[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 148 (Tuesday, October 2, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H11143-H11149]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
BLUE DOG COALITION
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 18, 2007, the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Ross) is recognized
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, what we have just witnessed on the House floor
is an example of why the American people are sick and tired of all of
the partisan bickering that goes on up in Washington.
Mr. Speaker, there are 47 of us who are fiscally conservative
Democrats who want to put an end to the partisan bickering. We are a
group of conservative Democrats who quite frankly don't care if it is a
Democratic idea or a Republican idea. We want to know if it is a
commonsense idea and does it make sense for the people that send us
here to be their voice.
Mr. Speaker, there are 47 Members of the fiscally conservative
Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. As you walk the Halls of Congress, it is
easy to identify which Members are members of the fiscally conservative
Blue Dog Coalition because you will see this poster as you walk the
hallways of the Cannon House Office Building, the Longworth House
Office Building and the Rayburn House Office Building.
This poster not only serves as a doormat to Blue Dog Coalition
Members of Congress, but also as a daily reminder to Members of
Congress on both sides of the aisle and to the American people that our
Nation is in debt.
Today, the U.S. national debt is $9,010,742,245,690. If you divide
that enormous number and put it in perspective by every man, woman and
child in America, every one of us, our share of the national debt is
$29,735. It is what we have coined the phrase ``debt tax,'' and that is
one tax that cannot be cut and that is one amount that is not going to
fund America's priorities but rather is going to simply pay interest on
the national debt and to pay down the national debt.
I had a constituent from back home in Arkansas in my office today.
She said she was in my office a couple of years ago, and everybody's
share of the national debt was some $27,000. Again, today it is
$29,735. Under this Republican administration, we have seen the largest
debt ever in our Nation's history. We have seen the largest deficit
ever in our Nation's history.
Contrast that with the past administration, the Clinton
administration. President Clinton was the first Democrat or Republican
in 40 years to give us a balanced budget; and yet here we are 7 years
later with the largest debt ever in our Nation's history, and as
members of the Blue Dog Coalition, we want to restore fiscal discipline
and commonsense to our Nation's government.
That is why there was a lot of talk about the first 100 hours on the
House floor in this new Democratic majority, and we accomplished more
in the first 100 hours I would dare say than the previous Congress did
all together. In fact, I believe we have done more on the floor of the
U.S. House of Representatives in the past 9 months than the previous
Republican Congresses have done in 9 years.
Unfortunately, these bills are then sent to the Senate where too many
of them remain. But I am proud of the work that we are doing in the
House under this new majority. And, Mr. Speaker, we are doing it with
fiscal discipline. We are passing these bills, a new vision for
America, putting America's priorities where they ought to be, and that
is putting our families and children first again. But we are doing it
in a sensible and responsible way, a way in which we pay for it.
One of the first things to happen on the floor in this new Congress
was to reinstitute the PAYGO rules. PAYGO is an acronym for ``pay as
you go.'' It is what we do at the Ross home in Prescott, Arkansas. It
is what most American families do.
Mr. Speaker, for the past 6 years, a Republican-led Congress and a
Republican President gave us the largest debt ever in our Nation's
history, the largest deficit year after year. To put it in perspective,
to put it in perspective, this President has borrowed more money from
foreigners in the past 6 years than the previous 42 Presidents
combined.
We are going to put an end to that, and we did so when we
reinstituted the PAYGO rules on the floor of the House of
Representatives. Every bill that comes to the floor of the House in
this new Democratic Congress must be paid for. Now, some of the
Republicans say, oh, that's a disguise to raise taxes. The Republicans
now believe that the only
[[Page H11144]]
way to create new revenue, the only way to pay for a program is to
raise taxes. Not so. As conservative Democrats, we know the way you pay
for programs is to cut wasteful spending. There are a lot of examples
of wasteful spending.
I have got 8,000 brand-new, fully furnished mobile homes sitting in a
cow pasture in Hope, Arkansas, mobile homes purchased by FEMA destined
for Hurricane Katrina victims that never quite found their way to the
gulf coast. Now FEMA, our government, is spending a quarter of a
million dollars a month to warehouse these mobile homes which have
created another bureaucracy in and of itself back home in Hope,
Arkansas. And they are not doing anyone any good.
You want to talk about accountability, I had a tornado a few months
ago hit Dumas, Arkansas. They needed 30, that's right, 30 of these
mobile homes, while 8,000 of them sat in a cow pasture 2\1/2\ hours
away in Hope, Arkansas. I called the director of FEMA. He came up with
every excuse in the book why he couldn't help these 30 homeless people.
He said it wasn't worthy of a declaration for a Federal disaster.
This tornado devastated this small delta town of 5,000 people. There
were 150 homes destroyed or heavily damaged. Over 25 businesses were
destroyed. The electrical grid system for the town was destroyed. They
went 5 days without electricity. Lots of people were injured. Thank God
no one died. And we needed 30 of those mobile homes sent 2\1/2\ hours
down the road to help these folks. And, instead, the response I got was
they weren't worthy of a Federal disaster declaration.
