[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 76 (Wednesday, June 14, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H3983-H3988]
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 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
  Once again it is an honor to address the House. The 30-Something 
Working Group is back again to share with the Members what we have been 
working on the last week and not only coming up with new ideas for 
America but making sure that we package the ideas that are clogged up 
in this process here from moving onto the statute books of the United 
States laws to allow Americans to live a better life and to also put 
forth policy that will benefit those that are overseas fighting on 
behalf of this country and what we have asked them to do.
  As you know, Mr. Speaker, we have talked a lot about fiscal 
responsibility. We have talked a lot about the lack of health care in 
the United States of America. We feel we have proposals that are on the 
table, ready to be considered if the Republican majority would allow it 
to be considered. Unfortunately, that has not happened. There has been 
a lot of discussion on the floor about Iraq, but there has also been a 
plan that was unveiled in the last few days to share not only with the 
American people but with the full House that if we can't work together 
in passing legislation in a bipartisan way that is going to help all 
Americans, not just Republicans, not just Democrats, not just 
independents, not just individuals that are wealthy, not just 
individuals that are poor, not just individuals that are making a way 
out of no way, to help all Americans so that we can move forth and we 
can find ourselves in a better situation than what we are in now, then 
we are willing to take the mantle and to have an opportunity to be the 
majority in this House.
  We have the will and the desire to lead in the areas that we need to 
lead in. And we have this plan on housedemocrats.gov on the Internet 
for individuals to go on and take a look at what we are talking about 
as House Democrats.
  When we have the opportunity to put forth this plan, if the American 
people see fit that that should happen, which I believe they will, 
hopefully they will, because the situation that we are in right now is 
dismal and presents a very, very challenging future for our children 
and for our grandchildren, because so many issues are facing this 
country in unprecedented ways. I think it is important that you take a 
good look at that. That's housedemocrats.gov.
  In that plan which was unveiled by Leader Pelosi and other Democratic 
leaders in the Democratic Caucus this week, we talked about making 
health care more affordable for Americans. This is a major issue, Mr. 
Speaker, not only for individuals that work on jobs, work for 
individuals but individuals that are providing jobs. They cannot 
continue to take on this health care burden without a true plan, a true 
leadership from the Federal Government. States can't do it alone. Local 
communities can't do it alone. We are going to have to do it in a way 
that is going to benefit the people and not the special interests. I 
think where we are right now, Mr. Speaker, is that the majority here in 
this House has benefited the special interests as it relates to health 
care. I think the American people and small business men and women are 
yearning for some leadership right now.
  Also, when we look at lower gas prices to achieve energy 
independence, this is something that is very, very important. We have 
pieces of legislation out there that promotes alternative fuels, to see 
more of E85 so that we can have flex vehicles that are out there, and 
it is a part of our innovation plan. Again, going on 
housedemocrats.gov, you can download this information, share it with 
your friends, with your family, and other Members can take it to their 
staffs and say, we want to implement this. But, of course, that is not 
going to happen under the Republican-controlled House of 
Representatives because I don't think the will and the desire is there 
to really have true innovation in alternative fuels.
  The other thing I want to point out, Mr. Speaker, and I think it is 
important, a part of our innovation plan that is also endorsed in 
comments by CEOs in this country, not just Democratic CEOs, 
independents, individuals who just lost faith in voting that are a part 
of major companies that are saying that the House Democratic plan, 
which will hopefully be a bipartisan plan once we are able to take 
control of this House with the help of the American people because of 
what is not happening here on behalf of the American people in 
innovation, they want us to be first in mathematics and science; they 
want us to be first as it relates to broadband access throughout this 
country; and they want us to be first in taking the lead and making 
sure that we push for energy independence in 10 years and develop that 
and make sure that we promote that through our legislation and through 
our appropriation. Not just giving dollars to the oil companies and 
saying, go ahead, we trust you, you do what you wish to do with the 
taxpayers' money while you continue to make record profits on the backs 
of the American people and we pay higher gas prices, and we are stuck 
in neutral with the engine running as it relates to true innovation.
  I am not finished with our rollout, but I just want to point this out 
since I am mentioning profits. As you know, Mr. Speaker, I have read an 
article time after time again about the secret meeting at the White 
House in 2001 of the energy task force, that we know now that that task 
force meeting has worked in the best way for the oil companies and in 
the worst way for the American people.
  Again, I am not a Member of Congress with a conspiracy theory, but I 
just want to say that we have third-party validators that are here. My 
staff just handed me this and I think it is important that I read this 
off: White House documents show that executives from big oil companies 
met with Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force in 2001, 
something long expected by environmentalists but denied as recently as 
last week by industry officials testifying before Congress. The 
document obtained this week, November of 2005, the Washington Post, 
shows that officials from ExxonMobil, Phillips, Shell Oil Company and 
BP met in the White House complex with Cheney aides who were developing 
national energy policy, parts of which became law and parts of which 
are still being debated.
  I am saying that, and I just want to point this out, Mr. Delahunt, 
and I am going to flip it over to you, sir. 2002, it is not a 
coincidence that profits were up. Profits is not a dirty word but when 
you have profits and, quote-unquote, price gouging and the American 
people putting $10 in their tank at a time.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. And corporate welfare.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. And corporate welfare, you can't help but put 
this together. $34 billion in profits for Big Oil, 2002. 2003, $59 
billion in profits. Looks pretty good. I think that meeting was worth 
going to. 2004, $84 billion. This meeting is now something that will be 
placed in the annals of oil industry that this should happen prior to 
major profits coming on.

