[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 30 (Thursday, March 9, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H858-H863]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1800
                       30-SOMETHING WORKING GROUP

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Schwarz of Michigan). Under the 
Speaker's announced policy of January 4, 2005, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Meek) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the 
minority leader.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor once again to come 
before the House. I would like to thank Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi 
for allowing us to have the time and the Democratic whip, Mr. Hoyer; 
Mr. Clyburn, our chairman; and Mr. Larson, our vice-chair.
  Mr. Speaker, we have been coming to the floor all this week. We are 
going to be talking tonight about our plans to hopefully move this 
country forward. Maybe we can work together in doing that in a 
bipartisan way. Mr. Ryan is here at the top of the hour tonight, and I 
am so glad that you are here.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, it is great to be here. We have a lot 
to talk about again, as we wrap up another week of business here at the 
Capitol.
  There are a lot of issues facing our country, and I had a lot of 
meetings this week on different issues: education, folks in about 
manufacturing, about the local economy and the problems that they are 
having with pension and health care.
  I think if you look at what is happening in the country, you will see 
that most Americans either intellectually or in their gut realize that 
the country is going in the wrong direction.
  So our plan tonight, as we come here several nights a week, is to try 
to let the American people know that we are moving them forward.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it is very easy to say that, trying 
to let them know that we are moving forward because that is what we are 
trying to do, Mr. Speaker. We are trying to move this country in the 
right direction. Unfortunately, I must add there has been a lot of 
discussion here under the Capitol dome about who we are going to do 
business with, how we are going to do business with them, and how we 
are going to prevent ourselves from getting into a situation like this 
ongoing port situation that is some back-room deal that took place with 
a special committee, and we are finding out more and more about it each 
day.
  When we start, I do not really want to focus on that, Mr. Speaker. I 
want to focus on the fact that we talk about working in a bipartisan 
way. The Republican Party here in this House is in the majority. That 
means that the majority has the opportunity to lead in a comprehensive 
way, including all Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, as we 
start to move down the road to not only making this country financially 
secure but secure its borders and secure all America.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. One of the issues that I think is a fundamental 
issue that we have in the country facing us is the issue of balancing 
the budget here and making sure that our country pays its bills. The 
Republican majority has not been able to get themselves together in a 
comprehensive way, as you said, to try to balance the budget here in 
the United States.
  I want to just make a point here, and we have got several charts I 
think that are pretty powerful in illustrating this point.
  The Republicans have increased the debt limit, Mr. Speaker, by $3 
trillion, $3 trillion. This Republican Congress, Mr. Speaker, has said 
to the Treasury Department, go ahead out and borrow that money. In June 
of 2002, increased by $450 billion. In May of 2003, increase of $984 
billion. In November of 2004, $800 billion, and we have an increase 
coming that is going to probably come in the next couple weeks of 
another $781 billion. Over $3 trillion this Republican Congress has 
okayed for the Treasury to go out and borrow because this Republican 
Congress does not have the fiscal responsibility or the discipline to 
rein in spending.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. There is no probably about it. You are saying 
they probably will raise the debt ceiling. There is no probably about 
it. It is going to happen.
  We have our rubber stamp here because you know that they are going to 
rubber-stamp this deal. They are going to take this stamp out, and they 
are going to rubber-stamp raising the debt ceiling. What does that 
mean? What that means, by some $821 billion, raising the debt ceiling, 
even more, beyond where it is now, and that is just the number that I 
received recently that Secretary Snow has predicted we need to raise 
the debt ceiling by.
  It is because of the love affair with special interests, giving oil 
companies more subsidies or more money in the time that they are making 
record profits. It is when the President says let us make tax cuts 
permanent for billionaires, knowing that we have been fiscally 
irresponsible, Mr. Speaker; and I think it is important, I was about to 
just give some information that is pretty fresh about what happened 
last night in Appropriations Committee, and I think it is important for 
us to reflect on this.
  We talk about bipartisanship. We talk about working in a 
comprehensive

[[Page H859]]

way. We are trying to make that happen. Like you said, we are trying to 
bring this government back into pay-as-you-go fiscal responsibility, 
making sure that we do things in the right way.
  I just want to say that the Democrats, we want to keep America safe, 
and I know Republicans want to do it, too; but we are following the 9/
11 Commission recommendations of trying to move towards 100 percent 
container screening. Now, there are some other countries on the globe, 
I know one in particular, that is doing that, and I think it is 
important for us to be the superpower of the world, we are supposed to 
be financial superpower of the world, and we are only checking less 
than 5 or 6 percent of containers; and I think it is important that I 
point this out. That is not what Democrats called for. That is what the 
9/11 Commission called for, because we believe in working with those 
that have researched issues and flushed them out so that we can move 
forward in protecting Americans.
  It is not something that came out of the back rooms of some 
Democratic club somewhere in Sioux City, Iowa. This came about by 
professionals coming together, past Members of this House, Governors, 
security people, testimony from FBI, CIA, port directors, individuals 
that specialize in terrorism.

