[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 69 (Thursday, May 16, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H2712-H2715]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         CORE AMERICAN BELIEFS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Mullin). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 3, 2013, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Indiana (Mr. Rokita) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. ROKITA. I want to start out this evening by saying it's been a 
busy day here in the Capitol and it's been a busy week--some of it 
good, a lot of it not so

[[Page H2713]]

good. But it caused me to come to the floor tonight to talk with my 
colleagues, talk with the Speaker about some of the things that really 
are our core values, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans.
  First of all, let me say that all of us--Republicans, Democrats, all 
Americans--believe in diversity, and we are here as a Congress in so 
many respects to celebrate that diversity. A great, free Republic like 
this is going to have divergent views, divergent opinions. We're going 
to have diversity in just about everything we do, everything we say, 
everything we are, and that's okay. We are open to all races, genders, 
and other classifications.
  We're a family. We're one big national family. And like any other 
family, we're going to have our struggles, we're going to have our 
disagreements. But, Mr. Speaker, I'm here to remind us all tonight that 
that's okay. That's what it means to be in a free Republic. Because the 
alternative is much, much worse. You see, the alternative is not being 
able to have diversity at all, not being able to have an opinion 
different than the commanders at all, not being able to have free 
speech or free association.
  Mr. Speaker, like any family, we face issues that make it difficult--
especially seemingly these days--to find consensus. And like any 
family, we need to have open and honest dialogue, preferably without 
yelling or judging each other.
  Just like any other family, the neighbors down the street, so to 
speak, are going to be judging us, be watching us. We don't have to 
worry so much about them, just to make sure that we continue having our 
discussion in a respectful way.
  Like I said, although we have severe disagreements over some issues, 
there are core things that we all should be about, regardless of our 
diversity otherwise. I want to go through some of those tonight.
  For example, we believe in the power of the individual, not the power 
of government over the individual. This isn't a Republican theme, 
although I am a Republican. This is a constitutional theme. This is 
what our Founders fought for and wrote for in those two great documents 
we call the Declaration of Independence and the United States 
Constitution.
  We believe, as Americans, that people are capable of making their own 
decisions--for example, about health care--much better than government 
can. And, Mr. Speaker, we saw a great debate on that very point just a 
few hours ago on the very floor of this very House. It is because 
individuals, families, and people can make decisions for themselves, 
regardless of whatever it is, better than the government can that I 
oppose this Affordable Care Act, that we oppose ObamaCare.
  We believe that freedom is more when government is less--this is 
called the power of individualism over collectivism--and it's key, it's 
key to what this country has been successful about for over 200 years. 
But perhaps it's better to illustrate what I'm talking about when you 
realize what happens when freedom is absent.
  I want you to take a look at this view from space. This is the Korean 
Peninsula, and here is the dividing line between North and South Korea.

