[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 8, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H1200-H1204]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
OUR NATION'S ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 9, 2023, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Johnson) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
General Leave
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that
all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Louisiana?
There was no objection.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I am going to pause here for 5
seconds, and I will tell you why.
I did that to note something. I did that because I want to note that
our Federal Government just spent $1 million in 5 seconds--$1 million.
By the time I finish this speech, the government will have spent over
$50 million. By the time my colleagues finish their speeches, that
figure will be in the hundreds of millions.
As it stands right now, our government is spending $197,000 per
second, which as a recent publication by the America First Policy
Institute points out, is faster than the speed of light.
Let's look at this graphic here real quick.
My staff just ran this up on the copy machine because I wanted to
blow it up. This is a post by the AFPI. They point out the fastest
things on the Earth, and they note that we are actually spending right
now faster than the speed of light. The speed of light is 186,282 miles
per second. We are spending $197,000 per second.
Our national debt is well over $31 trillion right now--$31 trillion.
Now, if those figures alarm you, Mr. Speaker, you are not alone.
Everybody on our side of the aisle is deeply concerned about this. We
understand what a risk it is to our national security and to the
stability of our constitutional Republic.
{time} 1845
However, you won't find anyone--hardly anyone, I think--on the other
side of the aisle who understands this or agrees with it. I mean, based
upon their voting records, based upon their proposals to continue to
raise taxes and raise spending, based upon some of the speeches they
gave here on the floor tonight, they don't get it, and neither does the
mainstream media. That ought to be of even greater concern to you.
Earlier this month, the Congressional Budget Office released a
frightening report. All Members of Congress in a bipartisan fashion met
in the congressional auditorium this afternoon to hear the CBO Director
relay some of this really frightening information.
It is about our economic outlook. If you haven't heard about it yet,
it is because really the media is not covering this. The 24-hour news
cycle buries it for the next big thing, but there is hardly anything
bigger than this.
Let me give you a couple of the highlights that came out of that
briefing this afternoon:
Number one: Net interest on our national debt will reach $10.5
trillion over the next decade.
Now, I know these numbers are big and it is sort of hard to grasp
them, but you think about $10.5 trillion over the next 10 years. For
reference, listen to this: since 1940 the total net interest payments
on our national debt has been $12.9 trillion, adjusted for inflation.
Since 1940.
In the next 10 years, we are going to spend $10.5 trillion just on
interest alone. It is staggering. Our national debt is going to reach
$154 trillion by 2053--$150-plus trillion. That equals $540,000 per
household when you adjust for inflation. That is more than four times
the current median household income.
Deficits are going to average--average--$2 trillion annually, or 6.1
percent of our gross domestic product over the next 10 years. The
government had a lower deficit than this every single year from 1945 to
2009. The cost of the annual interest will balloon from $350 billion to
$1.4 trillion in just a decade. That is 20 cents of every tax dollar
that is collected by this Federal Government is going to go to paying
interest on America's debt.
Mr. Speaker, we are in uncharted economic waters. We have never seen
anything like this. Our country has only faced an economic threat like
this during times of war and pandemic. If you only listen to the media
and Democrat politicians, all of our colleagues over here, you would
think there is really no issue at all.
I mean, the Biden administration continues to portray this rosy
outlook. They were saying it today: the state of the economy isn't so
bad. We are doing well. We are trending in the right direction, they
say. That is absolutely not true.
The CBO, by the way, is a nonpartisan entity. They don't choose a
side. They just came in and presented the objective facts to
Republicans and Democrats because we want to make everybody face this
harsh reality.
President Biden has touted that his administration ``cut $1.7
trillion of the deficit.'' He says that is evidence that he is really
serious about the national debt, but that is obviously fiction as well.
That reduction naturally occurred with the statutory end of the
increased spending that Congress approved to combat COVID-19. That
wasn't because of any shrewd economic policy from the White House. It
is exactly the opposite.
