[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 18184-18190]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      THE REPUBLICANS' COZY RELATIONSHIP WITH CORPORATE INTERESTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 7, 2003, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, this evening I want to remind the American 
people about the Republican Party's cozy relationship with our Nation's 
corporate interests. This relationship has been extremely beneficial to 
America's corporate elite, but has been extremely harmful to America's 
middle class. It is necessary for me to remind the American people of 
this relationship because Republicans are now doing everything they can 
to run away from the relationship.
  Republicans are hoping the American people forgot that Vice President 
Cheney worked behind closed doors with corporate executives from the 
oil and gas companies to write an energy bill that benefited them with 
billions of dollars while doing virtually nothing to help middle-class 
Americans with rising prices at the gas pump.
  Republicans are hoping the American people will forget President Bush 
misled the American people into supporting the war in Iraq and rushed 
to war with absolutely no plan to win the peace. Last month the 
President finally admitted that he miscalculated in Iraq, but now 
Republicans would like the American people to forget such comments.
  They would also people to forget that the war in Iraq has now cost 
the American taxpayer $200 billion in which billions of dollars have 
gone to another corporate friend of the Bush administration, Vice 
President Cheney's old company, Halliburton.
  Mr. Speaker, Republicans are hoping the American people forgot that 
while their own Medicare director was negotiating a final Medicare 
prescription drug bill, he was interviewing for jobs with the very 
pharmaceutical companies that benefit from the new Republican Medicare 
law. This same director, Tom Scully, illegally kept critical 
information about the costs of the Medicare bill from Congress, which 
most likely would have killed the controversial bill before it became 
law. But Republicans would like the American people, particularly the 
40 million seniors who depend on Medicare and who deserve a real 
prescription drug benefit, to forget that the new law benefits the 
pharmaceutical companies and only provides a minuscule benefit to 
senior citizens.
  Republicans also would like the American people to forget that they 
have been doing the work of America's corporate and special interests 
for the last 4 years to the detriment of the best interests of 
America's middle class.
  Mr. Speaker, Senator Kerry and congressional Democrats will take our 
country in a new direction and put the middle class first. Despite what 
President Bush and congressional Republicans promise over the next few 
months before the election, they will continue to put the narrow 
interests of the few ahead of the middle class.
  Let me talk about some of these special interests this evening, Mr. 
Speaker, if I can. Let us just look at the record of the Republicans 
over the last 4 years. Republicans have accomplished many of the goals 
that corporate interests have set forth with no concern about how these 
goals would impact middle-class America. I want to just talk about the 
economy first, and then I will maybe yield to the gentlewoman from 
Florida, who I see has come down here to join me.

[[Page 18185]]

  On the economy, the Republican mission has been accomplished for 
companies seeking tax breaks for shipping jobs overseas, but not for 
America's workers. The Bush administration needs to create more than 
900,000 jobs in 2 months, over the next 2 months, in order to actually 
create its first net job.