It took me going on CNN, and, finally, 30 minutes after I was on
``NBC Evening News'' talking about this tragedy, FEMA had a change of
heart and decided to let the people of Dumas have these 30 mobile homes
to house the homeless who were victims of this tornado.
This is an example of wasteful spending and this is a symbol of why
people are fed up with our government, and it is an example of why we
need to restore accountability, accountability to our Nation's
government.
So when I say we are going to pay for our programs in the future, it
doesn't mean raise taxes. It means cut wasteful spending, eliminate the
programs that do not work so we can fund the programs that do.
{time} 1930
From 1789 to 2000, our national debt rose to $5.67 trillion, but by
2010, the total national debt will have increased to $10.88 trillion.
This is a doubling of the 211-year debt in just a decade, in just 10
years.
Interest payments on this debt are one of the fastest growing parts
of the Federal budget, and again, the debt tax, D-E-B-T, is one that
cannot be repealed, and every man, woman and child in America, your
share, our share, my share, your share, Mr. Speaker, of the national
debt is $29,735.
Current national debt, again $9,010,742,245,690 and some change. Some
say why do deficits matter; can't y'all just print more money? It
doesn't work that way, and besides deficits reduce economic growth.
Think of the economic good times we had in the 1990s when President
Clinton gave us the first balanced budget in 40 years, and look at the
economy today. We propped up the economy through much of the last few
years through low interest rates and allowing folks to purchase homes
that maybe couldn't quite afford it, and now that's coming back to
haunt this administration.
Deficits reduce economic growth. It's time to restore fiscal
discipline to our national government. It is time to reduce our debt
and deficit so that we can create new jobs and economic opportunities
for working families.
Why do deficits matter? I would argue they burden our children and
grandchildren with these last liabilities. For the last 6 years, this
Republican Congress and Republican administration has spent money like
you wouldn't believe. They have spent money and haven't paid for their
spending. They have left it for our children and for our grandchildren.
That is simply wrong.
Growing up at Midway United Methodist Church outside of Prescott,
Arkansas, I heard a lot of sermons about being a good steward, and the
American people have elected us as Members of Congress to make the
weekly trip to our Nation's Capital and be good stewards of their tax
money. And that's why I'm proud to help lead and cochair the Blue Dog
Coalition, because we're doing our best to demand accountability, to
demand fiscal responsibility and to give this Congress a good dose of
common sense.
Why do deficits matter? Because they increase our reliance on foreign
lenders. Foreign lenders now own 40 percent of this debt. Much of the
rest of it's been borrowed from the Social Security Trust Fund, with
absolutely no provision made on how or when it's going to be paid back.
That's why, Mr. Speaker, the first bill I filed as a Member of Congress
was a bill to tell the politicians in Washington to keep their hands
off the Social Security Trust Fund.
The U.S. is becoming increasingly dependent on foreign lenders.
Foreign lenders currently hold a total of about $2.199 trillion of our
public debt, and I believe this is every bit as much critical to our
national security as anything else. Compare this to only $623.3 billion
in foreign holdings back in 1993. So who are these countries? Who are
these foreign investors that are funding our government, that for the
past 6 years funded tax cuts for folks in this country earning over
$400,000 a year, while the rest of us were pretty much left to fend for
ourselves?
Topping off the list, Japan. The United States of America has
borrowed $637.4 billion from Japan.
Number two, China. The United States of America has borrowed $346.5
billion from Communist China.
The United Kingdom. The United States of America has borrowed $223.5
billion from the UK.
OPEC, and we wonder why gasoline is so high. The United States of
America has borrowed $97.1 billion from OPEC.
Korea. $67.7 billion is the amount of debt that the United States of
America has accumulated with Korea.
Taiwan, $63.2 billion. The United States of America has borrowed
$63.2 billion from Taiwan.
One of the founders of the Blue Dogs, John Tanner from Tennessee, put
it best when he said, if China decides to invade Taiwan, we'll have to
borrow more money from China to defend Taiwan. That's crazy.
It is crazy that we borrowed and continue to borrow all this money
from foreigners. And as members of the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition
and this new Democratic Congress, we're saying enough is enough, and
we're trying to restore fiscal discipline, common sense through the
passage of the PAYGO rules, pay-as-you-go.
If a Member of Congress has an idea and it's worthy of being funded,
that's fine and dandy, but don't borrow the money from Taiwan or China
or OPEC. Show us how you're going to pay for it. That's the new rules
of the House of Representatives, and those are the rules that were in
place back in the late 1990s when we saw the first balanced budget in
this Nation in 40 years, a balanced budget that continued from 1998
through 2000.
The Caribbean Banking Centers. The United States of America has
borrowed $63.6 billion from the Caribbean Banking Centers.
Hong Kong. The United States of America has borrowed $51 billion from
Hong Kong.
Germany, $52.1 billion. The United States of America has borrowed
$52.1 billion from Germany.
And rounding out the top 10 list of foreigners that the United States
of America under this Republican administration has borrowed money from
to fund our government and tax cuts for those earning over $400,000 a
year, and this one will surprise a lot of people, Mexico. Yes, the
United States of America has borrowed $38.2 billion from Mexico to help
fund this debt which, as of today, is $9,010,742,245,690 and some
change.
