going to arrest you in the middle of the night. We're not going to separate you from your grandparents or your kids. You can stay in our country because the border is secure. We're not going to have to address this problem 10 years from now or 20 years from now or 25 years from now. We've addressed the border, which means that we've addressed the inflow of people coming to our country illegally.

When that happens, we can offer those without documentation a status that says you can stay here and you can work; but if you want to become a citizen, you're going to have to get to the back of the line. You don't get a special pathway into the front of the line. You can go to the back and you can become a citizen, but you can stay here legally. And by staying here legally, you can pay your taxes, but that doesn't mean you can vote. And it also doesn't mean that you can collect off the entitlement system that we have here in America.

I think as we have that conversation with those who are here without documentation and those who care about the laws in America, we can have a conversation that actually works for everybody and everybody can agree to. I look forward to that conversation, on finding a pathway and a consensus forward that works for everybody.

With that, I yield to the gentleman from Colorado.

I appreciate the gentleman from North Carolina's comments. And you look around at immigrants that come to America, why do they come? They've come for the American Dream. They've come for a better life for themselves. They've come for a better life for their children. They've come to the land of opportunity because they want that opportunity. They want to work hard.

I'm from Wisconsin. Many people may not want to recognize this, but if you look at our dairy farms around Wisconsin, there are a lot of immigrants who have come here without documentation that work on our farms. And it's hard, tough work; and they do it because they want an opportunity.

I travel around and do a lot of town halls, and I know my colleagues do town halls and coffees. I would ask the gentlemen from Colorado and Illinois what you guys hear in your town halls, what people think about immigration and the problems and the solutions you face in your communities.

That's a powerful story.

And I hear similar things, and that's why people say, Take it slow. Talk about it. Talk to us.

Let's do what's right. Let's do what works for the very people that you talked about. Some call them the Dreamers, people who are here at 17 years old or 14 years old and know no other country, but they're here. They're part of our communities, our society, and our schools. Let's do what's right by them, but also let's do what's right for our next generation by securing this border.

I want to talk about just one story. I have a good friend back in Ashland, Wisconsin. He came here legally, but it goes to the work ethic of those who come for opportunity and the American Dream.

It's Bah Lee. He owns a nail shop in Ashland, Wisconsin, and he was raised in an orphanage in Vietnam. And the sister nuns, as he tells the story, saved money in the orphanage and they sent him to America. And he couldn't speak the language, and I think he was in Texas where he got a job in a fast-food restaurant.

And from fast-food, he got a job as a painter. And all the painters got mad at him because he was such a fast painter and they were, like, Slow down. You're making us all look bad. He said, No, I'm here to paint. In very short order he was the highest-paid painter; doesn't speak the language very well, from Vietnam, but man, could he paint.

He saved money, sent money back to the sister nuns in Vietnam to help the orphanage but saved money himself, and he opened up a nail salon. And after that nail salon, another nail salon, and he sold them and he built them and he sold them.

Eventually, he said, I don't like the hot weather anymore, so he moved up to northern Wisconsin, where he bought a building on Main Street, Ashland; right? And he opened up California Nails.

And during the day, Lee does nails, and at night--it's an old 1900 building. It was barren up there. He built five apartments, by himself, at night, in the upstairs of his office building. And then in the downstairs, which was not the nicest location and smelled, he ripped it out and built new apartments downstairs.

But a guy that worked all day and all night for his shot at the American Dream, helping his people back at home, but helping our community, showing what immigrants do to make America better. And it's that story, which is the American story, that I'm fighting for, to have a system that actually works for people who are here legally and people who want a shot at what we have to offer.

And with that, I yield back to the gentleman from North Carolina for his comments on what he hears in his town halls on where we need to go with regard to immigration reform.

For a few more moments, I'm going to yield to the gentleman from Illinois.

I know our time is short, and I appreciate the discussion, and I'm about to yield back to the Speaker. And we may have a few more minutes we can actually continue this discussion tonight, but my time is done.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I think it's important for all of us to stand strong, stand tall and lead, listen, communicate on this very important issue. And I know that's what we want to do here tonight is throw out ideas, but also prepare ourselves to listen to what our constituents want, what America wants and what's right for the country.

