[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 82 (Thursday, June 22, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H4503-H4510]
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. Mr. Speaker, I want to start by commenting about
a
[[Page H4504]]
previous 5-minute speech given by Mr. Taylor of Mississippi, and I want
him to know how much I appreciate his representation of his district
and sharing with the House some very vital and important information.
As he mentioned, we will be considering legislation that will be
dealing with the issues that he pointed out.
Mr. Speaker, again, we are glad to be here, the 30-something Working
Group, to come to the floor with the help of so many of our colleagues.
Tonight we have a special guest, Mr. Ryan.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Tonight is a great night. Tonight is like super 30-
something night. This is like great stuff. I mean, I am excited. I may
need to sit a couple plays out tonight, because not only do we have the
chief Blue Dog, we are hoping that at some point during the course of
the night that he will deputize us as maybe Blue Pups tonight. I want
to be a Blue Pup tonight.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. Well, reclaiming, sir.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Please.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. I am glad to be with Mr. Tanner and also his
colleague from Ohio, Mrs. Stephanie Tubbs Jones. Mr. Tanner of
Tennessee has really been the leader in the House as it relates to
accountability, as it relates to working with Mr. Spratt on pay-as-we-
go. He was around when we balanced the budget and we did some of the
things that we needed to do on behalf of this country.
So we are so glad he is here tonight to share with the 30-something
Group and also with the Members of the House on what we should be doing
versus what we are doing right now.
I yield to Mr. Tanner.
Mr. TANNER. Well, I thank you, you fellas. The 30-something Group is
rendering great service to our country. It is about the only way I know
to turn the clock back and be youthful again is to associate with the
30-something hour. I want to speak for all of us who admire your work
here and thank you very much for what you do to try to alert the
American public and your generation to what I believe will be
disastrous consequences for our country and our citizens if we continue
on the course that we have embarked on for the last 60 months or so.
I wish I was making up what I am about to say, because when I tell
people about the financial mismanagement and irresponsibility here in
Washington that has gone on for the last few years and is continuing,
people have a hard time comprehending that.
When I tell them that the GAO, the General Accounting Office, reports
that 19 of 24 Federal agencies can't produce an acceptable audit, in
other words they can't tell you what happened to the money that the
Congress involuntarily removed from the taxpayers' pockets and
appropriated to the administration, 19 of 24 Federal agencies can't
tell you what happened to it. They can't produce an audit. People are
amazed.
It is a function of the Congress to oversee the monies appropriated
to any administration, and this Congress has abdicated that
constitutional responsibility to the American people. I mean, no
private enterprise in this country would tolerate what all of us are
tolerating in our public lives. Can you imagine a private company, a
CEO, or just anyone going to the treasurer or to the comptroller and
saying, here is an expenditure of $10,000, do you know what it is for?
What happened to it? And the answer is, well, I don't know, I can't
find it, I couldn't tell you.
Nobody in private enterprise in this country would put up with that,
yet that is exactly what has been going on here in this one-party
political town. You have a compliant Congress, a friendly
administration, and so not only is Congress not asking the
administration what happened to the money, if they ask them, they can't
tell them.
So what we have done is introduced House Resolution 841; that
basically says what all of us believe ought to happen in our own
private businesses and what happens here in our public business that
affects everybody. It simply says this: When an Inspector General
report comes back from any of these agencies and says either, number
one, we can't find the money that has been appropriated; or, number
two, this program, in government talk, is a high-risk program, and what
that means really is that this program is not working like Congress
intended for it to when it passed it to begin with, when those two
things occur, House Resolution 841 provides that by law Congress must
hold a hearing.
Right now these Inspector General reports are just gathering dust.
There are no hearings on what has happened to the money. So we are
putting into law, hopefully, if we get enough votes to pass it, we are
just telling Congress you ought to do your job. You ought to oversee
this spending that is going on.
I mean, I can't imagine anyone who would argue that it is not a good
idea that we audit the books every now and then and see where the money
is going that is being removed involuntarily from taxpayers. Who would
be against finding out where the money went? I just can't imagine.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. If you would yield a moment, Mr. Tanner, I can
tell you right now that there are a lot of things we should be doing,
or the Republican majority should be doing but they are not doing, and
we don't have the opportunity to do it because we are in the minority.
Again, it is good having you and Mrs. Stephanie Tubbs Jones,
especially from the Ways and Means Committee, talking about the
accountability and the ways and means of doing things. I am glad that
you have this bill filed. And I am happy to know about it, because I am
writing here a note to my folks that I need to be a part of this,
because that is what we are talking about here almost every night,
accountability, with these Inspector General reports stacking up.
As you also know, Mr. Tanner, the head person of the GAO has this
working group moving around the country talking about what is happening
in this government, the lack of accountability, the lack of oversight.
Mr. Ryan and I met with him in the office. And this is bipartisan
conservative and ``liberal groups'' going around. They have come
together on behalf of the country because all this money is being spent
with very little accountability.
{time} 1930
Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to be on the floor with
the 30-somethings. I am 30 plus almost 27. I am proud to admit that I
am 56, and I think I am doing all right. I am glad to be here with my
sons, as I call Kendrick Meek and Tim Ryan, an my colleague on Ways and
Means.
The most interesting thing is, if you think about it, remember when
the Iraq war began, and there are millions of dollars that they can't
account for. They said it was so crazy over there, they couldn't figure
out where the money went. And the most recent reports about FEMA, about
moneys that should have gone to help Katrina victims, they can't
account for.
