Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the gentleman from Oklahoma if he could respond to the notion: All of us want to protect the social safety nets for the truly needy, but we also want to stop abuses within the system that take money from those programs and hurt the poor, for example, people who hide their assets to fraudulently qualify, people who misuse food stamps for alcohol and tobacco.

So I would like to ask the gentleman if he is going to be doing more to close the loopholes, to reduce waste and abuse, and reform the system, while really protecting those who qualify.

I have one additional question for the gentleman.

In fairness here, will you be bringing forward a bill to the House from the committee that's truly going to reform farm subsidies, produce savings, and result in deficit reduction?

I thank the gentleman for his responses.

Israel is our friend and our ally. Israel is an island of democracy that supports freedom and religious tolerance. It is where a Christian church, a mosque, and a synagogue will peacefully exist on the same street. In neighboring countries, Christians are prohibited from building churches or are prohibited from assembling to worship, and in some cases their churches are burned down.

Israel respects and preserves the rich history of many faiths and cultures. Israel promotes invention, creativity, and economic development. Neighboring countries, like Iran, are committed to developing nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them, and it avows to annihilate Israel and to commit genocide against its people. Israel is fighting terrorist groups, like Hamas and Hezbollah, and has suffered real attacks and the threats of future attacks of tens of thousands of rockets rained down upon its people. Israel needs and has every right to develop defenses such as the Iron Dome, David's Sling, and the Arrow missile to defend itself from these very real threats.

Israel has been there for us during times of threat and times of peace, and we will be there for them. Israel has been a partner in medical, scientific, and technological innovations. Israel has stood with us to fight terrorist threats against our Nation and other freedom-loving nations. For these reasons and more, there are several facts which we must recognize and support:

Israel has a right to defend itself. We will stand firm with them. We will not turn a deaf ear to the anti-Semitic language and to those nations who speak it. We cannot and will not be a part of the dangerous indifference of nations and people to say it is not our problem. We will not be a part of the denial among those who refuse to see the hatred and threat from Syria, Iran, Lebanon, and other nations. We will support Prime Minister Netanyahu's call for negotiated peace with the Palestinian Authority of a two-state solution.

So let us approve H.R. 4133, and let us show that when we say ``never again'' that we mean it, because the cost of passivity--the cost of doing nothing--is far too expensive in lives and money.

I thank the gentleman.

Last decade, when I was a State senator of Pennsylvania, I took on HMOs and plans that made decisions by accountants and MBAs and not MDs. It was important to do that because we found that doctors could not make decisions even though they were supposedly empowered to do that. Instead, there were boards that would make decisions for them.

And now here we are with deja vu all over again. We're about to have 15 Presidential appointees--even under the advice of both Chambers of Congress--none of whom are involved with medicine, making decisions with regard to who makes decisions for you in terms of what gets paid and how much gets paid to doctors and hospitals. But as it goes through, what happens if there's a decision that says it's not going to be covered? Can you call the board, itself? No. Can your doctor call the board? No. Can your hospital call the board? No. Can your Member of Congress call the board? No. But, in fact, it would take an act of Congress passed by the House and Senate and signed by the President to override them.

So who is this panel, and what decisions can they make? By law, it's people who are involved with finance, economics, hospital administration, reimbursements, some physicians, health professionals, pharmacy benefit managers, employers, people involved with outcome research and medical health services and economics.

What's missing from that is any requirement that it might be people who have knowledge of such things as oncology, endocrinology, pediatrics, obstetrics, geriatric medicine, family medicine and surgery, and the list goes on and on. So, in other words, what's going to happen here is not only if you like your doctor you may not be able to keep him or her, but if your doctor doesn't like what's going to be covered, there is nothing he or she can do about that. This is not the practice of medicine; this is the practice of government overtaking medicine.

While Americans were begging for us to fix a broken system, what they got was half a trillion in new taxes, half a trillion in Medicare cuts, trillions in new costs, and massive mandates--1,978 new responsibilities of the Secretary of Health and 150 boards, panels, and commissions yet to be appointed. And we don't know what's going to happen. We need to return health care to where it really is going to be fixed.