                              {time}  1940

  It is obviously taken at night. And what you are seeing is an actual 
representation of the lights in both countries, lights generated from 
electricity by power plants, lights that in South Korea show bustling 
commerce, show vitality, show economic freedom, show individual 
freedom.
  But look to North Korea. Almost complete darkness. Only one group of 
lights right around here. The capital city of North Korea where all the 
elites live, more specifically where all the government officials live, 
and more specifically than that where all the government officials in a 
closed tyrannical society live.
  Freedom is more when government is less, when government is limited. 
We believe that the best way to ensure that government remains limited 
is to stop feeding it so much. Around here, the government's food, what 
it lives on, what it grows on day by day is money; what it grows on is 
our tax dollars. More and more these days it is also growing on the 
taxes of individuals who don't even exist yet, Mr. Speaker--the 
children of tomorrow. Yes, they are being taxed here today. It is 
called our nearly $17 trillion worth of debt. And it is also 
represented by the $100 trillion of debt that is on its way. I would 
like to get to that in a minute.
  Mr. Speaker, we believe that money is the fruit of our labor. We 
believe that money is our property, the same way this suit is my 
property, the same way that the land and the homes that some of us may 
own are our property, the same way that a bicycle that we ride might be 
our property, so is our money. We believe that when government taxes 
us, they confiscate our property, and that that property is the fruit 
of our labor.
  We can't forget that. I remember recently being in my district, and 
specifically in the city of Lafayette, a great place, and West 
Lafayette, home of Purdue University. And I was struck at a Rotary Club 
meeting when I used the term ``confiscation'' to describe what 
government does with our property in the form of taxation and got a 
good degree of pushback--very annoyed with me that I would use such a 
word to describe what government does--confiscation of our property--
when clearly the government needs our money in order to function.
  And that's true. Government absolutely has a valid role in a free 
society, as long as it remains in a limited form. And more and more, 
Mr. Speaker, what I see being debated here on this House floor, and 
when I see us enact in terms of laws some new laws, some laws that have 
been on the books for years, is government being involved in things 
that the Constitution and the people and the free society do not 
require, in fact, should not have the government be doing.
  We believe that individuals, families, communities are always better 
at making decisions for ourselves than government is. Today, some 
believe that just having more power over your life, if they could have 
that kind of control, it would be that much better.
  For example, they believe they have the right to tell you what kind 
of light bulbs to buy, they believe that you should only be able to buy 
cars with certain gas mileage standards, they believe that they have a 
right to dictate what goes inside your child's lunchbox before they go 
to school, and at school they believe they have the right to make sure 
your child learns certain things, but also to make certain that they 
don't learn other things. They believe that they can make better health 
care decisions for you than you can. They believe through the EPA that 
they can tell you how much electricity to use. And under the guise of 
making things cleaner, they are simply controlling your life.
  That is not America; that is not Americans. We believe the opposite. 
The Founders knew exactly that the opposite was true--that decisions 
are best made by individuals and communities at the local level.

  Additionally, Mr. Speaker, we believe that government is the servant 
of the people and that people aren't the servants of government.
  Right now, we in the House are fighting to hold the executive branch 
accountable for a possible cover-up in Benghazi. This is not only about 
lives being lost, but about trust being breached. The Obama 
administration lied about the cause--Islamic terrorism--then they tried 
to cover their tracks. And now they claim that those of us who are 
demanding the truth are the ones who are politicizing the situation.
  The executive branch owes the people the truth. It is basic 
accountability. They are our servants; we are not theirs.
  We also believe in the right of a free press. Unfortunately, right 
now we have a Department of Justice that tries to spy on and intimidate 
members of the press. We found out in recent days that through 
subpoenas, which is a government action, individual reporters' names, 
their cell phones, and their phone records have been compromised, have 
been taken by the Federal Government.
  It is my opinion that this administration is simply afraid of being 
held accountable, whether it is by a free press or by this Congress. 
Now, the Founders knew that both the free press and Congress with 
oversight are necessary to prevent tyranny. That is why

[[Page H2714]]