So I am with my colleague, Mr. Meek, saying Mr. Tanner, great piece
of legislation. Keep on pushing it. We are going to help you make sure
that the Members of Congress, both Democrat and Republican, say to the
people of America, we are going to account for the dollars. The Ways
and Means Committee, we raise the means to do things, and here we have
people messing with the dollars we have expended. I am pleased, Mr.
Tanner, to be here with you tonight.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. The point I would like to make, and this is why I
am such a big fan of Mr. Tanner, I think this helps us convince the
American people and shift our party into a direction that says we don't
want to go and tax people. We know that they struggle with health care
and gas prices, college tuition, all of the costs we review here every
night, increased by 40 and 50 percent.
What Democrats in 2006 are saying, following the lead of the Blue
Dogs, is that there is waste in the government. We need to audit and
find out where that money is so we can take that money and invest that
money in education and invest that in health care and invest that into
all of the programs that we believe in, our priorities.
This is for me, personally, 32, 33 years old and a new Democrat in
many ways, this is a beautiful thing because this is the vehicle, your
piece of legislation, that I think changes our party in 2006 and gets
us ready for the next century to say that we don't want to tax anybody
any more than we need to run the government, but we can never go back
to the taxpayer until we first
[[Page H4505]]
say we are spending your money responsibly.
Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, people say all the time why can't government
run more like a business? As I said earlier, no business would tolerate
what we are tolerating here with this abdication of Congress'
responsibility to keep up with the money. The very least the American
people should expect from Congress is for Congress to oversee the money
they remove from people involuntarily through taxes. The very least we
ought to be able to do is tell them what happened to it.
The other part that this resolution addresses is, one, when they
can't tell us what happened to the money; two, when the program is
identified as high risk, that means it is not working; and three, when
the auditors disclaim the audit report.
I want to read what the auditors said when they tried to audit the
Department of Defense. ``We are unable to give an opinion on the fiscal
year 2005 DOD financial statements because of limitations on the scope
of our work. Thus, the financial statements may be unreliable.
Therefore, we are unable to express and we do not express an opinion on
these financial statements.''
That is on the first page of the audit. What they are saying is we
don't know whether what you are about to read is true or not.
Listen to this from the Department of Energy. ``Audit work performed
by the contract auditor identified significant deficiencies in
financial management and reporting controls related to the Department's
fiscal year 2005 consolidated financial statements. Specifically, the
Department was unable to correct previously described weaknesses and
could not provide a number of supporting documents required for
audit.''
What they are saying is here is this report, but read it at your own
risk, we don't know whether it is true or not.
Homeland Security. ``Unfortunately, the Department made little or no
progress to improve its overall financial reporting during fiscal year
2005. The auditor was unable to provide an opinion on the Department's
balance sheet.''
If that were in private business, the CEO of those businesses would
be going to jail under the SEC rules if their stock traded on the
exchange.
This is not rocket science. The least the American people ought to
expect from this Congress or any other Congress is to be able to
account for the money that we take away from the citizens in the form
of taxes. These people are not doing their job. This is replete.
I have gone through some of these reports, it is unbelievable. There
is not a hearing from Congress. There is nobody being subpoenaed up
here saying, what happened to the $10 million that is here that the
auditor said they can't find? Nobody is asking those questions.
Congress is not asking it. If they asked it, they couldn't tell them.
That is wrong. It is wrong to the taxpayers. It is wrong for this
Congress to allow this to continue to go on.
I hope we can get H. Res. 841. The gentleman from California (Mr.
Cardoza), another Blue Dog, has H.R. 5315, and he says basically in
that bill that when a Cabinet Secretary's department cannot produce an
audit after 2 years, they have to go back before the Senate and be
reconfirmed. In other words, you are in charge of this department; what
happened to the money that was removed from the taxpayers' pockets and
we gave it to you to spend? Where is it?
I can't tell you.
The second time he comes up here and says, ``I can't tell you what
happened to the money,'' he has to be reconfirmed because he is
obviously incompetent because he can't do his job, or her job.
This is just basic good government. It has nothing to do with
politics, it has to do with running the government's business like we
would run our own. That is what people send us here to do, and that is
what is not being done, and that is why it is so wrong.
Mrs. JONES of Ohio. I am reminded of one of the hearings in the Ways
and Means Committee where then-Secretary Snow was before the committee.
This was before we actually got into the Iraq war.
I said, Mr. Secretary, you used to run a business. Tell me what
trustees or board of directors of any business would say to you that
you can have a supplemental outside of the budget that would increase
significantly the deficit, and you don't have to include it in the
amount of dollars we are expending?
He said to me that the President doesn't want to go to war, so it is
not part of the budget.
I said, wait a minute. I know that there are tankers over there,
there are men and women over there, there are arms over there, and we
are spending dollars to feed and clothe them. That ought to be part of
the budget. The American people should know what kind of money we are
spending and not have it off side.
That is what this administration has been so good at in all of these
supplementals. Many of us vote for the supplementals because we want to
support the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it is bad budgeting. I
know if Secretary Snow ran his business like he ran the government, and
he is gone now, but he would be put out of business if he ran a
business like this.
Mr. TANNER. If the United States of America were a business, it would
be classified as a failing business enterprise, and I hate to say this
about my country. We are now in a structural deficit situation. In the
business world where I come from, you can handle a cyclical deficit.