Speaking of economic madness, you know, tomorrow the President is
expected to release his 2023 budget proposal. It is more than a month
late. Every news report, all the early ones, suggest that his budget is
replete with trillions of dollars in new taxes, raising taxes in the
middle of an inflation crisis that he created; more spending on
frivolous, liberal pet policies and projects and no plan at all to
reduce the deficit.
For the first time in his Presidency, he won't have a Democrat rubber
stamp over here. He won't have the Democrats in charge of this House to
go along with that destructive agenda.
Mr. Speaker, the American people made their voices heard when they
gave Republicans control of this House, and we are going to do our job.
They have entrusted our new majority to provide a much-needed check on
the Biden administration, and that starts with the power of the purse.
Over the next few months, the discourse around here is going to
intensify. There is going to be some heated debate. It is likely to get
off track with squabbles about everything from defense spending to
earmarks, but House Republicans will not lose sight through this of the
bigger picture. We are going to rein in spending and inflation because
we must. We are going to promote responsible budgeting because we must.
We are going to chart our country on a course back to fiscal sanity. It
is the duty of every Member of this body to do so.
Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield to a number of my colleagues
tonight who will participate in this Special Order hour, talking about
lots of important things on the hearts and minds of the American
people. I just want to suggest that the debt is one of those.
Mr. Speaker, I yield first to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs.
Miller), my dear friend.
Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Johnson for
hosting this Special Order.
The American agriculture industry powers our economy and feeds the
world, but President Biden wants to burden farmers and landowners with
higher taxes and more red tape with his disastrous waters of the United
States rule.
Farmers and ranchers do not want to be told how to use and regulate
their land by Biden's radical Cabinet Secretaries. I introduced a bill
called Define WOTUS Act with Senator Braun to protect my fellow farmers
and stand against the disastrous Biden EPA, which is working to
regulate every pond and puddle in America. Our Nation's farmers,
ranchers, and property owners come last in the Biden agenda.
This week, I will proudly stand with House Republicans to pass
legislation ending Biden's disastrous WOTUS rule.
[[Page H1201]]
We are going to put American farmers first. It is my privilege to
advocate for my fellow Illinois farmers on the House Agriculture
Committee and represent our needs in Congress.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for
highlighting that really important issue. The WOTUS rule has gotten
completely out of control.
Mr. Speaker, I yield next to the gentleman from New York (Mr.
D'Esposito), one of our new Members to Congress.
Mr. D'ESPOSITO. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to announce that radical
criminal justice legislation passed by the Washington, D.C. Council
appears to be headed for defeat, thanks to widespread rejection by
House Republicans.
The legislation in question, known as the revised Criminal Code Act
of 2022, eliminates mandatory minimum sentences for a long list of
crimes, while also reducing maximum sentences for things like first-
degree burglary, armed burglary, and first-degree sexual assault.
This law being advanced by the far left, D.C. local politicians
handcuffs the courts and empowers convicted criminals to get back out
on the streets in record time.
Not only is this legislation misguided, but it comes at the height of
a crime wave currently ravaging Capitol Hill.
Over the last year, our Nation's Capital has seen a 76 percent
increase in carjackings, a 17 percent increase in homicides and a 117
percent uptick in sexual assaults.
To fight this scourge, we need to be taking a harder line on
criminals, not coddling them like this justice reform package would do.
When the RCCA came before the House of Representatives for
congressional review, House Republicans stood united in our opposition
to this proposal. I am glad 31 of our Democratic colleagues did the
right thing for the people of Washington, D.C., and crossed the aisle
to stand with the Republican Conference in opposing the bill.
Now it appears a bipartisan group from the Senate will be joining
myself and our House colleagues to defeat the RCCA, with President
Biden also poised to lend his support.
Safeguarding our streets should never be a partisan issue, and common
sense must always remain at the forefront of legislators' minds. I am
glad such common sense seems to be winning the day in this case.
During my career as an NYPD detective, I served alongside law
enforcement professionals of differing political persuasions,
religions, and cultural backgrounds. Let me remind everyone that when
people call 911, we never ask what political party they are from. What
united us as cops was our commitment to serving the people and
protecting the public from criminals.
