[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 66 (Wednesday, May 24, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H3218-H3220]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       30-SOMETHING WORKING GROUP

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2005, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek) is recognized 
for half the time until midnight as the designee of the minority 
leader.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to come before the 
House once again. I would like to thank the Democratic Leader for 
allowing the 30-Something Group to come to the floor, Ms. Pelosi and 
also our Democratic Whip, Mr. Hoyer, and Mr. Clyburn, who is our chair 
of the Democratic Caucus, and Mr. Larson, who is the vice chair.
  Mr. Speaker, we were here the night before, and as you know, we come 
to the floor talking about issues that we would like to see brought to 
the floor and also talk about how we on the Democratic side would like 
to work in a bipartisan way to make America stronger.
  Last night we talked quite a bit about energy. We talked about the 
difference between what we would do if we were in the majority versus 
what the Republican majority has not done and the cost it has brought 
about to all Americans. And it is very, very unfortunate that this 
continues to happen, and there is very little leeway that has been 
given to the American people as it relates to gas prices. We talked 
about the fiscal irresponsibility of the Republican majority that we 
are willing to work to pay as we go as it relates to our budget. We 
talked about the fact that students that are now graduating, that will 
be walking across the stage, a very proud moment for many Americans 
across the country, watching their young people pick up their diplomas, 
knowing that as they go to college they will pay more for college 
because the Federal Government or the Republican majority has decided 
to cut student benefits and also make it harder, make more of a reality 
of debt for students who are going to college because we have cut back, 
and we have Democratic initiatives to roll back the Republicans tuition 
tax on students.
  When we talk about tuition tax on students, it is a tax on the 
parents and on the grandparents and the family that is trying to help 
that individual get through college, that is making sure that we have a 
stronger and brighter America in the future.
  Of course, Mr. Speaker, we always talk about solutions, and we back 
it up with fact and not fiction. So we are here tonight, half of the 
time split before midnight, to talk about these issues quickly.
  Tonight, as always, we have Ms. Wasserman Schultz from Florida. We 
have Mr. Delahunt, who is going to join us tonight. We look forward to 
a fruitful dialogue with an abbreviated time.
  Ms. Wasserman Schultz, do you care to share anything because I am 
going to talk about the fiscal irresponsibility and how the Republican 
majority has allowed foreign countries to have a piece of the American 
apple pie? We talked about that last night as it relates to the 
irresponsible spending that has taken place, unaffordable and in many, 
many areas and is putting America more in debt, not only in domestic 
debt but foreign debt, unprecedented to any other time in the history.
  Ms. Wasserman Schultz.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I am glad you touched on that theme. It is a 
pleasure to be here once again for our 30-Something Working Group, 
where we try to talk about the issues from the perspective of our 
generation and also talk about the issues important to our generation. 
And for people in our generation and the point that we are at in our 
lives, what blows my mind and continues to baffle me since I arrived in 
the Congress last year was the crushing debt that we are buried under 
right now, and that is not reversing itself; that there are no efforts 
on the part of the Republican leadership to reverse course, to turn 
around and go in the other direction and return to the days when 
President Clinton was in office. We had a surplus, a budget surplus, 
when we had no deficit, when we had a much smaller debt in terms of our 
debt to foreign countries. Of course, we had debt to foreign nations 
but not nearly what we have today.
  We have more debt combined under this President than the 42 other 
Presidents that we have had previously. And normally we have charts 
that we can highlight.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. We have had 224 years, Mr. Speaker, of 
leadership that has only has been able to borrow $1.01 trillion from 
foreign nations. The Republican majority along with the President has 
in 4 years, from 2001 to 2005, has been able to borrow $1.05 trillion 
in just 4 years. Ms. Wasserman Schultz, since we do not have our chart, 
I just wanted to give those facts.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Absolutely. The three things I just want to 
hit on that are on all in that same theme: Last week, we passed a 
budget led by the Republican leadership here that just continues down 
that same path of irresponsible priorities; $6 billion cut to Homeland 
Security over 5 years; $488 million in 2007 alone. Cut the Army 
National Guard by 17,000 troops. The National Guard, which, if we all 
recall, the President just talked about deploying to the border, to our 
Mexican-American border to assist States in border security. On top of 
that, we are also deploying them to Iraq and Afghanistan. How thin can 
we spread them? And then on top of that, we are cutting the number of 
troops we give them.
  It cut funding for equipment for firefighters and police; $6 billion 
cut to veterans' services over 5 years. It tripled health care fees for 
veterans for TRICARE.
  Let's fast forward to the tax reconciliation bill, which is the tax 
cuts that we made permanent under the Republican leadership's 
insistence. Let's talk about what that tax cut meant for real people. 
The tax bill that was signed this week by the President had Americans 
who made $20,000 a year, they get $2, $2 in their tax break. And when I 
stand at a town hall meeting and ask folks to raise their hands, Mr. 
Meek, to let me know, who is it among you who have actually received 
money in your pocket from the tax breaks that President Bush and the 
Republican leadership have handed out over the last number of years, in 
a room full of several hundred people, maybe I get two or three hands. 
Maybe.