                              {time}  2015

  Now, one would think that the administration would be doing 
everything possible, looking at every creative solution, to get 
Americans back to work; but, instead, what we see is the Bush 
administration taking the side of the corporate interests. They are not 
worried over the fact that in the next 2 months they are not going to 
be able to create almost 1 million jobs to show a net job gain.
  The Bush administration would like the American people to forget that 
the centerpiece of its supposed economic stimulus plan was a provision 
to eliminate the amount of taxes paid by individuals on stock 
dividends. Economists concluded that this handout to the President's 
corporate friends would not create high-paying jobs to the middle 
class. Three years later, after this tax cut was put in place, it now 
turns out that the economists were right. Instead of creating jobs for 
the middle class, President Bush hit them with a $364 billion deficit, 
something our children will be forced to pay off in the future. All 
this not to create one single job; remember, we have a net loss right 
now of almost 1 million jobs, not to create one single job but, 
instead, to help inflate the wallets of President Bush's corporate 
friends.
  Now, one would think that the administration would be against 
companies moving jobs overseas. We have heard about the outsourcing, 
Mr. Speaker, many times over the last year. But earlier this year, we 
learned that the Bush administration views the movement of American 
factory jobs and white collar work to other countries as a positive 
transformation that will, in the end, enrich our economy. How many of 
the administration's economists said that outsourcing was a good thing?
  The administration stated exactly that in the President's economic 
report for 2004. This was the President's own economic report for this 
year. Now, no wonder President Bush thinks that our Nation's economic 
forecast is rosy. He is not concerned about creating jobs here in the 
United States. As long as the economy continues to grow and the 
President's corporate interests continue to make record profits, that 
is fine with him. President Bush cannot be too concerned about his 
dismal job creation record since he refuses to discontinue his 
administration's policy of giving tax breaks that shift American jobs 
overseas.
  Now, by contrast, if I could, Mr. Speaker, Senator Kerry and 
congressional Democrats want to help middle-class Americans by ending 
special tax breaks for companies that outsource jobs and creating tax 
incentives for companies that keep jobs here in America. Those are the 
companies that we should be rewarding, those that will keep the jobs 
here, not send them overseas.
  Congressional Democrats have also long supported a transportation 
bill that would stimulate the economy by creating millions of jobs all 
over the Nation and provide much-needed transportation modernization 
funding. That transportation bill is stalled because the administration 
refuses to support the necessary funding that is also supported by some 
Republicans in this Chamber.
  Now, I know the gentlewoman from Florida would like to have some 
time. I just wanted to say, one of the things, before I yield to her, 
one of the things that I cannot forget when I look back over the 4 
years of the Bush administration is that 4 years ago, in January, when 
the President first took office, and by March, he took office in 
January, and by March of that year it was looking like the economy was 
starting to falter, and the congressional Democrats met in a caucus. We 
had a special caucus meeting, and we came up with an economic stimulus 
package, because our feeling was that if we were able to provide an 
economic stimulus, transportation projects, infrastructure, sewer 
plants, money than went back to the States for all kinds of activities, 
school construction, hospital construction, that that would make it 
possible for the economy to keep moving along and not fall into a 
recession.
  But the congressional Republicans and the President, President Bush, 
absolutely refused. Their answer was, we are not interested in that 
kind of economic stimulus that creates jobs, that provides 
infrastructure; we just want tax cuts. And then by, I guess, the spring 
or the summer of that year, they had implemented the first round of 
their many tax cuts.
  The bottom line is it is 4 years later, all the rhetoric about how 
the tax cuts were going to turn the economy around has simply proven to 
be false, and the only thing that would have made a difference then, 
and I think still would make a difference now, if there was some sort 
of economic stimulus package that dealt with infrastructure, 
particularly as I mentioned the transportation bill; but I really 
believe that at the time, if we had worked on a bipartisan basis and 
not implemented these tax cuts, but rather implemented an economic 
stimulus package, we would not be in the situation we are now where 
there is a net loss of almost 1 million jobs since President Bush took 
office.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida for joining me 
tonight, and I yield to her.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the 
gentleman from New Jersey before he leaves. I know that he heard about 
the back-door announcement made by the administration on the Friday 
afternoon before Labor Day: the cost of Medicare for seniors is rising 
by 17.5 percent to $78.20 per month. This is something that I know my 
grandmother and all of our grandparents cannot afford.
  The blame for this increase has been put on the rising medical costs. 
However, it is this administration with its close ties to health care 
lobbyists that has failed to do something about spending. In fact, that 
bill that we passed, the Republican Party will finally do what they 
have been trying to do for 35 years to the program: destroy the program 
with these inflated costs. Can the gentleman address this?
  I come from Florida where Claude Pepper, my mentor on health care 
issues, the most well-known advocate for seniors, a man who fought for 
years and years to strengthen Medicare and Social Security, would be 
rolling in his grave if he were here today.
  This is a life and death issue for many of our senior citizens. The 
bill that was passed that prohibits the Secretary from negotiating the 
prices of the drugs, the bill that was passed in the House in 
conference, not one single Democrat was permitted to be in the room, 
the people's House, not one. And in the Senate, for the first time 
ever, the Senate leader was not able to pick who was going to be in the 
room.
  Can the gentleman from New Jersey explain to me and to the people who 
are listening today about this increase and what can we do to repeal 
this hideous Republican bill that was pushed through by this President?
  Mr. PALLONE. Well, first of all, let me thank the gentlewoman so much 
for not only coming here, but also for what the gentlewoman is asking. 
I am not leaving; I am here with you. I like to go back and forth, and 
I certainly have a lot more to say tonight.
  Let me also say, before I start getting into the issue, I am so glad 
the gentlewoman mentioned Claude Pepper. I was elected the year he 
left, and I remember because it was a Presidential year. I think it was 
the year that the first President Bush was elected, and I got to meet 
him at the convention.
  Sometimes, when we talk about procedure, people fall asleep because 
they figure we are going into procedure, so what does it all matter. 
But one of the things that I was so determined to do when I got here in 
1988, because of Claude Pepper, is that I wanted to be on the Select 
Committee on Aging, which he had chaired for many years.