  That is just like our innovation plan. We did not over a cup of 
coffee and a muffin say, well, what do you think our innovation plan 
should be, and write it on a napkin. We went out to the CEOs. We went 
out to the universities of higher learning. We went out to everyday, 
front-line employers and asked them what do you think we should do as 
it relates to innovation and where we are lagging. We went to students 
that are trying to get into the math and sciences and said what do you 
need.
  We went out and we talked to America. We did not just come up with a 
plan in the back rooms, and we definitely did not get in a room with 
the special interests and say let us write a bill like the oil industry 
has had the opportunity to do and some other industries have had an 
opportunity to do.
  I am not holding the oil industry or any other industry at fault 
here. They are just doing their job. I hold the Republican majority at 
fault that has allowed us to get in a situation that we are in now.
  Real quick, I just want to make sure, just fresh from last night, 
from the Appropriations Committee, we offered amendments to strengthen 
how government reviews foreign transactions by mandating a review of 
all foreign transactions. That amendment was offered, and it was voted 
down. All Democrats voted for it. Republicans voted against it with the 
exception of one Republican that voted with the Democrats. That is 
strengthening, making sure that all transactions are reviewed, not just 
a few, but all so that we do not have to continue to walk down the same 
road.
  The second vote that came about was by Mr. Sabo, basically providing 
$3.4 billion for critical homeland security shortfalls, including a 
$1.5 billion for port security needs. I think that it is important to 
say that, again: party-line vote, 27 Democrats voted for it, 34 
Republicans voted against it.
  I am glad that we get this information from the committees, and we 
are sharing with not only the Members who probably were not, there some 
Members with respect in the Appropriations Committee because all 
Members are not on the Appropriations Committee, but also, the American 
people should know. The American people should know exactly what we are 
trying to do here.
  When I say trying, we are trying. If we were in the majority, it 
would be done. We would have all transactions reviewed dealing with 
foreign countries. It will happen. We would have had a Hurricane 
Katrina commission by now, and we would be taking action on what we 
should do to correct it, and so the oversight would have been different 
on Katrina. So I think it is important to bring these fresh votes to 
the floor, not even 24 hours ago.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman would yield, just as 
you were saying, this is what you were saying: only 5 percent of the 
cargo coming in is inspected. Mr. Speaker, our source on this one, our 
third-party validator on this one, is Fox News. So that is where we 
are.
  Now, here is the recommendation from the Coast Guard. Their own 
estimates, this is the U.S. Coast Guard and I know you have a Coast 
Guard, probably more than one facility, down in Miami, in the 
intercoastal for sure, but this is what the Coast Guard estimates that 
they may need, $7 billion in order to secure and meet their obligations 
through the Transportation Security Act. Here is what Congress has 
appropriated, $900 million, not even $1 billion. We need to be here. 
Here is where we are.
  Now, what have the Democrats tried to do? We have been very 
aggressive and assertive and proactive in trying to make sure that we 
meet the obligations to protect and secure our own ports. This is just 
a laundry list. I am going to run through them real quick here.
  November 28 of 2001, Dave Obey from Wisconsin tried to put $200 
million in grants for port security and studies. Republicans knocked it 
down 216-211 in a party-line vote.
  April of 2003, another Obey amendment for $722 million to increase 
security. Again, 221-200. All the Republicans prevented us from 
increased port security.
  Again, Democrats, June 17 of 2003, Obey again, $500 million, shot 
down, party-line vote.
  June 24 of 2003, Obey again, Republicans blocked consideration of 
that amendment by a vote of 222-200.
  All of the Republicans are voting to prevent the increase in funding 
just by a few hundred million dollars. It is not like we want to even 
say we are going to go for the whole $7 billion that we need, but we 
are trying to slowly increase the funding for this so we can make sure 
that we are protecting our ports.
  Again, in September 17 of 2003, Obey, Sabo and Senator Byrd tried to 
increase funding to enhance ports by $475 million. Republicans defeated 
that amendment on a party-line vote.
  Again, June 9 of 2004, Mr. Speaker, again, again and again; June 18 
of 2004; October 7 of 2004; again and again, September 29 of 2005, $300 
million, again shot down along party lines. March 2 of 2006, again.
  Mr. Speaker, we have a real problem here because it seems that every 
time that the Democrats want to increase funding even marginally to 
protect our ports, there is a Republican party-line vote that prevents 
us from doing that. That is what the Democrats are trying to do.
  That is our plan.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Speaker, I heard Mr. Meek mention the lack of 
oversight that occurs within this institution, within this branch; and 
it is a very serious problem, and many have spoken to it.
  What I found interesting, while I was at my desk, a friend and 
colleague of ours, I think it was Mr. Conaway from Texas, talked about 
a bill that he has, I presume, already filed, which would require 
Members of Congress to read the Constitution once a year.
  I listened to him with some fascination, and I would propose that he 
should consider expanding that particular proposal to include a 
recognition that a constitutional responsibility of the House of 
Representatives is oversight of the executive branch and that every 
Member of Congress should make a solemn pledge before God to honor that 
responsibility, to conduct oversight.

