House Proceeding on Jul 22nd, 2009 :: 1:21:55 to 1:41:55
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1:18:30 to 1:21:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Stephanie Herseth

1:21:45 to 1:21:55( Edit History Discussion )

Stephanie Herseth: responsibility, but no one can be taken seriously in that claim if they do not support the strong effective and proven tool of statutory pay-go. so today, mr. speaker, on behalf

1:21:56 to 1:22:17( Edit History Discussion )

David Dreier: of our grandchildren, i urge the house for colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote to restore this crucial tool of fiscal responsibility for t the nation. i yield back. the saker pro tempore: the time of the gentlelady has expired. the gentleman from california? mr. dreier: i would like to inquire of my friend how many speakers he has remain

1:22:00 to 1:22:30( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: David Dreier

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Jane Harman: many speakers. look like there are thoughtful members here on the floor an look forward to hearing from them. mr. arcuri: we have several speakers -- at least two. mr. dreier: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: t gentleman from reserves. the gentleman from new york. mr. arcuri: i yield three minutes to t the gentlewoman from california, ms. harm and.

1:22:35 to 1:25:15( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Jane Harman

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Jane Harman: the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for three minutes. ms. harman: i thank the gentleman for yielding and rise in strong support of this rule and the underlying pay-go bill. for those who worry about hemorrhaging deficits and debt, this bill is for you. i was here in the early 1990's,

1:23:14 to 1:23:34( Edit History Discussion )

Jane Harman: in another century and remember well casting a career-risking vote in 1993, totally partisan vote for the clinton budget that i believe put the country on a balanced budget and created surpluses for the first time in a generation.

1:23:35 to 1:23:55( Edit History Discussion )

Jane Harman: sadly, it was also the last time in a generation that we saw those surpluses. the blue dog coalition and our dogged pursuit of budget solutions. as a self-proclaimed grandmother

1:23:56 to 1:24:16( Edit History Discussion )

Jane Harman: dog, i salute my colleagues in the group and former leader and colleague, charlie stenholm for championing this issue of pay-go. many of us in this chamber yes or no for more bipartisanship. i would urge my colleagues to seize this moment to embrace the

1:24:17 to 1:24:41( Edit History Discussion )

Jane Harman: concept that makes absolute common sense and that is that the government pays for the programs it enacts, including the defense programs that it enacts. and one of the great promises for this legislation is that we will finally put predictable work horse on budget as we should and consider them in the context of a very large budget

1:24:42 to 1:25:04( Edit History Discussion )

Jane Harman: at a time of deficits and debt that are much higher than any of us would like to see. so, mr. speaker, with this bill, we have the opportunity to hit the reset button a to engage in more honest budgeting. yes, some compromises had to be

1:25:05 to 1:25:15( Edit History Discussion )

Jane Harman: made and i'm sure other members would like a tighter one. but the bill before us makes a statement by congress that the delusional out of control

1:25:16 to 1:25:17( Edit History Discussion )

spending in the past years is

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behind us. surely this is what democrats and republicans alike can celebrate. millions of american families are swallowing hard. truly my families in our state of california in making tough financial choices right now. the federal government must do the same. i urge an aye vote and call on

1:25:40 to 1:26:00( Edit History Discussion )

our friends in the senate not to allow this legislation to languish. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: i will reserve the balance of my time. we have one other speaker and i plan to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california

1:26:01 to 1:26:21( Edit History Discussion )

reserves. the gentleman from new york. mr. arcuri: i yield two minutes to the got from pennsylvania. the sp gentlelady is recognized. mrs. dahlkemper: i rise today to address this chamber not as a member of the house of representatives but as someone who knows firsthand the balancing act that american families and small businesses have to negotiate in order to make ends meet.

1:26:22 to 1:26:43( Edit History Discussion )

when raising our five children, my husband and i had to make tough choices every day. we had to choose a smaller house so to put food on the table and buy shoes and clothing. we had to choose to go camping in our state park rather than disney world. and every day we had to make tough choices in running our

1:26:44 to 1:27:05( Edit History Discussion )

small business to ensure we could make our payroll, grow the business all at the same time. this balancing act is not unique. any parent who has shopped for dinner at the grocery store and any entrepreneur who has handled the books for their small business understands the importance of living within their means. this begs the question.