                              {time}  1900

  Then, on 2005, $113 billion. This will continue to climb because the 
Republican majority doesn't have the will nor the desire to fight on 
behalf of the American people as it relates to energy, and the White 
House has shown that it has the will and the desire to allow special 
interests to come into the White House, write policy, and then come to 
the Hill and fight for that policy so that the oil companies can see 
this. Meanwhile, the American people are paying more for oil and for 
energy.
  Then the individuals from the oil company have the audacity, and I am 
not going to blame them, because I think it is important that we put 
the blame where it should be. They don't have a Congressional voting 
card to vote for a policy to allow these prices to go up like this or 
profits to go up like this. It takes Members of Congress to do that, 
and I must say that I am proud to announce that a number, a 
supermajority of Democrats voted against this philosophy of oil 
companies having the opportunity on the backs of the American 
taxpayers, having their hand in the taxpayers' pocket and then, 
grabbing their wallet out of the other hand, they spend their money for 
necessities.

[[Page H3984]]

  We are giving the taxpayers' money out in subsidies, but at the same 
time the oil companies are winning both ways, at the pump and with the 
tax dollars that the American Congress has appropriated. That is a 
fact, that is not fiction, and it is sad that it is a fact.
  Mr. Delahunt, I am sorry, sir, for having you standing by so long.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. I appreciate your observations, but I would just add 
one other component of what is not a pretty picture. If you don't have 
the desire, if you don't have the political will, or if there is 
influence that contradicts the best interest of the consumer, that in 
an of itself is a recipe for disaster.
  But just imagine combining that with incompetence. That is when you 
have a tsunami, and that is what we are seeing time and time again from 
this administration without any accountability from the Republican 
majority. Tomorrow there will be--and it is not going to be a debate, 
it is going to be a lot of speechifying. There will not be any give and 
take.
  But for the first time in over 3 years since this Congress voted to 
invade and to authorize the administration to invade Iraq, there will 
be a discussion of Iraq in the war there for the first time in over 3 
years. I think what that tells you is that there is no debate, there is 
no discourse, there is no willingness to hold the administration 
accountable for incompetency.
  Put aside all of the other concerns that you articulated, Mr. Meek. 
But there was a story today in the newspaper that just underscores what 
you are saying, and I think emphasizes my point regarding the 
competence of governing or the lack thereof.
  Let me read for just a moment. You have got to bear with me. This is 
from my hometown newspaper, the Boston Globe, and it is today. The 
government doled out as much as $1.4 billion in bogus assistance to 
victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, getting hoodwinked to pay for 
season football tickets, a tropical vacation, and even a divorce 
lawyer, Congressional investigators have found.
  Now, let's be very clear. This was an investigation conducted by a 
nonpartisan agency that is an adjunct to the United States Congress 
called the Government Accountability Office. Here is what they found.
  Someone stayed in a Hawaiian hotel for 70 days with taxpayer help. 
These same GAO investigators went undercover to expose the ease of 
receiving disaster expense checks from FEMA. They provided lawmakers 
with a copy of a $2,300 U.S. Treasury check for rental assistance that 
an undercover agent got using a bogus address. The money was paid even 
after FEMA learned from its inspector that the undercover applicant did 
not live at the address. When you don't hold people accountable, things 
get awful sloppy, if you don't hold Federal agencies accountable, 
whether it be the White House, the Department of Defense sooner or 
later.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Of course.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Both of you have made one overarching point, and 
that is that the government is broken. The government is not working 
the way it was meant to work. We have no leadership in Washington, 
D.C., from the Republican House, to the Republican Senate, to the 
Republican White House, that is willing to take on the gigantic task of 
reforming this government.
  It is nothing but status quo. It is nothing but the same old tired 
ideas that get recycled election cycle after election cycle, with no 
real solutions. Whether you are talking about energy costs, or you are 
talking about the war in Iraq, or you are talking about Katrina, we 
have a broken government and nobody in Washington, D.C., with the guts 
to try to fix it.
  Now, when you look at our foreign policy, and it has been mentioned 