                              {time}  1815

  Because I believe if every single Member of Congress, both 
Republicans and Democrats, respected that constitutional principle, we 
would not be beset by the problems that are becoming obvious to the 
American people. But I didn't hear any mention of that by our friend 
and colleague, Mr. Conaway.
  We are not meeting our constitutional responsibility because the 
majority party, the Republican Party in this branch, refuses, refuses 
to conduct oversight of the executive branch because of fear of 
embarrassing the White House. Well, again, their constitutional 
responsibility does not flow to the White House. Their constitutional 
responsibility, Mr. Speaker, goes to the American people, not to the 
White House.

[[Page H860]]

  I mean, it is remarkable that during the course of the Bush 
Presidency we have failed to conduct in-depth probes about some of the 
most serious allegations of executive abuse and misconduct.
  And let me just note a few. The possible role of the White House in 
promoting misleading intelligence about Iraq's weapons of mass 
destruction and ties to al Qaeda. Just recently, Mr. Speaker, a former 
CIA official, who served from 2000 to 2005 and has retired, penned a 
book that indicated that the intelligence was cherry-picked. Yet this 
House refused, refused to do any oversight; to ask a single question; 
to bring an executive branch official before the appropriate committee 
to ask questions that the American people deserve to have answers to.
  And what about the responsibility of senior administration officials 
for abuses of detainees at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere? What about the 
role of the White House in withholding the Medicare cost estimates that 
were in their possession from Congress while we were debating a 
significantly expensive piece of legislation? In fact, it was 
acknowledged that the executive White House official in charge 
threatened to fire, he threatened to fire the Medicare actuary if he 
told Members of Congress that it was not going to cost $395 billion, 
according to their estimate, but about $700 billion. And again, no 
oversight.
  And I could go on and on. But I have to tell you, if we are going to 
read the Constitution, if we are going to impose on ourselves the 
requirement, Mr. Speaker, to read the Constitution, then let us act in 
a constitutionally responsible way and meet our responsibility so that 
the American people know what is happening here in Washington and who 
is responsible.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. And it is not just the war, Mr. Delahunt.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Of course not.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. It is the war intelligence that no one here has 
asked any questions on. It is what is going on with the ports. It is 
the amount of borrowing that we are doing; this $3 trillion in new debt 
this Republican Congress and the Republican Senate and House and White 
House has incurred on the American people and, just like in our own 
houses, we have to pay interest on that debt, that money that we 
borrow.
  What we are having happen now, because of the reckless and fiscally 
irresponsible behavior of the Republican majority, it is impossible for 
us to make the kind of investments that we need to make here, Mr. 
Speaker. Every single family fundamentally understands the importance 
of education; yet here is what we have to fund because of all this 
borrowing. We pay this much on our interest on the debt, not even 
buying the debt down, but just paying the interest on it, Mr. Meek. We 
have to pay almost $230 billion in the 2007 budget.
  These little blocks down here, these are the investments that we have 
to make in education, in homeland security, for veterans. Look how 
small they are compared to the interest on the debt.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. So what you are saying, Mr. Ryan, is that 
education could have $250 billion; am I correct?
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Yes. Yes, if this money could be distributed to 
these other priorities.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Like homeland security and veterans?
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Yes.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Just wanted to be clear.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Yes, these are our priorities as a country. And we 
can stand here and talk about port security, and we can talk about 
education all we want, and we can talk about what investments we need 
to make in alternative energy sources, and we can talk about the 
Democratic plan for innovation, research and development tax credits, 
broadband in every household, Mr. Speaker, in 5 years.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. But the point is, Mr. Ryan, we cannot afford it because 
the debt that the American people now owe is in excess of $8 trillion, 
and on that $8 trillion we have to pay interest.
  And what is the amount of interest on an annual basis, approximately? 
Do we have a range?

