[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 47 (Wednesday, April 26, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H1836-H1842]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       30-SOMETHING WORKING GROUP

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Foxx). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 4, 2005, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek) is 
recognized for 60 minutes.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Madam Speaker, it is an honor to come to the 
floor once again. As you know, night after night, and even earlier 
tonight, Madam Speaker, during the first hour, we had members of the 
30-something Working Group on the floor talking about plans that we 
have on the minority side here in the House of Representatives and 
assisting not only Americans, but also those that are in the industry 
of providing energy to this country, who are also Americans and some of 
them are foreign companies, to be able to provide cleaner burning fuel 
and also alternatives that Americans will be able to hopefully enjoy 
for years to come. Energy independence is something that we have 
embraced for a very long time.
  And the debate this week has been about energy, the debate this week 
has been about ethics, the debate this week has been about a budget 
vote that we are all waiting to take. But it seems that on the majority 
side, Mr. Speaker, that the votes are just not there to pass the 
budget, the Republican-led budget, which I must say that a number of 
Members on both sides of the aisle have issues with, apparently.
  In the 30-something Working Group, we want to thank Leader Pelosi for 
allowing us to have this hour once again, the second hour of tonight on 
the Democratic side, and also Mr. Steny Hoyer and Mr. James Clyburn, 
who is our chairman, and Mr. Larson, who is our vice chairman, and all 
of the members that go to committee meetings and fight on behalf of the 
American people.
  Madam Speaker, I believe that we are all on one team until it comes 
down to what the special interests want and what the American people 
want. I think that is where the divide comes in. As we start looking at 
what is happening and the conference calls that I have had and the 
constituent meetings that I had when I was back in my district during 
our work break, of just outrage about what is happening in this country 
as it relates to gas prices, I think that it is very important that we 
pay more attention than what we have paid to energy and alternative 
fuels here in this Congress.
  One may say, well, we have already passed an energy bill; where were 
you? Well, there was an energy bill, yes. It was an energy bill that 
was passed, but for whom? For the special interests, or for the 
American people?
  I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that the evidence is overwhelming, the 
fact that right after Hurricane Katrina, and even before, Democratic 
amendments were voted down here to do exactly what some Members on the 
majority side, the Republican side, have said that we need to do now, 
making sure that we put forth penalties to companies that price-gouge 
the American people. And I am talking about serious penalties, criminal 
penalties and fines up to $3 million.
  We have ExxonMobil executives and oil executives making $150,000 a 
day in a pension; a day, not a year, not a week, not a month; in a 
pension with record profits and investors in these corporations that 
are making money hand over fist, and we have constituents in our 
districts and Americans throughout this country who cannot even afford 
to put a quarter of a tank in their car because it is outside of their 
budget. They cannot afford to take their kids to school. Even when they 
have a carpool, they cannot afford that.
  In rural America there are stories throughout the papers today that 
are saying, yes, we carpool, but when you are in rural America and you 
have to drive to the nearest school, that is now a $30- or $40-a-day 
proposition.
  So we look at alternative fuels and we look at penalties that will 
not allow these oil companies to be able to get away with what they are 
getting away with.

                              {time}  2145

  Mr. Speaker, I think it is also important for us to understand that 
the President comes out and he says, well, things are going to be the 
way they are, and prices are going to be high, and it is what it is, 
but what we are going to do is relax environmental standards to bring 
the price of gasoline down.
  It is almost like a firefighter saying, I know the house is on fire, 
and it is hard for me even to come up with a metaphor, Mr. Speaker, to 
describe what the President has done and what the Congress has allowed 
him to do. The house is on fire. We are going to put a little water 
here, but not totally put it out, even though we could have prevented 
that by putting smoke alarms in and other things in to bring attention 
to all of us as it relates to making sure we keep the house from 
burning.
  I think it is also important for us to pay attention to the fact that 
the 30-something Working Group and also on the Democratic side, we have 
put forth proposals in the past that could have avoided this spike in 
prices right now. There was a press conference today, and a reporter 
asked me, well, Congressman, are you representing to us that the 
Democrats, that you all have a plan that will take gas prices down 
right now, right now, like tomorrow?
  No. But if amendments were adopted that were offered here on this 
floor that Republicans voted down to provide criminal penalties for 
executives and price gouging, $3 million fines for individuals that 
knowingly price-gouged Americans to make sure they can have a return 
for those individuals that are investors, the Federal prosecutor would 
be in the middle of this.
  The situation we are in now is that these oil companies are saying, 
well, what is the penalty, and who is going to enforce it? The Federal 
Trade Commission is saying, well, you know, we are not sure if we have 
jurisdiction.
  Now we have the leaders on the Republican side in the House and 
Senate saying, well, Mr. President, writing him a letter, maybe you 
want to have these folks look into it, and maybe we need to take back 
the tax cuts we just gave the oil companies, over the objection of many 
of us here in this House.
  Then you have some Members say that, well, we did it because they 
needed money more for more exploration. Well, some of that may be true, 
but when you have oil companies that are beating some countries in 
revenue and beating all companies on the face of the Earth in profits, 
and still saying, well, I know you have all this money, and it is 
heavy, and you can't carry it around, but can I give you some of the 
taxpayers' money? Maybe, just maybe, you will go out and find oil or go 
out and drill in some environmentally sensitive place to be able to 
push up profits.
  What it is going to be very disappointing this time, Mr. Speaker and 
Members, is the fact that we know that when companies present their 
quarterly reports, it will be another record-breaking quarter for oil 
companies.
  Now, don't get me wrong. Profits are good. It is not a bad word. But 
I do take issue with the fact that if individuals are making profits, 
and it is on