already here, $8.8 billion given to Iraqi ministers by the coalition 
provisional authority and nobody knows where it is; $45 billion of 
American taxpayer dollars spent in Iraq on reconstruction, $96 million 
in cash and receipts remain unaccounted for a specific project, on and 
on and on. Why is it broke? Why is the American government broke? 
Because we are not having any success in rehabilitating the Iraqi 
economy.
  Oil production below pre-war levels, electricity is below pre-war 
levels, 54 percent of Iraqi households lack access to clean water. On 
and on and on.
  But the main line is this, that this country needs to go in a new 
direction. The American people are tired.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. What the American people are demanding, Mr. Ryan and 
Mr. Meek, is accountability. Because if there is accountability, then 
we will have competence in our government. But as you just indicated, 
whether it be Katrina, whether it be the prosecution of the war in 
Iraq, there has been no accountability by this Congress, none 
whatsoever. We are paying the price. We are paying the price in terms 
of our national treasure. By that, I mean our young men and women who 
are serving in Iraq.
  We have already paid and are heading in the direction of one-half a 
trillion dollars for the prosecution of that war. What do we have to 
show for it? Well, we have generals from the Department of Defense who 
stood up as patriots, condemned what they saw in terms of incompetence 
by the civilian leadership in the Department of Defense.
  I would ask one of you to quote retired Army General John Batiste on 
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who had this to say on April 13.
  Mr. Ryan.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. We went to war with a flawed plan that didn't 
account for the hard work to build the peace after we took down the 
regime. We also served under a Secretary of Defense who didn't 
understand leadership, who was abusive, who was arrogant, and who 
didn't build a strong team.
  That is not Tim Ryan, that is not Kendrick Meek, that is not Bill 
Delahunt. That is a retired Army general who had action in the region.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. And who served his country well, a highly decorated 
Army general who was sent to battle, to war, and there was never a plan 
crafted and designed for the peace.
  Three years later, where are we? We are in Iraq, we are mired now in 
a sectarian battle between militias, insurgents. It has become a 
breeding ground for terrorism.
  General Paul Eaton was responsible for the training of the Iraqi 
security forces in Iraq. What do we hear now? All we ever hear is that 
the Iraqis have to do it themselves, or we will stand down when they 
stand up. We will help them stand up. That was 3 years ago.
  How long does it take to train a U.S. Marine or U.S. Delta Force 
operative or a U.S. Army Ranger, a member of the Airborne or a U.S. 
Army soldier or Navy? Three years? No, because the civilian leadership 
of this administration has been incompetent from the beginning.
  This is what Paul Eaton had to say about what is happening in our 
Department of Defense.
  Mr. Meek.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Go ahead. Mr. Ryan is doing such an outstanding 
job.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. This is on Secretary Rumsfeld. He has shown 
incompetence operationally and tactically and is far more than anyone 
responsible for what has happened to our important mission in Iraq. Mr. 
Rumsfeld must step down. That is Paul Eaton, Army Major General's 
comments.
  I think, Mr. Delahunt, this all gets back to what has been happening 
in this country, a refusal, an absolute refusal by this Congress to 
conduct the kind of oversight that is necessary. Article I, Section 1 
of the United States Constitution, the founding document that really 
organized this country, gives the power to this Chamber.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Ryan, do you realize that it has been more than 3 
years, and this is the first time tomorrow that we will have a 
conversation about Iraq? There should have been hearings for the past 3 
years. These heroes, these American heroes should have been invited to 
come before the appropriate committees of jurisdiction and allowed to 
testify about the incompetence of the prosecution of the peace in Iraq 
by this administration. But, no, they have been shut out, we have been 
shut out, and the American people don't know what is happening.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Will you yield, Mr. Delahunt?
  Mr. DELAHUNT. I yield to my friend.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Thank you, sir. The bottom line is that we have 
a Republican majority that rubber stamps everything that the 
administration hands to them. They can't even put the paper on the desk 
fast enough before they rubber stamp it. When you start

[[Page H3985]]

talking about the fact that by the Constitution we are supposed to 
carry out oversight, that is not a value of the Republican majority.