Mr. Speaker, when GenOn announced it would close its coal-fired power plant in Elrama, in my district in southwestern Pennsylvania, my community didn't just lose the 50 remaining jobs; it also lost a vital component to economic growth: affordable energy.

We should be cleaning up, not shutting down these power plants, but new regulations aimed squarely at coal, oil, and natural gas are making it harder for families to get by, for manufacturers to prosper, and making it more difficult for our country to become energy independent.

The Elrama plant is one of 57 nationwide slated to close because of a multitude of costly and unworkable EPA rules set to take effect over the next 5 years. Already utilities are preparing to retire almost 10 percent of coal power in the country. That's 25 megawatts of energy that supports 18.8 million homes.

That lost capacity, which is five times greater than what the EPA predicted it would be, is why the North American Electric Reliability Corporation is warning of blackouts and service disruptions.

The EPA's new coal regulations will cost the economy $184 billion and 1.4 million jobs in mining, transportation, manufacturing, and power generation. Of course, the expense will be passed along to consumers. Families in my State could see about $400 more a year in their electric bills.

And it begs the question, is the President trying to make good on his promise to bankrupt utilities that use coal?

These new costs would come at a time when higher oil prices already mean families are paying $2,400 more per year for gasoline than they were just 3 years ago. And if gasoline approaches $5 a gallon, the average family will pay over $3,000 more per year. That's a couple of months worth of groceries, or college loans, or payments on a new car.

Unfortunately, instead of increasing oil supplies to bring down prices, domestic oil production on Federal lands has fallen 13 percent in the last year. The President said we have only 2 percent of the world's proven reserves, conveniently overlooking the technically recoverable oil that is under lock and key in the gulf and the shale oil States. We have more oil reserves--800 billion barrels--than Saudi Arabia.

By the way, that means for a family that makes less than $10,000 a year, they'll be spending 81 percent of their income on energy. For a family that makes between $10,000 and $30,000 a year, they'll be spending 24 percent of their income on energy.

And for every dollar of gasoline, 76 cents is tied up in crude oil. To bring down the price of gas, we don't need higher taxes on oil companies or penalties on speculators. What we need to do is send signals to the world that the United States is serious about using North American energy. We can start with building the Keystone pipeline.

Now, many of my colleagues argue that we can count on plentiful natural gas to replace the demand for coal and oil. But while deposits are being unlocked from the Marcellus shale and the Utica shales with new fracturing technologies, natural gas is also threatened with costly overregulation. Eight different Federal agencies are there to stop it. The EPA, the Departments of the Interior, Energy, Transportation, and Agriculture, the Centers for Disease Control, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Securities and Exchange Commission are all working on new regulatory burdens.

One national energy organization predicts an EPA natural gas regulation for well sites specifically written to combat ``global warming'' will cut shale gas drilling by between 31 and 52 percent. That means higher energy bills to heat our homes.

With our know-how and resources in coal, natural gas and nuclear, America

can still become an energy-independent Nation. That's why I introduced an all-of-the-above energy plan that wouldn't raise taxes, borrow from China, or buy from OPEC. The Infrastructure Jobs and Energy Independence Act, or H.R. 1861, expands safe offshore oil and gas exploration, creates over a million new jobs annually, and launches $8 trillion in economic output. It dedicates a portion of its up to $3.7 trillion in new Federal oil and gas revenues for investments in rebuilding our aging infrastructure, power generation, and grid modernization, and helps put us on a path to energy independence.

And rather than shutting down coal-fired power plants, my bill invests in the kind of cutting-edge technology being developed at the National Energy Technology Laboratory to clean up coal.

So we can either continue to build the wealth of OPEC countries that use our money to fund terrorism, nuclear weapons, and unfriendly policies, or build jobs here at home with energy independence. We can let OPEC pick the winners and losers, or make the USA the winners again. I choose the USA.

We have the energy resources to unleash prosperity, but first and only if the Federal Government gets out of the way. The Federal Government should be a partner in prosperity, not build bureaucracies and barriers to stop our energy independence and hurt the American family.