Now, as a Member of Congress, I will continue that service by
combating far-left attacks on our criminal justice system and
forcefully reject radical legislation much like the RCCA and the
criminal justice reform put in place by Democrats in my home State of
New York.
I will always advocate for safe streets and prosperous communities.
That is my pledge to you, and that is our House Republican commitment
to America.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for his
service as a police officer, law enforcement, and also now in Congress.
We are delighted to have you.
Mr. Speaker, I yield next to the gentleman from California (Mr.
LaMalfa).
Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Johnson for leading these
opportunities for us to communicate with the American people openly and
freely in a more casual, unhurried way of doing so.
It is good to be able to talk about these issues. Hopefully, folks
are paying attention. We are just trying to get the truth out and call
out the issues that are extremely important to them that we are working
on in Congress.
When I get up here, a lot of times I am talking about our food supply
and the farmers who grow it--as a Californian, we grow a lot of
different crops--the water it takes to grow those crops, our energy,
the condition of our energy in this country.
Tonight, I will talk more about our fiscal condition in this Nation
and of this government. It is troubling because a recent report issued
by the Congressional Budget Office found that the net interest of our
national debt--Mr. Johnson was talking about that a little bit ago on
spending--just the interest payment on our national debt will amount to
a $10.5 trillion burden for our taxpayers over the next decade.
We talk in these 10-year numbers. If you average that out, that is
$1.05 trillion per year just in interest service. For comparison, those
interest costs over the previous decade amounted to only $3 trillion,
again, versus $10.5 trillion for the coming decade. That is crushing on
our national budget and crushing on the discretionary portion that we
have over that budget.
That is not to take away from the fact that the Federal Government
already is taxing and extracts more in taxes from American families
than at any point in history.
This kind of payment on interest will devour a lot of our budget if
we don't get a handle on this. I shudder to think if interest rates go
up much more, the service on that debt becomes that much more
extensive. Of course, Federal spending coupled with that is rising at
an even higher rate. The increased spending has pushed our national
debt over that magic $31 trillion number, again, that we were speaking
about.
As high as this is, it pales in comparison to the United States'
unfunded liabilities, which amount to about $182 trillion. Unfunded
liabilities, meaning the debt obligations that do not have sufficient
funds set aside to pay them, include Social Security, Medicare, Federal
debt held by the public, and Federal employee and veteran benefits.
Social Security and Medicare's liabilities add up to $57 trillion.
These numbers clearly show the United States Federal Government is
living beyond its means.
Social Security and Medicare are called entitlement programs. Let me
stop on that for a moment.
Sometimes that word ``entitlement'' is thought of as a dirty word,
right?
It gets used pretty freely around here.
However, when you are talking about the entitlement as applied to
Social Security and Medicare, it is not necessarily a dirty word
because the people that paid into them are entitled to draw out from
them. That is not a bad word in that sense. They are entitled to what
they paid in and the amount that it grew during the time, hopefully,
while it was being held for them more or less in trust by the Federal
Government.
The CBO, Congressional Budget Office, predicts that Social Security
will run out of money in 2033 and Medicare in 2026. The fund will be
depleted.
We need to have an honest conversation about these funds, about these
programs going forward. No one wants to take away Social Security.
Nobody wants to deplete Medicare, but if they are going to be on the
rocks in the year 2033 for Social Security, for example, then we better
be doing something now. There needs to be an honest, bipartisan
discussion about doing so.
What are we going to do to head that off and have the numbers not
crunch badly by the time that time comes?
{time} 1900
There are ways we can do that, but it is going to take an honest
bipartisan discussion, not scaring people saying, oh, Republicans are
going to take away Social Security. The President stood right up there
and tried to claim that until he had to walk it back just a few weeks
ago. There needs to be an honest discussion, not one used as a talking
point or a political weapon.
What we have is 47 million retirees in America today, and 40 percent
of the 47 million live entirely off Social Security. For these
Americans, their benefits being reduced in the future could be
disastrous. That is why we have to figure out how to make the fund go
beyond 2033 and be sustainable, well, permanently.
If we are going to save these programs for the current and future
generations, Congress must act swiftly, honestly with a real debate and
set these finances in order and return to the fiscal responsibility
that we should have had all along.