That is if you have a bad year, if you had a bad year and so forth.
Under this scenario of this regime running the Congress and running
our country and running the White House, we have a structural deficit.
It never balances. Anybody in business knows that is unsustainable.
That will not go on forever. Unless they figure out how to repeal the
laws of arithmetic, we are in a structural deficit situation that
cannot continue.
What does one do when one takes over a failing business? The first
thing one does is find out where is the money coming from and where is
it going. The first thing I want to do, we know we can pretty well
figure out where the money is coming from from Treasury because they
can tell you who is paying taxes. We can't tell where it is going. That
is why we need this bill. We need accountability, and we need this
bill.
When we appropriate money to anybody, any administration, if they
can't tell us what they did with it, they ought not to get it next
year. That is what you would do in your private business; that is what
we ought to do as Members of Congress with the public business.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Tanner, I am pulling this information from
the Heritage Foundation, which is one of the most conservative
foundations in Washington, D.C., if not the leading. In fiscal year
2003, $25 billion of taxpayer money went unaccounted for according to
the Department of Treasury, again a third-party validator.
Basically they are saying that $25 billion can fund a full year at
the Justice Department, according to the Heritage Foundation. So this
is real money that is missing. Taxpayers dollars can go into funding an
entire Justice Department, which has a number of employees and is
charged with carrying out a great deal of responsibility on behalf of
the American people.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. And what is the end result of all of this wasteful
spending? I think it is important to point out what the long-term
effects are.
When President Bush took office, our debt limit was $5.9 trillion. As
you can see, and these charts are on HouseDemocrats.gov/30something, in
June of 2002, it increased by half a trillion dollars.
May of 2003, another debt limit increase. November of 2004, another
one. March 2006, another one. The budget this year for 2007, the budget
resolution will raise our debt limit to $9.62 trillion. By 2011, the
debt limit under the Republicans will almost double from when President
Bush took office.
Now we are trying to say that we want to audit the government and
save money and make sure that we invest it properly into our priorities
that will lead to economic development, and it is clear that the
Republican majority, which controls the House, Senate and White House,
has been fiscally irresponsible not only with the way they lack
enforcement, they don't audit and pay attention to where the money
[[Page H4506]]
goes, and then they turn around and borrow it from China and Japan and
OPEC and all of these other countries and run us into this huge
structural debt that hurts the economy long term.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Ryan, there is a chart which shows the
priorities of the majority, and I wish you would share that chart.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. This is the interest payments on the debt. This is
the 2007 budget of what we are going to pay. It is about $230 billion
just on interest on the debt. So all of those numbers we were showing,
this is big time.
Mrs. JONES of Ohio. It is like a bad credit card bill.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. To make a point, when we were talking about what we
have control over in our own government and how we can streamline and
do the audit and make sure that everybody is held accountable, I bet we
know exactly where every single one of these dollars goes. There is
someone in China on the other end saying, you owe me another 10-, and I
want it here right now. They are not waiting around to say where did
that $10 million go? We know where all of this $230 billion went.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. I know this is along the line of accountability,
and I think this chart is a testimonial to the lack of accountability
and the spending that has been going on in this House by the Republican
majority. I think it is important when you say a charitable House of
Representatives as it relates to the policies coming out of the White
House, this is what happens. $1.05 trillion has been borrowed in the
last 4 years, which is record-breaking in many ways, and historical in
the wrong ways as it relates to what the President and the Republican
majority has done.
And the $0.1 trillion over 224 years borrowed from 42 Presidents,
that is all they were able to muster up. World War I, World War II, a
number of other conflicts, the Great Depression, still record-breaking
and borrowing money in an irresponsible way.
Mr. Ryan also mentioned who is buying all of this debt. I am not
blaming the American taxpayers. They don't have a voting card. They
have representatives up here, but they don't have a voting card. Japan
has borrowed $682.8 billion of our debt and counting. They own a piece
of the American apple pie, and it pains me to see these countries over
the silhouette of the continental United States, but this is exactly
what's happening, and this is the way we need to break it down.
China, $249.8 billion of the American apple pie, not because of the
American people, but because of the Republican policies.
Mr. TANNER. If you add Hong Kong, that is over $300 billion that
China controls of our paper.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. I am glad you are here to share that
information, and you are 110 percent right.
The U.K., $223.2 billion.
The Caribbean, $115.3 billion.
Taiwan and counting, $71.3 billion of our debt.
Again, this is not the American taxpayer, this is what a charitable
Congress has done with the President's policies.
And you let some individuals tell it on the other side of the aisle,
they will say we are doing great.
For the first time in the history of the country, these countries
have had their hands in the pockets of the American taxpayer, and
having us pay with interest. Like Mrs. Jones mentioned, it is like
borrowing on a credit card.
OPEC nations, you are talking about Iran, Saudi Arabia, a number of
the countries that many Americans have questions about, oil-producing
countries, they are in on the game. Not only are we paying through the
nose for petroleum, they own $67.8 billion.
{time} 1945
Germany, $65.7 billion; Korea, $66.5 billion; and Canada, just north
of us, $53.8 billion. They are in on this feeding frenzy. And the
reason why we have this silhouetted Continental United States and the
American flag, we want to get back to this.