Mr. Speaker, while we are all aware of the debt this country has hanging over our heads, over $15.3 trillion, we have to also be aware of what it takes to grow our way out of this debt. Part of the way of growing us out of this debt is by having jobs. But there is also another burden hanging over our heads, and that is the cost of gasoline to American families, which adds to their own personal debt.

Bear in mind at the last inauguration in 2009, the price of gasoline was $1.83 a gallon. Now, it's approaching $4 a gallon. Think about what that means to the average family where they're spending a couple thousand dollars more per year for gasoline and no end in sight. It's expected that prices will go up to well over $4, perhaps $5, per gallon in some States in the coming months. It is a burden that families, unfortunately, have to bear when they find themselves needing to travel to and from work or to and from other important activities and they cannot avoid this, especially in areas where public transportation is weak or not available.

Now, we have put forth a plan in this House to open up some other areas for drilling for our own oil. It has been criticized by some who say it would take too long for that oil to get to market and by others who say it wouldn't have that much of a price difference on oil. I beg to differ. Four or 5 years ago when I put forth a bill, a bipartisan bill with many of my colleagues, to open up the Outer Continental Shelf for drilling, we had noted at that time the impact that would have upon our economy. It's anticipated that there's about $8 trillion worth of oil and natural gas off our coast, and that would lead, if that were invested in our infrastructure, to over 1 million new jobs per year for the next few years.

The Federal revenue that would come from that over the next 20 years would be about $2.5 trillion to $3.7 trillion. Even when you're talking about our national debt, those are large numbers. If we invest that in America's infrastructure, noting that for every $1 billion we invest it's about 30,000 to 35,000 jobs, that's a lot of jobs, and it takes care of our many unemployed and underemployed in this country.

Well, for those who say it will not lower gas prices, I beg to differ. Certainly, there are studies in the past that have been flawed when they look at only the impact of Alaska in terms of what that would mean. But I would like to put forth some other numbers that are important and that is, if you open up the Outer Continental Shelf also, it has a big impact.

Right now, we import perhaps 60 percent or more of our oil. Some of that comes from Canada and Mexico, our North American neighbors; but much of that oil also comes from OPEC nations. Further, OPEC has stated time and time again they would like to see gasoline and oil prices go up so much that oil is at $200 a barrel. It's critical for their economies. And when OPEC leaders get together, it also includes some countries that are not very friendly to us, such as Iran and Venezuela, and other countries which we have defended with our blood and treasure over the years, which has cost us more. But look at this, in terms of international policy, of using our own oil versus OPEC.

In 2011, our trade deficit with OPEC was $127 billion. In 2010, it was $96 billion. In 2009, it was $62 billion. And in 2008, the last time we had a big oil price jump, it was $177 billion. That means we're buying more oil from OPEC than they're buying of our own goods. But it goes beyond that. There is also the cost of blood.

In our first Iraq war in Desert Storm, one Army group in my district, the Quartermaster Unit, was hit by a scud missile, and it killed many of those soldiers. How do you put a price on that cost of war? And clearly we are battling Iraq because they also invaded Kuwait and were attempting to control more oil fields in the market. Yes, it was about dealing with Saddam Hussein; but, yes, it was also about dealing with control of oil.

Look what we're doing now with the costs--patrolling the Strait of Hormuz with our 5th and 6th Navy Fleet out there to patrol the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf to make sure Iran doesn't cut off world oil supplies and cause more problems.

But look also at the lives cost in the Iraq war in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sixty-three Pennsylvanians have been killed, including many from my own district, whose lives were lost defending our causes in Iraq. There are also, in Pennsylvania, 553 wounded. But overall, 4,484 have died up to 2011 in Operation Iraqi Freedom--Americans. Pennsylvania has certainly paid a high price on that; but also know between 224,000 and 258,000 civilians were killed in Iraq directly from warfare.

Now, although other countries may have paid us back in dollars for what we spent in first Desert Storm, gulf war, we are bearing the costs of Operation Iraqi freedom. And we can never, ever return to the families the lives of their loved ones, their wives and sons and daughters and mothers.

