[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 35 (Wednesday, March 9, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H1627]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
INVEST IN TOMORROW TO CREATE JOBS
(Mr. WALZ of Minnesota asked and was given permission to address the
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, you'll get no argument in this
House that this is a country that has to get a handle on our budget, be
fiscally responsible, reduce our national debt, and grow the economy.
We owe nothing less to our children and grandchildren.
But I will be honest, I am pretty shocked by the lack of business
sense, if you will, from some of my Republican colleagues. What my
small businesses know in southern Minnesota is that, in addition to
tightening their belts and getting efficiencies out of their
businesses, they have to make smart investments for tomorrow.
So last week what did we do? We cut 41 percent of the NIH budget for
research at the Mayo Clinic in my district that will lay off 68
researchers who equate into billions of dollars of medical research.
Republicans also want to cut funding for education. As a high school
teacher I can tell you, where are the workers of tomorrow going to come
from, and how are they going to compete to be the great innovators to
win tomorrow?
We did all of that, at the same time protecting oil subsidies to the
CEOs of the largest oil companies who made hundreds of billions. We
have to be smart with taxpayer dollars, and we have to find ways to
think like small, innovative businesses in places like the Mayo Clinic.
Save money, be efficient with our resources, invest in tomorrow to
create jobs.
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