[[Page H1837]]

the backs of everyday Americans, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, 
and even those that cannot vote yet, and individuals are making record 
profits on the backs of them with the help of their government, I think 
that is the reason why the latest polling indicates that individuals 
are ready for a change.
  Just so Members don't feel this is a Kendrick Meek report or just 
something the 30-something Group came up with, September 28, 2005, a 
motion by Congressman Stupak from Michigan giving the Federal Trade 
Commission and also the Justice Department authority to investigate and 
prosecute oil companies for price gouging. Republicans, 226 voted 
against it; 195 Democrats voted for it. That is roll call vote number 
500, H.R. 3402. That actually happened here on this floor. That is not 
fiction, that is fact.
  October 7, 2005, amendment by the same Member, Democratic Member, 
allowing the Federal Trade Commission to enforce and ban price gouging 
and set tough criminal and civil penalties, up to $100 million, on oil 
companies, and allow the President to declare an energy emergency when 
he needs to. Republicans killed the amendment; not Democrats, not 
Independents, but the Republican majority killed that amendment, 222 to 
199, roll call vote number 517, H.R. 3893.
  Time after time after time, Mr. Speaker, the majority has proven when 
it is time to go on this board and vote on behalf of the American 
people, that it is whatever the industry wants, they get.
  I am so glad to say, Mr. Speaker and Members, that on this side of 
the aisle, Democrats have said on behalf of the American people, not 
just on behalf of the Democratic Party and not just on behalf of 
someone that served here long ago in the majority here long ago when 
the Democrats were in charge, but on behalf of the American people, 
that we have come to the floor and we are here to talk about the 
record. We are here to talk about what we would do if we were in the 
majority.
  Those two votes that I just named a year ago would be law today if 
Democrats were in the majority of this House. If Nancy Pelosi was 
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, without any hesitation 
this legislation would be in place, and we would challenge the 
President. When he makes decisions, and the Republican Congress rubber-
stamps those decisions, rubber-stamps those decisions by saying, Mr. 
President, whatever you want, so shall it be written, so shall it be 
done, has gotten us in the situation where we are now.
  The same amendments that I just pointed out would have provided 
relief also to consumers facing skyrocketing home heating costs by 
expanding the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program that would have 
been paid for, Mr. Speaker, and I think this is very, very important 
for the Members to understand, would have been paid for not with 
dollars borrowed, and, Mr. Speaker, I am going to talk a little bit 
about that, too, not with dollars borrowed, but a pay-as-you-go 
philosophy.
  Even when we are dealing with enforcement of energy companies, where 
there is evidence and also a very strong concern by the American people 
of how in the world individuals can be paying $3 and change a gallon, 
and saying it is an issue with production and flow and all of these 
different examples and explanations and excuses to the American people 
that no one can really put their hands around, their arms around, and 
look in the paper and find these companies are making money like 
countries, these oil companies are making record profits.
  Now, pay-as-you-go. I am going to read that again. It dealt with 
providing consumers facing skyrocketing home heating costs to expand 
the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program through the fines from 
price-gouging companies; not we are going to pass a piece of 
legislation and just borrow the money.
  Mr. Speaker, just to talk about borrowing the money, I want to talk 
about responsible governance, and I also want to talk about what has 
happened.
  You want to talk about borrowing the money? Some folks say the 
Democratic plan, they don't necessarily have ways to pay for things. 
Well, in every piece of legislation that we are putting forth, a 
supermajority of the legislation that we are putting forth, we are 
using the pay-as-you-go philosophy. Why do we do it? Because it is the 
right thing to do on behalf of this country.
  I can't help, Mr. Speaker and Members, but think about the fact that 
there is someone right now, a he or she or someone's mother or father 
or son or uncle, grandchild, nephew or niece, that are not celebrating 
what we are celebrating right now. They have been asked on behalf of 
their country to go to war. They have sand in their teeth, and they 
probably haven't been able to take a shower like most Americans have 
been able to take a shower in the last couple of days or this morning 
or last night or whatever the case may be, so that I would have the 
opportunity, Mr. Speaker, to come to the floor in this great democracy 
of ours to talk about what we would do if given the opportunity to lead 
and to share with the Members and the American people what is happening 
here in this Capitol.
  I will tell you, this chart alone is self-explanatory. Never before 
in the history of the Republic, I am going to say that again, never 
before in the history of the Republic, has this country been in the 
fiscal shape or disrepair that it is right now.
  Some folks may say we have our challenges. Yes, we have our 
challenges, but guess what? There were Congresses before this, the 
109th and the 108th and 107th, and Congresses going back 100 years, 
that have had challenges, too. It is something we called the Great 
Depression. Another challenge was World War I and World War II. Another 
challenge was Vietnam and Korea. You name it. Another challenge was 
times that we had fuel crises. Other challenges have been natural 
disasters. I know Americans and the membership are very familiar with 
that.
  But when you look at history making, borrowing from foreign nations, 
$1.05 trillion, $1.05 trillion borrowed in 4 years by the Republican 
majority and the President, I guarantee you the President could not do 
it by himself, in 4 years he accumulated more than 42 Presidents and a 
number of Congresses before them that could only borrow $1.01 trillion. 
You want to talk about fiscal responsibility? You want to talk about 
who is spending or who is borrowing the money?
  I just want to bring this chart up. Here in the 30-something Working 
Group we try to break this thing down to the lowest denominator. I want 
my 8-year-old son, I want my 11-year-old daughter to get it, because it 
is all about them, and it is all about right now.
  We used to, Mr. Ryan, say the future generation, this, that and the 
other. This generation, we all owe $26,000 and change because of this 
ever-growing debt. But this is something that I think Members should 
pay very close attention to. We have divided the debt that this country 
and this Congress has put on the backs of the American people. We went 
from surpluses to this.
  Japan. Japan, $682.8 billion of our debt. Let me just break that down 
for you. I am going to take this. This is actually my debit card, but 
we will say it is a credit card for right now. What the Congress has 
done, and what the Members on the majority side have done, and what the 
White House has done with the rubber-stamp Republican Congress, what 
they have done is said we can have tax breaks that we cannot afford. 
Swipe the card. We can have a war without a plan and without an exit 
strategy. Swipe the card. We can spend money, because we weren't 
prepared for a response to natural disaster in this country without any 
accountability, without any restraints and no-bid contracts. Swipe the 
card. We got it.
  Oh, no problem. If we want to have government waste on all levels 
with very little enforcement, and want to give tax breaks to oil 
companies in the time they are making record profits, and we want to 
give the top 1 percent tax cuts that they are not even asking for, that 
is fine. Swipe the card.
  By swiping that card, we have now given Japan the power. Japan said, 
fine, we will buy your debt. Guess what? They are buying a piece of the 
American pie, $682.8 billion.
  China. Red China. Some folks had some concerns. We just had a state 
visit from the Chinese President. But guess what? He came here knowing

