[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 16, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E500-E501]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         H.R. 1, FULL-YEAR CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2011

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                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 16, 2011

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, over the past few weeks, hundreds of 
Minnesotans, as well as citizens from across the country, have 
contacted my office about the military's multi-million dollar taxpayer 
sponsorship of NASCAR race cars. Frankly, many of my constituents and 
citizens of all political persuasions--Democrats, Republicans, and Tea 
Party activists--are dumbfounded when race car drivers receive millions 
of dollars from the Department of Defense while the Speaker of the 
House of Representatives tells the American people our country is 
``broke.''
  Last month the House of Representatives voted to eliminate funding 
for homeless veterans, slash community health centers serving low 
income families, and pass a fiscal year 2011 budget that would force 
800,000 Americans to lose their jobs. Yet, taxpayer funded sponsorship 
of NASCAR racing teams was protected. I find this absurd.
  One of my constituents, a twelve-year-old young man named Nickolas of 
South Saint Paul, Minnesota, provided an eloquent rebuttal to these 
appalling priorities. Nickolas wrote my office saying:

       Congresswomen Betty McCollum,
       My name is Nickolas, and I am a Boy Scout working on my 
     Citizenship in the Nation Merit Badge.
       I read online that you wrote a bill to stop the Pentagon 
     from sponsoring NASCAR race teams as a way to advertise. I 
     agree that it is absurd that the Pentagon is funding NASCAR. 
     We should put the money into NASA and jobs for people. NASA 
     is more important than NASCAR.
       If the government is going to pay to support a race, how 
     about a race to Mars? America has already sent people to the 
     moon, why not Mars? Instead of paying for people to go in 
     circles, why not pay for people to go for Mars? Humans are 
     explorers. We should go to answer questions about the Red 
     Planet and the Solar System. In addition, the studies done to 
     get to Mars will give us better technology here on earth.

  Nickolas understands that scarce taxpayer dollars need to be invested 
in innovation, education, and exploration that will create new 
opportunities to expand our knowledge of space and our economy. I 
strongly encourage my colleagues to take Nickolas' advice and focus on 
cutting unnecessary government spending, like government sponsorship of 
NASCAR race cars while making sound investments in America's future.

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