                              {time}  2315

  Now, if these tax cuts are targeted like Democrats would design to 
working families and to people who really needed that money and would 
actually put it back into the economy so that could revitalize the 
economy, like buying big ticket items like refrigerators and 
televisions and other things that would inject cash into the economy 
instead of investing it, which is what the wealthiest among us would 
do, then I could understand letting us make those tax cuts permanent 
all day long, but unfortunately, we do not have any of those tax cuts.
  We have tax cuts that puts $2 back in the pockets of people who make 
$20,000, and Americans who make $40,000, they get a whopping $16, but 
Americans who

[[Page H3219]]

make more than $1 million get a thousand times that. They get $42,000. 
They get to go out and buy a Hummer. They can buy a Hummer. That is how 
much money someone who makes $1 million gets back, a Hummer, a 
Mercedes, a Suburban, a gas guzzler, and you cannot buy one of those 
with $2.
  Then let us add insult to injury, and last week there were comments 
made in this Chamber on this floor that people who make $40,000 a year 
do not pay taxes. I mean, come on. Do you know anyone that does not pay 
taxes that makes $40,000?
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Of course not. I think we all know that is an 
inaccurate statement, but I think what is interesting or even more 
interesting----
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. It is just out of touch. That is my point.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Is how are we affording these tax cuts? Who is paying? 
Where is the money coming from? You remember that movie about follow 
the money?
  I think what is particularly disturbing is the reality that we are 
borrowing money to subsidize tax cuts that are skewed in favor, 
disproportionately, for 1 percent of the American people, and when you 
examine the record, and I understand we do not have any charts this 
evening, but when you examine the record, you discover that we are 
borrowing money from foreign countries to provide the funding for the 
tax cut, and that includes the People's Republic of China, mainland 
China.
  Now, I know that there are many in this institution that are very 
concerned about the emergence of China as an aggressive competitor in 
terms of the global economy. Some would even suggest that China is a 
potential adversary, and yet, here we are, borrowing money from the 
People's Republic of China so that we can confer a disproportionate 
benefit on the top 1 percent of the American people.
  If you give me just another moment, I think I have a chart here and I 
know that it is difficult to see, but let me hold it up and let me 
refer to it.
  Public debt held by China quadruples under Bush. In the year 2000, 
American Treasury notes and bills in the possession of the Central Bank 
of China amounted to $62 billion. That figure today is in excess of 
$270 billion, four times more in the course of 5 years, four times.
  Now, I think you would have to conclude that our relationship with 
China, both commercially, politically and in every aspect of that 
relationship, we are losing leverage.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I think you make a great point and we 
have all these issues and China's rising and China's making investments 
and China's building their infrastructure and China's doing a lot of 
things that they have to do. Okay. That is their world and they can do 
what they have to do to be competitive, and you know what, God bless 
them.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Just a minute. They are holding Treasury notes, and the 
American taxpayer is sending money to China for the interest payments 
on those American negotiable instruments, on those Treasury bills. We 
are supporting education in China.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. And I understand that, and my point is----
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Not here in the United States but in China.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. And I understand that and I think that that is 
true. China has their world. We are feeding them, we are feeding them, 
and we are not taking care of what we need to take care of here in the 
United States of America. We have only certain controls over what they 
do in China, and if they want to focus on manufacturing and this, that 
and the other, hey, that is their business, God bless them.
  But when we are aiding them by paying interest on money that they 
loaned us, then we are contributing to the downfall of the middle class 
of the United States of America and, at the same time, not making the 