[[Page 18186]]

 And when that committee met, they did incredible oversight. They would 
have hearings on a regular basis, looking into the Medicare program. I 
would tell the gentlewoman right now, if that committee still existed 
today, we would never have had the problems that the gentlewoman is 
talking about and this misrepresenting by the Republican administration 
about what is going on with the Medicare program.
  One of the biggest criticisms I had was that in 1994 when Republicans 
took the majority and Gingrich became Speaker, was that they got rid of 
the select committees, including the aging committee which I served on. 
Because even though Claude Pepper had not been there, and I think it 
was the father of the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Roybal-Allard) 
who was the chairman, we did such a good job in terms of oversight. And 
once that committee was gone, the oversight function of the programs 
for the seniors just disappeared, and I blame the Republicans for that, 
frankly.
  I know that is not what the gentlewoman is talking about, though.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will 
yield, when the Republicans took over in 1994, I will never forget that 
they tried to take his picture down out of the room, someone who served 
this institution, this country, and dearly beloved. I participated in a 
march to that room to make sure that we reinstated Claude Pepper's 
position, because he deserved to have his picture in that Committee on 
Rules room.
  I have to tell the gentleman, I remember him at the conventions and 
his liveliness and how he fought so hard for seniors in this country. 
And now this administration, with their lies and misleading people 
about this Medicare bill, this bill that prohibits the Secretary from 
negotiating the price of the drugs. We on the Committee on Veterans' 
Affairs, along with the Department of Defense, insist, insist that they 
negotiate the price of the drugs so we can keep the costs down for our 
veterans, for our people, military families. No one can explain it. 
There is no discussion. When we raise that issue, they give us a blank 
stare, because the pharmaceuticals wrote those provisions.
  What has happened here, the fox has moved into the House of 
Representatives, into the people's House. We see it with this Medicare 
bill. We see it on environmental issues. We see it over and over again. 
If this administration, and I do want to talk about Medicare, but if 
this administration that totally runs this House of Representatives, 
totally controls the agenda of the House of Representatives wanted an 
assault ban, it would have been on the floor and it would have been 
passed. They control. We cannot have a hearing.
  We talk about homeland security. We cannot even have a hearing on 
railroad safety because the administration will not sanction it. I have 
never seen anything like it. I have been elected to the House of 
Representatives for 12 years. I have been an elected official for 23 
years, and I have never seen such disrespect for the House of 
Representatives, for the people's House. I take it very seriously, 
because I was one of the first African Americans elected to Congress 
from Florida in 129 years. I take my job very seriously. And it is 
just, it saddens me to no end to see how the administration, which is a 
separate branch of government, runs the people's House, the House of 
Representatives. It is a disgrace.
  Now, would the gentleman please tell me about the Medicare and what 
can we do so that my grandmother, who does not have an additional $78, 
$80. I know to these big-timers, that is nothing. But the seniors who 
are living on a fixed income, that is deciding whether to buy their 
medicine or buy food. They are going to raise the costs, and where is 
the money going? It is going to the HMOs and the pharmaceuticals. It is 
criminal.
  Mr. PALLONE. Exactly.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. We can play politics on some things, 
but in an area like this, it should not be any politics played.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman is absolutely right. The 
premium increase is very significant. It is the largest one we have had 
in the history of the Medicare program: 17 percent.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. They want to kill the program.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, it has gone from basically $66 to $78, 
about an $11 increase, the biggest we have ever had. President Bush 
says it is because of the high costs of health care. That is simply not 
the case. The bottom line is there are two major reasons why this 
increase is so high. One is what the gentlewoman mentioned, when they 
passed the so-called, and I call it ``so-called'' because it really is 
not a Medicare bill, it is a privatization bill. When they passed their 
so-called Medicare prescription drug bill, they increased the amount of 
money that would go to the HMOs, the insurers in general, but 
particularly the HMOs, in order to entice them to cover senior 
citizens. And the result is that a significant amount of this increase, 
and this increased premium is going to go to pay those HMOs and those 
insurers to entice them to get into the Medicare program which, as the 
gentlewoman knows, most of them do not want to get into any; and no 
matter how much money you give them, they are probably not going to get 
into it.