That's what the Blue Dog Coalition is all about. We're about trying
to restore fiscal discipline and common sense to our national
government, and I'm proud of our Blue Dog members. We're 47 members
strong. There's 47 of us that are not afraid to come to Washington and
take a stand for common sense, for fiscal discipline and to restore
accountability to our government.
[[Page H11145]]
Well, we talk about the debt and the deficit. Another thing that's
important to point out, Mr. Speaker, is our Nation's been borrowing
about a billion dollars a day, but before we borrow a billion dollars
today, we're going to spend a half a billion, with a B, a half a
billion dollars of your tax money paying interest on the debt we've
already got, and until we get our fiscal house in order, we will not be
able to meet America's priorities.
What do I mean by that? Interest payments on debt dwarf other
priority. 2008 budget authority in billions. The red indicates the
amount of money we're spending of your tax money paying interest on the
national debt. And until we get our fiscal house in order, we can't
stop those interest payments, which means many of America's priorities
are going unmet because so much of our tax money, Mr. Speaker, is going
to pay interest on the national debt.
The red indicates the amount of money in the fiscal year 2008 budget
as presented by the President that's going to pay interest on the
national debt. Now, we say we love our children. We say that we want
them to have a world-class education. We say that we want our children
to be competitive in this 21st century global economy. We say one
thing; we do another. Look at the light blue. That's how much we spend
educating our children compared to the red, which is the amount of
money we spend paying interest on the national debt.
Veterans, and we're creating a new generation of veterans in Iraq and
Afghanistan tonight, and it's time that our country did right by our
veterans. It's time that our Nation, the United States of America,
honored our veterans and kept our promises to them, and yet in the
President's budget for 2008, the green, that's how much we're investing
in veterans health care and veterans programs. And again, contrast that
to the red. Look at the amount of money we're spending paying interest
on the national debt. Contrast that to the green box, the amount of
money we're spending taking care of our veterans.
And homeland security, ``homeland security,'' a new word, a new
buzzword since 9/11. Oh, we feel safe. We go through the airports and
we take off our shoes and we do all that stuff to then board a plane
where half the belly of the plane is filled oftentimes with freight
that remains totally unchecked. All the containers entering our ports,
very few are checked. ``Homeland security'' is a nice buzzword, but
look at the amount of money we're investing in homeland security and
protecting the citizens of this country and keeping America safe. Look
at the amount of money in the President's budget for homeland security
contrasted with the red box. Purple box, homeland security; red box,
the amount of money the President proposed that we spend simply paying
interest on the national debt.
This does not reflect my priorities, Mr. Speaker, and I can assure
you that the President's budget does not reflect the priorities of this
new Democratic Congress. It is time that we put families and children
first again. We do that by investing in our children, ensuring they
receive a world-class education. We do that by honoring our veterans,
including a new generation of veterans coming home from Iraq and
Afghanistan, and we do that by protecting our homeland. We do that by
protecting our homeland.
Mr. Speaker, there's a lot of talk about Iraq and what we should or
should not do. I voted to go to Iraq. Most Members of this Chamber,
both Democrat and Republican, did, and we went there, we were told,
because of weapons of mass destruction. They no longer have weapons of
mass destruction. We'll save that debate for another evening, Mr.
Speaker, about whether they ever did or not, but we were told that they
had weapons of mass destruction and they were never found, which, at
best, our intelligence in this country failed us.
And I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, there's not a more difficult
decision that Members of Congress are forced to make than whether or
not to send our men and women in uniform into harm's way, and when
we're asked to make these decisions, we've got to know our intelligence
is right. Our intelligence failed us in the decisions we had to make
leading up to this war in Iraq.
I've got a brother-in-law. He's been in the Iraq region several
times. He's in his, I don't know, 19th year in the United States Air
Force. My first cousin is an officer in Iraq. He was in Iraq when his
wife gave birth to their first child. He's back in Iraq. He's there for
a year and a half, and he will be there when his wife gives birth to
their third child. He's not complaining. He's proud to serve his
country. He does whatever's asked of him. That's what our men and women
in uniform do.
But this war has not only affected my family. It's affected
everybody's family. Just in the last month, I've had to make three
telephone calls to wives and mothers in my district who have lost a
loved one in Iraq, including one just an hour or so ago before coming
to the House floor. We can never do enough for those families. We can
never do enough to honor and remember those who have served our Nation
in Iraq and Afghanistan and all over this world.
But at some point we've got to ask ourselves, I mean, we went there
because of weapons of mass destruction. We said that we would stay
until Saddam was overthrown; we did. Then we were told we would stay
until he was captured; he was. Then we were told that we would stay
until he was tried and executed; we did. And then we were told we
needed to stay until the new Iraqi Government was in place and they had
open and free elections; and they did.
Mr. Speaker, we continue to move the goal post on our troops. We
continue to redefine what our ultimate victory is. And I'm here to tell
you, Mr. Speaker, if our ultimate victory is convincing the folks of
Iraq to live like we do, we will be there for the rest of my life.