I hear some folks on my side of the aisle talk about if you pass a border security bill, you're going to go to conference with the Senate and you're going to adopt the Senate bill. We don't go to conference unless we agree to it. That's not going to happen. Let me be very clear. We're going to do a step-by-step approach and get a solution to immigration and then we'll talk about going to conference, if that's the pathway forward. But it's not one phase of the bill, then to Congress.

I've got others that say just enforce the current laws, and to those I would ask: How is that working for us? It's not working. We have to engage in this conversation and do what's right.

I've got one more story for you. There's a family that came from Mexico over to Arizona, and they had an opportunity to work in the mines in Superior, Arizona, hard work, tough work. They were Catholic. They raised a lot of kids on not a lot of money. But one of their kids, as he grew up, he learned how to make pinatas and sell those pinatas. He learned how to get fruit of the desert, chop it up, slice it, dice it, and sell it as a delicacy within his community, a little entrepreneur.

When he got older he had a shot to go work in the mines like his brothers, but instead he said, You know what? I want to serve my country. And he went into the military. He had a chance to serve under Ronald Reagan.

And he came from a party that's not mine, but he had a chance to serve under Ronald Reagan, and he had to see what a party of opportunity had to offer him and his community and his family. He changed his vote. He said, This is who's looking out for me. This is who's looking out for my opportunity, and this is who's going to look out for my children and my grandchildren.

He went on, got married to a woman in Spain who immigrated here legally, and they had four kids. And I was honored enough to meet their daughter and marry her and move her to northern Wisconsin from warm Arizona, where we now have six children together.

That's my wife's immigrant story, whose father came here as a first- generation American, who worked his heart out and has his shot at the American Dream. After the military, he became a schoolteacher, and now he works for a university. He's living the dream. His daughter is living the dream. All of us have those stories. My parents, my great- grandparents came from Ireland. We all have the story of an immigrant.

I'm here to say, let's open our hearts. Let's open our minds. Let's have a real discussion that works. But let's also first say secure the border so we don't deal with this again, and then do what's right by way of folks who have come here and want their shot at the American Dream.

Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.

Madam Chair, I will try to address some of the concerns of the gentlelady from Ohio. I think everyone who supports this amendment is willing to work with the administration if the administration wants to work with us to start to dredge our ports, to make sure that we can actually have more flow of commerce through the American ports that haven't been serviced well.

If the administration wants to tap into the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund and use those resources for other purposes, I think you would see a strong objection from those who support this amendment because those of us who especially live in the Great Lakes--Mr. Nolan and I, the gentleman from Minnesota and I, have the great honor of sharing the Duluth-Superior port. We understand how important dredging is to making sure that port functions.

When we don't have enough resources going in to service our port, it gives us great pause because these are jobs in our community. It is economic growth in our community, and if we don't have that, we're concerned. So if the administration is willing to work with us, we are willing to work with the administration, no doubt.

But, again, if they want to take those resources and use them for another purpose, we would have great pause and pushback because what you've seen with the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund is that it is funded by the shippers. They pay taxes, they pay fees in the anticipation that those dollars, those revenues, are going to be used to service our ports. The problem is it hasn't been used to service our ports. So they're paying money into a fund that over the last 15 years has run a surplus, and now there's $7 billion in the fund. And they sit back and they scratch their heads and they wonder why isn't this money being used for its intended purpose, which is to make sure American ports work. We've paid for it. We've agreed to pay the taxes; now do, government, what you've promised us to do, use it to make sure that we can actually have commerce in our industry.

I think it's important, the gentleman from Pennsylvania also talked about the Corps of Engineers doing studies and talking about our shippers having to light-load, talking about the Great Lakes ports, talking about Duluth-Superior, the twin ports, where they're unable to load at full capacity because we haven't effectively dredged that port. And that is loss of revenue for our shippers. Not only that, it's driving up the cost of the goods that we're shipping on the Great Lakes, which means the end consumer is paying more for those goods. This doesn't make a lot of economic sense, especially when we have $7 billion of surplus in that fund.

This is one of those issues where I think government can do a better job serving the people. Putting money into a fund, paying taxes to specifically go into a fund for a specific purpose and then have that fund raided and robbed and used for a different purpose is unconscionable, and it is unacceptable; and that is not the agreement that Americans here in the shipping industry had with their government. It's unfair, at best.

To make one last point, this is a jobs amendment. This amendment will again make sure that we can have a growing, effective, efficient economy in shipping in ports across the country; but it also makes sure that we have lower-cost goods because we are effectively using our ports and our shippers across the country.

