Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, every second of every day Washington adds another $40,000 to our national debt. In fact, by the time I finish speaking this sentence our national debt will increase another $360,000--$360,000 in one sentence.

We've reached the edge of a cliff, and it's going to take tough decisions and responsible leadership to eliminate this massive, massive debt. That's why today I rise in support of H.R. 2560, the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011. I support it because it's right, not because it's a Republican plan, but because it's a commonsense plan. It's the American family plan.

Every American family cuts their budget, caps their budget, and balances their budget with their own finances; so should Washington. That is not an unfair expectation. To argue against this is to argue against common sense. This is to say, as bad parents do, ``Do as I say, not as I do.'' That is bad parenting, and that's also bad legislation.

Unfortunately, over the past 3 months, our efforts to get serious about this crisis have been met with scare tactics. Enough. Enough of the political parlor tricks coming out of this city. It is time for us to do the job that the American people sent us here to do: practice common, walking-around sense. That's what my grandfather taught me. That's good at home; that's good in the family; that's good in small business; and it is good enough for Washington, D.C.

I thank the gentleman from Ohio for yielding me a minute this morning.

Today I think we owe the American people an apology because we all as a House are here to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States and it has been way too long before this debate has been had on this floor.

There is much more at risk today than Libya. What is at risk today is the very Constitution that we have sworn to protect and to uphold. If the Constitution is at risk, then this House is at risk.

When this House is blatantly ignored by another branch, by the President of the United States, then the people are blatantly ignored by the President of the United States and this House will fall.

I applaud those that have sponsored this resolution, and I rise in support of it today.

I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding.

I will tell you, I've been here for 5 months; and a few moments ago I was as angry as I've been in a long time because, this afternoon, we heard the injection of a Judeo-Christian event that I was taught as a little boy is precious to my faith and to the tenets of Judeo- Christians around this world.

I cannot sit and not rise and object and ask everyone in this body: Please let's identify limits to what we will say and where we will go, because what we say here the world listens to; but more importantly, the God that we pray to listens, too.

So it bothers me greatly. I am angered--angered--at what I heard and what I witnessed. In trying to be in control of my emotions, I would just ask everyone: Please let's not inject religious events that many of us are looking forward to in our futures.

Parliamentary Inquiry

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the American families, the farmers and the fishermen, especially those across north Florida and northwest Florida who are being crushed today by these incredibly high rising fuel costs.

I represent and I am privileged to represent the largest land mass district in Florida, and I'll tell you, those that make their living in farming, those that make their living in one of our eight coastal counties in the fishing industry, they are being hammered day in, day out, day in, day out by rising fuel costs, especially the cost of diesel fuel.

We have the responsibility to American people today to alleviate our energy crisis through tough economic times. We can do this and must achieve this important goal while protecting the sensitive coastal regions.

And, yes, I took my baby steps on the beaches of Panama City, so I understand how important our environmental concerns are. My family's been there since Florida became a State, so I understand how critically important our environment is.

But at the same time, we must also preserve our military mission capabilities. We are the home of Tyndall Air Force Base and the home of the F-22, and so I understand how critical they are to our communities and our environment and our economies down in Florida as well.

We must do all these things while at the same time making sure that what we do in this House protects the American family budget and, especially in regards to rising fuel costs. Most family budgets today are spending over 10 percent, right at, near and over 10 percent of their family budget on rising fuel costs.

Unfortunately, some of our colleagues today believe the best thing to do, rather than to get out of this hole, is to dig this hole even deeper. As my grandfather would have said, Son, that would violate walking around sense? Okay? Instead of getting out of the hole, you just drive and dig a deeper hole.

This chart that I'm looking at right here beside me that I want you to see talks about the declining crude production in the Gulf of Mexico. In mid 2009, the United States was producing 1.73 million barrels of oil per day in the Gulf of Mexico. According to the Energy Information Administration, that number will fall to 1.18 million barrels per day next year.

Earlier we heard one of my colleagues talk about the sixth graders around the country. Well, sixth graders, I will tell you, they understand and they will soon learn in economics that, in order to reduce the price, you have to have more of something. That's simple. They're going to learn that much in basic economics. You have to have more of it.

What does this drastic reduction in the gulf exploration mean for people in Florida's Second Congressional District? They mean that if they go to the marina to try to go catch their two fish this year per day out in the Gulf of Mexico, that they're going to spend almost $6 per gallon of gas to fill that boat up--$6 per gallon of gas. I'm telling you, that is unbearable.

The second chart that I have right here is the exodus of American jobs, rigs leaving the gulf for foreign waters under the Obama administration's de facto moratorium.

You will see on here that jobs are leaving the Gulf of Mexico, and they're going to the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt, Australia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone and, as we know, our favorite pick of late is Brazil.

I'm saying that what we have to do in this body today is we have to make sure that we put our lives in the lives of the American family, and we have to make sure that it is time today to do what this body should have done many, many years ago, and we have to make sure that we take care of them and make sure that we tap into our natural resources that we have in this country.

I stand today and rise in support of this rule as well as the underlying bill.

I would like to thank the gentleman from New Jersey for the time this morning.

I rise today in support of the RSC budget, as well as the Ryan budget.

You know, my friends on the other side of the aisle make quick talk about the very most wealthy. Well, unfortunately, most of those file as individuals because they own LLCs and they own S corporations, as my family does. So you file those on your individual tax return. I think the American people deserve the truth regarding that number.

The second thing, I will tell you something, as a new freshman to this body, it's amazing that we want to talk about how the Republicans want to harm Medicare on the heels of a health care bill that cut $500 billion out of Medicare. I have little patience, little patience with such talk.