[[Page H1838]]

that he owns a piece of the American apple pie at $249.8 billion of our 
debt.
  Did Japan or China come over here and make us overspend? Did they put 
the credit card in our hand and say, let me force you, Congress and 
President? Okay, we will buy it. No, they didn't do it.

                              {time}  2200

  It is the irresponsible spending and borrowing that the Republican 
majority has that has put this country in this posture. The United 
Kingdom, $223.2 billion. This is the truth. This is not fiction.
  The Caribbean. Many of you know I am from south Florida. Many of you 
come through our airport going through. The Caribbean, $115.3 billion 
of the American apple pie. Taiwan, $71.3 billion of the American apple 
pie, buying our debt.
  OPEC nations. Well, Madam Speaker, let us just talk for a moment 
about OPEC nations. Who are they? Well, Iran. I think we are pretty 
familiar with Iran right now. Iraq. We are definitely familiar with 
Iraq. Saudi Arabia. Oh, definitely heard of that. The United Arab 
Emirates, UAE, owns a part of this OPEC debt. And I think it is 
important for people to understand that. And guess what? We are paying 
through the nose for gas. 67.8 billion.
  Germany, $65.7 billion of our debt. Korea, $66.5 billion of our debt. 
Canada, just north of us, $53.8 billion of our debt.
  Now, I am holding this map up empty, Mr. Ryan, and the reason I am 
holding this map up is because this is the way it looked before 
President Bush became President, because it was a surplus. This is the 
way the map looked, Madam Speaker, before the Republican majority 
became the rubber-stamp Congress.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. And the Democrats time and time again have tried to 
put provisions in place that we call PAYGO to try to limit the spending 
of the Republican Congress. They run away. They spend. They charge on 
the credit card. Many, many instances over the past few years.
  Mr. Stenholm from Texas tried to put provisions in as we were 
raising, as the Republicans were raising the debt limit. He tried to 
put these PAYGO provisions in saying if you spend any more money, 
saying you have either got to raise taxes for somebody to pay for it or 
cut a program so we can balance the budget. Representative Moore from 
Kansas tried to put this provision in through an amendment to try to 
limit the spending. We have Members on the Democratic side who time and 
time again have tried to limit spending in the Congress so we do not 
keep borrowing from the Chinese, so we do not keep borrowing from the 
Japanese, the Arab countries who we are also buying our oil from, oil-
producing countries.
  We are trying to limit spending, but it is the Republican side who 
continue, Madam Speaker, time and time again to waste our money. The 
tax money that comes into this country time and time again goes out as 
corporate welfare for the oil companies, corporate welfare for the HMOs 
and the health care industry, time and time again.
  And I want to share with the Members, Madam Speaker, a chart here 
that is based on the 2007 budget of how much interest, net interest, we 
are going to pay on the national debt. So all the money that Mr. Meek 
was talking about, all the money we are borrowing, we have got to pay 
interest on this money, Madam Speaker.
  This is not a free ride. This is like a bank. You go to the bank, you 
buy a house, you borrow money. Then you have got to pay interest on it. 
You buy a house for $200,000. Well, you end up paying $300,000 for the 
house over the course of the years. It is the same thing that we are 
doing.
  If you look at this chart, the big red tower that we have here is the 
interest, the net interest that we are paying on the debt. Almost $240 
billion of the 2007 budget will be spent on interest on the debt. We 
are not paying it down. This is just interest payments.
  And when you compare that to what we are spending on education or 
what we are spending on homeland security or what we are spending on 
veterans benefits, it pales in comparison.
  So, Madam Speaker, the folks at home, Members of Congress have to ask 
themselves, would you rather have your tax money going to pay interest, 
which makes its way back to the Communist Chinese Government, the 
Japanese Government, OPEC countries, or would you rather have your tax 
dollars that come down here? Nobody likes to pay them, but it is like, 
well, if you are going to pay them, where do you want them to go? Would 
you not rather have that money invested into the educational systems in 
the United States of America? Would you not rather have that money 
focused for Pell Grants? Would you not rather have that money for Head 
Start?
  We are not saying that we do not need reforms in the education 
system. We do. We admit that. But if you are spending money, and you 
are asking an American taxpayer, Madam Speaker, you make the decision. 
Mr. Meek, you make the decision. Would you rather have your tax dollars 
go to pay interest on the debt that will make its way back to the 
Communist Chinese Government, or would you rather have that money 
invested for educational opportunities for your kids, for you to pay 
less in tuition costs because we are able to fully fund the Pell 
Grants?
  I remember going to school. I remember looking and seeing what my mom 
got back or got grant money that we got from the Ohio Instructional 
Grant, from the Pell Grant. That was a good deal of money to defer the 
costs of my college education. And because of that, Mr. Meek, we, my 
brother and I, we were able to go to college.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Ryan, you know I would be a little 
concerned, just a little, if the validation by the American people, 
Madam Speaker, was not so strong. I mean, the American people are 
saying, Congress, what are you doing? Let me just back up. The 
Republican Congress, what are you doing? It is almost like the 
Republican majority got elected, started a football game, and at 
halftime switched jerseys.
  I mean, some of the folks who are running down here on the floor 
having press conferences, you know, fiscal conservatives, fiscal 
responsibility, we believe it is your money. Well, Mr. Ryan, what you 
are talking about, what we just talked about here is exactly what is 
happening here.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Meek, it is their money. It is the American 
people's money. They do not want it sent to Communist China to pay down 
the interest on the debt. They want it invested in the United States of 
America. They want this money put into our country, not put off and 
sent to the Communist Chinese Government so that they can start state-
owned companies and basically take work from the American people.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Ryan, you could not say it better.
  But, Madam Speaker, let me just back up, because I want to say this 
before I talk about why the Republican majority should be alarmed. It 
is almost unfair, and I said it last night on the floor.
  Being in the minority, if someone would have told me at the beginning 
of the 109th Congress, at the beginning of the 108th Congress, that the 
cards would be laid out on the table the way they are laid out now, I 
would say that, wow, that is a lot of work to have the American people 
understand what is going on here in the Capitol. But guess what? They 
are getting it. And they got it.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. The constitutional amendment in 1994 was a part of 
the Contract with America.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Well, Contract on America, because that is what 
it turned out to be. And that we would have Republican and Democratic 
States suing. And I am talking about Republican and Democratic 
Governors suing the Federal Government because Leave No Child Left 
Behind is so underfunded, and that we would have individuals running 
around here saying, what do you mean we do not have a plan? What do you 
mean you do not want to talk about how we should take the training 
wheels off the Iraqi Government and share with them that we cannot be 
there forever?
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I want to say that this government run by the 
Republican majority is in complete disarray.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Can I give you a third-party validator right 
now?
  Madam Speaker, this man has to look familiar to the Republican 
majority. He has to. Newt Gingrich was the man that came to the floor 
night after night and talked about what the Republicans would do if 
they were able to

[[Page H1839]]

