[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 191 (Wednesday, December 16, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H15476-H15477]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   AMERICANS WANT THEIR COUNTRY BACK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, as we end the month, the year, the 
decade, this session of Congress, some observations:
  Fifteen million Americans are unemployed. We have 10 percent 
unemployment and higher throughout the United States.
  Spending is totally out of control. The country is broke, so we 
borrow money from China and Japan, and it seems they own our Nation. 
And the taxacrats have not seen a tax bill they didn't believe in.
  Domestic policy is simple: Spend money, spend money we don't have, 
then borrow it, and then raise taxes on the American people.
  The government's financial system is also simple: If it moves, tax 
it; if it keeps moving, regulate it; and if it stops moving, then 
subsidize it. Today we raised the debt ceiling so more money can be 
spent as soon as we get back in January. Now we're over $12 trillion in 
debt.
  The House has turned our Nation's health care over to the government. 
You know, the government who tried to run a health care vaccine program 
that was a total failure, where school kids didn't get the vaccine 
while Wall Street fat cats did. And yet the Federal Government wants to 
now run America's health.
  The House voted on a cap-and-trade tax bill that will add a tax on 
energy consumption for all Americans and punish energy consumption and 
encourage domestic oil producers to go somewhere else.
  Congress has given more money away to foreign countries that hate us 
while ignoring problems at home.
  Many Members of Congress have already left on planes, headed to 
Denmark to talk about how we must control the climate because man is 
the evildoer and scourge of the Earth. Of course, the Al Gore warmers 
have been caught this year hiding data that shows reasonable minds 
disagree with their theory of global warming. Plus, the warmers want to 
force Americans to spend millions of dollars to implement changes on 
their yet unproven theories.
  The government, in essence, has taken over Wall Street, the financial 
industry, the automobile industry. You know, General Motors needs to 
change its name to Government Motors. The Federal Government has taken 
over the mortgage industry, the banks, and the salaries of some 
executives.
  More American freedom and liberty has been stolen from us, and more 
assaults on the Constitution have occurred than at any time in our 
history. And today, the radical open border crowd has announced new 
legislation, arrogantly demanding amnesty for millions of illegals in 
this country with, also, visa preferences for those nations with the 
most foreigners in the United States. So much for border security.
  We have a new military strategy that's implemented. It's called the 
surge and retreat plan. That strategy is in Afghanistan where we're 
going to surge and send a bunch of troops in, but yet in 18 months, 
according to the administration, they're coming home. No strategy like 
that has ever been used in military history before.
  And of course Gitmo, down there in Cuba where we house terrorists, 
it's getting a new ZIP Code. We're moving it to the United States and 
putting it in Illinois. And of course the country has seen that we've 
prosecuted our Navy SEALs and given rides to terrorists.
  What an odd year it's been. It is the arrogance of power that says 
government is the answer to everything. Our lives, our fortunes, and 
our sacred honor have been turned over to government opportunists. 
Reagan said that government is the problem, not the answer, and I agree 
with him.

[[Page H15477]]

  But, Mr. Speaker, not all is gloom, doom, and despair. There is great 
hope. The American people are not fooled. People in our country now 
fear the government, and people are mad, and people are involved. And 
even though the D.C. crowd pays no attention to them, I've got news for 
the elites: The people are not going away in the darkness of the night. 
They will not give up without a fight, because the American cause is 
righteous, and the people's actions are just.
  Government should not underestimate the American soul and the 
American spirit. They are a force to be reckoned with. Mr. Speaker, the 
people want their country back, and they will get it back. After all, 
the Constitution says, ``We the People,'' not, ``We, the subjects.''
  And that's just the way it is.

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