1:27:06 to 1:27:26( Edit History Discussion )

if small businesses and families have to live within their means, why shouldn't congress as well. i support statutory pay-go. we have important work to do here in congress such as rebuilding our economy t good paying jobs and eninsuring quality health care for all americans.

1:27:27 to 1:27:47( Edit History Discussion )

however, it is i build our children and grandchildren's future upon a foundation of debt. if we do not begin to balance short-term deficit spending with long-term fiscal discipline, our children will face a greater mountain of debt, higher taxes and cut the federal investments in priorities like education, health care and international

1:27:48 to 1:28:08( Edit History Discussion )

security. i thank my colleagues for making fiscal responsibility a priority. i urge passage of the rule and the important underlying legislation. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. who seeks recognition? the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: does my friend have

1:28:09 to 1:28:29( Edit History Discussion )

any -- mr. arcuri: i have one more speaker. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, at this time, i'm happy to yield two minutes to our good friend and hard working colleague from tennessee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized for two minutes. mrs. blackburn: i thank the gentleman for yielding and i say

1:28:30 to 1:28:50( Edit History Discussion )

Marsha Blackburn: thank you to our collgues across the aisle for bringing forward a pay-go statute. it is of concern to me, though, that the statute, the way this is written, the way they are approaching pay-go could lead to tax increases, because what we are not seeing from our colleagues on the other side of the aisle is a willingness to

1:28:45 to 1:30:05( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Marsha Blackburn

1:28:51 to 1:29:11( Edit History Discussion )

Marsha Blackburn: reduce spending. and we know that you are going to have an effective pay-go policy, that you have to be able to reduce what you're spending. that is a requirement. and every appropriations bill across-the-board reduction

1:29:12 to 1:29:33( Edit History Discussion )

Marsha Blackburn: amendmt for a spending cut. and the reason i do that is what we have learned from our states, what i learned from being a state senator is that across-the-board spending reductions work. they work. they reduce what you are going to lay out the amount of money that you are going to spend. so let's do this in a bipartisan

1:29:34 to 1:29:54( Edit History Discussion )

Marsha Blackburn: way. let's agree that we are actually going to reduce spending. let's agree that we're going to have pay-go enforcement, we're not going to cry emergency every time we have a katna, every time we have a tsunami, every time we have a need for extra spding that we don't go

1:29:55 to 1:30:05( Edit History Discussion )

Marsha Blackburn: call for a special appropriation that allows us to circumvent the pay-go rules. and let's be certain that we put all that spending on the table,

1:30:06 to 1:30:28( Edit History Discussion )

Michael Arcuri: that we put it all on the table and that we agree we're going to reduce what we are going to spend. what we have seen is the pay-go way they've put it in place has led to a deficit that has gone from $162 trillion.

1:30:10 to 1:31:25( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Michael Arcuri

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Michael Arcuri: that is over a 1,000% incre and i think this body would be well served to make that 5% hair cut, set a nickle aside from every dollar for our children and grandchildren, their future and opportunity. .

1:30:50 to 1:31:10( Edit History Discussion )

Michael Arcuri: the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. arcuri: i'd like to say to my colleague from tennessee is that if katrina was not an emergency and did not merit emergency spending, then i cannot in my wildest imagination what would. that is the reason why we have an emergency spending exception

1:31:11 to 1:31:26( Edit History Discussion )

Michael Arcuri: to any pay-go requirement to allow government to do that which the voters sent us here to do and that is to ensure that when a catastrophe and when an emergency strikes that we are there to do everything that we possibly can to help the people who have been

1:31:27 to 1:31:47( Edit History Discussion )

John S. Tanner: injured by it. and with that, mr. speaker, i would yield three minutes to the gentleman from tennessee, a proud member coalition, mr. tanner. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recogn mr. tanner: thank you. thank you very much for yielding. this bill today is not what some of us would like, but it

1:31:30 to 1:35:35( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: John S. Tanner

1:31:48 to 1:32:08( Edit History Discussion )

