[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 104 (Wednesday, June 14, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H2890]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       PHILOSOPHICAL CONSISTENCY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. McCormick) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Madam Speaker, I wanted to take this time to explain 
to my constituents why consistency in political thought is important.
  Many people were excited and encouraged when I voted against lifting 
the deficit cap recently. The reason I did this was that I did not want 
an unidentified amount of debt accumulation while we shaved a small 
portion of 11 percent off the budget. Meanwhile, we did not address 
executive power and bureaucracies that were out of control and that 
could cost us far more than we could save. In short, I wanted the REINS 
Act in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.
  Ironically, I have made unpopular votes that are consistent with the 
same philosophy. For example, I voted against keeping a fee for all VA 
loans, that all veterans have to pay for every loan. The fee is taken 
in order to pay for IT training for a small number of veterans. I did 
not think it was fair that every veteran would pay for the education of 
just a few veterans that would otherwise be paid for by the GI Bill 
already. Just because the name ``veteran'' is attached to a bill does 
not make it the right thing to do.
  Likewise, I voted against creating more government oversight on the 
Abraham Accords. The Abraham Accords are working great. It has created 
some of the most innovative peacekeeping processes in modern history. 
However, creating more government, especially in the form of another 
executive appointee, to a process that is already working well did not 
make sense to me. Well-intended bureaucracy and increasing executive 
power is the greater part of what I have been fighting against since I 
arrived in D.C.
  We are already out of balance. The REINS Act was meant to bring back 
into control executive power and bureaucracies. Why would I vote for 
something that would increase more bureaucracy and more executive 
power?
  No one should doubt my support for Israel or my admiration of the 
Abraham Accords. In April of this year, I voted in favor of H. Res. 
311, a resolution encouraging the expansion and strengthening of the 
Abraham Accords, a resolution urging nations throughout the region to 
improve their relationships with Israel and strengthen the U.S.-Israel 
alliance.
  With that said, whether it is about government spending, debt, 
increasing fees on an entire veteran population for the sake of a few, 
or increasing executive power and bureaucracy, I will remain 
politically consistent and thoughtful. That is my promise. I believe in 
the individual, not more government.
  We need to bring back the balance of power that was designed by the 
Constitution for a purpose. More government, more debt, and more fees 
are seldom the answer. I remain semper fidelis to this philosophy, and 
to the people.

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