It's time for a new direction in Iraq, and I bring this up because
we're spending some $16 million an hour of your tax money, Mr. Speaker,
$16 million an hour in Iraq.
{time} 1945
I think we should demand accountability for how that money is being
spent, and I think we should demand a new direction. I think we owe
that to our men and women in uniform.
Well, I am very delighted to be joined this evening by some of my
Blue Dog colleagues as we discuss the Blue Dogs. I have kind of set the
stage, by explaining the debt, why it matters, how we have gotten into
the mess we are in and what we are trying to do as conservative
Democrats to fix it. We are not just talking about it; we have
legislation to accomplish it. In the Iraq war, we have H.R. 97, the
demand accountability on how your tax money is being spent in Iraq. We
talked about that on the floor of the House many times.
Tonight, some of the things I want to talk about is the Blue Dog
fiscal accountability package, taking the next steps to restore fiscal
accountability to our Nation's government. We have the Fiscal Honesty
and Accountability Act, we have the balanced budget amendment, and we
have a resolution strengthening the budget process; and we will talk
about these in more detail as the evening goes on.
But at this moment, I would like to yield to my friend from
Tennessee, fellow Blue Dog member, Lincoln Davis.
Mr. LINCOLN DAVIS of Tennessee. To the gentleman from Arkansas,
thanks very much for your leadership on many of the issues that our
Blue Dog Coalition championed here in the House. We championed them for
many years, about 1994, 1995, when the Blue Dogs were established.
Basically, this group of individuals initially offered both sides,
both caucuses, the opportunity to participate in the Blue Dogs,
Republican and Democrats alike.
I have always continued to feel very confident that in America today
we need American Democrats and American Republicans more than ever.
What I mean by that is that we need Americans first and political
parties next. Certainly those two political parties have done a
tremendous job in driving many of the debates on many of the important
issues important in America.
It has also given America a history as being the country in the world
that championed civil rights, individual rights, and civil liberties;
and we continue to do that. In many cases, as we
[[Page H11146]]
have engaged in battlefields throughout history, it has been to bring
about democracy and freedom.
But as we talk about this, I want to digress just a moment and talk
about a particular situation that is being considered today, which will
be what's called combat training for our airmen. In many cases we put
our soldiers who are in the Air Force in the battlefield, the battle
zones, in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, in my opinion, without
proper training for EMS, in the event there is something that happens
that they are in the battlefield, they may be injured. I don't think
they are properly trained, and, in many cases, we need to do that. So
we are actually talking now about locating CBAT, which will be combat
training for airmen in different areas.
I want to read a comment that I have prepared for the potential
location of this particular facility.
From the Manhattan Project to TVA to the Apollo project to the
Spallation Neutron Source and so much more, the Tennessee Valley
Corridor and its key institutions, communities, businesses, and
congressional leaders have always exemplified the phrase, ``National
Leadership through Regional Cooperation.''
Key leaders in our region continue to support our Nation by working
to enhance and advance the corridor's key science technology and
national security assets.
With that, one of the big challenges in warfare is adequate training
for our combat troops. Afghanistan and Iraq have placed a new demand on
the airmen of our Air Force for needed combat air support. These
increased demands include prison guard duty, combat convoy support, and
significant expanded security force duty.
With these additional responsibilities, the Air Force has
acknowledged its airmen are lacking the ground combat skills necessary
to meet today's demands. To address these needs, the Air Force has
proposed, as former Air Force Secretary Roche has described it, a new
program to ``bring together our battlefield airmen under a common
training and organization structure to strengthen the combat power they
bring to the fight.''
Weapons training, tactical field cooperation operations and land
navigation training, basic combat skills, physical fitness training and
basic medical training will be a part of the core curriculum provided
by new Common Battlefield Airman Training (CBAT) program.
The proposed location for this new Common Battlefield Airman Training
program has now been narrowed down to three potential sites, one of
which is in my district, Arnold Engineering Development Center in
Arnold Air Force Base near Tullahoma, Tennessee.
Key leaders in the Tennessee Valley Corridor and I are convinced that
establishing CBAT at Arnold Air Force Base would be the best course of
action, an exceptional investment for the Air Force and the Nation.
Arnold Air Force Base and the Arnold Engineering Development Center are
already home to the world's premier flight simulations testing facility
and continue to be vital national resources in the development of many
of the Nation's top priority aerospace and national defense programs.
Arnold, with its history of extensive combat training during World
War II, had abundant land available for CBAT training, with a dedicated
200-acre campus, small arms firing range and 9,000 acres for additional
required training. In short, middle Tennessee and the Tennessee Valley
Corridor have a world-class facility ready and willing to house this
important new training operation.
The Coffee County community, the middle Tennessee/north Alabama
region and, indeed, the entire Tennessee Valley Corridor strongly
support our Nation's Armed Forces and their training needs as they
continue to serve and defend our Nation. A better trained corps of
airmen will not only give them the ability to operate more effectively
in a combat zone and a better chance of survival, but will also help
them better defend the United States in our post-9/11 world.