Mr. Speaker, we are the only party here in this Chamber, including,
we would add, the one Independent that actually votes with the
Democrats on this side. If we want to get back to a debt-free America,
then we have to go on pay-as-you-go policies, which just today, just
today, just today, Mr. Tanner, just today, Mrs. Stephanie Tubbs Jones,
there was a vote on this floor to move in a pay-as-you-go policy, and
the Republicans voted against it. United voting against paying as you
go. That means if you are going to spend the money, you have got to
show where you pay for it. And still that policy is not in place.
And, Mr. Tanner, I know that you have worked day in and day out. I
have watched you here on this floor. I watch Mrs. Tubbs Jones in Ways
and Means talking about, if we are going to do it, what are the means?
How are we going to do it? And it is continuing to be placed on a
credit card.
We usually use old charts, but today I think it is important for us
to say that just today, on this floor, Republicans continue to move in
the direction, I would say the leadership, continues to move in the
direction of allowing these countries to have their hands in the
pockets of the American taxpayers.
And it goes simultaneously with the two pieces of legislation that
you have shared with the Members and the American people today, House
Resolution 841, that you have offered and also Mr. Cardoza's
legislation as it relates to House Resolution 5315, that talks about
this kind of accountability, forcing the Congress to carry out section
1, article I of the U.S. Constitution, which is boiler plate.
Mr. TANNER. Well, I am going to have to go, but I want to thank you
all again for letting an old guy like me pretend I am 30-something
again. It is a real thrill to do that, because your generation, I have
two children in their 30s, and I have two grandchildren, one on the
way. And when I see this country in an unsustainable financial downward
spiral, I feel great remorse from my generation's standpoint, because
we are not doing what our forebears did. To allow a situation to go on
where there is no accountability, where Congress is not asking any
administration, this has nothing to do with politics, it has to do with
good business principles in the public sector, which I think all
citizens of this country not only expect but deserve, and that is, this
Congress ought to, at a minimum, be able to tell the American people
what happened to the money. And they are not even asking this
administration. And if they did, they couldn't tell them. That is just
plain wrong.
And these bills, I hope some of our Republican colleagues will sign
on. It seems to me like they would want to audit the books as much as
we do. I mean, I just hope that this is the first step of
accountability into the public sector so that when we get an audit from
any Department, the auditors can identify what happened to the money,
whether or not the program is working, and so we don't get these
disclaimers that say, everything you are about to read in this audit we
have no idea of. We don't know whether it is true or not. Go ahead, be
my guest and read it, but we can't vouch for any of it because we don't
know, and they can't tell us. That is just, it is not only grossly
irresponsible for this Congress to let that go on, it is really a
generational mugging. And you 30-something guys, I appreciate you and
your group, because you all will ultimately bear the terrible
consequences of continuing down this road of no accountability in the
Federal Government. And so I thank you again for allowing me to be
here.
Mrs. JONES of Ohio. I am laughing, Mr. Tanner. Remember when we had
the IRS hearing, and the IRS decided that they were going to go look
for waste, fraud and abuse in Earned Income Tax Credit instead of
looking for waste, fraud and abuse in the larger corporation and what
they were doing with the Tax Code?
I am not against business. Democrats are pro-business. We know that
if we have business, people have jobs. But the reality is when you want
to look for waste, fraud and abuse, you don't look for somebody that is
paying a dollar in taxes. You look for somebody who is paying a whole
bunch of dollars or who is getting a whole bunch of dollars from the
American public to do a job and they don't do the job.
Mr. TANNER. You can look around. I could hit a driver and a 3-wood
most of these places. They could start right here in this town just
trying to find
[[Page H4507]]
out what did you do with the money we gave you.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. That is probably a driver, a 3-wood and a 7-iron
for you.
Mr. TANNER. And a pitching wedge to boot. Thank you all.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. Thank you, Mr. Tanner. We definitely appreciate
your contributions. And I like this whole generational mugging piece.
You are going to hear that again. That is a great one. And it is so
good, Mr. Ryan, to have Members of the Ways and Means Committee here,
because they hear this constantly, and the policies are passed through
that committee as it relates to how we tax Americans, corporations,
what have you. And to see the waste on the other side of the ball, on
the government, which we are supposed to oversee, and make sure that
those dollars that are being collected from the American taxpayer or
the American corporation or whatever it may be, that it is spent in an
appropriate way and that we are accountable for it.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Would the gentleman yield?
Mr. MEEK of Florida. Sure I would yield.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. We had a wonderful, and I am going to share this
with the Speaker and the House, we had a wonderful conversation about
three weeks ago with Alvin Toffler, who wrote ``Future Shock,'' and
then wrote this new book, ``Revolutionary Wealth.'' And he goes into
how civilization during the Industrial Age was much different than it
is now.
He used the example of 9/11, about how this decentralized,
information-based, cells popping up al Qaeda, basically a private
group, moved money and information around the world on cell phones and
very decentralized, attacked us. And our response was to build a 20th-
century pyramid bureaucracy called the Department of Homeland Security
because that is what we know how to do. We know how to build these
bureaucracies. And how we are living in an age that no longer
represents, those kind of bureaucracies no longer address the needs of
the American people.
So this audit and what Mr. Tanner and Mr. Cardoza are trying to do is
squeeze this government, squeeze these bureaucracies, get the fat out
of them and find out where we can gain resources and invest them into
the new programs, the new technologies, the new ways of doing things.