As stewards of the public's dollars, it is important that Congress
spend the public's money wisely and respectfully. The House must use
its powers to allocate government funds in a reasonable,
[[Page H1202]]
responsible way. There is a lot of room for debate on how that is, but
if we are having an interaction, instead of hurrying through or doing a
last minute patch-up at the end of the fiscal year, it is going to be a
lot better in the light of day doing so.
The current D.C. model of taxing, borrowing, and spending money that
we don't have will saddle our grandchildren with the burden of paying
off today's debts. We don't even have to wait for our grandchildren. It
is our children. It is us that are still in the work world. We are
stuck with this. We have to do better.
Failure to fix Washington, D.C.'s, spending today will mean our
children will have to live at lesser standards. We have always aspired
that our children should always do a little better than us, to leave
something a little better off. Why should they have to live under a
worse standard only because we are spending like crazy? They will be
saddled with a higher debt, higher taxes, and less opportunity.
America's strength on the world's stage depends on a strong American
economy at home. We must get to getting it actually balanced and not
take so long to truly balance our budget. It is our responsibility.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for that
wise counsel. It is about responsibility, and the gentleman said it so
well.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Kustoff).
Mr. KUSTOFF. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Louisiana for
organizing this evening's Special Order. The gentleman is a brilliant
orator and brilliant lawyer, and I am proud to serve with him.
Mr. Speaker, tonight I want to speak about one of the biggest
challenges facing our country today, and that is our national debt. We
have heard about it tonight.
Our national debt today stands at over $31 trillion. It is really
hard to comprehend a number that large even for us who serve in the
House of Representatives.
Instead of taking advantage of the record tax revenues that were
produced from the Republican-passed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017,
Democrats have used the 2 prior years that they had in power when they
had the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives to
spend an unprecedented amount of taxpayer dollars.
Here are two big democratic initiatives: Almost $2 trillion spent on
the American Rescue Plan; almost $750 billion spent on what they call
the Inflation Reduction Act, really the inflation expansion act.
Here is the bottom line: The result of the massive and colossal
spending over those past 2 years has produced skyrocketing debt and
rampant and raging inflation. We all hear about that inflation each and
every day, just the fact that Americans have a tough time affording to
live and exist today.
Right now, our country is on track to add almost $20 trillion to the
national debt over the next decade. We have heard these numbers quite a
bit tonight. I don't think the American people can hear it enough.
By 2053, that number will reach almost 153 to $154 trillion; trillion
with a t. The interest costs on our national debt will amount to almost
$10.5 trillion for taxpayers over the next decade.
Now, again, to put that in perspective, the net interest cost over
the previous 10 years was a little over $3 trillion. Almost a month
ago, our government officially hit its debt limit, and the Treasury
Department is now using extraordinary measures to postpone a default.
Every household, every business, frankly, everybody, must balance
their budget in order to survive. The Federal Government should be no
exception.
The bottom line is something has got to change because Americans are
getting crushed under the weight of President Biden's failed economic
policies.
The good news is that House Republicans are committed to turning this
around for American families, for American businesses, for the American
people.
Just this week, I traveled to Yukon, Oklahoma, with my colleagues on
the House Ways and Means Committee to hear about the economic and
regulatory challenges that they face each and every day. It is the
second field hearing that the committee has held since taking back the
House of Representatives.
In February, we traveled to West Virginia to hear from people in
Appalachia. Republicans on the House Committee on Ways and Means are
determined to hear directly from taxpayers, from businessowners, from
farmers, from manufacturers, from energy producers about how we can
ensure that we can get past all the hardships and all the hurdles. We
want to ensure that everyone can succeed. The message that we have
heard as a committee from the American people has been very clear:
Americans have had enough.
In our commitment to America, House Republicans promise to work
toward creating an economy that is strong. One of the most effective
ways that we can do that is to reign in the out-of-control spending and
get our government's fiscal house in order. We have got to find
sensible, reasonable, and responsible solutions to addressing our
Nation's economic and debt crisis.