our job is so important today. That is why Americans are expecting and 
counting on us to take the Benghazi investigation, to take the AP, as 
it is called, the Associated Press, investigation as far as it goes 
until we find out what the truth is.
  Perhaps a fundamental right is the one of free speech. It is the one 
that is absolutely necessary in a free society. It is the one that is 
core and fundamental in our Bill of Rights.
  But, today, Mr. Speaker, we have an IRS that is targeting groups of 
private citizens simply because of their political beliefs, violating 
their right of free speech and violating their right of free 
association. This is nothing more than an abuse of power. It violates 
the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law and 
should frighten each one of us, regardless of political party.
  I guarantee you this, Mr. Speaker, this American, along with many 
others in this Congress, is going to go as far as we need to go with 
this investigation in order to find the full truth. The government must 
remain a servant of the people and not the other way around.
  Mr. Speaker, we believe in giving a hand up, not necessarily a 
handout, because we believe that hand up is what made America strong, 
while a handout is what basically caused other nations in history to 
fail, resulting ultimately in tyranny.
  A government can't be all things to all people; it can't do 
everything for everybody. It has been tried before. This is not a new 
idea, Mr. Speaker. But every time it has been tried in our history, it 
has resulted in terrible tyranny or ultimate failure altogether.
  Let me give you an example, Mr. Speaker. Approximately 48 million 
Americans are on food stamps, more than at any other point in our 
history. Now, I know we have been going through some tough times, but 
that is not because too few people are getting food stamps.
  The government is handing out free cell phones; but welfare programs 
are supposed to be for the poorest of the poor, for those who need that 
hand up. We shouldn't be giving handouts.
  Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, we are. Just look at the facts. Under the 
Census Bureau's definition of ``poor,'' 80 percent of poor households 
have air-conditioning. In 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. 
population enjoyed air-conditioning. Ninety-two percent of poor 
households have a microwave. Nearly three-fourths have a car or truck, 
and 31 percent have two or more cars or trucks.

                              {time}  1950

  Nearly two-thirds have cable or satellite TV. Two-thirds have at 
least one DVD player, and 70 percent have a VCR. These are all poor 
households. These are mostly households that would qualify also for 
food stamps and for other welfare programs. Half of them have a 
personal computer, and one in seven have two or more computers. Forty-
three percent have Internet access. One-third has a wide-screen plasma 
or LCD TV.
  Now, we are a giving Nation. We want to help out. Our volunteerism 
and our charity work are second to none in this entire world. It is 
actually part of our American exceptionalism. It is what makes us 
unique and different from any other place on this Earth. I'd like to 
know the American who thinks that given everything I've just listed 
that that fits his definition of ``poor'' and that that's whom we 
should be helping and not others who really, really need, again, that 
temporary hand up and not the permanent handout.
  We believe in the freedom of individuals to make their own choices 
and also in the responsibility to live with the choices that they make. 
Perhaps more than anything else I've said here tonight, we are losing 
sight of that in this Congress, in this Federal Government.
  The free enterprise system is a beautiful system. It's a wonderful 
system that rewards risks and rewards those who do useful work. Is it a 
perfect system? Absolutely not. Is it the best system ever devised by 
man to raise the condition of all men? Absolutely. Nothing in history 
has ever compared to it, and no experimentation that we are going to do 
now--mind you, they're not new experiments; these experiments have been 
tried--is going to make it any better. The free enterprise system 
absolutely works.
  We believe that each generation should leave the next generation 
better off to enjoy life, to enjoy liberty, to enjoy the pursuit of 
happiness. Unfortunately, everyone knows on the floor of this House and 
elsewhere, day by day, that we are not leaving the next generation 
better off, that we are going to be the first generation in the history 
of this great Nation--based on the facts, based on our budget, based on 
our debt, based on our standard of living--that will not leave the next 
generation better off if we don't start living within our means again 
and if we don't stop printing and borrowing the money that we are to 
fund this beast called the Federal Government.
  The Book of Proverbs commends hard work and enjoying the fruits of 
one's labor. With the money we earn, we provide for our families, and 
we can bless other people who are in need. Proverbs says: ``A good man 
leaves an inheritance to his children's children.'' I can't think of a 
higher source to make the point. We are breaking the promise to the 
next generation.
  The good news is that, again, these are our core values. They're not 
Republican core values necessarily, and they're not Democrat ones. They 
are American ones. You might find things that sound like them in the 
Democratic Party platform. I know we practice them in the Republican 
Party platform, but, again, they're not ours--they're America's.
  Everything I've said here tonight is defined explicitly in the 
Constitution--that great founding document that is, in my opinion, the 
core of our American exceptionalism. Now, when I say ``American 
exceptionalism,'' it's not that I'm thinking about it as our President 
has thought about it. I don't mean to say that we are a country that 
judges others. I don't even mean to say that we are a country that 
thinks categorically we're better than everyone else. Like I said at 
the outset, we have our own struggles in this family, this national 
family, but the fact of the matter is we are different, and it's this 
document--this Constitution--that, in large part, sets off that 
difference. Here is why:

  The Constitution and the core values it contains--the things that 
I've just recited--all represent the best ideas for self-governance 
that the world has ever known. Never before in world history have those 
ideas ever come together at the same time and in the same place except 
for in the United States Constitution. That's unique. That makes us 
exceptional.
  Now, the President when asked about this said, Oh, yes, America is 
exceptional. We believe we are exceptional just like the Brits think 
they're exceptional and just like the Germans might think they're 
exceptional--entirely missing the point and lacking the understanding 
of the founding of this country.
  I bring that up today, Mr. Speaker, to get the word out, to make a 
record in this House of Representatives, that that's not at all what 
this country was about. Again, it doesn't mean we're judging. It 
doesn't mean we think we are better. We are different, we are unique, 
and we are the best experiment in self-governance the world has ever 
known. The only thing that can mess that up, that can destroy that 
exceptionalism, is us. That's what brings me to the floor at 8 o'clock 
on a Thursday night. It's important stuff.
  In my time remaining, I'd like to focus on this debt that I've 
mentioned a few times now. Of all the issues that we face, of all the 
issues that we can properly and rightfully alleviate as a Federal 
Government, as a Congress, it's this spending. That is one of our 
chartered things, one of our enumerated powers, to set a budget of this 
Federal Government's size and its spending levels--and we have failed.
  As I talk with you tonight, we are nearly $17 trillion in debt, but 
that's not even the half of it. The worst part, Mr. Speaker, is this 
red section--this $100 trillion that's on the way in the next 25 or so 
years. Do you see how vertical that line goes? The real fear is that, 
if we don't get our spending under control now, we might never be able 
to catch it. The fact of the matter is that the drivers of our debt--
the social entitlement program of Medicaid, the health care program of 
Medicare, Social Security, the net interest we owe ourselves and other 
countries--mean

[[Page H2715]]

that it's growing so fast we may never be able to catch it. That's a 
huge problem.
  Now, the slides I'm showing the House tonight are not Todd Rokita 
slides. They are the House Budget Committee slides. The Democrats on 
the House Budget Committee don't disagree with the data. There 
certainly is disagreement about how to fix the problem, but more and 
more every day, more astonishingly, I find out that many believe there 
is not a problem with that graph I just showed you. Here is what the 
Federal Government is spending its money on. I pulled out two pieces of 
the pie to show that that's what we vote on in terms of our budget: 
non-defense discretionary and defense discretionary.
  We call this funding ``discretionary'' because we can dial it up or 
we can dial it down depending on our wishes and our votes here in this 
Congress and if the Senate agrees or doesn't. Then the President chimes 
in, albeit late--certainly not on time--with his budget, but it all 
focuses on not more than about 40 percent of our total Federal 
spending. The rest of it is all on autopilot. We don't get to dial it 
up or dial it down. I don't get to decide what the retirees in this 
country will get in terms of a Social Security check. I don't get to 
decide what services they're going to get or what fees their health 
care providers are going to pay for those services through Medicare. 
That's all decided in the underlying, substantive bills we've passed 
regarding those programs.
  Unless we amend those programs, unless we amend that law, we will 
never get to what's driving most of our debt, representing about two-
thirds of our Federal spending. Again, Social Security: $768 billion 
per year; Medicare: $466 billion per year; Medicaid: $251 billion per 
year; the interest we owe ourselves and other countries for this debt: 
$223 billion per year; other mandatory spending that I can't dial up or 
dial down nor can you, Mr. Speaker: $547 billion per year--all on 
autopilot. Until we get to this, we will never get to reducing or to 
even stabilizing our debt. That's the problem.