And Democrats are for this. And I am excited about this summer and this
fall for us to go around the country and talk about this new approach
that we have because people say, oh, the Democrats aren't going to do
it.
We are experiencing the implementation of the neoconservative agenda
right now. They haven't done anything. They are spending like drunken
sailors. We are running huge budget deficits. We are spending $230
billion a year, just paying interest on the debt. We are borrowing
money from China and Japan and all of these other countries and funding
these long-term structural deficits that we have.
We need an opportunity to take over this government, and let us start
auditing this thing. This is a new Democratic Party, Mr. Speaker, that
wants to squeeze the fat out of this government.
The Republicans had a lot of good talk in 1994. But even their own
leader, Mr. Gingrich, Speaker Gingrich is saying now they are in
charge, they are seen as in charge of a government that can't function.
Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Perfect example was today when we started talking
about the estate tax. And there are different views on the importance
of the estate tax. But reducing the estate tax puts in place, how do we
pay for what was covered by the estate tax? And how do we pay for it?
They don't even account for it. They just reduce it or get rid of the
estate tax and say, okay, I am going to leave you to fend for yourself
as to how you cover it.
Pay-as-you-go, they fussed at us. Well, if you want to increase
college loans, or if you want to increase money for Social Security, or
if you want to increase money so that seniors can get a prescription
drug benefit, or you want to increase it so seniors can be covered with
Medicaid, pay for it. But they don't ever talk about paying for it and
a reduction of taxes.
And there are a lot of Democrats who certainly believe that we should
not reduce taxes. But regardless of where you are, pay-as-you-go is
language that everybody understands. My father used to say, if I have
$5 and beef costs $5, I am going to buy me a pound of beef for $5.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Ryan, I think, and also Mrs. Tubbs Jones, I
think it is important that we look at this issue of the
irresponsibility of the Republican majority. They are being very
irresponsible. And to say that that is fine, we will give you what you
want, of course, Mr. Speaker, I think we are going to see more of that
kind of action by the Republican majority to say that, oh, we are with
you, even if we are running the country into the ground.
We know better. We know that we have foreign countries that we are
borrowing from because we can't even borrow from ourselves anymore
because we have done such a bad job. We know we have raised the debt
ceiling time after time after time again. Meanwhile, we come to the
floor and say our policies are working.
We know that there are things we should not be doing because you are
working every day or you are running your business every day. You may
not be paying attention to everything that is going on. Not only are we
elected but we are paid to watch out for your best interest and also
for future generations' best interests. And they are doing it.
And I think that the paradigm shift as it relates to the American
people paying attention to what they are doing in a way, from a fiscal
way, I think, will take place between now and November.
And so what is so unfortunate about this whole situation, Mr.
Speaker, is that we are supposed to be responsible policymakers on a
bipartisan basis. And that is not happening right now. That is just not
happening. The American taxpayers are getting mugged, knocked down and
kicked by this Republican majority and the rubber stamp, or the rubber-
stamp Congress, Republican majority that is here.
Now, one other thing I want to mention here, which I think is very,
very important, just today, Mr. Ryan, Mrs. Tubbs Jones, we don't have
to go back, Mr. Speaker, to weeks or months or 2 years ago or 3 years
ago. We had a pay-as-you-go provision here. Individuals decided not to
take it up.
We had an opportunity to raise the minimum wage on behalf of the
American taxpayers. The Republican majority rejected an opportunity to
raise the minimum wage for everyday working Americans.
As a matter of fact, Mr. Ryan, one of the Republican leaders said, I
haven't voted in 25 years, Mr. Speaker, to raise the minimum wage. And
if he would have had his way, the minimum wage would still be $3.35
versus $5.15.
I am so glad that my State joined 21 other States in raising the
minimum wage. Meanwhile, we are still here with chisel and hammer in
hand as Neanderthals on the Republican side of the ball and saying, oh,
we don't have to raise the minimum wage. We are so indebted to the
special interests that we don't even want to bother them of having an
American public that is able to pay the rent or pay for their house
mortgage or to be able to put gas in their tank. We are so invested in
the K Street Project, we are so invested in so many other things that
we are willing to allow these individuals to suffer.
But guess what? Those are the same individuals that are making
America America. And there are millions of Americans that are there.
And so what is very, very unfortunate here, Mr. Speaker, is the fact
that the Republican majority is still boasting about, you know, we are
in charge. We are going to continue to keep our foot on the necks of
everyday Americans that are going in, punching in and punching out
every day, 5 days a week, sometimes 6, because they have to work
overtime; those Americans that know what it means to take a 15-minute
break in the morning and a 15-minute break in the afternoon, and a
solid 30 minutes of lunch, if they get that, and they better not be a
minute late. Those kind of individuals, I think, are going to go to the
polls this November and say, no more. They are going to go to the polls
and say, we are willing to fight for the kind of accountability that we
need from this government.
[[Page H4508]]
I am so proud, Mr. Speaker, of the 30-something Working Group and the
Members that come down here and the Democratic Members that file
legislation on behalf of the American people, not on behalf of the
Democratic Party, not even on behalf of the Democratic Caucus, not on
behalf of our leadership, but on behalf of the individuals that they
represent who woke up early one Tuesday morning and voted for
representation in this U.S. House of Representatives, and I must add,
Mr. Speaker, the only Chamber that you have to be elected to, that you
can't be appointed to. All due respect to the Senate, but Senators can
be appointed by Governors. If a Senator was to say, hey, you know, I
have had enough. I want to go home, I want to take care of my
grandkids, a Governor can appoint a Senator.