I yield to the gentlelady from Ohio.

Reclaiming my time, point well made by the gentlelady from Ohio. Just to make sure we're clear, this amendment is one that prohibits additional or expansion of the definition of use for the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, so we can't use it for purposes other than for the ports, which was the original intent.

With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Today, I rise to talk about jobs in America and jobs in Wisconsin. One of the largest centers of our economy in rural Wisconsin is our forest products industry. And that industry is under assault.

One of the largest portions of our forest is held by the Chequamegon- Nicolet National Forest. In fact, from 1986 to 1992 we harvested 150 million board feet of lumber a year, on average. Now, we harvest 98 million board feet a year. We've reduced that by 50 percent. What does that do? That causes thousands of jobs to be lost in rural Wisconsin.

Let's kick-start our economy. Let's put our loggers back to work. Let's open up our saw mills and paper mills. By opening up those mills, we have to open up our National Forests. Let's make sure our National Forests don't rot and burn but that we actually harvest them. They are a renewable resource and have a direct tie-in to jobs in rural Wisconsin.

Mr. Speaker, last week, the needs of my constituents took me away from D.C. and my work here in this Chamber. Though this absence was excused, I would like the record to show my support for legislation which was passed to repeal the misguided and over-burdensome health care law known as Obamacare, and two bills which increase analysis of new and existing regulations and strengthen our local financial institutions. I have supported these pieces of legislation in the past, and would have voted for them had I been here.

That being said, last week, a devastating forest fire--the largest Wisconsin has seen in 33 years--hit the northwest corner of my district in Douglas County. I was grateful to be back home to evaluate the damage, offer assistance to those who suffered loss and personally thank the first responders. By the grace of God, and with the help of many selfless first responders and firefighters, no one was injured and the destruction was limited. I was inspired by neighbors coming together to help each other, and was proud to see governments at the local, State, and Federal level respond quickly and effectively. I commend all those who stepped up and took charge in this situation, and my staff and I will continue to offer our assistance in any way we can.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the business accomplishments of Robert F. Cervenka of Phillips, Wisconsin, who has been presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Price County Economic Development Association.

Bob Cervenka was born and raised in the small town of Phillips, Wisconsin. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After his graduation in 1958, Bob returned to the community that he loved to pursue his new business venture--the Phillips Plastics Corporation.

Phillips Plastics began operations on October 20, 1964, occupying an old creamery building in Phillips. In 1967, the company broke ground on a new 12,000 square foot custom plastic facility where they employed 30 skilled workers dedicated to crafting innovative control knobs for automobiles, dishwashers, fans, dehumidifiers, and dryers. In 1973, Phillips Plastics opened Precision Decorating in Medford, Wisconsin. Shortly thereafter, the facility became known as Phillips Automotive, a full service design, manufacture, decoration, and assembly plant for high volume injection molded components. As industries from the Midwest moved to the south and offshore, Bob recognized that Wisconsin's rural, small community workforce offered a unique competitive advantage. He developed additional plants in Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, Menomonie, New Richmond, Hudson, and Prescott among others.

Capitalizing on the company's success, Mr. Cervenka and co-founder Louie Vokurka established the independent philanthropic Ann Marie Foundation in 1974. Named after their mothers, the foundation worked to improve the quality of life within local communities that are home to Phillips Plastics facilities. Since its inception, the foundation has given over $8 million to schools and non-profit organizations.

Thanks to the business contributions of outstanding citizens like Robert F. Cervenka, Wisconsin's economic future looks bright. I ask that my colleagues join me today to express our appreciation for Bob's entrepreneurial spirit and our congratulations to him on receiving this well-deserved award.

I appreciate my friend from Texas yielding.

Over the past 5 months, our Nation has seen unspeakable horrors bestowed upon the children of our country, from the massacre in Newtown--the 23 innocent, young first graders who lost their lives--to just recently in the Boston bombing, where many lost their lives, but specifically, a third grader, Richard Martin, lost his life.

Richard, a couple weeks before, had just made his First Communion. There is a picture of Richard in a sharp white suit with a proud, toothless smile. He lost his life in Boston. His little sister, Jane, who was by him was also hit by the bomb. She lost her leg. She was just starting to take Irish step dancing classes. She will now be in recovery for months and years from that bombing.