Let's remember that opening up our own oil fields in America is not just about paying the price for families and what it cost them, but also making sure we know we will never have to pay again the price of blood. That reason and that reason alone is enough to say let's be drilling for our own oil.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 91, I was unavoidably detained.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. Speaker, families are doing holiday shopping, planning budgets. So are employers.

Now we're being asked to accept a 2-month plan here, $166 per family, and a message of: Trust us and we'll come back.

Congress needs to be doing more than rehashing this again. We need to be dealing with unemployment, the deficit, and not just spending more time over 2 months.

We're telling families to accept $166 instead of $1,000. For that $166, that's about a week and half of groceries for a family of four. For that same family of four, we're talking about 12 months of gas bills, 11 months of diapers, 10 electric utility bills, 9 months of baby formula, 8 months of cable, 7 months of auto insurance, 6 weeks of groceries, 5 months of gasoline, four student loan payments, three car payments, two credit card bills, and one mortgage payment for your house.

A few months ago, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress in this very Chamber.

He was welcomed by Members with a standing ovation. Several times during his speech, Congress responded with applause. When a person in the gallery attempted to disrupt his speech, the entire House stood and applauded to show support for the Prime Minister over the disruption.

The Prime Minister noted that people can speak out in a democracy that supports free speech. We all know what happens when citizens challenge their governments in Syria, Iran, Libya, and other repressive countries. The Prime Minister clearly laid out his concerns for the Middle East, support for a two-state solution and a clear and unequivocal message against Iran's nuclear weapons development.

And following his speech, the joint session of Congress gave the Prime Minister a closing standing ovation.

Recently, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman commented on Congress' response to the Prime Minister.

He said: ``I sure hope that Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, understands that the standing ovation he got in Congress this year was not for his politics. That ovation was bought and paid for by the Israel lobby.''

Now, Madam Speaker, I don't know if Mr. Friedman was in the Chamber at the time, and I do not know if he interviewed Members of Congress following the Prime Minister's speech. I certainly know he did not speak with me nor many of my colleagues before he came to this wrong conclusion. So for the record, I wanted to make it clear why I and others stood when the Prime Minister of Israel addressed the joint session of Congress.

I rose for the Prime Minister because he is a leader of state. We always show respect for such leaders--but in this case, there were greater reasons for our action.

I also rose because Prime Minister Netanyahu is the leader of a nation I respect, of a people I admire, and of a culture that I cherish.

I stood up in support of a nation that protects religious freedom for all religions even when they are surrounded by other nations that will not permit Christian churches nor synagogues to be built and are surrounded by those

whose people burn down Coptic Christian churches.

For Israel's tenacity, courage, intelligence, creativity, inventiveness, and endurance over thousands of years, I stood in respect.

When Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Israel must be ``wiped off the map'' and ``the uniform shout of the Iranian nation is forever `death to Israel' '' and that the Western powers ``launched the myth of the Holocaust . . . They lied; they put on a show and then they support the Jews,'' I stood up in support of Israel and stood against these hostile and hateful and false comments.

While Iran continues to develop nuclear weapons and openly threatens Israel and the Middle East and Europe, while some may cower in fearful silence, we will stand against nuclear proliferation by these rogue nations. That is why we passed strong sanctions against Iran and why we support all options to protect our friends.

We stood in support of Israel's continuous support of the safety and security of the people of the United States. When we were attacked by terrorists, Israel stood by us and continues to stand by us, and they take personal risks in doing so. We stood to show our gratitude to the people of Israel.

Now, like any relationship, ours is not perfect nor without differing thoughts and opinions. To be sure, there are times when we honestly disagree. That is the nature of governments elected by the people. There will be debate, but we must use these as opportunities to learn from each other, to reaffirm our promises, and to grow. All of that strengthens our bonds because we put respect, true resolution and a commitment to peace above all else.

Mr. Friedman would do well to understand the true issues behind our support. We are jointly committed to peace, to a two-state solution, to fighting terrorism, to supporting the tolerance of other religions, to supporting democracy, to standing up against those who would rain thousands of rockets on an innocent people.

We will not be silent. We will speak out against terrorism, and we will stand together.