                              {time}  1915

  Oversight of what? No, see, they are too busy taking care of the 
special interests. You would think that some Members were more 
concerned with trying to make sure that special interests got what they 
needed because we do not want to forget the K Street Project where you 
pay to play and you get access into this Republican majority House.
  So, when you look at the rubber-stamping of what has happened here, I 
cannot help but have this stamp here because that is how we got here, 
but what is very, very unfortunate is the fact that we have ourselves 
in a situation, in a fiscal situation that is going to take a 
generation almost to recover from. We have ourselves in a situation in 
Iraq we do not know how many years it may take for us to recover from 
that, and I am using the President's words now.
  We have ourselves in a situation where the White House now, Mr. 
Speaker, wants to invite Members over to have tea and cookies right now 
and trying to be nicey-nice, to say we want to hear from you now; but 
we have men and women caught in the crossfire and we have millions and 
billions of dollars that have been wasted and stolen in Iraq. I am 
going to say stolen because of the rubber-stamp Republican majority. 
Anything that the administration sends down, how can we rubber-stamp 
it? Matter of fact, I think the Republican majority walks around with a 
little mini rubber stamp in their pocket, saying oversight: this is the 
way you want it and how you want it.
  The American people HAVE to send a very strong message to this 
Republican majority here in the Congress that we have three branches of 
government for a reason, not two branches of government that deals with 
legislation and policy, but three branches.
  We have the judicial branch that is separate and aside, but when you 
look at the legislative branch we are supposed to carry out oversight. 
Only a couple of Members of the Republican majority actually gets that 
and tries to practice it, but they are in a superminority.
  And so the reason why we come to the floor is to shed light on the 
lack of oversight. When it was a Democratic House and a Democratic 
White House, there was oversight. Call Bill Clinton up and ask him. I 
think we know that. Republican majority, the reason why you are going 
to see people around here scratching and fighting and begging and 
trying to do anything and throwing out the sods and trying to get press 
releases out, because the White House is very, very concerned that they 
will no longer be able to send legislation to the U.S. House of 
Representatives and that it passes through committees that may have a 
half a meeting on it and come to the floor, not allowing Democrats to 
do anything to improve the legislation because they are too busy 
rubber-stamping the process, and it will disrupt that.
  It is all about power and influence, and I can tell you right now, 
the Republican majority has gone too far with this because that is the 
reason why we are in the situation we are in now, and they are known. 
They have to shake it and they know it and they deserve the rubber 
stamp because that is what they have been doing since the President has 
been in the White House.
  I am coming to Ms. Jackson-Lee. I just want to give you a perfect 
example of what happens in a rubber-stamp Congress. Exhibit A, how can 
you borrow, Mr. Speaker, $1.05 trillion in 4 years? I do not even know 
how that can be achieved in 4 years. The Republican majority has handed 
President Bush, he cannot do it on his own, we have the Republican 
Congress right under him from 2001 to 2005, $1.05 trillion, now here is 
the other kicker, that comes in, and with interest. Forty-two 
Presidents, 224 years, 224 years, 42 Presidents, were only able to 
borrow $1.01 trillion.
  Mr. Speaker, I rest my case on that. I rest my case on the fact that 
the Republican majority has given the Bush White House everything they 
wanted on the backs of the American people. The special interests got 
what they wanted. The billionaires got what they wanted.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Point of clarification. This is foreign money.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. This is just the foreign debt. This is countries 
that we have borrowed money from and now we owe them.
  Now, I am going to be quiet for a minute, but I just want to make 
this one last point and it is going to be 30 seconds.
  Ms. Jackson-Lee, if I borrowed $100 from you, and let us say I still 
have not paid you back, our relationship will change. Matter of fact, 
your respect for me as an individual to be able to handle my own 
finances will be altered. Even though we are considered friends, our 
relationship is forever changed.
  Now, for the first time in the history of the Republic, Mr. Speaker, 
unfortunately, the Republican majority has countries like China, Iran, 
Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Korea, the Caribbean nations, Taiwan, Canada, 
Germany and the OPEC nations looking at us in a different way, in an 
unprecedented way. The fact that, man, how can y'all tell me what to do 
on foreign policy and how can y'all point your finger to me as it 
relates to war on terror when you cannot even handle your own finances? 
That is not the American people. That is the Republican rubber-stamp 
majority. They have allowed this President to run this country into a 
fiscal nightmare.
  So I close with that by saying, Mr. Delahunt, for you to say the 
generals are coming out, they are coming out because the American 
spirit is coming out of the chest of Americans that have put themselves 
in harm's way, because this administration and this Congress asked them 
to put themselves in harm's way.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. I would like to ask a question of Representative 
Jackson-Lee. If Democrats were the majority in this House, would there 
be a forum for General Greg Newbold, retired Marine Lieutenant General, 
to express his opinion before the appropriate committee of jurisdiction 
so that we could learn and the American people could observe what the 
truth was in terms of the prosecution of the war and the peace in Iraq? 
Would that opportunity be afforded to the American people?
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank you, Mr. Delahunt. I 
am honored to be here with my distinguished colleagues from Ohio and 
from Florida and from Massachusetts because I think you represent the 
embodiment of the outcry of the American people.
  We are in these Chambers but we cannot hear the voice of either rage, 
confusion or just simply asking why; and, frankly, what you have asked 
is whether or not we have three distinct branches of government, the 
executive, the judiciary and, of course, the legislature. Absolutely.
  Because if you watched this Congress in the hands of Democrats some 
years ago, we proceeded with the Watergate hearings. We proceeded with 
Koreagate and Irangate, giving the American people the opportunity to 
see our wounds, to see our failures and to try and correct them.
  Is it not interesting that in 1991, in the first Iraq War, I 
understand we were not here, they debated this question for 2, 3 days, 
hours, so that Members, no matter whether Republican or Democrat, could 
speak on behalf of the American people. There were three and four 
resolutions. People expressed themselves passionately, and therefore, 
they were able at the end of the vote to hold themselves accountable 
and to hold, of course, the Executive accountable: At that time, 
President Bush I.
  Here we come tomorrow, and I have heard the map that shows that we 
are hostage as it relates to our deficit. Tomorrow, we come with a mere 
5 hours. Somebody says there is a picnic that is going on that may even 
break through. I think it is important to ask that question because as 
you list the array of generals, let me share this with you.
  I do not know how we can face the American people and not give 
credence to men and women who have bars of bravery on their chest, some 
wounded, some because of their service, who had nothing to gain by 
going against the Commander in Chief. In fact, one said I was about to 
become a two-star and three-star general. I was a one-star, I walked 
away.
  And the reason why they walked away is because one of their issues is