investments in what we need to invest in in the United States of 
America.
  For example, the Democratic proposal, the Innovation Agenda for the 
Democrats is to make sure that we have research and development tax 
credits, making sure that we have broadband access for every single 
house in the United States of America in the next 5 years. We have a 
plan on becoming energy independent. There it is, becoming energy 
independent, getting off of the addiction to foreign oil. We need to 
stop and move in another direction.
  We cannot control everything that China does, but we have all kinds 
of control of what we can do here in the United States of America, and 
if we do not start focusing on making America stronger, whether it is 
with innovation, energy independence, healthier citizens, more 
productive citizens, investment in education, these are the things that 
we need to do in the near future to help us compete in the long term 
against China, against India and against a lot of other countries like 
Ireland that want to compete against the United States of America.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, very quickly, I believe we have 
until 34 after the hour. So let me just quickly, since you are talking 
about the debt and what this Republican Congress has done, we actually 
have a new chart here tonight.
  As you know, Japan has bought $682.8 billion of our debt. China, we 
are just talking about China, Red China, $249.8 billion of our debt.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. That China debt has to be updated because China is 
escalating.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Okay, great. UK, $223.2 billion; the Caribbean, 
$115.3 billion; Taiwan, $71.3 billion; and you have OPEC Nations that 
are oil Nations, $67.8 billion; Germany, $65.7 billion of our debt; 
Korea, $66.5 billion of our debt; Canada, $53.8 billion of our debt.
  But let me just give you this silhouette here. This is the United 
States of America. It does not belong to those countries, and guess 
what, the American people have not delivered it to the countries. The 
policy of the Republican majority has delivered that debt and that 
ownership of the American economic pie in a record-breaking way, Mr. 
Speaker, in the last 4 years, $1.05 trillion of foreign debt borrowed 
by this country and by this administration and by this Congress.
  So it is very, very important, if we are going to have a paradigm 
shift, that we talk about those pay-as-we-go amendments. Time after 
time, if we say we are going to buy it, we are going to pay for it; we 
are going to find a way to pay for it. We just will not put it on the 
credit card.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. We are acknowledging, we are calling on the 
carpet the Republican leadership for plunging us into the most debt we 
have ever been in and piling it up in record time to boot.
  We are borrowing and spiraling downward into tremendous debt to other 
nations, and then, on top of that, we are giving away our oil drilling 
rights that we are normally paid royalties for by the oil and gas 
industry. Last year, we passed two bills that basically give away those 
rights for free. We give them to the oil industry, and subsequently, 
several months later, they make more profits than any corporation in 
American history.
  What would we do in the alternative? Finally, finally, there is 
leadership that is willing to step forward and adopt and propose an 
Innovation Agenda that would pledge to make us energy independent 
within 10 years. Our energizing American plan that was put together by 
the Democratic House working group that gets more specific than our 
Innovation Agenda. It talks about how we would increase production of 
American-made biofuels, using our cellulosic sources such as switch 
grass, producing ethanol through corn and possibly even through sugar 
cane, investing in research and development to improve the use of 
renewable energy. These are the commitments that Democrats would make.
  So, Mr. Speaker, when people on the other side of the aisle throw out 
that Democrats do not have an agenda, well, here is a piece of it, Mr. 
Ryan just had a piece of it. There are three stacks of notebook, none 
of which are full of empty paper, Mr. Speaker, that outline our 
homeland security proposal, our domestic security proposals, our energy 
plan.
  These are the things that we would address from day one when we are 
in charge of this Chamber. We would eliminate the corruption. We would 
make sure that this Chamber is run in a bipartisan way, as Leader 
Pelosi indicated just last week. We would adopt democracy once again in 
the United States House of Representatives which, quite honestly, is 
something I have not