take control of the House. He talked about all of the things that, you 
know, he was talking about that just good government. All right.
  Now what is Newt Gingrich saying? They, talking about the Republican 
majority, are seen by the country as being in charge of a government 
that cannot function.
  Madam Speaker, they. Not, my Republican colleagues; not, my good 
friends in Congress. They. Here is a major Republican that served as 
Speaker, the first Speaker in a number of years to serve, Madam 
Speaker, as the Speaker of this House, calling his former colleagues 
and the people that he worked with, and his office is right down the 
hall, they.
  Because if Newt Gingrich is saying that this Republican Congress 
cannot function, cannot run the country like it is supposed to be run, 
cannot oversee the finances, cannot make sure that Americans have 
health care and small businesses are able to provide health care, 
cannot give guidance and oversight to the Department of Defense and 
Secretary Rumsfeld, cannot make sure that we let oil companies know 
that we are here to represent the American people and not their special 
interests, not their profits, and not their CEOs that will retire to a 
pension making $150,000 a day, not because they are that great, it is 
because we have taken the taxpayers' money and we have given it to 
them.
  And now we have Republican leaders saying, well, maybe we need to 
take the tax cuts back you just gave them. And then you read something 
else. No, we should not take that tax cuts back because, guess what, 
the oil companies have representation in the Republican majority, 
period.
  As I said last night, a black man with a conspiracy theory. But, Mr. 
Ryan, I believe, and I know, and it is documented that the Vice 
President and others sat down with these oil companies and put this in 
motion long ago.
  So Members walking around here were having press conferences talking 
down this. I do not know what happened. I do not. I did not see it 
coming. What do you mean you cannot enforce prices? It is just insane, 
Mr. Ryan, for us to be the country that we are, and for the Federal 
Trade Commission to say, well, you know, we think we have power, we do 
not have the teeth that we need to really find out what is going on 
with those oil companies.
  But I will tell you this. I believe that these oil companies have 
been a part of writing this legislation in the way to where that is 
hard to prosecute them, and it is hard to get to the bottom line of who 
is doing what. And guess what? When there are no penalties, it is 
almost like having a house full of kids saying there is no time out, 
there is no discipline whatsoever, do as you may. And everything in the 
house will be broken, and every picture will be ripped off the wall. 
That is what these oil companies are doing.
  Now, I do not fault them. I fault the Republican majority. And like I 
said last night, Mr. Ryan, I am not going to ask them to lead anymore. 
If they want to work in a bipartisan way, we are ready to go. We have 
been ready to go. And if the American people see fit for us to be the 
majority party in the 110th Congress, Madam Speaker, and they will see 
an opportunity, we will be able to work in a bipartisan way.

                              {time}  2215

  There will be a number of Republicans, that I do know. Some of my 
friends, Mr. Ryan, and we do know them, a very small number on the 
other side of the aisle see things the way we see it and the way the 
American people see it. I know the reason why the poll numbers are what 
they are right now.
  The President is not running again, but the Congress and this House, 
every 2 years we go before the voters. Like I said last night, Mr. 
Ryan, Madam Speaker, I do not care if it is a local Republican 
committee chairman, he or she has to have a problem with the borrowing 
that has been going on in this Republican majority Congress.
  He or she must have a problem with the fact that no one can answer 
the questions on intelligence and the outing of CIA agents. He or she 
must have a problem if there are Republican committee persons at the 
local level and on the State level, with the fact that the K street 
Project, Madam Speaker, was allowed to operate under this dome by 
