[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 38 (Wednesday, February 26, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H839-H840]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   AMERICANS DESERVE FACTS, NOT FEAR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Norman). The Chair recognizes the 
gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, let's be very clear about something. Last 
night, the House budget resolution passed, unfortunately on a very 
partisan, party-line vote, but indeed it did pass.
  One thing it does not do is cut Medicaid. It is right here in this 
document. There is no mention of cutting Medicaid or even the words 
``Medicaid,''

[[Page H840]]

``Medicare,'' ``SNAP,'' or ``Social Security'' in this document that 
passed last night.
  Any claim to the contrary is actually fear-mongering, plain and 
simple, or I guess in my neighborhood it would be known as a lie that 
is being perpetuated to put fear in people and to drive anger at the 
majority party and have unruly townhalls because people are being fed 
lies.
  It needs to come to a stop. We need to have an honest debate, an 
honest conversation, around here about how we are going to get our 
government back on a track that doesn't lead us to endless, massive 
deficits in our budget each year. We are still on track for $2 
trillion, upside down, following COVID spending.

  COVID is over with. We need to get back to at least pre-COVID levels 
of spending with an opportunity to actually balance our budget, where 
it might be only $700 billion, $800 billion, or $900 billion upside 
down.
  The only way we are going to take a bite out of the national debt is 
to actually bring the lines together and have our budget balanced. We 
can do that with limited spending and a strong economy. My 
understanding from years ago is that if the growth of spending was only 
1 percent, these two lines would meet.
  We need to have a little bit of discipline around here. That is what 
was being sought in the budget resolution.
  This budget resolution is not the final say. It actually is a roadmap 
for moving forward on the fiscal year `25 budget. It does not make 
final spending decisions. Those are still to be debated and heard in 
committee on TV in front of the people on C-SPAN and in the committee 
process that folks can attend.
  It includes instructions for committees to review and adjust spending 
and revenue priorities, but it does not dictate specific program cuts, 
unlike the lies that are being spread all over in this Chamber, in 
committees, and in the media.
  Reconciliation is indeed a standard budget process that will be taken 
up. The resolution instructs 11 committees to find ways to either 
reduce wasteful spending or invest in key priorities.
  These committees have until March 27 to develop their proposals, so 
nothing is set in stone yet. No lies are needed. This is how budgeting 
has always worked. Democrats know that. Republicans know it. 
Unfortunately, on the other side of the aisle, they would rather scare 
people than be honest about this process, and indeed, honesty is very 
much needed in order to get a harness back on the profligate spending 
that has happened in this place over the last few years.
  We need to have honest conversations about these programs. My good 
colleague, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Schweikert), speaks about 
this frequently. Social Security will be on the rocks by 2031, 2032, 
2033, when that trust fund actually goes empty. Are we going to do 
something about it, or are we going to have lies and distortions about 
what is actually happening with that? Do we want to fix it as much as 
we can ahead of time while we still have some runway to do so, or do we 
want to just have lies about this and not try to do anything about it?
  I think we were instructed by the voters to do something about it and 
try to have these programs be salvaged so they aren't on the rocks in 
just 5, 6, or 7 years.
  We need to have the allocations of taxpayer dollars that come from 
the hardworking taxpayers. Frequently these are called 
``contributions.'' These are not contributions. They are compelled. 
Otherwise, people come take your stuff, and maybe you go to jail.
  These tax dollars need to be respected as the work of the people. 
When we make these allocations, whether it is for national defense, 
border security, or tax relief for hardworking Americans, let's be 
honest about it and get it done.
  This legislation is indeed focused on that and is an ongoing effort 
with budget reconciliation and the work of DOGE. We are hearing all 
this bad stuff about DOGE. It has had a few fits and starts, but 
doggone it, it is getting to the bottom of a lot of wasteful spending.
  Each time they flip over the rocks, more cockroaches run out, and we 
find more things with bad contracts or spending that is not even a 
priority that any normal American can even think up.
  In my home State of California, they are still seeking more money for 
that high-speed rail system that started out in 2008 for a price of $33 
billion. The price has quadrupled now to $130 billion. Is that a 
bargain for Americans? Is that a bargain for Californians?
  They have already tapped all the money they can at the local level, 
$9 billion of State money and about $3.5 billion of that ARRA money. 
Remember that shovel-ready so-called stimulus money back in 2009? They 
already tapped that.
  They have what is called the cap-and-trade tax in California, which 
raises about a billion dollars per year. It is like a new currency now. 
It taps into the producers of carbon dioxide in the State and makes 
them pay a ransom to continue to produce whatever manufacturing they 
do.
  This budget resolution is a good start, but it is not the final 
document. We will be working on that in the light of day in front of 
the people.

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