So, for all of these things, I and others stood in respect, in support, and in an open show of our joint commitment to peace and civility.

And together we will stand again.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to introduce today's guest chaplain, Pastor Bryan Thiessen of the Journey Assembly of God Church in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania.

Since the first House chaplain was elected by Congress in 1789, it has been tradition for a prayer to open the House's daily floor proceedings, and I thank the Office of the Chaplain and the Reverend Patrick Conroy for allowing Pastor Bryan Thiessen to have the opportunity to continue this tradition and lead us in prayer.

Pastor Thiessen joined the Bridgeville community in April of 2011, along with his wife, CaRanda Thiessen, and has been a driving force in improving the community since the moment he stepped foot in southwestern Pennsylvania. During Pastor Thiessen's tenure, he has seen his parish grow in size, which can directly be attributed to the exceptional work he has done in leading his church. He has also been elected president of the Bridgeville Ministers Association, where he leads Bridgeville-area churches, nonprofit organizations, and community outreach events. He also serves as the Christian education director of the Southwest Metro section of the Assemblies of God. As director, Pastor Thiessen guides 35 churches in Christian education programs and ministries in the southwestern Pennsylvania region.

I especially thank Pastor Thiessen and members of his parish for making the trip to Washington this morning. The House is very pleased to have all of them, and we are excited to hear the words of the Lord he has chosen to share with us today.

Mr. Speaker, this week Speaker Boehner announced a bill that will be introduced soon to Congress to deal with our jobs issue. It's not one that raises taxes. It's not one which is going to add to the deficit. It is the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act, which will be introduced soon.

It is an act that in part is related to a bill that I have presented in this Chamber for several years now in a bipartisan move to get America back to work.

Instead of importing $129 billion worth of oil every year and sending them our wealth, it uses our oil off our coasts to create jobs.

Our infrastructure in America has a $2 trillion pricetag to repair our roads, highways, and bridges. We also still have 14 million Americans out of work and another 10 million looking for work. It's time America got back to work, and we can do it with this bill. I urge all of my colleagues to make sure they're part of this bill when it comes out and get Americans back to work and rebuild America once again.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to remove my name as a cosponsor of H.R. 1380.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This is a story about American jobs. This is the story about American jobs and the story of where our money is misspent, how it hurts States, the United States, and how we can change that trend. It's how some U.S. policies currently are hurting U.S. citizens, and it's a story of how we can change policies, we can clean up our environment, create jobs, have clean air, clean land and clean water. It's about growing jobs without increasing our debt, borrowing from China, or raising taxes.

This is a story of the new American Dream for the next generation; the story that says if we have the will, we also have the way. It's a story that makes America back to work again. And best of all, it's a story that can come true. We can do this because we have the road to energy independence and American prosperity mapped out with this bill,

I would now like to yield to the gentlelady from West Virginia, Ms. Shelley Moore Capito.

I thank the gentlelady from West Virginia.

I might add, as she was speaking about the Marcellus shale--this vast natural gas deposit which is underground in the States of New York, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and others--I know Pennsylvania has realized revenues from that in the billions of dollars and direct jobs of around 50,000. We're already talking about a couple hundred thousand jobs that can come from this and that we will have the benefits of that Marcellus shale natural gas over the next 30 years.

I bring that up because, although that is being drilled now and being brought to market now, it is a tiny, tiny fraction of what we're talking about in the coastal areas that we will drill in a responsible way and use to create American jobs. With the many millions of Americans out of work who want to work and who want good-paying jobs, we know one of the greatest threats to our country right now is poverty. The government can't provide all of those. We can let the private sector grow, and we can let these jobs come through, so we begin to work on these many areas of rebuilding America.

I would like to turn to one of my colleagues, one of the prime sponsors of this bill now, to talk more about the issues here, Mr. Tim Walz of Minnesota.

I thank the gentleman from Minnesota for his comments.

As he was describing the issue about making sure that we clean up our environment, the reason is that this bill pays for those things.

We know, for example, that the waterways just in the Great Lakes alone is a $30 billion problem with regard to pollution that has to be cleaned up. We know of our coal-fired power plants that 40 percent of them have inadequate or no scrubbers, and we need to clean them up.