  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. In 2007 it will be almost $230 billion, with some 
interest.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. So that is interest of $230 billion. Just imagine what 
we could do with $230 billion.
  That interest, by the way, do you know where that interest is going 
to, at least a significant piece of it?
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Japan.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. China.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. OPEC countries.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. And OPEC and other countries. Because to subsidize 
these substantial, very large tax cuts for just a small segment of the 
American people, we have to go into the financial markets and borrow 
money so that we can reduce taxes, and then that tax relief ends up not 
benefiting the vast majority of Americans.
  But we are borrowing it. We are borrowing it from overseas. We are 
borrowing it from nations, many of whom could be potential adversaries, 
yet we are sending dollars over there of interest payments so that they 
can invest in roads, in health, and particularly in education, while we 
are slipping behind. We are slipping behind.
  You know, there is a lot of talk in Washington about how this economy 
is growing. But what you never hear about is that the average American 
family is losing every year in terms of its income. It is going down. 
The most recent statistic was that in this past year it went down 2.7 
percent. Well, that is hurting families. And that $230 billion, let us 
say we just invested that. That is interest payments to China, to 
Japan, to other countries, and to the OPEC countries. With $230 
billion, we could give every young person in this country a free 
college education, send them to the finest graduate schools in the 
country and ensure that their futures would be bright. But what we are 
doing is we are putting on our young people a debt that they will 
never, never in their lifetime be able to pay off. That is just simply 
wrong, and that is where we have a disagreement.
  But you know what is interesting, and if I can just continue, because 
I am going to have to leave to catch a plane; but not only are 
Democrats criticizing this White House, but conservatives, people with 
impeccable conservative credentials like Bruce Bartlett, who just wrote 
a book and who served in the Reagan administration; like Andrew 
Sullivan, another noted conservative.
  Well, here is what Andrew Sullivan said, and he wrote a book, too. I 
can't wait to read it. It is coming out soon. ``The Conservative Soul: 
How We Lost It; How to Get It Back.'' Sullivan called Bush ``reckless'' 
and a ``socialist'' and accused him of betraying ``almost every 
principle conservatism has ever stood for.'' Now, those are not my 
words, those are the words of Andrew Sullivan.
  And Bruce Bartlett, a former Reagan administration official, had this 
to say. He called the administration unconscionable, irresponsible, 
vindictive and inept. And his book is entitled ``How George W. Bush 
Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy.''
  Yet here we are serving in this branch and we never, never meet or 
exercise our constitutional responsibility to review the actions of 
this administration, because the majority does not want to embarrass a 
Republican President. And I agree with much of what is said by these 
commentators: ``This is a big government agenda. The notion that the 
Thatcher-Reagan legacy that many of us grew up to love and support 
would end this way is an astonishing paradox and a great tragedy.''
  Something is amiss when you have people with these conservative 
credentials making these harsh statements about this administration and 
this Republican Congress not daring to exercise its oversight.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. If the gentleman will yield, that is powerful, very 
powerful stuff. I mean, that is good. And in addition to what the 
gentleman from Massachusetts said, the point is that it is not 
conservative to balance the budget. It just is what it is. You just do 
it. The Democrats did it in 1993 without one Republican vote. President 
Clinton got in with the Democratic House and a Democratic Senate and 
balanced the budget, Mr. Meek. That is just what you do when you take 
your oath, when you swear to uphold the Constitution and preserve, 
protect, and defend the country.
  Part of preserving, protecting, and defending the country is making 
sure we balance the budget, Mr. Delahunt.

[[Page H861]]