We have to look at what's happening in our country with regard to violence against children. As a country, we have to soul-search about violence against our children, and we have been soul-searching. Our families, our communities, we've been soul-searching in this institution about that very violence. We've had a conversation about: How do we protect our children? How do we keep them from this violence and scourge that is spreading across our country? But we soul-search.

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, dozens--if not hundreds--of babies have had their lives taken from them, where they've been murdered, left to lay in cardboard boxes, left in toilets trying to swim for air, only to have the backs of their necks snipped, basically decapitated. That kind of horror is being bestowed on children in America, and yet where is the media? Where are the protests? Where are the congressional hearings?

Listen, where are the parents on Air Force One flying to the White House having a meeting with the President? Where are the high-powered meetings with the Senators across the aisle? They're not happening.

I don't have the picture for you today, but many have seen it, a picture of the courtroom where the Kermit Gosnell trial is going on. There's a section reserved for the media--the media that loves great stories, loves fanfare. There's a section reserved for the media at this trial and there's nobody there. There's been a blackout. The media has refused to cover this story.

How about a poor, immigrant mother who can't speak English, who looks to her local community organization in Philadelphia, who gets a recommendation for an abortion to go to the nice-sounding Women's Medical Society clinic, a clinic that is well known for its filth and well known for its health violations. Poor minority immigrant goes to this clinic for an abortion, and she loses her life.

So I think we have to ask: Where is NARAL? Where is NOW? Where is Mrs. Barbara Boxer, standing up for poor minority women who are losing their lives in Philadelphia at the hands of an abortion provider? Where are they? The silence is deafening. Can't hear them.

There's no voice given to that poor minority immigrant. There is no voice given to these little babies who are so vulnerable at the start of their lives and they're voiceless. But no one--even those who say they stand up for women and babies, they're unwilling to stand up at this time.

However, if you are a white, privileged law student from this town, the doors swing wide open and the media wants to cover your story. They want to cover your point of view. But when we're talking about an abortion clinic that provides late-term, partial-birth abortions where babies are born alive, there is no outrage; there is no story.

Where is the NAACP for these minority babies? Where is La Raza? Where is the Black Congressional Caucus? Where is Maxine Waters? Where is the leader of the Democrat Party? Where are they, lending their voice to these atrocities, this murder?

You know, I'm a father of six. I've been there for the birth of all my babies. I know we have a lot of parents in this institution and across the aisle. Listen, newborn babies coming out, they are voiceless; they're defenseless; they rely on us for everything.

Here's a picture of my sixth baby, MariaVictoria, Mighty V, just born. The pictures of the babies that died in Philadelphia are bigger than this; they're more developed than this. And yet no one wants to stand up and shed light on these atrocities and these unspeakable horrors, the dehumanization, the desensitization of what happened in Philadelphia.

I think we have to ask ourselves why. Why aren't my good friends on the other side of the aisle, who have families, who have had children, who care about minorities and the poor and care about children--I know it because I hear them--where are they? Why won't they join us to expose this? Is it that they care more about the abortion clinics than poor defenseless babies that are born alive and aren't provided care, aren't provided love, but are abandoned and left to die? I can't believe that's true. Is it that they agree more with partial-birth abortions that are botched and babies are born alive and they're not willing to provide aid? I cannot believe that; not offering lifesaving treatment for the most vulnerable among us.

I think we have to look around in our communities, in our country, we have to look at this very institution, and we have to be better than this. We are better than this.

We might disagree on abortion. I'm a pro-life guy. I know we have a lot of people who are pro-abortion in this institution. I can accept those distinctions. But how can anybody come forward who even supports abortion and say, I'm not going to defend a baby that's born alive? What kind of position is that? Or that you won't lend your voice to this cause? You can come out and say, I support abortion, but I don't support this.

This is wrong. We're better, as Americans, than that. We're better Congressmen and -women than that. We have bigger hearts than that. This is unacceptable in our country.

We're going to have the abortion debate for a while, and that's okay, but we have to draw the line somewhere. When do we step forward and say we are going to defend the most defenseless and the most voiceless among us? When does that start?

I think in this institution most of us have agreed that that starts at birth--at least. I think it starts at conception, but everyone has agreed it starts at birth. So why, when we have this atrocity, this death of our children in Philadelphia with Dr. Gosnell, haven't people loaned their voices to these children? They deserve better than that.