As it stands now, we are leaving our children, our grandchildren, and
the next generation with the bill and forcing them to live with
potentially higher taxes and less opportunities unless we can do
something and do something now.
From all of us on this side of the aisle, we want to make sure that
Congress can come together, that we get our country's finances in order
so that the promise of the American Dream stays intact for families in
my home State of Tennessee, in my district, and certainly across the
Nation.
We can do it. We have got to work hard. We have got to reign in this
out-of-control spending.
I thank you, Congressman Johnson, for organizing tonight's Special
Order so we can speak directly to the American people about this
crucial issue.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his
remarks; that was so well said. The gentleman is a great orator, and I
love how he laid out the case methodically. That is what a former U.S.
attorney from the Western District of Tennessee would do.
Facts are stubborn things, as John Adams said.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cline),
another brilliant lawyer and also my good friend.
Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Louisiana for
yielding me the time. It is true, the wasteful spending, the tax hikes,
and the excessive regulations of the Biden administration are crushing
working families and small businesses across this country.
In particular, I rise tonight in support of the House Joint
Resolution to denounce Biden's overly ambitious rule proposed for
changing the definition of the waters of the United States, also known
as WOTUS.
You know, agriculture is the number one industry in Virginia, and the
Sixth District is proud to be home to more than 8,000 farms.
Narrowly defined water regulation is key to ensure that Virginia's
agriculture industry can succeed and local industries can thrive.
Unfortunately, the disastrous EPA is working to regulate every pond and
every puddle, every stream and small creek with their new WOTUS
regulation.
This new rule is going to negatively impact the vital goods and
services that farmers, ranchers, and small businesses provide to the
Commonwealth and across the Nation.
I have heard from farmers and property owners up and down my
district. One thing is clear: They do not want to be told how to use
and regulate their land by Joe Biden's radical EPA.
Imposing this overly broad and burdensome regulation will grant
Biden's bureaucrats more arbitrary control over our rural communities,
saddling folks with costly red tape.
It is far past time that we rescind the administration's new WOTUS
ruling and protect America's farmers from this gross overreach of
government power.
I thank the gentleman again for organizing this evening's Special
Order.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his
remarks. The regulatory environment is just out of control, and that
recent Supreme Court opinion of West Virginia v. EPA came out on our
side, and I think that some of these agencies will
[[Page H1203]]
begin to have their wings clipped a bit, and hopefully this WOTUS rule
will be handled appropriately. I thank the gentleman for highlighting
that important issue.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Brecheen),
one of the new stars of the Republican Party in the Congress, a former
State senator there who now represents the Second District representing
his people very well.
Mr. BRECHEEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Louisiana for
yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I couldn't stand for a more important topic. This is
what I believe is the greatest domestic threat that is facing this
country. Our national debt in our last 40 years of inheriting
prosperity from our parents and grandparents, and in the last many
years we have been borrowing and stealing prosperity from our children
and grandchildren because of an insatiable appetite for spending other
people's money, which is the easiest thing to do in a manner that is
not in line with our revenue.
There is a Founding Father who gave us a great warning. Thomas
Jefferson told us, he said you should not allow your leaders to load
you with perpetual debt. It is the same Thomas Jefferson who years
later would make the comment which he defined in Latin terms as the
``abusive state of man.'' He said: `` . . . the fore-horse of this
frightful team is public debt. Taxation follows that, and in its train
wretchedness and oppression.''
Our liberty as a Nation is in jeopardy. We hear trillions of dollars
that are, you know, tossed around, and I don't think we really
understand the size and scope of a trillion dollars. If I stood on this
floor and at a second at a time I laid a dollar bill on this podium and
I didn't stop to eat or sleep, taking a second at a time to lay out
that dollar bill, it would take me 11 days--you would get tired sitting
in that chair, Mr. Speaker--11 days watching me count out a million
dollars.
If I was to lay out a dollar at a time on this table a second at a
time, the time to lay it out and retrieve my hand, it would take me 31
years to lay out a billion dollars if I didn't stop to eat or sleep.
In order to get to a trillion dollars, it would take me 31,000 years,
31,000 years if I didn't stop to eat or sleep a second at a time.