The point is that shutting them down is not going to reduce the cost of electricity, and it's not going to clean up the environment when those jobs simply go over to other countries where they do manufacturing with little or no pollution controls because that still comes back over to our Nation. Keep in mind that this bill does not raise taxes, that it doesn't borrow from other countries, that it doesn't buy oil from OPEC, and that it doesn't put us more into debt.

I will yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster), but I first want to yield to another gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Pat Meehan, who is one of our new colleagues here, to also comment on this bill.

I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

What he is referring to also is taking care of our infrastructure, which has aged so much, and it's just a massive problem. I know it is something that the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is committed to finding some solutions.

I now yield to Congressman Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania, one of the great leaders of this effort. I am proud that he's a colleague from Pennsylvania, and his commitment is second to none with trying to find some solutions to rebuild America.

I thank my friend from Pennsylvania for his comments and in helping to lay out how we need to lay out America's infrastructure, clean up our environment and do this without raising taxes, borrowing, or buying more from OPEC.

I now yield to another one of the cosponsors and another Pennsylvanian whose district is just north of mine, Mr. Jason Altmire.

I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for his support and insight into this.

Several of my colleagues have noted that this is a rare moment on the House floor. We actually have people from both sides of the aisle coming together during this Special Order hour, Mr. Speaker, and talking about an issue where we have to find agreement.

Now, if this was one of those times when we were in disagreement and insults were being hurled back and forth, the galleries behind me would be filled with the press reporting on this. Probably this Special Order won't be reported on much at all because Members are actually coming together with a common plan and a common goal to say we recognize we need jobs, we need to clean up our environment, we need to have an energy source, we need to do this without debt. And as my colleague from Pennsylvania just pointed out, this bill actually returns money to the Treasury and helps reduce the debt by a percent every year.

I might also add, the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, talked about this concept of using energy to pay for transportation when he said on September 15 in an address in front of the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., he said the following:

I'm not opposed to responsible spending to repair and improve infrastructure. But if we want to do it in a way that truly supports long-term economic growth and job creation, let's link the next highway bill to an expansion of American-made energy production. Removing some of the unnecessary government barriers that prevent our country from utilizing its vast energy resources could create millions of new jobs. There's a natural link between the two. As we develop new sources of American energy, we're going to need modern infrastructure to bring that energy to market.

Talking more about this bill and issues and how this will help us throughout the Nation, I turn to another one of my colleagues from Pennsylvania who's here, Mike Fitzpatrick.

I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

I now yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana, Mr. Joe Donnelly.

I thank the gentleman from Indiana.

I yield to the gentleman from Minnesota.

I thank all the speakers today.

Let me wrap up by saying this. In Pennsylvania, we're coal country; we're natural gas; we're the headquarters of nuclear; and we recognize we have a responsibility as a Nation to take care of our country and be good stewards of our environment. We also have to make sure we are creating jobs in America.

But I want to tell you something else. While people are out there criticizing oil, I still believe we can do it better. And one of the things to keep in mind is, when we're sending $129 billion in foreign aid every year to OPEC, we're paying for their bridges and their highways; and that OPEC money has a way of finding its way to countries like Iran and using that to fund terrorists who are attacking America, hurting our soldiers and maiming them. I've seen enough of them in the hospitals that I work with in the Navy.

Let me tell you, that alone, Mr. Speaker, is reason to pass a bill like this and stop harming our soldiers and our citizens in paying for terrorism. Instead, let's pass the Infrastructure Jobs and Energy Independence Act. Let's keep our money at home; let's create jobs; let's keep America safe; and let's do this right.

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

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the House Republican Conference, I send to the desk a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.

The President's jobs bill has a surprising number in it for rebuilding our infrastructure. Most Americans would be surprised that that number is only $27 billion. Divide that between States, and you barely have enough to put some tar and chips on the roads. And yet, as the President is out touting this jobs bill and talking about our crumbling infrastructure, it just isn't going to do the job.

How about this number? $129 billion to build roads and buildings and water projects? Unfortunately, that number is not being spent in the United States; rather, that $129 billion is the number that Americans pay in foreign aid to OPEC countries to build their roads, their palaces, their buildings.