So I think it's incumbent upon this institution, our communities, our country, and the media to make sure that we provide a voice, we provide a platform for those babies because we care more about those lives than we care about the abortion industry, and we care more about those babies than we care about exposing the horrors and atrocities of partial-birth abortion. We're better than that.

I'm going to tell you this: though we may disagree on some issues, we do agree on protecting these little ones as they come into the world. I'm going to continue that fight.

I know the gentleman from Texas is passionate on this topic and has a lot of things to talk about today, but I appreciate him yielding a few minutes for me to chat.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the community accomplishments of Ann Bochler of Ashland, Wisconsin, who has been named the 2013 Person of the Year, by the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce.

Ann sits on the Ashland Youth Hockey Association Board of Directors, and is a past board member of several community organizations including the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce, Big Top Chautauqua, Depot Restoration Committee, the Ashland Waterfront Commission and the Ashland Parks and Recreation Committee. Ann was the 2011 Recipient of the Badger of the Year Award presented by the UW-Madison Alumni Club of the Chequamegon Bay Area. She has also been instrumental in helping coordinate and plan events for the Ashland Chamber and for the Ashland and Bayfield County Relay for Life, for which she serves as Chairperson.

Ann is a true community leader, and through her own creativity comes up with great ideas. Her positive demeanor and strong, outgoing personality has allowed her to connect with the community to develop a great support network of volunteers who help her attain her goals for community fundraising and other events.

Thanks to the community contributions of outstanding citizens like Ann Bochler, Ashland is rightfully known by many as ``Lake Superior's hometown.'' I ask that my colleagues join me today to express our appreciation for Ann's community spirit and our congratulations to her on receiving this well-deserved award.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Doug Gold, this year's Big Brother of the Year for the Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles.

Doug's dedication to a life of community service and volunteerism has touched many organizations and nurtured many children over the years. His selfless efforts should act as role model for citizens all over the country.

By balancing work and family obligations while continuing to give back to his community, Doug has demonstrated the altruistic virtues this country was built upon. Over the years, Doug has not only coached local soccer teams and attended ballet recitals, but he also has been active with the March of Dimes organization and with Kiwanis International.

In January of this year, his most recent volunteer efforts were honored by the Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles. The one on one mentoring organization for Jewish children recognized him with the Big Brother of the Year Award.

I stand here to offer my congratulations to Doug as his unselfish efforts should be celebrated and commended. Great job Doug.

Mr. Chairman, I'm happy to hear my friends across the aisle talk about investing in our future and investing in our economy. But when they talk about that, I think we have to be clear that that's code for borrowing and spending more money.

We should truly talk about the cost of this debt. We all know today that we owe $17 trillion in debt, and if the Federal Reserve stopped printing money, the actual cost to service this debt, to pay the interest payments would be about $500 billion.

You go out 10 years and our debt is going to be $25 trillion. And minimally to service our interest payments on that debt 10 years from now, it's going to cost us $750 billion a year, or $7.5 trillion over 10 years.

If you talk about the cost of interest payments every year to service the debt, that's $750 billion that isn't going into education, it's not going into health care, it's not going into roads or schools or helping our poor. It's $750 billion that goes to interest payments.

When you talk about investing in our future, we're not doing that. We are mortgaging our children's future. But let's be clear. There is someone who is investing in their future--it's the Chinese. They're investing in their future by buying American debt. So when my little girls, my little 2-year-old Mari Vi and my 4-year-old Paloma, when they get to be our age, they're going to have this weight of interest and debt around their neck and they're going to pay those payments back to those Chinese preschoolers.

This is not responsible. And to hear my colleagues across the aisle stand up and talk about a balanced approach that continues this course of massive red, this is what our children inherit and say this is what we want to give to them?

Listen, if you ask moms around America, Is this what you want for your children? Is this what you want them to inherit? Is this how you want them to invest their tax dollars? They would resoundingly stand up and say, Heck no. Be responsible. Pay off the debt. We don't want them to have their massive tax dollars go to interest payments.

My friends across the aisle, they talk again about borrowing and spending and investing in our economy. When they use that language, it sounds eerily familiar to the same language they used 4 years ago. This is the same argument that was used to borrow a trillion dollars to help us grow our economy, create massive new jobs.

The bottom line is that that trillion-dollar stimulus failed. We want a responsible approach, balance the budget, grow our economy and put our hardworking middle class families back to work. The Republican budget actually does that.