                              {time}  1830

  Mr. MEEK of Florida. I want to thank the gentleman from Massachusetts 
(Mr. Delahunt) for spelling it out, and I do not want you to miss your 
plane. I want to thank you for coming down and sharing that 
information. We needed to hear it.
  We have a number of Members running around here because they are 
following. They are following the Republican leadership on the 
Republican side and voting in a way that they probably could not go out 
on a street corner in their districts and if they were to ask 10 
people, do you believe in this vote that I took, it would be probably 
two, maybe one and a half that may say that makes sense, give bigger 
subsidies to oil companies which are making record profits while we are 
paying more at the pump.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for putting the 
``something'' into the 30-somethings.
  Mr. Ryan, it comes down to leadership. That is the word, leadership, 
and making sure that the folks that woke up early one Tuesday morning 
to elect every Member of this House, if a Member leaves midterm, gets 
sick, whatever the case may be, I do not want to be in Congress any 
more, there has to be an election called and it has to be filled. The 
Governor cannot appoint someone like in the Senate.
  I think it is important for us to be able to point out the 
irresponsibility that not only the President has carried out as it 
relates to being fiscally sound, not putting this country in a bad 
posture.
  You have a chart there that talks about what we are facing right now. 
I am going to take maybe 5 minutes and go down the line, just in case a 
Member did not see us last night or the night before. I think it is 
important for everyone to understand what is going on.
  Our good friend, Secretary Snow, the Secretary of the Treasury, wrote 
this letter about raising the debt ceiling on December 29, 2005. I was 
thinking about the new year, enjoying family. I was not in my office 
writing a letter saying we need to raise the debt ceiling. I do not 
blame Secretary Snow; I blame the policies of this Republican majority.
  It says, ``We will be unable to continue to finance government 
operations.'' Basically, he is saying we have to raise the debt 
ceiling, but that is the punch line. That is enough to send me running 
saying we need to do something immediately.
  If the Democrats were in control, we would not have to go through 
this process because we believe in balancing budgets. The Republican 
majority says we want to cut it in half, or eventually by the year 2084 
we would cut it in half. We are not saying that. We have balanced the 
budget, and we are about paying as we go so we do not get further into 
debt.
  Secretary Snow wrote to Mr. Spratt, the ranking member of the Budget 
Committee, just to say he has to now go into what they call the G Fund, 
the Government Security Investment Fund, that is for the Federal 
Employee Retirement System. They are saying they can no longer pay into 
that because there is no money to do it.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman would yield, this 
means that we already are not meeting our obligations. That already 
means that the financial constraints that the Republican majority has 
put upon us already is forcing the Secretary of the Treasury to not put 
money in to meet the obligations of the Federal employment retiree 
program.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Ryan is 110 percent right.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. That is the first step.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Let me say this, Mr. Ryan. He says, starting 
today, February 16. Now that is when you have waited as long as you 
can. When you write a letter talking about an action that you are going 
to take on that day, the same day, not that we cannot do it a week from 
now. Not that we can't do it on the 18th; I cannot do it the day I sign 
this letter.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. He must have faxed it.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. It must have been faxed.
  March 6, this letter is very, very alarming. As you can see through 
our discussion, we have stamped the rubber stamp Congress onto it. We 
have this rubber stamp, and it should be very familiar to the Members 
right now.
  This is about the fact that they are going to do exactly what the 
administration asked them to do, and that is why we are in this 
situation and not able to meet our obligations.
  We are going to go down memory lane real quickly. This is saying for 
the first time in U.S. history we will not be able to meet our Federal 
Government obligation, our financial obligations. That means paying our 
bills if the debt ceiling is not raised immediately. The Secretary is 
going into in this letter that he is going to have to use his special 
powers that he has been given to divert and no longer pay into and 
suspend paying into not only the G Fund but other governmental 
accounts, and it has to happen as soon as possible.
  Mr. Ryan, how did we get into this situation, and who do we owe? How 
did we make history? And when I say ``we,'' the Republican majority. 
Well, they made history by following the President, and by following 
the President, they made it in a wrong way, Mr. Speaker. No other time 
in the history of this country, no other time since the beginning of 
this country, and I am saying the history, and I am trying to crumble 
this thing down, since the beginning of the United States of America 
have we ever been in this situation and borrowing from foreign nations 
that is now reaching the 50 percent mark that we are going to owe 
foreign nations; $1.05 trillion we have borrowed from foreign nations.
  We have the Republican Congress right under the President's picture 
because the President could not do it on his own. Forty-two Presidents, 
$1.01 trillion, 224 years; it took 224 years for 42 Presidents to 
borrow $1.01 trillion from foreign nations.
  Mr. Ryan, that means that the Great Depression, World War I, World 
War II, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, all of the issues we have had as a 
country, they knew being financially sound as a country and paying our 
bills as we go, that borrowing, record-breaking borrowing from other 
countries was not a good thing to do, Democrats and Republicans. This 
President and this Republican Congress in 4 years.
  So what is going to happen if we do not bring it under control now? 
You know we cannot do it alone. We have to have the majority to bring a 
stop to this.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Borrow and spend.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Borrow and spend.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. This President has not vetoed one spending bill, 
not one. So to say Congress needs to get its act in order, Congress is 
spending and the President is okaying it. Then the President puts his 
budget, and this Republican Congress gets out the rubber stamp, all at 
the expense of the next generation who are going to have to borrow and 
pay interest on this money to pay it back. Ultimately at the end of the 
day, Mr. Speaker, it weakens the country.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. To be able to paint this even further for the 
Members, I am going to put a couple of countries up, more than a couple 
up, thanks to the Republican majority, that own a piece of the American 
pie. This bothers me in putting these countries up, but I think it is 
important that we spell it out.
  Mr. Speaker, when American civilization 500-600 years from now, when 
they start digging into the Congressional Record to find out what 
happened at this time, because I will guarantee you this, and I was 
talking to a group of veterans that came to my office today, this 
Congress, this Republican Congress, the 109th Congress and the 
President of the United States will go down in history, not in history 
of, oh, wow, something great happened, history in saying what were they 
doing? How did we get to the point that we owe so many foreign nations 
money? How did they buy a piece of the American pie? Why wasn't this an 
alarming time?
  We want them to be able to unearth this map here.
  U.K., they own $223.2 billion of our debt. The U.K. did not make us 
do it; they just were available to say fine, because you are going to 
owe us.
  Germany, that should mean something to some veterans, $65.7 billion 
of our debt.
  Taiwan, folks talk about Taiwan, many of the toys that are floating 
around the United States are made in Taiwan; and what they are doing 
with