                              {time}  2000

  Some people have asked about military spending. Some people have 
asked about cutting it more, even though we've had drastic cuts 
already. Some people have asked about foreign aid spending. Some people 
have asked about earmark spending and wouldn't that solve the problem.
  I believe that all that should be looked at, including the military. 
This is a Republican saying that. I believe there is tremendous waste, 
fraud, and abuse in our military system. I think it's immoral to have 
that waste, fraud, and abuse and not get every possible dollar we can 
to the troops.
  But having said that, even if we had no military, it would only solve 
20 percent of our Federal spending; and, of course, one of our first 
constitutional duties is to provide for the common defense. A military 
is necessary. It needs to be run a lot better. And there's a lack of 
leadership right now amongst our military ranks. It's not leading when 
you come here to the Congress asking for more money for your pet 
projects and not doing what you can to eliminate the waste, fraud, and 
abuse in the military.
  I know there's waste, fraud, and abuse in the military because they 
can't even be audited. It's not because there's a statute, Mr. Speaker, 
against them being audited. It's because they can't even bring 
themselves to an audit table to be audited. They're so big and they're 
so sloppy; they don't know what they spend their money on most of the 
time. That is wrong. That's wrong for our troops.
  Regarding the social entitlement programs, regarding our health care 
programs, many folks come to me and say, Wait a minute, I paid into 
those programs. I've been paying into those programs through my 
paycheck all my life. Don't you dare call them ``social entitlement 
programs.'' You know what? They're right. We do pay into these 
programs--most of us--through our working lives.
  Here's another truth, and here's a more specific truth, Mr. Speaker. 
Look at this graph. On average, a couple who made $71,000 or so per 
year through their working lives--this is about Medicare--will have 
paid in about 35 percent of what they're actually taking out of 
Medicare. And that 65 percent difference, Mr. Speaker, that comes out 
of our kids. That comes out of the grandchildren that don't exist yet. 
That's part of our national debt. That's part of the $17 trillion and 
the $100 trillion that's coming. That's what's wrong.
  We are taxing the children of tomorrow who don't have any voice in 
this, except for mine, yours, and others who decide to stand for them. 
They don't have any voice in this. We're taxing them so, frankly, we 
can have more on our plate now. That's what's got to stop. It's got to 
stop with the debt ceiling that's going to come up probably for a vote 
this fall.
  Which way will we go, Mr. Speaker? What will we do to ensure that the 
children of tomorrow don't have to pay for the bills of today? It will 
take courage. Frankly, it will take, Mr. Speaker, more than this 
Congress. We can't wait for Washington to do this alone. We need the 
help of the people; and that's why I take to the floor tonight 
ultimately, Mr. Speaker, to get the word out.
  I know that this American family, once they know the facts, once they 
know the truth, they will speak that truth to power. They will demand 
change; they will demand to live within their means again because 
that's what every American generation has done before, wanting the next 
one to be better off. That's what Americans today want too.
  I tell this to you, Mr. Speaker, and all the Members of this House, 
that when there's a direct conflict between the people in the here and 
now and the people of tomorrow--those without a voice, those who don't 
exist yet--that's why they don't have the voice--when there's that 
direct conflict in terms of a vote on an issue, on a bill, at every 
turn we ought to be thinking about the kids. We ought to be thinking 
about the grandchildren; we ought to be thinking about those who don't 
yet exist. And we ought to vote for them, even if it means voting 
against us in the here and now.
  And the debt ceiling is an opportunity to do that, because if and 
when we raise this debt ceiling, the amount we raise it by will simply 
be another tax on top of a debt that we've already given them.
  What are we going to get for that? If they have to pay that tax, how 
can we ensure through reform that these programs and other items, that 
by the time they become an age of majority, that they won't have to pay 
that kind of debt load? That's the question before us.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the time. I thank this House for the 
time. I thank the staff for their work, and I look forward to talking 
with this House again about these issues throughout the summer.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________