John S. Tanner: is something that we think maybe could pass the senate which after all has a hand in this statutory approach. it is the first step to restore a rule that was allowed by this congress to expire in 2002 which effectively removes a

1:32:09 to 1:32:29( Edit History Discussion )

John S. Tanner: constraint, one constraint on what almost everybody wants to see happen. and that is you want to vote against any taxes and you want to vote for all the programs. this is one small step to try to address that urge that i guess all of us share from time to time. if you look back at this

1:32:30 to 1:32:52( Edit History Discussion )

John S. Tanner: decade, in the year 2000, revenue and expenditures were both around 19% of g.d.p. the country basically was breaking even. by 2002 when pay-go was allowed to expire and we had seen the economic policies of the country change dramatically in

1:32:53 to 1:33:15( Edit History Discussion )

John S. Tanner: the summer of 2001 shortly before 9/11, develop where by 2003 the expenditures were over 20% of g.d.p. and the revenue coming in was less than 17%, actually 16.3% of g.d.p. and without changinour economic game plan that was

1:33:16 to 1:33:39( Edit History Discussion )

John S. Tanner: enacted in june of 2001, we began to borrow money, mostly 75% of it, from foreign sources. wh situation where we now are beginning to be more and more vulnerable to our foreign creditors who may or may not

1:33:40 to 1:34:00( Edit History Discussion )

John S. Tanner: does and secondly, we are transferring more and more of our fax base, whatever it may be, to interest -- tax base, whatever it may be, to interest. as my friend from new york just said, the government has to do two things in addition, of course, the first thing to keep

1:34:01 to 1:34:22( Edit History Discussion )

John S. Tanner: our country safe. but the other two things it has to do is invest in infrastructure. if youo anywhere in the world where there's no infrastructure, nobody's making any money. it's almost impossible to make money on a dirt road with no water, sewer, electricity and so on. the government has to invest in

1:34:23 to 1:34:43( Edit History Discussion )

John S. Tanner: infrastructure. the second thing is human capital. if you read history, no country has been strong and free with an uneducated, unhealthy population. and so public education and health care, preventative health care for children is necessary for the government to invest in so we can remain a

1:34:44 to 1:35:06( Edit History Discussion )

John S. Tanner: strong and healthy society. as we transfer more and more of our tax base to interest, we necessarily -- mr. arcuri: an additional minute. mr. tanner: we necessarily cripple our own ability as americans to make those investments that are necessary for our country to be successful.

1:35:07 to 1:35:27( Edit History Discussion )

John S. Tanner: and so i -- this is, as i said, the first step to restore some sort of constraint in the system where when we change the law regarding mandatory spending or mandatory tax reduction, then we have to figure out a way to offset it. it is common sense. we're going to demand if we can

1:35:28 to 1:35:35( Edit History Discussion )

John S. Tanner: that it pass the senate so we can have a statutory backstop, a statutory constraint.

1:35:36 to 1:35:56( Edit History Discussion )

David Dreier: it's not as strong as we would like but it's a first step. i would urge everybody who cares about the future of this country, and i know we all do, we may have a different idea on how to address, but i ask you to seriously consider for this. the speaker pro tempore: the balance of his time. who seeks recognition? the gentleman from california.

1:35:40 to 1:40:40( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: David Dreier

1:35:57 to 1:36:18( Edit History Discussion )

David Dreier: mr. dreier: the gentleman has no further speakers? mr. arcuri: i'm prepared to close. mr. dreier: i y time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for six minutes. mr. dreier: thank you very much, mr. speaker. this has been an interesting debate. i would say that ms. harman and i join a desire to deal in a bipartisan way with our challenges.