I strongly support and encourage all others to support Arnold Air
Force Base's pursuit of this new CBAT program.
As we continue to train our soldiers who are on the battlefields
throughout the world, certainly in the two hot spots today, perhaps we
should say three, which would also include the area around the Balkans,
we need to adequately train them. It's not right; it's not American to
send someone into the battlefield without being properly trained.
I know we have others who want to speak here tonight; but I would
like, if I could, before I yield to the gentleman from Arkansas, I
would like to read an editorial that I sent to one of our local papers,
and it deals with PAYGO, as we will address our deficits here in
Congress:
``At a time when the White House is attempting to position the
Republican Party as fiscally responsible, former Federal Reserve
Chairman Alan Greenspan bluntly said in his new book `The Age of
Turbulence: Adventures in a New World' that his party over the past
several years put politics over fiscal discipline and lower government
spending.'' At least one honest Republican.
``During the past several years while we were witnessing the largest
growth of government since the 1960s and a ballooning deficit, Mr.
Greenspan was correct in advocating for a return to pay-as-you-go
rules. These rules, re-enacted earlier this year after they helped
restore fiscal discipline in Washington during the 1990s, require
Congress to offset the cost of new spending or tax cuts with savings
elsewhere.
``The Blue Dog Coalition, a growing band of deficit hawk Democrats
with a deep commitment to the financial stability and national security
of the United States, has been pushing to reimplement PAYGO for several
years. Their bark was finally heard earlier this year when they pushed
the new congressional leadership to enforce the policy.
``When PAYGO was in place in the 1990s, spending as a percentage of
gross domestic product (GDP) declined from 22.1 percent to 18.5 percent
by 2001. As a result, huge budget deficits became a budget surplus.
Shortly after President Bush took office, the Congress unwisely let
PAYGO expire, causing an explosion in government spending and yearly
budget deficits. Our national debt grew by $3 trillion over this
period, and by 2005, spending had clawed its way back to 20.1 percent
of GDP.''
Let's think about that a moment: $3 trillion increase since this
President has been in office. What does that mean?
We roughly spend $450 billion a year today on interest alone. That's
$1.2 billion a day. But let's just take the last 5 years since 2001, or
6 years since 2001, and look at how that $3 trillion is impacting our
budget.
For instance, today, if we had continued down the path and just had a
balanced budget, not necessarily a surplus but just a balanced budget,
we wouldn't be spending $150 billion-plus extra in interest. Think of
what that would do. We are spending today over 125, $130 billion in
Iraq, supposedly, in Iraq, probably more than that. But, in essence,
what we have done in the last 6\1/2\ years, or last 6 years and 9
months of this administration, under control of the Republican White
House and under the control of the Republican leadership on the other
side of the aisle, we have increased just our portion of the interest,
not retiring the debt, by over $150 billion a year. That in itself,
that figure itself, alone, is over six times what the entire budget of
the State of Tennessee is in one year.
So I think it's time that we again reclaim for this Nation fiscal
responsibility and continue to be the strong defense hawks that our
caucus, our Blue Dogs, has been.
Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Tennessee for his commitment to
our men and women in uniform. I especially appreciate it as the
Arkansas 39th Brigade, our Arkansas National Guard, they have only been
home for about 33 months from a year on the ground in Iraq. They have
been called up and are now training at National Guard armories all
across Arkansas. They will be doing that through the end of the year.
They will be going to Mississippi in January and February and then
sometime in March headed back to Iraq for another year of duty.
We owe it to them and their families to ensure that they are properly
trained and to ensure that we are investing in them the very best
equipment and technology to give them a
[[Page H11147]]
fighting chance, coming back, returning to their families safely.
If you have got any comments or concerns, you can e-mail us at
BlueD[email protected]. If you have any comments, questions or
concerns, you can e-mail us at BlueD[email protected].
Again, the Blue Dog Coalition is a group of 47 fiscally conservative
Democrats that, quite frankly, feel like we have been choked blue by
the extremes of both parties, and we are just simply trying to restore
common sense and fiscal discipline to our Nation's government. We are
in the middle, and that's what we believe America is.
I want to thank the gentleman from Tennessee for his commitment to
our troops, for his commitment to fiscal discipline and for sharing
with us the piece that he recently submitted to a newspaper in his
district. Thank you, Lincoln Davis.
I mentioned the Blue Dogs have three bills that we believe can go a
long way toward fixing this mess, cleaning up the mess here in
Washington. One of the bills to do that is the Fiscal Honesty and
Accountability Act. It strengthens our commitment to fiscal
responsibility and accountability, and reinstitutes statutory PAYGO
rules.
It implements multiyear discretionary spending caps. It closes a
loophole in the law that has been used to add billions of dollars in
routine spending, and it requires the Congressional Budget Office,
commonly referred to as the CBO, to estimate interest costs produced by
spending in any bill. We will go over this and explain what all this
means.
I am pleased to introduce and to yield to a fellow Blue Dog from the
State of Indiana, who is the author of this commonsense piece of
legislation that has been embraced by my fellow colleagues,
conservative Democrats in the Blue Dog Coalition, and that's Baron
Hill.
