[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 10, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H3108-H3109]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       2009 OMNIBUS SPENDING BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Stearns) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, the omnibus spending bill is not an example 
of change here in Congress and continues the Democrat's spending spree 
in the first 2 months of the 111th Congress. Even a record $1.4 
trillion budget deficit has not stopped Congress' culture of spending 
on special projects. While families and business owners are cutting 
back and bringing their budgets under control, Congress, under Democrat 
leadership, is spending and earmarking as if nothing has changed.
  Here are a few highlights of the bill that is being debated in the 
Senate right now. There is an 8 percent discretionary spending hike. 
After passing an unprecedented massive spending bill that is the 
largest this country has ever seen, the Democrat leadership ushered 
through this House an omnibus bill that will give a staggering 80 
percent increase to discretionary programs when coupled with a $1 
trillion stimulus package. This bill will contribute to a permanent 
$2,000 per household tax hike for every household. It contains 9,300 
special funding requests, projects that cost nearly $13 billion. Now, 
the argument is made that Members have a right to make these special 
district funding requests, but I, for one, would gladly place a 
moratorium on all district funding requests until the economy is 
corrected.
  Let me say again, this omnibus spending bill increases discretionary 
spending by 8 percent when less than 3 weeks ago Congress and the 
President, under Democratic leadership, ran through a massive stimulus 
package where the same discretionary programs received much of the 
unprecedented $1.1 trillion in government spending.
  Now, counting those funds, this omnibus spending bill will institute 
an 80 percent spending increase for those programs in 2009 from $378 
billion to $680 billion. This spending increase by the Democratic Party 
is unprecedented in American history.
  The domestic spending programs which the omnibus focuses on have not 
been cut in the past decade; in fact, they have only increased from 
2001 through 2008. These programs grew 23 percent faster than 
inflation, including increases for education at 35 percent, health 
research at 37 percent, and veterans benefits at 54 percent. It is 
apparent that during these fiscally challenging times these programs 
could have survived without some of these large increases.
  Regrettably, the omnibus bill does not offset this new spending. It 
does not attempt to cut spending or institute reductions in inefficient 
or duplicate or worthless government programs. And let me just give you 
further example, Mr. Speaker, where some savings could be made; $55 
billion in annual program overpayments, $60 billion for corporate 
welfare, $123 billion for programs for which government auditors can 
find no evidence of success; $140 billion in potential budget savings 
identified in the CBO Budget Options document.
  Program duplication: There are 342 economic development programs; 134 
programs serving the disabled, they're all duplicate; 130 programs 
serving at-risk youth, these are duplicate; and there's 90 duplicate 
early childhood development programs.

                              {time}  1045

  While some of these programs may be important, I find it hard to 
believe that each of the 342 economic development programs paid for by 
the American taxpayer, each and every one is vital to the American 
people. This has been identified, all these programs that duplicate.
  Unfortunately, taxpayers should not expect change in the future. The 
administration and the Democrat party have already signed into law a 
large expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, 
putting middle class children who already have private health insurance 
on taxpayer-funded, government-run health care programs; weakened the 
1996 welfare reforms in the $1.1 trillion stimulus package; and 
instituted permanent government growth in the areas of education, 
infrastructure and Medicaid.
  Last year, President Bush signed an executive order stating that 
Federal agencies must ignore earmarks that appear in nonbinding 
conference reports and instead implement only those in the bill text 
itself. That executive order currently remains in effect. President 
Obama, who campaigned on ending politics as usual in Washington, could 
strike a blow to the earmark culture in Congress by simply leaving this 
executive order in place. Doing so would eliminate all earmarks that 
Congress has not incorporated by reference

[[Page H3109]]

into the omnibus bill text. He should go one step further and veto any 
omnibus bill that explicitly has earmarks.
  In the past six months, Congress has enacted a $700 billion financial 
bailout and a $1.1 trillion stimulus. I say it is time to end the 
culture of pork, and stop spending money that our children will have to 
pay back in the future.

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