I will tell you the American people deserve the truth. They need this body, rather than to propose and push forth debt, doubt and despair, they must, they require us to give them certainty, safety, and security.

I rise in support of the Ryan budget as well as RSC budget.

Mr. Speaker, I hold in my hand today the Constitution of the United States. It begins by saying: ``We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.''

I have a very, very short time here today, but I will say that irresponsible spending of the Federal Government does not form a more perfect Union. As a matter of fact, it forms a more imperfect Union. It establishes injustice. It ensures domestic chaos. It provides for the uncommon defense. It destroys the general welfare, and it endangers the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.

Based on this very Constitution that I hold in my hand, the direction that we are heading violates the will of the people. It is time for us to stop arguing and get on with the work of the people and protect our posterity for generations to come.

We talk about Big Bird and that sounds wonderful. We had a couple of Big Birds in my family. We have four small children, and they love Big Bird.

But I will tell you this: When the CEO of Sesame Street is compensated $956,000 in 2008 compensation, that's over double what the leader of the free world makes. Think about that: $956,000, when, in the same year, Sesame Street received $211 million in toy and consumer product sales.

So to stand here and say that we have the luxury at this incredibly critical crisis moment in our deficit struggles that we have the luxury of making sure that PBS can pay Mrs. Kerger $632,000 in salary, and that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting can pay its President and CEO $300,000 apiece, I mean, really. Are we serious? Are we serious?

We can do better. We must do better.

I thank the gentlewoman from Tennessee for yielding time.

I rise in support of the Jordan amendment. You know, many people here have taken notice that many of us are freshmen. Well, I am a freshman, and I am proud to be a freshman. I tell you this, one thing I am not a freshman at, I am not a freshman at trying to perpetuate my family's 55-year-old business that's struggling under the taxation and the regulation of this Federal Government. I am not a freshman when it comes to that.

I am an expert, because that's what my dad did and that's what my granddad did. And God willing, if this body practices courage and does what is right, my children and my grandchildren down the line will be able to continue and perpetuate that line of tradition.

You know, I hear the words meat axe and draconian. What's draconian and meat axe is leaving every American in this country with $43,000 of national debt, $14 trillion of debt, which puts us at a very weak standing among the world, which owns now 50 percent of our debt. That is a security issue.

People stand here and they talk about security. Nothing is greater to our security than making sure that we own our debt rather than those countries around the world who mean us harm.

I would like to thank the gentleman from California for yielding me time this morning.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of this resolution. I commend the gentleman from Maryland, the minority whip, for rising in support of this resolution; and I would urge the rest of the Members on the other side of the aisle to follow their whip in support of this resolution.

As families struggle to pay their bills and as small businesses falter, the impact of overregulation could not be more devastating than it currently is. I stand here today, supporting and representing the good, hardworking men and women of Florida's Second District.

In Florida, we stand at nearly 12 percent unemployment. It is a historic number. I will tell you that the regulations that are coming through the EPA are going to further destroy and hamper job growth in our State. The EPA has allied with environmental activists to finalize numeric nutrient criteria for rivers and lakes. These crippling regulations due to take effect this year will penalize the State of Florida and could possibly destroy 14,500 agricultural jobs just in our State, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and the University of Florida study. It could cost cash-strapped government entities across my State $21 billion in new water treatment facilities.

This week, I met with a member from a local municipality who said they had just completed a $17 million project and that, if these regulations go into effect, it is going to have to be repeated again, which will be another $17 million on top of the $17 million that they have just implemented.

It is time for Washington to get out of the way and to allow small businesses across my State and this great Nation to create jobs.

I thank the gentleman from Minnesota for yielding me this time.

I rise in support of this legislation. As a third-generation small business owner following the footsteps of my father and my grandfather, I understand how crushing the tax burden is going to be upon small business.

The NFIB estimates that 1.6 million jobs will be lost by 2014 due to this insurance mandate; 66 percent of those job losses will occur in small business. James Edens, the owner of Edens Heating and Air in Tallahassee, stated to me that he will not hire, he cannot hire additional staff, due to the uncertainty.

Repealing this legislation will provide much-needed certainty to small businesses around this country, allowing them to hire and invest in their employees.

I thank the gentleman from California for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of this resolution. The thoughts and prayers of Florida's Second Congressional District I deliver. Our hearts are broken over the events of Saturday. We want to deliver today our thoughts especially to those families who lost their loved ones, the six families who are today memorializing them and planning those details.

I also want to make sure that I express my appreciation for the short time that I had a privilege of speaking with Representative Giffords. Last Thursday, shortly after we were sworn in, I walked just outside the floor. She met me outside, and she extended her hand to me. And she said, ``Hello, I am Gabby Giffords. You must be new.'' And I said, ``Well, I am new. I am Steve Southerland.'' She goes, ``Where are you from, Steve?'' And I said, ``Florida.'' She said, ``Let me introduce you to some people that will help you.'' And she walked down the hall and out to the steps, and she introduced me to numerous, numerous floor staff. I did not have any other encounter with her except for that 5- minute brief time.

And on Saturday, when I learned of the events that had occurred in Tucson, it was with horror that I got home, and I turned on the television, and I realized that it was that wonderful, sweet person who with kindness and gentleness introduced me to the staff. And so it is with a burdened heart today that I want those in this Chamber and the people of America to know that the citizens of Florida's District Two are heartbroken as well. We are praying for each and every one affected.

And I want to make sure that we go from here to continue, in honor of those who have given their lives and those who have been affected, to create a more perfect Union, that we work hard to secure the blessings of liberty. For that is how we will be known by the world. Not by our security, not by our policy, but by the civility, by the love we show and care for one another. That will make us a shining city on a hill. And that's what I am committed to doing.

``The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice President, shall be the Vice President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice President.''