[[Page H862]]

the money, they are buying our debt, $71.3 billion that they have of 
our debt.
  Canada, the country just north of the United States of America, they 
own $53.8 billion of our debt.
  Korea, and that should mean something to our veterans, $6.5 billion 
they have of our debt. We owe them.
  OPEC nations, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, I can go down the line. OPEC 
nations, oil-producing nations, while we are here paying record-
breaking prices for gas, they are flipping that around and getting a 
piece of the American pie financially at $67.8 billion, OPEC nations.
  China, Red China.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Communists.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Communist China, $249.8 billion of U.S. debt 
they have purchased. We owe them.
  Japan, the island of Japan I must add, the island of Japan, not as 
big as the United States, but we owe them a whopping $682.8 billion. We 
owe them. The American people owe them. And we owe them because of the 
policies of the Republican majority and the White House.
  Now, Mr. Ryan, let me say this. I do not care what party an American 
is affiliated with, if it is Republican, Democrat or Independent, or 
someone who does not vote at all. The bottom line is you are going to 
receive the tab for this. You are, not your children's children's 
children. You are. They are going to pay their fair share, but I 
guarantee if this Republican Congress continues to head down the track 
that it is heading down now, more countries will be on this map.
  Like I said last night, when creditors call your house for you to pay 
them, they call you by your first name. They disrespect you from the 
beginning. They do not say, Mr. Ryan, maybe you can pay us whenever you 
feel like it. No, they say, Tim, you are going to pay this bill now. 
These are the terms; and if you do not do it, this is what we are going 
to do.
  Mr. Speaker, I can see folks saying Mr. Tim Ryan and Mr. Kendrick 
Meek and Ms. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Mr. Delahunt and the rest of 
the 30-something Working Group, they are just down there talking 
fiction. This is fact. We should be alarmed. We are alarmed, and more 
Members of this House should be outraged by the fact that we have 
allowed these countries. It is not because of their doing; it is 
because of the votes that went down on a party-line basis, not votes 
that went down along lines that are in the better interests of the 
people of the United States of America.
  I challenge Members to go to your constituents and say, is this okay 
with you all? Is it okay that foreign nations own $1.6 trillion of our 
debt? And this has all happened over a period of 4 years, and I want 
you to reelect me. I guarantee you there would not be a Member of this 
House that would put this on a T-shirt and say ``reelect me.'' That is 
the reason why people need to understand how important this is.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. At the same time, my friend, the Republican 
majority is borrowing and spending and borrowing and spending. They are 
not borrowing it from Sky Bank in downtown Warren, Ohio. They are not 
borrowing it from National Citibank.

