[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 81 (Wednesday, May 26, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H3842]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 YOUCUT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, last evening I spoke on the 
House floor about the newly devised YouCut program and how it undercuts 
our representational responsibilities as Members of Congress.
  I would like to revisit this theme, which has become a recurring one, 
given the Republicans' most recent efforts.
  I repeat, government by referendum is not representation. Just 
because 81,000 people voted for a program in a Republican ploy doesn't 
mean that it is the will of the American people or informed policy.
  Let me make it very clear: Referenda have their place, but in this, 
the world's greatest deliberative body, we are not in the position of 
needing to have that kind of ploy put forward here in this body. 
Republicans seem to think that online gimmicks are an effective 
substitute for good government.
  What they fail to understand is that national policy cannot be made 
in a matter of minutes or within a few clicks of a mouse. Instead of 
worrying about friend requests, Republicans should contribute to 
meaningful debate. If they did, then they would have known that 
according to the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 
cutting funding for the Temporary Aid to Needy Families Program, as 
they attempted to do, would have resulted in 100,000 people losing 
their jobs.
  This Chamber isn't going to be fooled or bullied or be controlled by 
the misguided ideological intention or misleading rhetoric of the few. 
Republicans have called for voter input on programs of national 
significance in the name of civic participation. But spreading 
misinformation is not in the best interests of the American people.
  To the contrary, it is only in the best interests of the Republicans 
and their agenda. Not only are the summaries provided on YouCut, which 
I have called CutYou, inaccurate, they are specifically written to 
elicit a specific response.
  As I have said, I do not fault my friends on the other side of the 
aisle for taking their upcoming election campaigns into consideration 
and doing those technological undertakings that they deem necessary for 
themselves. What I do fault them for is wasting the time of this 
Chamber with their ulterior motives and legislative tricks. They are 
playing with short-term decisions that have long-term consequences.
  YouCut provides no effective way to change policy, does little to 
reduce our Federal deficit, does nothing to allow for people to talk 
about saving themselves, and hurts everyday Americans, especially the 
poor and the elderly, who probably, some of them, cannot participate in 
their poll for the reason that they don't have BlackBerrys and 
computers.
  Instead of continuing to be the Party of No, Republicans should say 
``yes'' to the American people and help pass the legislation that this 
Nation needs and deserves.
  I urge my Republican friends not to undercut with their CutYou YouCut 
representational democracy and not just substitute selective, push 
polling, robotexting, tooting and tweeting for the work of the greatest 
deliberative body in the world.

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