But in democracy, in this Chamber, in the U.S. House, if one Member
were to say, hey, I want to take care of my grandkids, I want to spend
more time with my kids, they have to run for office. They have to run
for office, and they have to be replaced by the people.
So we have a greater responsibility. We have a greater responsibility
than the White House, than the Senate or the Supreme Court, when you
look at the three branches government, to the American people.
The oversight, House Resolution 841, and Mr. Cardoza's legislation
that calls for the calling in those administrators that are not
accountable to taxpayers' dollars, these are the kind of bills that we
must pass.
{time} 2000
One thing I can say, Mr. Ryan, which is so very important on our side
of the ball of saying we want to take this country in a new direction,
is the fact that we said we will increase the minimum wage. We will
make our country more energy-independent within 10 years. We will
implement the 9/11 recommendations to be able to make sure that we can
fight terrorism here and make sure that local communities have what
they need.
These are not ``if'' or ``if we get around to it'' statements. These
are statements that we said wholeheartedly that we would carry out.
The last point, anybody who wants to get this information as it
relates to an innovation agenda: housedemocrats.gov. Right here, this
is what it looks like. You can download this information. Again,
safeguarding, making sure that we have the real security here in
America, our Democratic plan: housedemocrats.gov. And, again, here as
it relates to the working group that we have dealing with investing in
the Midwest versus the Middle East: housedemocrats.gov. Mr. Ryan said
all of the charts that you see here tonight you can get on
housedemocrats.gov/30something.
Mr. Speaker, I do not even waste my time anymore, as a Member of this
House, talking about working in a bipartisan way because the only way
we can work in a bipartisan way, Mrs. Tubbs Jones, and you know because
you are the most senior Member on the floor right now, is that the
majority allows it to happen. The majority calls the conference
committee, and this happens a lot in the Ways and Means Committee.
Mrs. JONES of Ohio. A whole lot.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. A lot in the Ways and Means Committee. They will
have about tax law, about accountability or what have you, trying to
find the ways and the means of bills that come through that committee,
and the Democratic Members are not even called. A conference report
comes to the floor, and they have not even seen it. Not that they
weren't willing to sit down with the Republican majority, saying, We
want to work with you and see how we can work in a bipartisan way. They
don't even get the notice for the meeting. So the meeting takes place,
it comes to the floor, and the rules that are in the House rules, it
smacks the theme of the rules and also the spirit of the rules and the
rules, period, about the minority party's being informed about these
meetings.
So one thing that our leader has said: When we take control, there
will be a bipartisan spirit in this House, and we will work together
with the Republican minority, if the American people see to it.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Because it is not about us. It is not about the
Democrats; it is not about the Republicans. It is about fixing the
problems. I mean, we have got real problems in this country, serious,
structural problems. And we do not have time to be nitpicking with each
other to say, Well, that is a good idea, but you are a Republican, so
forget about it. Give us all the ideas.
Mrs. JONES of Ohio. It is very important to understand that there are
41 members on the Ways and Means Committee. As a result of that 41,
there are 24 Republicans and 17 Democrats. And the Democrats, 17
members, beginning with our ranking member, Charlie Rangel, and going
on to Pete Stark and on down the line, are people who can bring
leadership and knowledge to a discussion about legislation. But,
unfortunately, as the committee is currently constituted, we do not
have the opportunity to sit at the table and truly legislate. Even one
day the police called on us, trying to pull us out of the Ways and
Means library room.
The reality is that we are willing and ready, ready and able, to
provide import to the legislation on taxing and raising revenue for the
United States of America. But, unfortunately, we do not have the
opportunity. Unfortunately, we, as Democrats and Republicans, do not
have the opportunity to sit at the table, talk it over, figure it out,
and come to the floor with legislation that can make a difference on
behalf of all Americans.
If you look back in history, every year we were in, there was
legislation that really worked for America. It was legislation that was
done on a bipartisan basis. This chairman talks about being a member of
the willing, something like the Iraq war, if you weren't a member of
the willing and you didn't go to war, you do not get counted in. We
are, hopefully, not at war right here in the House of Representatives,
although some days I think that we are, that we can have the
opportunity to sit at table, legislate, and make a difference on behalf
of the people of America. The people of America expect it from us. They
do not send us here to argue back and forth with one another about
issues. They want us to work it out, and that is why we were elected as
representatives.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Do you know what this comes down to? This is just
boiling all this down, regardless of the issues that you are talking
about: What do we believe in as a country? What do we want our country
to be? The great thing about being an American is we get to decide. We
do not have 30 or 40 people in the upper echelons of government telling
us what we want the country to be like. We get to vote on it, and the
American people get to express themselves at the ballot box and decide
what we want this country to be like.
Now, what we have had here over the past 5 years with a Republican
House, Republican Senate, and Republican White House is tremendous
deficits, borrowing more money from foreign interests in the last 4 or
5 years than we have borrowed in the last 224 years.
Do you believe in a government that should put everything on a credit
card? Do you believe in a government that should give tax breaks to
millionaires and then never raise the minimum wage? Do you believe in a
government that should have a $1 trillion prescription drug benefit and
not do anything to contain the cost because the pharmaceutical industry
may not like it? If you believe in that kind of government, then you
want to continue with what we are doing right now.