individuals that wore congressional pins that say, yes, we do have a K 
Street Project; and, yes, if you are not on this list, you don't get 
access to this government.
  Guess what? That was okay. We talked about it, Mr. Ryan. The good 
thing is, it is almost like showing up somewhere at the scene of an 
accident and saying, time and time again, we went to the police 
department, we went to the city hall and said we needed a stop light 
here. Now, look at this fatality.
  I used to be a State trooper. I can see it all the time. Report after 
report. We didn't get the traffic light out there in time and people 
died because of it.
  Well, guess what? The people were beat down by this Republican 
majority as it relates to good government, because, not what I am 
seeing and not what you are seeing, Mr. Ryan, here is what Members on 
the Republican side of this House have said: Yes, we have a K Street 
Project.
  Then we have a gentleman who admitted you don't have to call the 
jury, you do not even have to assign a courtroom. I am guilty, I did 
it. That is what this Republican lobbyist said. Not only did I do it, 
but I am going to help you go after some Members of Congress that were 
part of it. I am going to help you identify other lobbyists that were a 
part of this great operation, the K Street Project.
  Then the Republican majority, after he said what he said, and the 
Federal prosecutors, Madam Speaker, did what they did, said we 
denounce, no longer, K Street Project. We don't know what you are 
talking about. We will no longer condone it, the K Street Project.
  Well, Mr. Ryan, it sounds like when the President says, well, I don't 
know quite what we can do about gas prices, but I do know that 
Americans are addicted to oil, come on. The President and the Vice 
President were part of putting this thing into motion. The Republican 
Congress rubber-stamped, Mr. Ryan, everything that this administration 
said they wanted.
  Mr. President, you want tax cuts that you cannot afford so that we 
can put ourselves in debt and allow foreign countries to own more of 
America. Fine. Mr. President, the intelligence on Iraq is kind of 
shaky, but we have to do what you want, and anyone who goes against you 
or says anything against you is unpatriotic, and we will have 
Congressional hearings to humiliate those individuals.
  Mr. President, pay-as-you-go. I know the Democrats are there talking 
about maybe we need to pay as we go right now, since we are in so much 
debt. You want to continue to borrow and spend? We got your back, Mr. 
President, because we are the Republican Congress, and we are going to 
allow you to continue to drive this country in the way that special 
interests want to drive it. Because you know something? When all the 
resources are gone, and when all the opportunities are gone, and when 
it is American taxpayers that are in debt, where will the special 
interests be? That is the question.
  Will they help bail this country out of the debt that this Republican 
Congress has delivered to them? No. That is the reason why, Madam 
Speaker, that Members, if they are in their offices, or they are 
walking around this building, and if they are at home right now, they 
need to sit up in bed and say, you know something, I need to go to work 
tomorrow with a new attitude. I need to make sure that I fight on 
behalf of my constituents. I need to have the same kind of drive that I 
had the night that I was elected, doing all of those things I said I 
would do. All of those things, all of those plans, everything I talked 
about in the campaign, about representing whatever district they may be 
running from, in my case, the 17th Congressional District. They call 
that being born again, Mr. Ryan, and a Baptist term, being born again 
to public service.
  I am excited by the fact that the American people, they are not 
getting it, they got it. They got it. Then we will continue to get it, 
because time after time, Mr. Ryan, this Republican Congress has proven 
that they are, their allegiance, and I do not want to generalize 
because there are a few that I know of and you know of, Madam Speaker, 
that walk up to Mr. Ryan, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Delahunt, and say 
you all are doing a

