[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 3 (Thursday, January 8, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H73]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                THE FACTS ABOUT OUR ECONOMIC CHALLENGES

  (Ms. FOXX asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, we have been dealing with economic challenges 
for several months. Last fall it was called a bailout. Now it's being 
called a stimulus or sometimes an economic recovery plan. But I think 
it's important that we talk about the facts of what we're discussing.
  The stimulus being discussed now could range from $800 billion to 
more than $1.3 trillion. This will likely be the largest single 
spending bill in history. Now, what will this do to our deficit which 
we heard so much about for the 2 years before the Democrats took power?
  Nonpartisan budget experts are now predicting a deficit for 2009 of 
almost $1.3 trillion, triple the current year's deficit. That would 
equal 9 percent of GDP, which is a 50 percent increase over the World 
War II record of 6 percent. We may be paying a premium rate to foreign 
investors like China to borrow this kind of money. And what's going to 
be included in that package? $350,000 for a fitness center, $4.5 
million to bottle water with recyclable bottles.
  Mr. Speaker, we need more of the facts, not just words.

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