                              {time}  2030

  The second thing is they have been raiding the trust fund. Just like 
Greenspan was saying a couple of weeks ago during the break, he got up 
and talked about how the Social Security Trust Fund was running dry, 
same thing with the Medicare Trust Fund. Why? Because the Republicans 
are borrowing the money to pay for their tax cut. There is a huge 
deficit. Where is the money borrowed from? The Social Security and 
Medicare Trust Fund.
  Now, these funds in the last year of the Clinton administration were 
starting to build up the money that they had so that they would not be 
bankrupt at all. I mean frankly if we had not had those tax cuts I 
would predict within 5 or 10 years the trust fund would be so solvent 
for both Medicare and Social Security that we would not even have a 
problem for the next generation or two, but no, they could not do that 
because they wanted to give back those tax cuts.
  If we read that, that increased premium, another significant part of 
it, goes into the trust fund to replenish the trust fund. So what are 
we talking about here? This is Republican, Bush administration policy 
that has caused this big increase.
  As my colleague said because you are giving the money to insurers, 
the HMOs primarily, and also to replenish the trust fund because they 
borrowed from it to pay for the deficit, which has been generated by 
their tax cuts and all this for a Medicare prescription drug program 
bill which as you went on and described is practically worthless. In 
fact, I would say it is a detriment to the program.
  It is not bad enough, as my colleague says, that there is a specific 
prohibition on negotiating prices. I mean, if they did not put a 
specific prohibition, the Medicare administrator would have been able 
to do that because as my colleague knows, right now with the VA, with 
the veterans, with the military, the DOD and the Veterans Affairs are 
allowed to go in and negotiate price reductions because they have the 
power now of all these veterans and military. That is just a natural 
thing that you would do in a capitalist society. I mean, we are all 
about negotiation and bargain. That is what capitalism is all about, 
right?
  But, no, because the drug companies did not want that to happen, they 
specifically put in a prohibition on negotiating prices so the 
government and Medicare administrator could not negotiate the prices.
  When I hear my colleagues say, well, we had to do that because 
somehow it would be un-American for the Medicare administrator and 
others to negotiate prices, we are already doing it with the VA and the 
military. What is un-American about going out and trying to get a 
bargain? I thought that is what capitalism was all about. It is 
unbelievable to me.
  I yield back to the gentlewoman.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I just want to say that

