[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 74 (Tuesday, May 6, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H3055]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                LET'S WORK TOGETHER ON THE SUPPLEMENTAL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Kansas (Mr. Tiahrt) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TIAHRT. I thank the Speaker.
  Mr. Speaker, they say that in America all you need to do to be 
successful is to work a half a day, and you can choose whether it's the 
first 12 hours or the second 12 hours. The American people probably 
expect double from their government these days when we have serious 
challenges to our economic and national security. So what is Congress 
doing? Are we doing what it takes to be successful to solve these 
problems? No. We're not starting business today until noon. Congress is 
sleeping in. Maybe we're on California time, but I will wager we will 
not be here until midnight.
  Any Third World dictator would be pleased at the way we are operating 
today. Our economy is in a precarious situation. We learned this 
morning that oil is at $120, could go to $200 per barrel, that gas is 
at $4, easily could go to $5. We're still denying our intelligence 
community the tools important to keep this country safe. And Congress 
is sleeping in.
  Many of us came to Washington sacrificing a good, normal lifestyle in 
our respective States' districts to serve this nation and work hard to 
help make America stronger, but we're not being given a chance to do 
our job. Kansans have been asking me for months, ``What is the 
government going to do about the rising cost of gas?'' In April 2006, 
the Democrat house leadership assured Americans they ``have a 
commonsense plan to help bring down skyrocketing gas prices.'' Well, 
Mr. Speaker, it is time for the Democrat leadership to unveil this 
plan. Since 2007 when the Democrats took control of the House, gas 
prices have risen 50 percent. We have $4 a gallon, going to $5.
  Today we hear that the House Democrat leadership has intentions to 
bring a $250 billion supplemental on the American people without proper 
input from Congress. I guess we don't have time. Congress is sleeping 
in till noon. As a body, Republicans and Democrats are very proud of 
our responsibility to oversee the power of the purse, but the Democrat 
leadership has completely undermined that power.
  What is this defense supplemental appropriations bill about? We don't 
know. Nor does the chairman of the respective appropriations 
subcommittees. Why? Because the Speaker doesn't think it's important 
for Members of Congress to weigh in and oversee the appropriations 
process. We don't know if this package will give our men and women in 
uniform the resources that they need to protect themselves. We don't 
know if this package will address price of gasoline or the price of 
food. We don't know if this package will ensure that our veterans are 
properly taken care of.
  The experts, the men and women, Democrat and Republican, who serve in 
Congress on the committee could answer these questions. We spend time 
overseeing the process, the funding needs of our agencies, but we've 
been cut out of the process. In other words, the people's 
representatives have been cut out of the process. How do the American 
people feel about a $250 billion monstrosity that has no input from 
their representatives? Unless you're from San Francisco, who will be 
represented in this bill?
  Mr. Speaker, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, 
David Obey, and I are friends. Last year, as a part of overseeing the 
national park system, we went to Death Valley National Park in 
California. As fate would have it on that very hot day, we took a drive 
into Death Valley and the truck that we were in that the Park Service 
gave us had not one, not two, but three flat tires. With the capable 
assistance of Rob Nabors, the committee staff director, Chairman Obey 
and I changed all the flat tires and got ourselves back on the road. By 
working together we got it back on the road.
  In many respects, the development of the emergency supplemental 
reminds me of that day in Death Valley. The environment on the House 
floor is hot and getting hotter every minute. The Democrat leadership 
is having a very difficult time getting this legislation on the road. I 
believe Chairman Obey would have better success if he enlisted the 
assistance of his fellow appropriators, Democrats and Republicans. Let 
us work together on this legislative vehicle, together through the 
normal process, as we did on that hot day in Death Valley last year.
  This has been the most disappointing Congress in recent memory. The 
Democrat leadership shirks their duty to tackle the real issues facing 
American families. They've left Congress out of the workload. It's no 
wonder that we have the lowest approval ratings in history. A banana 
republic could not do it better. Mr. Speaker, don't slip on the banana 
peel.

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