1:36:19 to 1:36:40( Edit History Discussion )

David Dreier: and i will acknowledge from the git-go that everyone, democrat and republican alike, decries deficit spending. i mean, we all regularly talk about the fact that we need to get our fiscal house in order. that was a plank of the platform that president obama ran on, and it's the plank of the platform of virtually every candidate for public office. and i believe that we should

1:36:41 to 1:37:02( Edit History Discussion )

David Dreier: work in a bipartisan way to get our fiscal house in order. the problem that i have with the measure that's before us is to me it's the quintessential example of the effort that we often see on legislation. sometimes we tend to do what

1:37:03 to 1:37:23( Edit History Discussion )

David Dreier: mas us feel good rather than the reason i say that as i listen to the thoughtful remarks of my blue dog friends, they talked about exactly what i raised. that being the challenge that families are facing at the kitchen table. recognizing that because of

1:37:24 to 1:37:45( Edit History Discussion )

David Dreier: difficult economic times it is essential for them to reduce their spending, to increase their savings and to pay down their debt. those are the three things that families across this country are doing today at the kitchen table. and you know what, the notion of saying that the federal government is not going to expend dollars that it doesn't

1:37:46 to 1:38:06( Edit History Discussion )

David Dreier: have or able to offset is something that does have a lot of appeal and it makes us all feel very good. but that family sitting at the kitchen table or a small business man or woman can't say we're going to exempt 40% of our expenditures. we want to -- yes, we all want

1:38:07 to 1:38:31( Edit History Discussion )

David Dreier: to get the auto industry going, but the idea of saying that we want to buy a nice new car and we don't have to deal with any kind of offset for that. and it's essential for us to get the economy growing. and we know that while it may sound counterintuitive, every

1:38:32 to 1:38:52( Edit History Discussion )

David Dreier: shred of combeercal evidence we have going from john f. kennedy, we can increase the flow of revenues to the federal treasury. most recently was the 5% reduction in capital gains. now i know in the economy we are in there are not many people that ve capital gains today. if we were to bring about a

1:38:53 to 1:39:13( Edit History Discussion )

David Dreier: reduction in the capital gains rate we would as we've seen most recently a doubling of the flow of revenues of the federal treasury. and yet, mr. speaker, under this measure we're not able to do that. so what we've got is an effort that can make us all feel good. and it is true. i mean, there have been a lot of great statements made,

1:39:14 to 1:39:34( Edit History Discussion )

David Dreier: juxtaposing the challenges that working families are facing and the challenges that we face here in washington. b statutorily will in no way address the fact that as of july 22,

1:39:35 to 1:39:56( Edit History Discussion )

David Dreier: federal budget deficit that is $1 trillion, and we're headed towards $1.8 trillion, maybe even beyond that. meaning that the federal deficit, the federal government alone will spend more than it has brought in, and that level will be higher than the entire federal budget was just 10 years ago. and so it's wonderful to say

1:39:57 to 1:40:17( Edit History Discussion )

David Dreier: that we are going to work in a bipartisan way, and it's wonderful to say that we all decry deficit spending. but because the american people are hurting and we need to get our economy growing, i do not believe that that measure before us will do one thing other than feel very, very good. so with that, mr. speaker, i'm going to say that i believe we

1:40:18 to 1:40:39( Edit History Discussion )

David Dreier: can get it better. this is not only not a step in the right direction, it is in many ways something that will create a climate whereby people will say we've taken care of this. and i'm afraid that it will send the wrong message american people and it will send the wrong message in our

1:40:40 to 1:40:41( Edit History Discussion )

David Dreier: quest to get our economy going,

1:40:42 to 1:41:02( Edit History Discussion )

Michael Arcuri: to create jobs and more opportunity for the american people. so i urge a no vote. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro mpore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from new york, for what purpose do you rise? mr. arcuri: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to ank my friend from california for his management of this rule. mr. speaker, since the beginning of 2007, the

1:40:45 to 1:43:40( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Michael Arcuri

1:41:03 to 1:41:25( Edit History Discussion )

Michael Arcuri: democratic leadership of the house of representatives has shown a the pay-as-you-go rules. first, by reinstating the pay-go rules -- rule in the rules of the house in the opening of the 110th congress, and now in working to bring this important legislation before the house. i applaud the blue dog coalition, my colleagues there for their outspoken leadership on pay-go. when i explain to folks back

1:41:26 to 1:41:50( Edit History Discussion )

Michael Arcuri: home what pay-go is, i ask them the ques i ask them if they have to balance their own books each month if they have to ensure that they have enough income coming in to cover their expenses. and, of course, they respond that they do. and i then ask, shouldn't the federal government operate in the same way when it involves spending your tax dollars? my constituents get it, the