[[Page H3986]]

that the military is depleted, that we will have years of rebuilding 
the United States military, which will take money, and this is not only 
physical and tangible things, tanks, arms, clothing, but it is a human 
capital that will have to be rebuilt.
  How many of us understand that we have depleted our battalions that 
are supposed to be in Kuwait? We are down to one. These are the 
American mothers and fathers, wives and husbands, who are looking to 
this government to protect their young people, their husbands, their 
wives, their National Guard, their Reservists, that we have depleted 
them.
  I loved Mr. Meek in his anecdote, but it is like you run your shoes 
down. You do not have a heel and you are almost walking on the ground 
because you have got holes in it. That is, unfortunately, the military 
that we all love.
  So I would say to you in answer to that question, and I thank you for 
allowing me to share that, the ignoring of the sectarian violence, the 
Shiias and the Sunnis, the Kurds are holding ground somewhere else. 
They do not want anybody to bother them. The fact that we still have 
our soldiers there doing nothing but sweeping up IEDs, that is not a 
mission of the United States military to sweep up IEDs. I hate land 
mines. I hate IEDs. Their mission is to finish, and until we hold this 
Congress accountable to do its job of oversight, until we hold the 
White House accountable to do its job, until we stop being embarrassed, 
until we stop losing our nerve, we will not.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. This majority is prepared to give this administration, 
this White House, this Secretary of Defense, a pass on their 
incompetence.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. If you will yield for one moment, you are 
absolutely right.
  We have a picture of these distinguished gentlemen. We know that some 
have suffered wounds, some may have even been in Vietnam, and to say 
tomorrow there will be somewhat of, I want to be, if you will, 
dignified and within the respect of this august body, but tomorrow, we 
will not be giving it respect.
  What we really should do is have a debate into next week and next 
week, and we should open the doors of our hearing rooms for these 
generals who have been frustrated and doing op-eds and speaking to the 
American people from a forum that give them sound bites. We should 
dignify their service to this country and bring them in for them to be 
heard, and I hope that we will do that.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I think the point that we are trying to make here 
is we know it is not easy to admit you make mistakes. It goes against 
your human nature. But when you are elevated to leadership positions 
like we have been blessed to be here and to represent our country, 
700,000 people apiece, it takes courage.
  It does not take courage to have oversight to chase a President's 
peccadillos around the Oval Office. That is not courageous. Courage is 
trying to say we have made a colossal mistake, and instead of going 
down the same road even faster, try to stop, reevaluate the situation 
and let us find out who we need to hold accountable here, who needs to 
be brought in before the Congress, as you said. That is not easy. That 
is difficult. That is one of the most difficult things about being an 
American, and being an American government is that your warts are here 
for all the world to see. But that is better than the alternative, 
which is tyranny and suppression and oppression by the government.
  This is a part of our process, these problems getting aired out, but 
at the end of the day, it is part of our greatness because we can 
quickly then adapt, fix the problem and move on, but when you have 
leadership that is afraid--
  Mr. DELAHUNT. And incompetent.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio.--afraid to address the real issues today, that is 
the basis of incompetence, whether you are in government, whether you 
are in business, whether you are in coaching. Does not matter what your 
field is. If you do not admit you make a mistake, then you are going to 
have problems. If a coach goes into a game with a certain game plan, 
and at half-time you are down 21 points, then you change the game plan; 
it has not worked. Move forward, move on, make the changes necessary to 
move the country forward.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Tomorrow we are going to hear terms like cut-and-run 
and defeat.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Absolutely.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. That is what we are going to hear on this floor, and I 
challenge that Republican majority to use those terms when it comes to 
these generals, to these American patriots who have served their 
country. Ask them if they even would ever cut and run. They have 
demonstrated their entire careers, but they had the courage to stand up 
and say this is rank incompetence.