But if you believe in a government that is for the common good and
the common defense and uses common sense, then you want to vote for the
Democrats. If you want to raise the minimum wage by a couple bucks an
hour, then you want to vote for the Democrats. If you want to reduce
the cost of prescription drugs by using the bargaining power of the
United States Government and the Medicare recipients, then you want to
vote for the Democrats. If you want to take some of this money that we
are going to squeeze out of the government because we are auditing and
finding the waste and abuse in our government and invest that money in
the Pell Grants, then you want to vote for the Democrats.
I mean, this is very simple. They have their beliefs; we have our
beliefs. And we need the American people to affirm those beliefs at the
ballot box.
[[Page H4509]]
And I believe in November, Ms. Tubbs Jones and Mr. Meek, that the
American people are going to affirm the beliefs of the Democratic Party
because we are ready, willing, and able. We have the will and the
desire to go out and lead. Put us in coach. We are ready to rock and
roll.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. Reclaiming my time, it is very interesting. And,
Mr. Ryan and Mrs. Tubbs Jones, I think you hit the nail right on the
head in talking about the reality of serving in this Republican
majority right now, what is not only happening to the Members of this
body on the minority side and the one Independent that is a part of
this House, but also what is happening to the American taxpayer. And
accountability is on our side. We balanced the budget. The bottom line
is there wasn't a deficit. There were surpluses as far as the eye can
see when the Republican majority took over. And now we find ourselves
in a fiscal crisis.
And I want to share this information and make sure, Mr. Speaker, that
all the Members, hopefully, go back to their districts and, before they
see an increase in the interest rates of student loans, to share with
their constituents, and we are sharing it with our constituents, to
consolidate their loans before July 1, because afterwards they are
going to be paying, I believe, a 2 percent increase in interest rates
and climbing, not because the companies said they want to go up on the
interest rate, but because the Congress allowed these companies to go
up on the interest rate, meanwhile providing more tax breaks for the
superwealthy Americans that are here.
So as we continue to speak, we are not here speaking into the
Congressional Record, Members, just to say we want to be on the record
about what is happening to America. We are saying that we are ready,
set, go. We have our chinstrap buckled and our mouthpiece in. Since
football season is coming up in August, let it be known that we are
ready to hit the field. We are ready to hit the field on behalf of the
American people; not willing hit the field on behalf of Democrats, not
willing to hit the field on behalf of just children, but on behalf of
all the American people. That is Republicans, Independents, Green
Party.
If you are not even voting, and you are so mad, and you are tired of
this mess here in Washington, DC, we are doing this for you. We want to
make sure that this democracy that some talk about that we are fighting
in foreign lands to guarantee a democracy over there, we want to make
sure that we can celebrate a democracy right here, making sure that
individuals do not have to find a way out of no way, and making sure
that we come up with ways that we can become energy-independent and not
just running around here saying, well, we need to go to war in foreign
lands to be able to attract oil when we have resources right here.
Mrs. JONES of Ohio. If the gentleman would yield, you know what is
interesting as we debate on the floor, let us talk about, just for a
moment, the minimum wage. And there is always the discussion that the
people who pay the most tax ought to get the most return on their
taxes. And I cry and scream on behalf of the unemployed in my district:
Give them a job, and they will gladly pay taxes. Give them a job and a
living wage, and they will be glad to pay taxes. They will be able to
take care of their families. They will come off of government rolls.
But the reality is most people working at $5.25 an hour cannot be
successful. They cannot be part of the American dream because they
cannot buy milk, $3 a gallon of gas, and take care of their families.
And the reality is that the Democratic Party is the only party talking
about raising the minimum wage.
And there has been an argument that we do not want to raise the
minimum wage because it impacts business, but there is statistical
information very recently that just came from Ohio that says if you
raise the minimum wage, businesses are doing better. It is not that if
you raise it, they will go into debt. The reality is that if you have
got a better worker making a better salary, then you have got a better
business. And that is what we need to have happen in Ohio and across
this country.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, the last time the minimum wage was
raised, it was a zero impact on businesses. Zero impact. So when folks
are saying if we raise the minimum wage, people are going to go out of
business, please. Okay? And when folks start talking about, Well, I am
here to protect the business community, the last time I checked, there
were individuals that went to vote to elect me and everyone else here
to the United States Congress, to the House of Representatives. I
didn't see major corporations going up with a voting card saying, I am
representing corporation one, two, three, and I am here to vote on
behalf of Kendrick Meek for Congress. There were individuals that voted
for us.
So, Mrs. Tubbs Jones, I think you are 110 percent right, just not on
behalf of the people of the great State of Ohio, but on behalf of the
American people. People are working every day, but they cannot even put
gas in their tank. How can you live?
Oprah just did a story on this as it relates to individuals that are
making minimum wage. And they put individuals who were making above the
minimum wage on a minimum wage, and they could not survive.
Mrs. JONES of Ohio. They say that if you look at inflation and apply
it to minimum wage, the minimum wage today should be $9.08. And even in
our proposals we are only asking for $7.25.
Give people an opportunity to make a living and be proud of
themselves making a living wage.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. And whatever business you have, your customers are
going to have more money to go and spend. This is the basic difference
that we have between what the first President Bush called ``voodoo
economics,'' which is the current system we are in right now, the
implementation of the neoconservative agenda. That is what is happening
right now. And if you are happy with what this system is yielding for
you and your family, then you need to continue to vote for the
Republican Party. But if it is not effective for you and your family,
then you need to look for alternatives, and that is what we are doing
here.