Mr. HILL. I thank the gentleman from Arkansas for yielding his time.
I also thank him for his great leadership with the Blue Dog Coalition
and making sure that our message of fiscal discipline does get out.
I would like at this time to take a little history lesson about how
we have gotten to the point where we are right now with a $9 trillion
deficit. That figure is hard to believe, $9 trillion, our Nation's
government is in debt.
Back during the 1980s, there was a Republican President who came up
with an idea called supply-side economics. During the campaign of the
1980s, that candidate was criticized for this economic policy. It was
claimed to be very risky.
As a matter of fact, one of the candidates that was running on the
Republican side called it voodoo economics. Basically, what it was in
the 1980s was a policy that would dramatically cut taxes with the idea
that if we cut taxes dramatically, there would be more money that would
come to the coffers of the United States Government and deficits would
no longer be around.
The trouble with that is that it did not work in the 1980s. I have to
say that the Democrats who were in the majority in the House and the
Senate that time endorsed this concept and passed this piece of
legislation into law.
So taxes were dramatically decreased, military spending went
dramatically up, and deficits went dramatically up during the 1980s.
{time} 2000
During the 1990s, this policy was rejected under a Democratic
President who was elected. He was of the opinion that we needed to get
our fiscal house in order. And so during the 1990s, the supply side
economics theory was rejected and PAYGO rules were put into effect in
the 1990s.
What happened? Those PAYGO rules worked, and around 2000 and 2001 our
government, for the first time in a very long period of time, actually
produced surpluses. And it was projected that these surpluses would
amount to trillions of dollars, projected out in the 21st century.
Then we had another election, and the old policies of the 1980s were
reinstated again, those policies in the 1980s called supply side
economics that caused huge deficits. PAYGO rules were thrown out the
window again, not reinstated.
And here we are again, as Mr. Davis from Tennessee has already
indicated, during that time period where PAYGOs were thrown out the
window and supply side economics were reinstated, we've increased our
deficit by $3 trillion, and now we're facing a $9 trillion deficit. The
second largest expenditure in our Nation's budget is the interest that
we pay on that deficit. This has got to stop. The gentleman from
Arkansas earlier said, this is crazy, and it is crazy. When the Chinese
Government is buying our debt, buying our paper, loaning us their
money, affecting our foreign policy, we have to get our fiscal house in
order.
And I'm so proud that I'm a member of Blue Dog Democrats. I joined
the Blue Dog Democrats back in 1998 when I first got elected. I served
three terms, and then the good people from southern Indiana decided I
needed a little bit of a rest, and I took that rest for 2 years, got
reelected 2 years later, and immediately joined the fiscally
responsible group called the Blue Dog Democrats, and I'm glad that I
am.
Now, Blue Dogs just don't bark. They also put into place policy. And
one of the things that we have done is introduce the Fiscal Honesty and
Accountability Act. What does the Fiscal Accountability Act do? It
reinstates statutorily the PAYGO rules that have led us out of this
debt in the past and into surpluses. They were instrumental in
producing the surpluses that we enjoyed in the late 1990s and the early
2000s.
This bill also closes a loophole in current law that allows almost
any spending to be designated as emergency spending.
Now, for those who are listening on C-SPAN, what does that mean? You
know, we can pay PAYGO rules in the House, and all PAYGO rules means is
if we're going to spend extra money or we're going to reduce taxes,
you've got to figure out a way to pay for it. It's pretty pure and
simple, but it requires discipline.
One of the ways that Congress gets around the PAYGO rules is by
enacting spending measures. For example, we may have an emergency
spending measure on the war in Iraq.
Well, Members of Congress from both parties use that spending measure
to insert other nonrelated emergency spending measures into the
emergency spending in order to get around the PAYGO rules. The Fiscal
Honesty and Accountability Act will stop that practice; and it's the
Blue Dogs who are leading the charge and making sure that we stop
playing games with our Nation's budget, because we really do have to
get serious here now about doing something about our Nation's budget.
It's swirling out of control. I think most people are shocked when they
learn that the Chinese Government is buying a lot of our debt in this
country, affecting our foreign policy. This kind of practice needs to
stop. And the Blue Dogs are leading the charge in making sure that it
does get stopped by passing the Fiscal Accountability and Honesty Act.
Now, other things that we are doing, we're offering a balanced budget
amendment and we're trying to pass a resolution strengthening the
budget process. When I talk about the Blue Dogs are not just about bark
but about policy as well, I mean it. We're putting our actions where
our words are, and we're here tonight to talk about that and to ask the
Congress to pass the Fiscal Honesty and Accountability Act, which
implements PAYGO rules and stops the clowning around with emergency
spending measures.
So, Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to have this opportunity to join my
fellow Blue Dogs to talk about fiscal responsibility. I applaud the
leadership of the Blue Dogs on this particular issue. We're going to
keep on barking. We're going to keep on implementing policy. I thank
the gentleman from Arkansas for yielding me this time, and I yield back
my time to him.
Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Indiana's Ninth Congressional
District, Mr. Hill, for his sponsorship and for authoring this very
important legislation, the Fiscal Honesty and Accountability Act of
2007, one of three key pieces of legislation that we believe can go a
long way toward restoring common sense, fiscal discipline and
accountability to our national government.
Another one of those is a resolution strengthening the budget
process.
[[Page H11148]]
We're going to talk more about that. I yield to the gentleman at this
time, though, from Tennessee, Lincoln Davis.
Mr. LINCOLN DAVIS of Tennessee. My friend from Arkansas, in the
presentation earlier I had intended to discuss the 12 individuals that
lived in counties that I represent before they lost their lives in
Iraq. Four of those actually were not in my district, but there are 12
individuals that either live in the county I represent or in the
district I represent.
I made a commitment some time ago that each day that when I said my
prayers for those in special prayer need, that these families would
always be a part of my prayer list. And I keep a list of those in my
wallet, of those individuals. I hope I don't have to add a new name.
Occasionally I'll have to take this out and redo it and add a name to
it. I hope I don't have to add another name until we're able to settle
and resolve and bring our soldiers home from Iraq and from Afghanistan.
These individuals have honored us and our Nation, and I think that
we, as Americans, need to be sure that we honor their name and their
families, and that we keep them in our hearts and constantly in our
minds so that we don't ever forget the commitment that they gave, and
they gave all for this Nation.
Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Tennessee for those thoughts,
and he is absolutely correct. We must keep all the soldiers who have
died in service to our country, those who have been injured in service
to our country in our hearts and in our prayers. And on this evening I
hope we'll especially remember Sergeant James Doster from Jefferson
County, Arkansas, the latest casualty from Arkansas' Fourth
Congressional District.
The gentleman from Tennessee mentioned those who've died in service
to our country, and we've talked a little bit about the Iraq war. And I
want to deviate for a moment and let you know, Mr. Speaker, that Mr.
Davis and I are part of a group outside of the Blue Dog Coalition, but
a group of Democrats and Republicans that have come together, 14
Democrats, 14 Republicans that have created this bipartisan compact on
Iraq debate because the fact is, Mr. Speaker, I voted three times to
bring our troops home in a responsible and in a manner that would be
responsible. But the reality is this: That the reason I voted three
times is because we don't have a veto-proof majority in the House of
Representatives. And we can continue to have those votes, but the
reality is the President will veto those actions and so we really, at
the end of the day, haven't been successful in a new direction in Iraq.
Finally, you know, if there's one issue that shouldn't be a Democrat
or Republican issue but should put us all in the context of being
Americans first, it should be how we move forward on this Iraq debate.
And there are 28 of us, 14 Democrats, 14 Republicans that have come
together to create this bipartisan compact on Iraq debate. And I
welcome, as I go through these points, I would welcome the gentleman
from Tennessee (Mr. Davis), any comments or thoughts he might want to
interject. But basically, here's the compact.
We agree, 14 Democrats, 14 Republicans, we agree that the U.S.
Congress must end the political infighting over the conflict in Iraq
and commit immediately to a truly bipartisan dialogue on the issues we
are facing.
I would yield to the gentleman from Tennessee.
Mr. LINCOLN DAVIS of Tennessee. How can anyone in this Chamber or any
American let politics, partisan politics, have a play in the
decisionmaking as we talk about our young men and women who are willing
to give their life and those who've given their lives on the
battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan?
I think that it's time. I travel my district and I tell folks that
bipartisanship seems to have escaped us here in Washington. I talked to
some of the folks who were here years ago and people who visited
Washington saying that Democrats and Republicans would get together
after a debate, whether they disagreed on certain issues, but that they
would get together after that debate and spend time in the evening as
friends or families would spend time together. That needs, we need to
recapture that here in the U.S. House.
I read a book recently, or a quote in a book recently that was made
by that great fellow from Britain, Mr. Churchill. He'd been speaking at
Fulton, Missouri in 1951, where he gave his Iron Curtain Speech. And he
and two or three other individuals were still on the train and still
awake. Mr. Truman, the President, and a bunch of his cabinet and staff
had retired for the evening. And they were talking about how the
circumstances of our life and circumstances of our birth influenced our
success or failures in the world that we lived in. And what Churchill
said is that: If I were to be born again, I'd want to be born in
America. We need to change America to where people like Churchill and
others will be saying again: I'd like to be an American if I was born
someplace today.
I don't think that's happening today in the world. We've got to
change that, and I think the partisan rancor that we have here on the
floor is prohibiting us from projecting to the rest of the world and to
the American citizens the best of America. And I hope that this compact
will help lead us all into being less partisan and more bipartisan on
this floor and in America.
Mr. ROSS. There are eight points that we make in this bipartisan
compact on Iraq debate on how we move forward. The second one, we agree
that efforts to eliminate funding for U.S. forces engaged in combat and
in harm's way in Iraq would put at risk the safety and security of our
servicemembers. In other words, as long as we've got troops in harm's
way, we're going to support them.