                              {time}  1930

  You are not doing right by the American soldier and by the American 
military and you are giving them a pass. You are letting them pass.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. How many of those generals are there? I am 
looking. Is it about nine or ten? Looks like it is about eight.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Every day there is a growing number.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. In your lifetime, Mr. Delahunt, have you 
ever heard of this number of generals, and I know Vietnam, I am trying 
to recount my history, this number of generals and sacrificing their 
career, offering their great history before us, willing to tell the 
truth to the American people?
  I think this is history that we have not seen in the past; that they 
have been willing to sacrifice themselves in order to tell the truth to 
the American people.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. That is why, as Mr. Meek so eloquently observed 
earlier, it is time to take the country in a new direction. And there 
are specific proposals out there that will take this country in a new 
direction. He has enumerated several of them, whether it be health care 
or education.
  How about just plain old common sense when it comes to managing our 
money? One-half trillion dollars and we are still mired in Iraq, tax 
cuts that benefit not even the wealthy in this country but the super 
wealthy, and if you notice this mismanagement, this incompetence in 
terms of our economic and fiscal policy, it is hurting people. Has 
anyone observed the Dow Jones? Has anyone called their broker to find 
out how their 401(k) is doing? There won't be an American left other 
than the super rich that will be able to retire.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. If the gentleman will yield, the same type of 
philosophy with the war, refusing to be accountable and to address the 
major issues and trying to provide a lot of happy talk for the American 
people, it is the same with the domestic economy. President Bush says 
America's economy is strong and benefiting all Americans, yet at the 
same time, as this graph shows, college tuition is up 40 percent, gas 
prices are up 47 percent, health care costs are up 55 percent, and 
median household income down 4 percent. But the President is saying the 
economy is strong and benefiting all Americans. Where are you living? 
Not in Youngstown, Ohio; not in Niles, Ohio. Give me a break.
  The challenges that the average American person faces today are 
enormous. The challenges are enormous, and we need to get this country 
out of this rut we are stuck in and move in a new direction. Let us 
talk about broadband access for every American, let us talk about 
fixing the health care crisis in the United States of America so small 
businesses don't have to pay as much for health care costs. They could 
reinvest it back into their company and maybe we could shrink the trade 
deficit just a bit.
  We have an economy right now that is very competitive, competing with 
1.3 billion citizens in China and 1 billion citizens in India. And they 
are focused on engineering and science and all of these other issues, 
yet we are making it more difficult and more costly to go to school. 
The number of people that have student loans now is going up and up and 
up, and the amount that they owe back is going up and up and up. I 
think the stat we used the other night, Mr. Delahunt, was that 8 
percent of the people who have student loans owe $40,000 a year or 
more, up from like 1.5 percent 10 years prior to.
  We can't make it more expensive, Mr. Meek. We need to make it more 
accessible. And I would be happy to yield.

[[Page H3987]]

  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Well, I would like the Members, Mr. Speaker, to 
go to housedemocrats.gov, housedemocrats.gov, which has a new direction 
for America that the Democratic Caucus unveiled this week to let people 
know exactly what we are going to do.
  Real security. We are going to implement all of the 9/11 
recommendations to secure this country, our ports and our airports, and 
make sure that we have hometown and front-line security, so local law 
enforcement officers and law enforcement agencies don't have to rub two 
pennies together to make sure they can secure their communities, which 
are our front line here in America.
  Also, we plan to bring about affordable health care along the lines 
of not only prescription drugs but also making sure that there is a 
health care system that can work for the private sector, the public 
sector, GM, and all of those companies that are having issues, 
including the Federal Government.
  Good paying jobs. We will raise the minimum wage. That is not a 
question, that is a fact. That will happen, and it will pass this House 
of Representatives here when Democrats get in control of this House.
  Affordable college education. We will reverse what the Republican 
Congress has done as relates to increasing student tuitions by $2,000, 
which has gone up 57 percent at public universities and in private 
universities about 32 percent; and also making sure that they have tax 
deductions for college opportunities.
  We will energize America by having flex vehicles and energy 
independence within 10 years. That is not something, oh, well, maybe; 
we are thinking about it. No, we are doing that. That is under the new 
direction that Mr. Ryan was talking about.
  And also making sure that people can retire in a dignified way and 
not privatize Social Security. And that is what that is about, and it 
goes on and on and on. So I encourage the Members to go on 
housedemocrats.gov. And if individuals want to talk about a plan, you 
can see a plan right there.
  And we have Ms. Jackson-Lee, Mr. Ryan, and Mr. Delahunt, and the rest 
of the Members of the 30-something Working Group, the will and the 
desire to carry out the plan, not just talking about it. We said we had 
the will and the desire to balance the budget, and we balanced the 
budget. Period, dot.
  And the other thing I just wanted to add real quick, Ms. Jackson-Lee, 
it is almost like you see a cliff, okay? You see a cliff. Now, the goal 
is to stop before you go over the cliff, not to go half speed. 
Republicans are talking about cutting it in half. Cutting the deficit 
in half is not going to get us to where we want to be. You want to stop 
before you go over the cliff and they are going half speed. So 
eventually they are going over the cliff. I feel in a fiscal way we 
have gone over the cliff, and we are saying we want to take America in 
a new direction.
  We have the resume for action and for fiscal discipline in this 
country and passing policies that will help the rich, those that are 
middle class, the poor, and making sure that businesses can prosper in 
this society. We have shown it during the Clinton years. Everyone was 
making money, everyone had hope, and everyone knew that the Congress 
and the White House had the will and the desire to put forth policies 
that would help the American people.
  I yield to Ms. Jackson-Lee.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I just want to make this brief point, but 
you have hammered it on.
  What you are saying is that this Congress is going to be action 
oriented. We are going to act. We are going to do. We are going to not 
come in and busy ourselves with the special interests.
  What we are going to be doing is allowing generals to come in. We are 
going to be talking about, if you will, a new mission in Iraq, and this 
funding that has now almost eliminated any resources for any other 
domestic need, with the $10 billion a month we are spending in Iraq and 
Afghanistan. We are going to be action oriented.