                              {time}  1845

  They are borrowing it from these other countries. And at the same 
time, at the same exact time, Mr. Speaker, this Republican Congress has 
given $6 billion in corporate welfare to the energy companies, 
primarily the oil companies, which are having their most profitable 
quarter, one after another, one after another; $22 billion to the 
health care industry, Mr. Speaker. Corporate welfare.
  So what the Republican majority is doing, my good friend, is they are 
borrowing money from the Japanese, the Chinese, and OPEC countries; and 
they are then taking that money that they are borrowing and then they 
are giving it in corporate welfare to the most profitable industries in 
the world. And at the same time, tuition costs go up, local property 
taxes go up, no investment into after-school programs, the significant 
kinds of investments that we need to allow our kids to be competitive 
in a global economy.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Ryan, I want to say something about that 
chart that is right behind you. I am going to tell you, Mr. Speaker, 
how the American people end up going through what we call here in 
Washington the Potomac two-step. I will break it down a little further, 
how they get fooled, what one may say, bamboozled, hoodwinked. You go 
that way; I am going this way.
  Let me just quarterback this thing for a minute, Mr. Ryan. As you can 
see, the increase in foreign borrowing is $1.16 trillion on this chart. 
What the President has done and what this majority, the Republican 
House, has done, Mr. Speaker, is they have said, well, we will put it 
in this column and further down here in the corner where you have a 
$0.02 trillion increase in domestic borrowing, we do not want folks to 
really know what we are doing. We want to borrow from these other 
nations and let us make a big deal here at home because if we make a 
big deal here at home, maybe, just maybe, Mr. Ryan, the American people 
will say, wait, slow down, easy on that credit card.
  That is an interest rate. It is a $230 billion interest rate per 
year, more than what we are investing in education, more than what we 
are investing in homeland security, since the President and the 
Republican majority are supposed to be the big homeland security 
people. More than what we are doing there.
  Mr. Ryan, I know it is tough because I am living it, getting in this 
building at 8 o'clock in the morning, being in the middle of meetings, 
running from this end, going to committee meetings, going to try to 
figure out what happened in the secret port deal, running over here and 
trying to get over to Armed Services so that we could hopefully get the 
truth of what is happening in Iraq or what is really going on. You have 
to run over to your other committees and try to figure out what is 
happening, meanwhile answering constituents' phone calls.
  And, Mr. Speaker, meeting about what is happening in this dome, 
trying to find out what is going on, talking to staffers, I am going to 
tell you, I am just going to come clean, Mr. Speaker, we have got 
Republican staffers talking to the 30-something group about what is 
going on in the back scenes. That is how bad it is right here. That is 
how bad it is.
  Congressman, excuse me, do not look at me, I just want to tell you 
something.
  Congressman, here is a little note here. Maybe you need to talk about 
this because this is happening.
  That is how we are able to unearth this stuff. That is how we are 
able to share with people what is going on. We have got Americans 
emailing us, saying, Hey, I am in the military and I am sick and tired 
of being sick and tired. Expose this.
  The VA in my rural community is only open on the second Wednesday of 
each month, and they are talking about stopping that from happening.
  Meanwhile, we have got folks around here advocating on behalf of 
billionaires, saying they want to make the tax cut permanent, or they 
want to give record-breaking subsidies to industries that are making 
record-breaking profits. And we have American families. Some are small 
businesses that are trying to provide health insurance for their 
employees, and we cannot help them?
  The President marched down this aisle here. The Republican side 
stands up and claps, and we are all clapping when he comes in because 
he is the Commander in Chief and the President of the United States and 
the ``leader'' of the free world. And then we start talking about 
health care on only one side of the aisle. The Republican side can get 
up and start clapping. We are thinking the President is going to come 
with a comprehensive plan that we can all work together in a bipartisan 
way, a major paradigm shift in providing health care, Mr. Ryan.
  No. What does he do? I just want to use an example. It is almost like 
going to the refrigerator, taking out a carton of milk, and saying, Oh, 
this is sour. Let me put it back in. Maybe it will be fresh tomorrow.
  On the health care plan, they want to go back to health savings. 
There is already evidence that that is not working. We want to increase 
that plan. What do you have to do to be a part of the health savings 
plan? A, you have to have some savings. So you have to invest not only 
for your kid's college fund, where in the President's budget

[[Page H863]]

and the Republican budget they are cutting student aid, and talk about 
innovation, that students will be able to compete against the kids in 
China and these other countries that are cleaning our clock right now 
as it relates to training and innovation and all these other areas, not 
because our students are not up to the fight. It is because we are not 
putting forth the kind of platform they need to be able to educate 
themselves financially.
  So, Mr. Ryan, when we start talking about this issue of 
responsibility, it is not serving Americans enough for us to go the 
extra mile.
  A supermajority of Members, Mr. Speaker, right now are already home. 
But let me tell you something. It is important that we continue to 
hammer at this nail.
  Mr. Ryan, I want to commend you for doing what you do. And I know it 
is hard. I know it is hard to come here and do it, because we are doing 
it together along with other Members of this House.
  But, Mr. Speaker, I am going to say it time after time, that we must 
stop using the credit card and spending it on things that are not 
improving U.S. cities, that are not protecting America, that are not 
educating our children, and that are not bringing down gas prices that 
Americans are paying through the nose for right now.
  So it is important because we are in this thing together. And I am 
going to tell you it is almost like the Congress being in first class 
and the American people being in coach. If the plane is going down, we 
are going down together. And I think it is important that we put a stop 
to using this credit card.
  Mr. Ryan, I want you to put that chart up again about how much we are 
paying on the debt service. I want you to put that up because that goes 
right into what I am talking about. I want you to explain it one more 
time because the reason why I was able to make it through school was 
that my teachers kept going over the stuff, and we have got to make 
sure that some folks are coachable here because this is the information 
that is prepared and we get this from the U.S. Department of 
the Treasury, also from the Budget Committee.