We agree that there must be a clearly defined and measurable mission
for our continued military involvement in Iraq. Again, stop redefining
victory. Stop moving the goal post. This mission must be further and
continually defined so that the military and the country are aware of
the end goal of our mission in Iraq and what progress toward that goal
is being achieved.
We agree that the Government of Iraq must now be responsible for
Iraq's future course. The government must continue to make progress on
the legislative benchmarks outlined in section 1314 of the recent
Supplemental Appropriations Act, public law 110-28. Demand
accountability from the Iraqis.
Mr. LINCOLN DAVIS of Tennessee. If the gentleman would yield, what
that means is we're asking the Iraqis to occupy their own nation
instead of our American soldiers. That, in fact, is what we're asking.
We're asking the Iraqis to be their own policemen instead of the
policemen on the beat being the American soldier. I think that should
be expected by everyone, regardless of politics.
Mr. ROSS. We agree that it is critical for members of the U.S. Armed
Forces, including members of the reserve components, to have adequate
rest and recuperation periods between deployments.
We agree that a safe and responsible redeployment of U.S. Armed
Forces from Iraq, based on recommendations from our military and
foreign policy leaders, is necessary to transition the combat mission
over to the Iraqi forces.
We agree that the continued military mission of U.S. combat forces
must lead to a timely transition to conducting counterterrorism
operations, protecting the U.S. Armed Forces, supporting and equipping
Iraqi forces to take full responsibility for their own security,
assisting refugees, and preventing genocide.
{time} 2015
We agree that U.S. diplomatic efforts should continue to be improved
and that the U.S. State Department must engage in robust diplomacy with
Iraq's neighbors in the Middle East to address the Iraq conflict.
We had a military surge, and we now know that didn't work. That is
what President Bush wanted, and that's what he got. What we are saying
here, among these eight components, and don't get me wrong, it is only
one of the eight components, one of the eight components is it's time
for a diplomatic surge in the Middle East. Fourteen Democrats and
fourteen Republicans have signed on to this, and I believe it is time
for a new direction in Iraq. It is time for a bipartisan direction. It
is time for us to all come together as Americans first.
I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee.
[[Page H11149]]
Mr. LINCOLN DAVIS of Tennessee. In essence what that component says
is that in a bipartisan way we want to be sure that the Iraqis have a
surge in leadership for their own country, take over the control of
their own country; that the Iraqis develop the military that they need
to occupy their own country themselves. And, secondly, that they become
the policemen in the field, on the roads, riding the Humvees, and not
our soldiers. I thank my friend from Arkansas for each week that you
bring to the American public the views, the ideas of the fiscal
conservative Blue Dog Democrats, deficit hawks and defense hawks here
on the House floor.
Mr. ROSS. Again, these views on Iraq are not necessarily those of the
Blue Dog Coalition. We require a two-thirds vote for an endorsed
position. These are our views, those of us that believe we need a new
direction and how we think we can get there in a bipartisan way.
Another one of the bills being put forth by the Blue Dogs, and this
one was written by Heath Shuler from North Carolina, Charlie Melancon
from Louisiana, and Charlie Wilson from Ohio, and it's called a
Resolution Strengthening the Budget Process. It strengthens and
increases transparency of the budget process. It ensures that Members
have a sufficient amount of time to properly examine legislation and
determine its actual cost. No more of being forced to vote on these
300- and 400-page bills after seeing them for 15 minutes and knowing
the cost of what we are voting on. PAYGO rules now require that.
It requires that a full Congressional Budget Office, CBO, cost
estimate accompany any bill or conference report that comes to the
House floor and ensures that lawmakers have at least 3 days to review
the final text of any bill before casting their votes.
We can't make Members of Congress read the bills they are voting on;
but if you give them 3 days from the final text to the day of the vote,
it gives them the opportunity to read them. Right now, and many times
under the Republican-led Congress in the past 6 years, there wasn't an
opportunity to read the bills because they would let us see the bills
15 minutes or an hour before we were voting on them, sometimes 300- and
400-page bills.
Commonsense ideas that we are putting into legislation.
Another integral part of the Blue Dog fiscal accountability package
is this, and I have done my best to go through it and explain to you
what it is that we are trying to do there. It's a resolution aimed at
strengthening and increasing the transparency of the budget process.
All too often Members of Congress are forced to vote on legislation
without knowing its true cost implications. This measure will ensure
that Members have a sufficient amount of time to properly examine
legislation and determine its actual cost.
And then, finally, the balanced budget amendment. And I want to thank
the Blue Dog leader Kirsten Gillibrand from New York for authoring the
balanced budget amendment, which would provide for a constitutional
amendment requiring Congress to balance the Federal budget every year.
Forty-nine States do it. Most American families do it. And it is time
that the United States Congress did it. It allows for flexibility
during times of war, natural disaster, or an economic downturn, and it
prohibits cuts in Social Security benefits from ever being used in
order to balance the budget.
Mr. Speaker, these are just three pieces of legislation that have
been endorsed by the Blue Dog Coalition, authored by the members of the
Blue Dog Coalition, that we believe can put us on a path toward
restoring common sense, fiscal discipline, and accountability to our
Nation's government.
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