  And I just want to close on this point, because you have laid out not 
only the agenda of Democrats but our passion. Democrats are going to be 
focused on the needs of Americans. We are not going to be with the 
lights out, the doors closed, and the shutters drawn. We are going to 
be opening our hearing rooms and listening to educators. We are going 
to be listening to working men and women who are asking why they are 
not getting a tax cut. We are going to be listening to college students 
about Pell Grants.
  And you know what else? In conclusion, we are going to do something 
that I hope we will be the champions of: The minimum wage. Because 
right now it is a disgrace that we are allowing Americans to make 
$5.15, which is the lowest minimum wage in 50 years.
  So I say to you, thank you for laying out the agenda and letting the 
American people know that we are going to go in here waving the flags 
on their behalf and the minimum wage is going to be one of our number 
one items to do.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I thank the gentlewoman. This is not about playing 
gotcha. This is not about saying hey, look, this, this, and that. This 
is about fixing the problems. We need the information that these 
generals on the ground will provide us so we can actually fix the 
problems. And we are going to reach across the aisle and work with the 
Republicans.
  This is not about Democrat or Republican. This is about the United 
States of America. We need everybody's ideas, we need everybody's 
intellect, and we need all Americans to participate in this. These are 
complex problems. There is no liberal or conservative answer.
  We are in a new realm. We are well beyond anything we could have ever 
fathomed with the technology, the innovation, the movement of the 
economy, globalization, techniques, and the whole nine yards. We are 
past all the old slogans: Lesser government and big government. We are 
past that. We are so far beyond that. But the leadership in the country 
needs to reflect the views of the United States of America and its 
citizens.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. If the gentleman will yield for just 30 seconds, 
I have to tell you about the committee I was in today, Mr. Speaker. I 
leaned over to one of my Republican colleagues, who I respect and who 
will go unnamed. And I said, you can do something good. Because it was 
one of those votes that you know Democrats vote one way and Republicans 
vote the other way and what have you. And I said, you can do something 
good by voting ``yes'' for this amendment. And she said, well, a 
million here and a million there, that adds up eventually, Kendrick.
  I said, you are telling me? I said, believe me, your caucus and your 
leadership have found a way to borrow as much as you can borrow, and 
then when you ran out of borrowing where you could domestically, you 
went over and borrowed $1.05 trillion from foreign nations that some of 
us have questions about. So you are telling me we know how to spend? 
You all have broken a record. You have made history in 4 years.
  So when you look at it, it is sad, Mr. Speaker, that we can come to 
the floor with fact and not fiction. Some folks come to the floor with 
rhetoric and you can see right through it: Like, what is this guy 
talking about here on the floor? How could he possibly say that? That 
is not true. But, guess what, what we are talking about is true, 
unfortunately, because of the bad policies.
  And that is the reason why we are saying, Ms. Jackson-Lee, that we 
want to head in a new direction and we want the American people, 
Democrat, Republican, and Independent, to know that, A, we have got the 
will and we have the desire to lead in that direction. And it will 
happen. It is not like, well, we may get around to it. We are going to 
do it, whether the White House wants to do it or not.
  I yield to the gentleman.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I wanted to make a point that I was going through a 
GAO study today, and you can get it on the GAO Web site, and it showed 
two scenarios. One was what happens if we continue going down the same 
road we are on and we make President Bush's tax cuts permanent for the 
top 1 percent of the people, and it plays that scenario out through the 
numbers; what percentage of our budget we would spend on military and 
this, that, and the other. And one of the issues there was the interest 
on the debt.
  If we keep implementing the Republican proposals that have been going 
on