[[Page H1840]]

good job, keep doing what you are doing. Because if you all are not 
pointing out what this Republican majority is doing, these are 
Republicans, then they will continue to do it, Mr. Ryan, and that is 
the word that they use.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Inexcusable incompetence, my friend. Inexcusable. 
If you look, and I do not want to dwell on this, but if you look at 
Katrina, if you look at the lack of preparedness in FEMA, if you see a 
storm coming 5 days in advance, and you have the complete lack of 
competency to deal with the problem, that is an issue that this 
Congress needs to look at and needs to fix. If you look at all the 
promises before the war, day in and day out, we are going to use the 
money for reconstruction, we are going to be greeted as liberators, 
this is going to reduce the costs of oil.
  All of these things that were promised never came to be. The Medicare 
prescription drug bill, the costs never came to be. It ended up being 
almost half a trillion dollars more than what the Republican Congress 
told us it was going to be. Time and time and time again, the tax cuts 
were going to create all these jobs.

  None of this has happened. And now when you look at what is going on 
here with the gas prices, if you take what has happened since 2001, and 
you see that there has been no comprehensive energy policy in this 
country, and you see the end result 4, 5 or 6 years later, that is 
higher gas prices, reduced supply, which increases the cost for the 
average American consumer, when you add all this together, you see that 
the Republican Congress, as stated by former Speaker Newt Gingrich, is 
incapable of governing the United States of America.
  They are too ideological, they are too tied to the special interests. 
They have the country going in the wrong direction, and it makes it 
more and more difficult for us to fix the problem.
  Now, I think it comes down to one thing, my friend, and I appreciate 
your help. I think it comes down to one thing. It comes down to 
leadership. The Republican Party controls the House of Representatives. 
The Republican Party controls the United States Senate. The Republican 
Party controls the White House. They have been in charge of this 
government, this House, since 1994. Their leader, who led the 
revolution for them to come into power, is now saying they, calling 
them ``they,'' as my colleagues stated, they don't know how to run the 
government. It is total incompetence.
  But, and I agree with you, I am excited too, Madam Speaker. I am 
excited because the American people are beginning to understand. Like 
you said, they got it that this country needs to go in another 
direction. We are borrowing money from foreign interests left and 
right, selling off pieces of the American dream, piece by piece. And 
average people in Youngstown, Ohio; Warren, Ohio; Akron, Ohio; and in 
Miami, Florida, it is harder now for them to go to work. Their budgets 
are getting squeezed. Their health care costs are up. Their gas costs 
are up, their fuel costs are up. Natural gas, whatever it may be, up, 
up, up, up, up; tuition costs, up. Everything is making it more 
difficult for families to make ends meet.
  So the Democratic Party, we have a bushel full of plans now. I have 
noticed that we have got so many plans in our caucus that we have a 
bushel now, full of them, on homeland security, on education, on 
technology, and energy. You can go to our Web site that we will show 
later and find all of those charts, Madam Speaker. Members can look at 
all of the plans that we have.
  I want to make one final point before I kick it back to my friend. 
This comes down to leadership. After September 11, and I am sure we all 
remember those difficult days, after September 11th, this country was 
united and the world was united behind the United States of America.
  Even in Europe, at that point, there were European op-eds saying that 
even in Europe, my friends, they were saying that today we are all 
Americans. Today we are all Americans. We are such a far cry from that. 
But the important part was that our President at that point, Madam 
Speaker, had an enormous amount of political power, and the world was 
looking at our President.
  If he would have asked us to walk to work, if that President, if our 
President would have asked us to ride a bike to work because we have to 
reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we would have all done it. We 
were sending checks to every nonprofit organization because we wanted 
to give money. We were giving blood until the Red Cross said we do not 
need any more blood. The American people wanted to give, Madam Speaker. 
We needed at that point leadership. The best our President could come 
up with at that critical juncture, the most important moment in the 
history of the United States of America, was go shopping, Madam 
Speaker, go shopping. That is leadership? Give me a break.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. And buy duct tape.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Buy duct tape, get your plastic. Go shopping. That 
moment, if there was leadership in this country, that moment, Mr. Meek, 
we could have converted our economy over into all kinds of different 
alternative energy sources, and we could have done it in the next 
decade. But we lacked the leadership at that critical moment in this 
country's history, and that is a shame. That is something that you look 
back on and you regret that we didn't have the proper leadership at 
that time, and this Republican Congress was a bobble-head. Yes, Mr. 
President, yes, yes, whatever you say, yes, yes, yes. No leadership.
  I am saying, Kendrick, that 5 years later when we see these increased 
gas prices, and the President stood here just a few weeks ago and said 
to the American people, we are going to reduce our American dependency 
on foreign oil by 50 percent by 2025.
  Now, let me just suggest that if we can go to the Moon in a decade 
that we can certainly convert our economy over and become energy 
independent in a decade. It is not going to take 20 years. We can do it 
in 10 years. We need the leadership of this Congress, Mr. President, to 
do it. And it is obvious that you are offended, and I call them our 
friends, because they are on the other side of the aisle, are so tied 
to the special interests in the oil industry, the most profitable 
industry, that they are even giving them billions of dollars of 
corporate welfare, that they refuse to put significant resources and a 
significant commitment into alternative energy.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Ryan, it is not personal, it is just 
business. That is the bottom line.
  Madam Speaker, I would kind of, when I walk through the halls of 
Congress, walk along the walls if I felt that we were coming to the 
floor, saying things that just were not true. But the sad part, Madam 
Speaker and Members, that everything that we are sharing with you is a 
fact, not fiction. It is sad. Like I was saying to Mr. Ryan, if I was a 
political consultant, I would say, wow, do you mean to tell me not only 
do we have to work with the fact that Americans do not have health 
care, small businesses cannot afford to buy health care, we owe foreign 
countries money that we have never owed them before in the history of 
the country?
  We don't have a plan in Iraq as it relates to a leave-alone coalition 
in Iraq? We have troops dying every day. Do you mean States that are 
red States and blue States are suing us at the same time for the 
underfunding and the mandates that we put on them of Leave No Child 
Left Behind Act? You mean White House individuals are outing CIA agents 
that might, some of this outing might have gone as high as the highest 
office of the land maybe?
  Do you mean to tell me that individuals, contractors, have no-bid 
contracts in war and in natural disasters, without accountability, and 
American taxpayer dollars are being spent without anyone having any 
real concern on the Republican side?