[[Page H3220]]

seen since the first day I got here, and it is really depressing.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. The Republican agenda today is to say the Democrats 
do not have an agenda. That is their agenda. That is all they have got. 
They have got no plan on energy, no plan on health care, no plan on 
education, no plan on reducing college tuition costs. They have got no 
plan on immigration. They have got no plans.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. It is like I could just close my eyes, and 
listening to the Republicans, point fingers and call names at us, I 
could just close my eyes and it is like I am listening to my twin 7-
year-olds fight with each other: Yes, they are; no, they don't; yes, 
they are; no, they don't. That is all they are----
  Mr. DELAHUNT. I hate to interrupt. I thank my friend from Florida. 
They have a plan which is to increase the debt that the American people 
owe to foreigners.
  You know, those numbers that we were talking about in terms of China, 
that $270 billion, let us just pick a number and try to help me 
calculate what the interest payments are to the Chinese Government 
every year, 4, 5 percent? Can we agree on 5 percent, because that is 
easy?
  Well, what we are doing is we have a plan that is a consequence of 
their fiscal policy and their tax policy that sends in interest 
payments every year to China, $25 billion a year. Now, when you stop 
and think about the $25 billion that goes to China from the United 
States taxpayers every year, what could we do with that $25 billion?
  Ms. Wasserman Schultz indicated there was a plan by Democrats 
regarding energy, ethanol, the use of farm products, biomass. I bet we 
could fund that program. I bet we could do more with that $25 billion 
rather than send it to the Chinese, not to reduce principal but simply 
to pay the interest.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. We could do something crazy like collect the 
royalties from the oil industry and invest it on alternative energy 
sources like those. We could fund this plan backwards and forwards with 
the money we did not make them pay us.

                              {time}  2330

  That is what is so outrageous
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. This is a poorly run business right now. Our 
government right now is a poorly run business that wastes money. And in 
Iraq, they lost $9 billion that nobody knows where it is. Royalties on 
the oil companies that we are just not getting because they get a lot 
of campaign contributions. Subsidies to the health care industry. And 
$16 billion, as Ms. Wasserman Schultz said, to the energy companies and 
the oil companies.
  I mean, we are hemorrhaging here, and we are giving the millionaires 
$42,000, and we are giving the oil companies $16 billion. We don't have 
it to give you. I'd love to give it to you. It would be great if we 
could give everybody everything.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. But then we are cutting 17,000 troops out of 
the National Guard.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Bingo.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. And in addition to China, Mr. Speaker, the OPEC 
countries, they hold debt, American debt, in excess of $75 billion. 
Now, 5 percent of $75 billion, you know, is probably $4 billion, 
something like that. Those are just interest payments, Mr. Speaker, 
that we are sending to the OPEC countries. I mean, this makes no sense 
at all. It erodes the strength, the economic strength and the position 
of the United States of America in the international community.
  The President often talked several years ago about creating an 
ownership society. What he failed to tell us was that America was being 
sold piecemeal to the Chinese, to OPEC and to the Japanese. I mean, we 
no longer own our wealth. It is foreign governments, foreign nations 
that are our competitors and our potential adversaries, according to 
some, that are buying America's wealth.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Ms. Wasserman Schultz, do you want to close real 
quick?
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I want to close with an observation that what 
has been frustrating to me is that there is no outrage on that side. 
Everything we are laying out is factual. We are not making it up. So 
why does the Republican head only appear to go one way, up and down? 
Yes, sir, Mr. Speaker. I am happy to do whatever you say. Sure, Mr. 
President. No problem. It would be nice if they had some joints that 
made their heads go in this direction and their voices could be lifted 
up against what is going on here. But, sadly, that doesn't happen.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. And giving subsidies is like giving a drug addict 
more drugs. Giving subsidies to the oil companies. We are getting old 
school here, with the legal pad.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Going back to my era, aren't you?
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio.

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