I ask all my colleagues to actually support the Republican budget.

I appreciate the gentleman for yielding.

I want to shed a little light on what has been discussed on the floor tonight, Mr. Chairman. We are hearing a lot of conversation about Medicare.

We have to be clear that, in ObamaCare, this was the largest health care reform bill this country had ever seen. It's going to spend $2 trillion of deficit spending over the next 10 years. With that massive new health care reform bill, guess what? Medicare is going broke in 10 to 12 years. So with this great health care reform, they didn't have enough foresight to save our seniors' Medicare program, the program they've actually paid for over the course of their lifetimes. I think our seniors deserve better than what they've received in ObamaCare.

We hear a lot about what we've done with the $716 billion in ObamaCare. Let's be clear between the two plans.

My friends across the aisle want to take $716 billion of savings from Medicare--take that money out--and use it for a different set of people in ObamaCare. They want to use it for people who didn't pay for the program. On our side of the aisle, we want to take that savings and use it for our seniors--it's their money; they deserve to get it--and we use it to shore up the program. This makes sense.

You talk about facts and numbers, think back to what the President told us with regard to ObamaCare. He said, Listen, you're going to see your health care costs go down by $2,500 a year per family of four. The truth? What happened? Health care costs went up by $3,000 a year for a family of four. That's a $5,500 turnaround for a family of four in his health care reform bill. Listen, that's a lot of money for hardworking American families.

Let's talk about what else has been discussed by my friends across the aisle.

If you recall the stimulus bill, a trillion dollars in spending, remember, we were supposed to spend a trillion dollars and get an unemployment rate by 2013 of 5.2 percent. Well, the reality is we're sitting at 7.7 percent. But if you add back in everybody who has stopped looking for work because they can't find it because this has been one of the longest and lamest recoveries since the Great Depression, it's actually up at 10 percent. Listen, these policies and these promises haven't worked for the American people.

Let's talk about taxes. We have a plan that will reform the Tax Code. It will make it fairer, flatter, simpler, easier to use, and we root out the loopholes, take away the preferences and the exemptions. We get away from crony capitalism. A fairer code. You have a chance to vote for that kind of tax reform in our budget.

But let's compare that to what my friends across the aisle propose. Well, a trillion dollars in tax increases in ObamaCare, $600 billion of tax increases in the fiscal cliff.

And another $1.2 trillion in this new proposal, for a total of $2.8 trillion of new taxes. Mr. Chairman, we've seen this before. This is tax-and-spend liberalism at its finest.

I think the American people understand what has happened in this very slow recovery. This is a chart that the chairman showed earlier, but you see the growth rate and the red line of what we've seen in this recovery, and you see the average growth rate of other recoveries from other recessions. And the difference is 4 million jobs between this recovery and the average recovery. Well, that's 4 million families that don't have work, that aren't paying for food on the table and a roof over their head. These are real people and real families in places like central and northern Wisconsin that have been impacted by this economy.

As Chairman Ryan talks about, we have a choice of two futures, and my Democratic colleagues across the aisle want this massive debt and deficit to be the future for our children. We think there's a better way. We look at being responsible and paying off our debt in a way that's going to work, not just for this generation, but for future generations.

What are we doing? We owe $17 trillion in debt. We borrow $1 trillion every year, and there's no end in sight, and we're printing money to buy our debts. And you say keep going, keep printing, keep borrowing, keep spending. This is going to end well, you tell us, or you tell our American families. Give me an example of where printing, borrowing, and spending ends in economic growth, prosperity, wealth, or sustainable jobs.

Let's go back to fiscal responsibility. Let's live within our means in this country, pay down our debt, do what's responsible, and leave our children a brighter future.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Hayward High School's Lady Hurricanes Hockey Team for winning the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association State Championship (WIAA) State Championship.

In only their sixth year playing at the varsity level, the Lady 'Canes defeated the Onalaska Hilltoppers in a thrilling 5-2 match. The Lady 'Canes out-skated their top-ranked opponent for three periods to take home Hayward High School's first state hockey championship.

The exemplary leadership set forth by the coaches combined with the perseverance of the players shows the true spirit Wisconsinites have for sports and competition. These student athletes proved their dedication to the team--starting practice at 6:45 AM, training 5-6 days per week, participating in community service, while never losing sight of academic importance.