                              {time}  2230

  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Where is the oversight?
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. You mean to tell me that anything that the 
President of the United States says that he wants, that the Republican 
Congress would give it to him; even if it is bad policy, even if it put 
this country into a record-breaking deficit in a period of 4 years? You 
mean to tell me, and without naming at least eight other things, Mr. 
Ryan, that I have all of that to work with, to share with the

[[Page H1841]]

American people? I will start with independence. I will start with the 
Republicans, and I will also share it with some Democrats that may have 
some concerns.
  I tell you this, Mr. Ryan, Democrats will, not maybe, not if we get 
an opportunity to do so, not we will say it now but we won't do it 
later, we will, Madam Speaker, work from day 1 taking control of this 
House.
  And someone may say, you know, why is this thing about being in the 
majority so important? Well, I can tell you the reason why, and I want 
to make sure everyone understands. It is important because Democratic 
Members that are putting forth amendments in committees that are being 
voted down on a partisan vote, like my committee today and homeland 
security, dealing with this port security, bipartisan bill we are 
working on of 100 percent container check, Mr. Ryan, versus whatever we 
can come up with in a year using a ``steady'' kind of philosophy to try 
to get to some sort of container scan phase-in thing. Now, I am going 
to tell you, a partisan vote down the line. A 100 percent container 
check lost, Madam Speaker and Members, by two votes.
  If Democrats are in control of this House, for those individuals who 
are objecting to a 100 percent container check, and I want to be sure 
we are clear on this, some businesses may say, well, you know, it may 
slow down the process of trade. It will back up supplies. We are not 
ready for that.
  You know something? We will never get there, because we have allowed 
the special interests to stand in front of the will of the 9/11 
Commission. The Republican majority has allowed special interests to 
dictate how this Congress will legislate. That is stomach-turning that 
we would allow individuals, based on their salary, based on their suit, 
whether it is a Brooks Brothers or a Saint John's, to walk into the 
office of a Member of Congress and say, this is the amendment language 
we want.
  And individuals go to committee ho-hum and read right off that piece 
of paper, Madam Speaker. I am talking about what I know. And the 
American people around here are counting on us to protect them.
  Now, I am going to tell you something, Mr. Ryan, and I am going to 
say it just as clear as my name is Kendrick Meek. We get a container 
that ends up blowing up in one of these major ports or while it is in 
transit going to where it needs to go to, I guarantee you Republicans 
will be running: Where is that amendment for the 100 percent container 
check? We need to do that. Madam Speaker, file this. Madam Clerk, can 
we do it?
  You know something? I bet they will be looking out in the hall 
looking for the special interests who were telling them they couldn't 
do it, and they will be nowhere to be found. I didn't see the special 
interests standing around on 9/11 at the end of those buildings saying, 
what can we do to dig these people out and give them their lives back? 
I am not blaming it on them, but I am just saying that kind of attitude 
gets us in the position that we can't do something. And we're the 
country that says we can. We are leading this country.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. What you are saying is it is an issue of 
priorities, and why do we continue to focus down in Washington, D.C., 
Potomac fever, the Republican majority continues to focus on how do we 
get corporate welfare to the oil companies? How do we subsidize the 
health care industry, all our friends who donate us billions of 
dollars? How do we give tax cuts to the wealthiest people?
  If you made $10 million in 2003, Mr. Meek, you got a million-dollar 
tax break. That is where the focus is. And what we are trying to say 
here is that we need to focus on port security. So instead of giving a 
man or a woman who made $10 million in 2003 a million-dollar tax break, 
we want to spend that money protecting our ports.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Ryan, the million-dollar tax break came on 
behalf of, and I am just going to grab China here, this is the million-
dollar tax break right here.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. You have Japan.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Oh, Japan. I'm sorry, I didn't even look. It was 
red, so I just assumed.
  Let me just say this, Mr. Ryan. Japan. Little Japan. This is what 
gave that $10 million person their tax break.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. That is right.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Not money we had in surplus. Not money that was 
there and we had it to spend. This was based on a credit card.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. And it was another example of lack of focus, lack 
of leadership, lack of priorities. And look what our friend says again, 