But the Democratic Party is saying raise that minimum wage and give
these small businesses more customers to go out and purchase their
products.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. I was just looking for this, and I am so glad
that I found it because I think it is important to be able to share the
facts where they are. Third-party validators, Mr. Speaker, once again,
there is just a line of them as it relates to the things we bring up.
This is a message from my Democratic Caucus Chair, who is James D.
Clyburn, that is talking about priorities of the Democratic Caucus. It
is not talking about something we just came up with a couple days ago,
but the priorities of the Democratic Caucus and the American people.
Five dollars and fifteen cents is the minimum wage. Fifty years, the
last time the minimum wage has been this low as it relates to the
inflation that you just spoke about. It should be $9 and some change.
1997 was the last time that the Congress raised the minimum wage. That
is almost 10 years ago. It is about to be 10 years ago. Six point six
million people, the number of people who would benefit from an increase
in the minimum wage. Six point six million individuals, roughly three-
quarters of minimum-wage workers, adults over the age of 20, many of
whom are responsible for half of their families' income. One day it
takes to be able to make money to buy one tank of gas working on the
minimum wage.
Again, Mrs. Tubbs Jones, a zero jobs loss. Studies have shown that
there is no evidence of jobs lost after passing a minimum wage
increase.
{time} 2015
Here is another one. Eighty-six percent of the American people
support an increase in the minimum wage, and I must say 22 States have
already headed in that direction through constitutional measures or
legislative measures to increase the minimum wage to help their State's
economy, because they know these individuals are consumers and these
individuals that are on minimum wage will help their State's economy.
So I just wanted to share that information, because it is important
that we share that. But again, the Republican majority is saying no. We
are saying if we become the majority, if they become the minority come
this
[[Page H4510]]
November, it is not ``if we can, we may get around to it.'' It will be
one of the first things that the Democratic Caucus does. A done deal.
We don't even have to talk about it, that the American people will see
an increase in the minimum wage.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I would like to make a point, because when you
raise the minimum wage, you raise the wages for all people who are
participating in the labor market.
Let's take for example our friends at Wal-Mart, okay? If you raise
the minimum wage, now, if you don't work at Wal-Mart or somewhere else
of that caliber of a store that hires so many millions of people around
the country, they are all going to get a boost. So instead of companies
like Wal-Mart making billions and billions and billions in profits,
some of that money will make its way back to the workers, so all the
workers will get a couple dollars more an hour, which means you are
going to have consumers with more money in their pocket so they can
pull it out and go buy more goods, which will stimulate the economy.
The American people right now are feeling they are not benefiting
from what is happening. I think a raise in the minimum wage would do
that, it would accomplish that, it would give demand a spark, which is
obviously what we want to do.
Then, like we have talked about here, investing in sewers and roads
and bridges and infrastructure and get this country back where it needs
to be with our infrastructure, so that we could build industrial parks
and roads and bridges and increase commerce in the United States,
extend broadband. All of these things will stimulate the economy here
in the United States of America, educate our kids, get information into
the households, and, at the end of the day, you have got a strong
country.
Mrs. JONES of Ohio. I know that my good friend Kendrick Meek is going
to close out on a New Direction for America, but I want to talk again
about the minimum wage.
Consider that if the minimum wage had increased with inflation, it
would be $9.08. Well, think about it like this. Family health care
insurance is up 70 percent. The increase in minimum wage would help 7.5
million. Gas prices have doubled. So if the minimum wage doubled, it
would be $10, and we would be able to do it. Record surplus has been
turned to record deficits. And then college costs are up. There have
been $12 billion in student aid cuts under this administration and
Republican Congress.
It is time for Democrats to take control of the House so that we have
an opportunity to serve the people and put America in a new direction.
I yield back to our leader.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. Let me just say this. You can go ahead and give
the website out, sir, and I will close out.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Are you talking to me?
Mr. MEEK of Florida. I am talking to you, sir, Mr. Ryan.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I appreciate you letting me do this.
Www.housedemocrats.gov/30something.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. Thank you, Mr. Ryan.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Thank you, Mr. Meek.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. I want to thank Ms. Tubbs Jones and also you,
Mr. Ryan, and Mr. Tanner and Mr. Taylor, who was here at the beginning
finishing off his 5-minute speech for joining us tonight.
As Mrs. Tubbs Jones mentioned, as Democrats, we want to take this
House in a New Direction for America. I think it is important, and we
will let it be known that we will implement on day one, or days within
being in the majority, if the American people see fit, a real security
plan that will implement the full 9/11 Committee report, work on
affordable health care, to fix not only the prescription drug law, but
a series of seniors' issues as it relates to health care and also
health care for the American people, from GM down to the small mom and
pop business. Also make sure we have good paying jobs and stop sending
jobs overseas and raising the minimum wage. Reversing all the things
that the Republicans have done to Americans as it relates to higher
interest rates for students and making college affordable. Also with
tax deductions, and also energizing America by making sure we have
investment in the Midwest versus the Middle East. And ensuring dignity
as it relates to no privatization of Social Security.
With that, Mr. Speaker, it was an honor addressing the House. We
would like to thank the Democratic leadership for the time.
____________________