Furthermore, the fans from Hayward and surrounding areas (affectionately known as Hurricane Nation), came out in full form to support their team, setting a record for the largest crowd in tournament history. The co-op team consists of players from Hayward, Spooner, Northwestern, and Phillips High Schools.

As a former hockey player myself, and a huge fan of the game, I am thrilled to call my hometown Lady 'Canes--State Champs for 2013. Congratulations ladies! You have earned it!

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Hayward High School's Lady 'Canes for winning the WIAA State Hockey Championship. In only their sixth year of playing varsity-level hockey, the Lady 'Canes defeated the Onalaska Hilltoppers in a thrilling 5-2 match. The Lady 'Canes out-skated their top-ranked opponent for three periods and took home Hayward High School's first hockey championship. Let me tell you what, as a Hurricane, it has been way too long.

With great leadership from their coaches, combined with the perseverance of the players, they showed the true spirit Wisconsinites have for sports and competition. These ladies would get up at 6:45 in the morning before school, training 5 to 6 days a week, participating in community service, and never losing sight of the importance of education.

So, today, I stand before you with a pink tie saying congratulations to Hayward High School's Lady 'Canes for a job well done. Congratulations.

Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman for yielding.

My good friends across the aisle talk about loopholes and tax reform. They might forget that over the last 2 years, this House and this party have put forward legislation that does away with the loopholes as part of a larger tax reform proposal.

My friend across the aisle continually talks about a smart and balanced way to balance the budget. He talks about responsibility. But if you ask him, Mr. Speaker, for his legislation, when does the Democrat bill balance? When does their budget balance? It never does. Ask him: does it balance in 10, 20, 50 years? How about 100 years? Does your budget balance in 100 years? Never does it balance. That is not a balanced approach.

The Senate hasn't put forward a budget in 4 years. The President's budget, not one Democrat in this Chamber or the Senate voted for the President's budget. And that one, too, never, never balances. That's not a balanced approach. America deserves better.

But on this current legislation, America and Americans have a right to know how much their government is accumulating in debt in their name. Grandparents and parents, they have a right to know how much debt is going to be passed on to their grandchildren and their children. Those little preschoolers, those toddlers, those infants that are going to inherit this massive debt, they have a right to know. How about those young adults that are getting out of high school and tech school and out of college? They have a right to know as they look at their car loans, at their student loans, at that new house loan. They have a right to know how much they're going to inherit and pay back over the course of their working years for this irresponsible debt. Americans have a right to know.

This legislation is important because this is the first step to making sure that America knows the fiscal trouble we're in, and to encourage our friends across the aisle to get together and not use terminology of a balanced approach but actually give us a balanced budget.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 50th Anniversary of the Amsoil World Championship Snowmobile Derby on Sunday, January 20, 2013, in Eagle River, Wisconsin.

Fifty years ago, the sport of snowmobiling had just begun. Today, the sport has a national economic impact of $24 billion with an additional international economic impact of $13 billion. Over 100,000 full-time jobs in North America are generated by the snowmobile industry. These American jobs include jobs in manufacturing, sales, and tourism-related services.

I am proud to have a snowmobile manufacturer with facilities located in Wisconsin's Seventh Congressional District. Polaris Industries, Inc. manufactures and distributes quality snowmobiles, among other high- performance motorized products. This employee owned company is just one example of the positive impacts the snowmobile industry has on our economy.

The history of snowmobiling started in Vilas County, 40 years before the very first snowmobile race took place. In fact, Carl Eliason of Sayner, Wisconsin, invented the first snowmobile, which was a snow toboggan, with skis and a track to drive the machine over the snow. By 1964, John and Betty Alward in Eagle River, along with Walter Goldsworthy of nearby Three Lakes, WI, gave the winter economy a boost with the sport of snowmobile racing. The initial news release called this the ``World's First Snowmobile Derby,'' which at the time, was an entirely new concept in winter sports celebrations. Between 2,000 and 3,000 people attended that event in 1964. Today, the World Championship attracts over 30,000.

I am thankful for those who envisioned the snowmobile derby and for those who have made this event an incredible success. Snowmobiling is an important part of Wisconsin's heritage and I ask my colleagues to join me in extending my congratulations on the 50th Anniversary of the Amsoil World Championship Snowmobile Derby in Eagle River, WI.