our guy, Mr. Gingrich, who I like.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. The former Speaker of the U.S. House of 
Representatives.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. And the father of the Republican revolution. He 
said, on March 31, ``He noted that a congressional watchdog agency 
recently smuggled a truck carrying nuclear material into the country to 
test security. Mr. Gingrich says, `Why isn't the President pounding on 
the table? Why isn't he sending up 16 reform bills?' ''
  This is the father of the Republican revolution asking the President, 
why are you not a good leader? That is what he is saying. Why aren't 
you leading the country? Focused on oil subsidies? Focused on corporate 
welfare? Focused on subsidizing the energy companies? Not focused on 
Katrina. Not focused on the war. This administration has attention 
deficit disorder of immense proportions, Madam Speaker. They can't 
focus.
  Get this country on the right track. Let's focus and let's get the 
country moving in the right direction.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Ryan, talking about the right direction, I 
spoke to the fact that we are calling for energy independence from the 
Middle East in 10 years by developing emerging technologies that work 
to be able to provide energy for our country, energy alternatives; also 
to make sure that we make a substantial investment in research and 
development that is critical in creating cutting-edge technologies that 
will allow us to develop clean, sustainable energy alternatives that 
capitalize on America's vast renewable natural resources.
  This is what we are talking about, Madam Speaker. We are willing to 
make the investment as relates to innovation.
  Mr. Ryan, you have the Web site, sir.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Www.housedemocrats.gov/30something. All of the 
charts that you have seen here or have seen in the past will be 
available on the Web site.
  But it is important, Mr. Meek, and I appreciate your vigorous defense 
of what the Democrats have done and what we want to do because we do 
have an agenda. We have a bushelful of ideas over there that we want to 
implement, and we need to state this pretty clearly.
  Article I, section 1 of the United States Constitution creates the 
House of Representatives. We are directly elected. You cannot be 
appointed to this body by anybody. So the American people speak here. 
When we get in, we will balance the budget. We will get rid of the 
deficits over time by restricting spending in certain areas, 
eliminating the corporate welfare, and asking someone who made $10 
million in 2003 to actually pay their fair share.
  We don't believe that profit is a dirty word, but we also don't 
believe that we should go borrow money from China to give the 
wealthiest people in our country a tax credit.
  We will invest this money into reducing the cost of higher education. 
We will make sure that the least among us have health care and have a 
roof over their head and have food, which is a pretty basic necessity.
  And let me just say, before I kick it to you for one last comment, if 
we are going to be able to compete with 1.3 billion people in Communist 
China and over a billion people in India and billions of people around 
the world, we have to have all 300 million of the citizens in our 
country on the field playing. Right now we are going on with about a 
quarter of the team, and they have got the referees and 1.3 billion and 
1 billion.
  We need to make investments in America. We need to put America first. 
And we need to make sure at the end of the day that we are guardians of 
the public tax dollar, and so we need to invest that money back into 
the United States of America that will yield us value for generations 
to come, just like the GI bill did. The greatest investment we ever 
made was the GI bill. Let us do it again and get the country on the 
right track.

[[Page H1842]]

  I yield to my friend.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Ryan, you are talking fact, not fiction. 
Anyone who wants to talk about balancing the U.S. budget, the Democrats 
are the only party in the House, Madam Speaker, that have a right to 
say that we have done it. We have actually done it.
  You have a lot of folks saying, well, we are going to try to cut it 
in half, and maybe we will get it to a quarter or whatever on the 
Republican side, the Republican majority with all the power, control of 
the House, control of the Senate, and control of the Presidency. It 
should be a smooth-sailing process.
  If someone wants to call Democrats names and point fingers, call the 
former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives a name. Call him a 
liberal. Call him someone who is irresponsible, if you want to name-
call. And I challenge Members to come down here and talk about what is 
good about owing foreign countries money, not because they did 
something to us, but because this Congress gave the whole country a 
self-inflicting wound of debt. They have been saying we are going to 
spend your money irresponsibly, and then we are going to allow these 
other countries to own a piece of the American apple pie.
  Mr. Ryan, you did an excellent closing. I want to thank you, sir, for 
coming down to the floor.
  Madam Speaker, I want to thank the Democratic leadership for allowing 
us to have this second hour.

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