  Mr. Ryan, would you just explain that so people will understand what 
I am saying.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. All of this money that we are borrowing, we have 
got to pay interest on it. And if we pay the interest on it, that means 
that we cannot spend that money in other areas or give it back, in 
fact, to the taxpayer maybe in the form of a tax cut so there may be 
some middle class people.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. For a change.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. For a change, instead of giving it to Bill Gates 
and Warren Buffet, who themselves say they do not want the tax cut. 
Bill Clinton, who is making millions a year, we do not want the tax 
cut; make the proper investments.
  From all the borrowing and spending and borrowing and spending that 
the Republicans have done, Mr. Speaker, this is the interest on the 
debt for 2007: $230-some-odd billion. Of the tax money that the 
American people will send down here, 230 billion of it will go to those 
countries that Mr. Meek mentioned to pay off the debt service. 
Meanwhile, education, homeland security, and veteran spending will be 
reduced here, here, and here.
  Now, what the Democratic plan is is to make sure that we ask the 
Warren Buffets of the world to pay their fair share, make the proper 
investments in the broadband research and development tax credit, and 
grow the economy so we can reduce this payment, and we can make sure 
that we properly fund and invest in education, homeland security, and 
veterans.
  Now, if you want to just look at what we could do, my friend, if we 
did not have to pay that interest on the debt, the red bar, what would 
we be able to do with it? Sixty thousand kids we could enroll in Head 
Start to make sure that they have health care so they could be healthy, 
productive, educated citizens. Every single Member of Congress would 
get $1 million a day for their congressional district, $365 million for 
you, $365 million for me, $365 million for all 435 Members. Could you 
imagine what you could do in your district with $365 million a year to 
spend if we did not have to pay that interest on the debt? Your 
schools; your transportation issues; your ports; the Coast Guard, which 
I know is there in the intercoastal; health care. Almost 80,000 
veterans would be able to get health care, improve Social Security 
solvency by $.5 billion. This is what we can do, my friend, when the 
Democrats take over. We will be able to move ourselves in this 
direction. Will it be a panacea? No. Because we have got a big mess to 
clean up when we take over this place.
  But, Mr. Speaker, time and time and time again, the Republican 
majority went out, borrowed money, and spent it on corporate welfare 
for the most profitable industries, whether it was health care or 
whether it was the energy companies. Time and time and time again. And 
one of the provisions that the Democrats have tried and tried and tried 
to get on, we need a structure in which we could contain the reckless 
spending of the Republican majority, and what we have tried to do is 
put an amendment on bills that say if you spend money, you cannot 
borrow it. You either have to go and raise it, raise revenues 
somewhere, or you have to cut it out of another program so it is 
deficit neutral.
  Mr. Spratt, our leader on the Budget Committee, tried to put these 
PAYGO, pay-as-you-go, rules onto the 2006 budget resolution. It failed. 
Not one Republican voted for it. That is rollcall No. 87, March 17, 
2005. I am not making this up. This is right in the rollcall. We wanted 
to put controls on spending. Republicans voted against it. Again in the 
2005 budget resolution, Mr. Spratt tried to do it again, rollcall vote 
No. 91, March 25 of 2004. Not one Republican voted to contain the 
spending and put the pay-as-you-go rules on.
  We also have been trying to do this for years now. For years. Mike 
Thompson in California tried to do it. Charlie Stenholm of Texas tried 
to do it. Dennis Moore of Kansas tried to do it. What are the Democrats 
for? We are for balanced budgets, and the proof is in the pudding. The 
proof is in the Congressional Record, because we have tried to do it 
time and time and time again, and every time we have been shot down by 
the Republican majority.
  So we are trying to contain spending so that we could reduce our debt 
payments so that we could take that money and provide broadband for 
every citizen in the country in the next 5 years, to have a strong, 
sufficient research and development tax credit, to encourage spending, 
investment, into innovative programs. We have a plan, and we know what 
we want to do.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Ryan, I want you to get the Web site 
information up because I want to make sure Members have accurate 
information.
  Also, I would just like to say that Members can go onto the Web site 
and get any of these charts that we have shared with them in the past 
and tonight so that they can see exactly what we are talking about if 
they need further information, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. Ryan.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. www.housedemocrats.gov/30something. Drop us a line.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Ryan, I want to thank you. I want to thank 
Mr. Delahunt for being a part of this 30-something hour.
  Mr. Speaker, we would like to thank the Democratic leadership for 
allowing us to have the time. It is an honor to address the House once 
again.

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