We know what has happened in 2022: 40-year high record of inflation.
The average Oklahoman spent $7,000 more than they did the year prior to
buy the exact same goods and services because of devaluation of the
dollar.
That is the tip of the iceberg. That is what we see. That is what
people are feeling. What is under the water that we can't see is this
collision course that we are headed toward, this gigantic iceberg of
the mountain of debt in our unfunded obligations.
Our national debt at $31.5 trillion, every man, woman, and newborn
child, if you take that number and you divide it, every baby, including
babies that open their eyes today and take in their first breath of
air, owe $94,000 just to pay off that $31.5 trillion. They will pay it
off through a lower standard of living. It is a hidden tax that we are
going pass on to our kids because of our selfishness.
$1.4 trillion has been a number that has kind of been in my head for
the last few days.
{time} 1915
The CBO number, the Congressional Budget Office number, said that
this year's deficit is $1.4 trillion. We will overspend $1.4 trillion
this year.
If you go back 40 years ago to 1983, that is exactly the size of our
gross national debt in 1983. It was $1.4 trillion. It took us 200 years
as a nation to get to $1.4 trillion. This year, we will overspend in 1
year that amount.
CBO is also giving us projections about where our interest rates are
taking us. Within 7 years, what we spend that will be flushed down the
toilet just in interest payments is going to match what we spend on the
entire defense of our country.
If you take that interest rate out to 10 years from now, it is also
$1.4 trillion. There is the number yet again.
In 1983, after 200 years, the size of our gross national debt was
$1.4 trillion. This year, we will overspend by that amount, our annual
deficit.
Ten years from now, that will be just the interest that will be
flushed down the toilet, the annual debt service payments 10 years from
now.
That is a 50-year spread of $1.4 trillion. We are in trouble.
Our current gross national debt-to-GDP ratio is 129 percent. There
are only 11 other countries in the world that have a higher debt-to-GDP
ratio than we do, and these are the small countries, the small
countries that aren't a world leader, a shining city on a hill.
Economists are predicting that Medicare will be insolvent in 2028.
They actually bumped the number to 2028. We are only going to be able
to pay out to 90 percent. There will be an automatic 10 percent cut in
2028 to Medicare if we do nothing.
In 2033, the actuaries are telling us Social Security becomes
insolvent. There will be an automatic 25 percent cut to Social
Security. Without anyone changing anything, that is what we face.
When you add the liabilities, the unfunded liabilities of Medicare,
Social Security, what we owe veterans for pensions, Federal employees
for pensions, other trust programs we have stolen out of over the last
many years, and you add in addition our $31 trillion, our sum total is
$120 trillion of unfunded liabilities debt. That came out last year
with very little fanfare. Only the Heartland Institute picked it up.
That $120 trillion total, they said if you put it against all assets
in America, if you assessed it against the valuation of all property,
all land, all homes, all stocks, and--they even said this--down to
pieces of furniture, it is 86 percent of all wealth in America right
now.
You will remember I talked through how long it would take to get to a
trillion dollars. It would take you 31,000 years if you counted out a
dollar at a time. It would take you 3.7 million years to get to $120
trillion if you didn't stop to eat or sleep and you counted out a
dollar at a time.
According to the U.S. Treasury Department in its February 2022 report
that I just cited, in order for us to pay this all back, another way of
looking at it, if every household would just send a million-dollar
check to your Federal Government, that will make us square with the
house as a nation.
Thomas Jefferson wasn't alone. Benjamin Franklin warned us, if we can
gather it from his conversation with Elizabeth Powel when this
Constitution was put together. When he was asked outside by Elizabeth
Powel, as one of the leading members of Philadelphia society, after
weeks of putting this Constitution together, she said: What have you
given us, a republic or a monarch?
His response was: We have given you a republic if you can keep it.
That is important because Article IV, Section 4, of our U.S.
Constitution guarantees to every State a republican form of government
and to protect them from invasion.