[[Page H3988]]

for the last 5 years for sure, rubber stamped, but much longer than 
that in the Congress without the check of a Democrat President where 
they were working together, we will be paying so much money, a higher 
proportion of our annual revenues to interest on the debt that it will 
be staggering.
  The American people will wholly reject that kind of fiscal policy. 
Because when you are paying interest on the debt, you get no value from 
that.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. None.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. You are not investing in education where you have 
millions of students that are now college educated inventing new 
things, helping us with alternative energy. You have none of that. You 
are not investing in health care, where kids and parents are healthier 
and workers are more productive. You get no benefit. You are giving 
money to China and they are taking the interest and they are 
reinvesting it back into their state-owned facilities and wiping out 
the middle class in America.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Well, Mr. Ryan, if I might just for a 
moment ask you to yield. What are we doing right now in the United 
States Congress? We are going through the appropriations process. Every 
single appropriation bill that comes we are having to tell our 
communities back home, you can't finish not the road to nowhere but the 
road this community needs; you can't get rail; you can't fix Amtrak.
  They are telling us that the community health clinics that we have 
all bought into and that have some value, the quasi-public health 
clinics that so many people are excited about, we can't fund them. We 
can't provide new monies for the Leave No Child Behind, if you ever 
invested in that at all. We can't provide any monies for alternative 
research in energy for our universities.
  And we can't provide them any dollars partly because of this 
misdirected mission with young people dying in Iraq and not being able 
to refocus, and then of course the fact that this deficit has continued 
to grow.

                              {time}  1945

  I just want to say, reiterate once again the sadness of how many 
foreign nations own the United States now.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. We have an ownership society.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I didn't think we would see this. I hope 
the American people who are listening understand that this is serious. 
And we are not here trying to cast aspersions, but this is serious on 
behalf of the American people. I hope as Democrats take leadership on 
these issues, we have a chance to change lives.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. This is the problem we have. Two final points to 
wrap it up. Let's get back to the sense of the common good, Mr. 
Delahunt, where everybody benefits and everybody contributes.
  We should demand as Democrats that every citizen in the country, 
able-bodied citizen, contributes to the good of the country and the 
economy. They get educated and everything else. We need to demand that 
of everybody. But at the same time those people who have benefited from 
the system, the economic system, the capitalistic system, democracy in 
the United States of America, all of these people need to contribute. 
The more you benefit, the more you are obligated to keep the system 
running. Everybody contributes and everybody benefits. Let's start 
focusing on the common good instead of all of these special interests.
  It gets back to this, and this is one of the final points I want to 
make. Over the past 5 years we have figured out that we, myself 
personally and my constituents back at home, do not trust the judgment 
of the Republican leadership in the United States Congress and in the 
Senate and in the White House. It is not personal. They are good 
people, but their judgment has been very poor over the past couple of 
years.
  And the end result is tuition costs are up 40 percent; gasoline 
prices up 47 percent; health care costs up 55 percent; median income is 
down 4 percent; and nothing with the minimum wage, lowering college 
tuition costs, and all of things that are going to lead, business 
incubators and downtown revitalization, all the things that this 
country needs.
  Let's take this country in a new direction. I am excited about the 
opportunities we are going to have being in the majority in January. I 
think it is going to be an exciting time with new ideas and a lot of 
things that we can accomplish here in the United States.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Speaker, I couldn't improve on everything that has 
been said. I am excited about the challenges ahead. I think we are 
going to take this country in a new direction. I think it is going to 
benefit the American people, whether they be Republicans or Democrats 
or unenrolled.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Americans.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. It's America.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. We simply want to say we are prepared to 
roll up our sleeves. Nothing is guaranteed. We will be working real 
hard. And if the Democrats achieve leadership in November, we will have 
the roll-up-the-sleeve attitude, the open-door attitude, the oversight 
attitude, and what is best for the American people.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. I think that really sums it up. If Democrats take 
control of this House, it is going to open the doors. It is going to 
open the windows. We are going to get a breath of fresh air, and 
accountability will be in vogue once more, for the first time in a long 
time.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, it would be an honor for me to watch 
and listen to you read that with your new glasses.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. This is the 30-something Working Group, www.House-
Democrats.gov/30something.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. One more time. Read it twice.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. This is Leader Pelosi's 30-something Working Group, 
www.HouseDemocrats.gov/30something.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Thank you. Good job.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. With that, Mr. Speaker, we would like to not 
only thank the Democratic Caucus but also thank Members of the House 
for allowing us to come to the floor to address the House one more 
time.

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