Now, unfortunately, that money goes to more than just their infrastructure. It also goes to countries like Iran that fund their nuclear weapons programs threatening Israel and the neighboring countries. It goes to Iran to fund their assassination attempts against Saudi Ambassadors. Iran used it to fund terrorist weapons and IEDs to kill our soldiers. We pay for both sides in the war on terror, and much of that comes through buying foreign energy.

In the meantime, our roads are crumbling, our bridges are rusting and corroding, our locks and dams are decaying, our water and sewer pipe lines are collapsing.

And listen to the cost. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, the numbers are staggering: $935 billion are needed to fix our roads and bridges; $87 billion for aviation; $12.5 billion for our locks and dams; $255 billion to fix our drinking water; $75 billion for energy infrastructure; $50 billion for inland waterways; $50 billion for levees; $265 billion for transit. Where is the money going to come from?

What is being proposed are long-term and permanent taxes, about 30 years worth of more debt and borrowed money from China for a small $27 billion to do this. It's not going to do the job, and raising taxes and creating warfare between classes is not going to do it.

Here's what can do it. We have, off of our coast, about 85 to 115 billion barrels of oil, trillion cubic feet of natural gas, trillions. We have massive amounts of money off our coast. Unfortunately, the administration says no, we can't use our money. We have to continue to borrow from China, increase debt or raise taxes. Those approaches to rebuilding America will not do.

What we need to do is free up American resources, use our resources, use our funding to rebuild America. And think what comes out of this. From the royalties, the leases, and from the income taxes that come from hiring, yes, millions of people to involve with civil engineers and operating engineers, laborers, architects, steamfitters, welders, people who work on the rigs, you

create $2 trillion to $3 trillion worth of revenue over the next 20 years.

What we need to be doing is making a commitment to invest that money in American infrastructure, American resources, American funds for American infrastructure.

Think of what this also does for our manufacturing. When you create that kind of demand for steel and concrete and that kind of demand for equipment to be purchased over a long time, this is a real jobs plan. We don't need to be going back hat in hand to other countries and saying, please let us borrow more from you. We don't need to be having class warfare. We don't need to be saying, let's just attack people who make a certain amount of money. We don't need to be saying, let's take all the revenue that comes from taxing these corporate jets for 10 years and use it to fund the government for a lousy hour and 45 minutes. Those may be great talking points, but they are not a jobs plan.

America wants to work and America wants us to use our resources. America wants to stop funding both sides in the war on terror. We can do this. And it doesn't take some sort of super plan to do this. It just says, America has all the resources.

I call upon my colleagues to continue to push for ways that we can free up American resources, stop saying no to American jobs, stop simply using political rhetoric to block these things, but really create this mechanism by which we can pay for rebuilding America.

We can do it. We have the resources to do it. We have to have the way and we have to have the will.

Instead of appealing to America's greatest aspirations, hopes, and dreams, there are those who are appealing to our basest character, using fear and envy and greed to prey upon those we are supposed to lead. We can no longer sow the seeds of this dependency, feed it with despair in hopes of reaping the benefits of power, all the while weakening the iron will of this Nation and plummeting it into mediocrity.

We must encourage inventiveness, entrepreneurship, and the risk that comes with leadership. We must not attack and mock those who work hard. It is not a path to greatness but a road to mediocrity and servitude where people are encouraged not to reach for the stars but to grab what they can get from the government.

Those who prey upon the fears of the weak insult them twice--once in trying to frighten them, another for believing they are too weak to understand they're being fooled. We have had enough of unemployment, of the weakening of our Nation, the drama of hand-wringing, the cowardice of blaming, finger-pointing and deflection, insults to opportunities of job creators, and the ransom we pay to other nations in the form of energy, manufactured goods and massive interest on our massive debt.

Mr. Speaker, it is time for leaders to stop using ``success'' as a dirty word and as a justification to take more and more from those who create jobs. Whether the worker wears a blue collar or a blue suit, all work is good and noble, and it is time to encourage, not to criticize, the work.