We will stay on the republican conversation, the republic form, for a
moment. Why is a republic important? Our Founders in that study, in the
Constitutional Convention, they looked at all forms of government. They
spent weeks. A republic was different--they knew it--than a democracy.
Benjamin Franklin also described democracy. He said it is two wolves
and a lamb voting on what they are going to have for lunch, but liberty
is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.
What we are talking about is the liberty of this country. We are
trading our liberty for debt and dependency. Liberty means something.
In the constitutional preamble, it says: ``We the people of the
United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish
justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense,
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity.'' It is a mission statement. We have a
duty to live up to the mission statement that was handed to us 200
years ago, and we are missing the mark.
May God help us obtain the courage to put our national interests
ahead of our own personal self-interests and squarely face these
problems that are addressing the American people.
I will end by saying this: Martin Luther King, Jr., had a statement
that my old boss, Tom Coburn, kind of tweaked, and he shortened it. It
is this:
[[Page H1204]]
Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Vanity asks the question, is
it popular? But conscience asks the question, is it right?
It is right to secure the blessings of liberty, not just for
ourselves but our posterity.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, it is a harsh truth, and we
have to address it. My colleague is right. As he implied there, the
inevitable result of living beyond our means today is that we and our
children inevitably are going to have to live below our means tomorrow.
We are going to have higher debt, higher taxes, less security, less
opportunity. It is not going to be the same America that we have always
known and valued. It is a harsh truth.
Mr. Speaker, I yield next to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr.
Grothman), my good friend.
Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, I know normally this hour is taken up with
speeches that I think are not bipartisan enough. I have decided to take
this time to congratulate President Biden on his decision not to veto
the bill we are sending over to him, which will prevent the District of
Columbia from decreasing the penalties for severe crimes committed in
this city.
I think what President Biden has done is finally recognized what a
lot of us have been saying over the last few years. The District of
Columbia is just plainly and simply not capable of self-governance at
this time. I am glad President Biden agrees with us on that topic.
Right now, the District of Columbia has the second-highest spending
per capita in the country on its schools, trailing only New York.
Nevertheless, its test scores are abysmal.
The over 200 murders last year in the Nation's Capital is also an
embarrassment, and that number has skyrocketed this year so far as of
mid-February.
I will tell you, this is the Nation's Capital. There is no city we
should care about more than the District of Columbia. It should be a
shining light to represent the United States. People come here from all
around the world.
I remember once I took a trip to Taipei, the large capital city of
Taiwan. I was there with some friends. I asked our tour guide if there
was anywhere at night we should not go, expecting there were some
places we could not walk to without danger. We were told there was
nowhere in Taipei we can't go. Nowhere in Taipei is not safe.
I was kind of embarrassed about my country because I thought, well, I
was safe going to Taipei, but if I had visitors coming from Taiwan to
Washington, D.C., I would be talking for quite a while, explaining all
the places we couldn't go here.
I don't know whether people are aware that Vladimir Putin makes fun
of our country for allowing such decline in the District of Columbia,
not only how embarrassingly high our crime rate is but how
embarrassingly low our test scores in the schools are, how embarrassing
it is to have so many homeless people wherever you look.
I hope President Biden builds on this new conversion in which he is
admitting the District of Columbia is not capable, apparently, of
setting appropriate punishments for crimes here.
I look forward to working with President Biden on perhaps things we
can do to improve the decisions by the local school board on their
schools, maybe make some changes in their welfare policies that lead to
so many homeless people here.
In any event, like I said, I would like to end tonight's speeches on
an upbeat message, thanking President Biden for his conversion to the
understanding that the people here in the District of Columbia, who, by
the way, he is not a perfect man, but they voted 6 percent for Donald
Trump in the last election. I kind of wondered what type of people
would do that, but they did.
In any event, hopefully, President Biden will be happy to meet with
us and think of other things we can do to improve life in our Nation's
Capital.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, and I
point out, as he said, that our resolution blocking those crazy changes
to D.C.'s criminal code was so strong that even Joe Biden couldn't
agree to veto it. We are doing the right thing. We must continue, and
we will.
I am grateful to my Republican colleagues for joining me for this
Special Order hour.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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