[[Page 18187]]

the Republican Party, with the direction, because he definitely gives 
direction to this House, they do not do anything without his direction, 
he has done more to destroy Medicare. What the Republicans have been 
trying to do for 35 years, that is just where we are now. They want to 
bloat the bill so that next they cannot afford it, and next on the 
agenda will be Social Security. Coming from Florida, next will be 
Social Security, and he wants to gamble with Social Security. This 
administration wants to kill the New Deal. Let us just face it. They 
want to kill public education with all of their gimmicks.
  I said they practice what I call reverse Robin Hood. When I was 
growing up, I loved that program, Robin Hood. This administration 
practices what I call reverse Robin Hood. Robbing from the poor and 
working people, poor and working people, to give tax breaks to the 
rich, to the top 2 percent, and it just amazes me how they say one 
thing and do another.
  I must go to the assault weapons. The President said, I understand, 
and it is amazing they were able to pin him down that he said anything, 
but he said during 1999, because during the debates he never answered 
one question. I am hoping that the media insists that he answer some 
questions during the debate because he never answered any. They said he 
looked comfortable and looked like he could prop his feet up but never 
did he answer a question. So to say that he actually committed one 
thing that he would support the assault weapons ban, to continue the 
ban, well, then he says, well, if it is put on his desk. I guess you 
say that and then someone said whatever you do, do not pass that bill, 
do not even bring it up for a vote on the House of Representatives 
floor, not even in the people's House, when the majority of the 
American people support it. Why can we not have a vote on this floor to 
send a message where we stand as elected officials on this particular 
bill? But if the President wants it, I can rest assured and you can 
rest assured that the American people, we would have that ban.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, let me tell my colleague, when it comes to 
the procedures around here, I mean we could talk on. You are absolutely 
right. Everything is orchestrated from the White House, and any notion 
that any legislation that the President wants would not come up for a 
vote or that the President does not want, it is all orchestrated and 
you gave an example before of where we were talking about the Medicare 
bill.
  One of the things that was so amazing to me was how that vote was 
orchestrated. One of the criticisms that I mentioned when I started out 
this evening is how the Medicare administrator Tom Scully orchestrated 
this whole vote in the House, and when his own actuary Foster said to 
him that the cost of this bill was going to be significantly more than 
what the Bush administration had told the Congress and what the 
congressional Republicans had suggested, the administrator told the 
actuary that if he revealed that information to Congress he would be 
fired. As a consequence, the Congress never got the information about 
the actual cost of the Medicare bill.
  My colleague knows that there were many on the Republican side of the 
aisle that did not want to vote on that bill because they thought it 
was going to be too costly, and they did not like, for whatever reason, 
the cost, and now we know the GAO came out with a report last week that 
said that Scully's action was illegal, it was illegal for him to deny 
that information to Congress. He was told by the GAO that he had to 
refund his salary from the day he threatened to fire the actuary who 
had the truth about the cost. My colleague talks about procedure, I 
mean they are literally not giving Congress information in an illegal 
fashion. How can we even vote on anything around here if we cannot get 
the true facts about what the costs are?
  Now that we know that it was illegal, well, the Department of Health 
and Human Services says we are not going to go after him for the money, 
he does not have to give back the money, and he said he is not giving 
back the money. Where did he go? He went to work for a law firm that 
represents all the drug companies that benefited from the bill. You 
talk about the procedure. I will never see the disgrace that we had 
that night of the vote.
  You know we had 218 votes on that board against the bill. There is 
absolutely no question that the will of this House of Representatives 
was to defeat that Medicare prescription drug bill because almost all 
the Democrats and a significant number of the Republicans knew it was a 
bad bill, it was not going to accomplish anything and probably 
suspected it was going to cost a lot more than that was represented by 
the administration.
  I looked on that board. I have never in my life seen a situation 
where the majority have voted against the bill and there was not 
anybody left who was going to make a difference who had not voted, and 
we sit here for 3 hours in the middle of the night until the President 
gets on the phone and calls enough Republicans. He invites Vice 
President Cheney to change the votes.
  You try to tell me that they are not directing what goes on the floor 
of the House of Representatives? What kind of a democratic process is 
that where the House has voted and 218 people have voted and said this 
is a lousy bill and I do not want to vote for it and we sit here for 3 
hours while the White House twists arms and who knows what they 
promised people. One guy, they told him what, was Smith, I guess, from 
Michigan.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. His son.
  Mr. PALLONE. They told him they were going to deny his son the 
nomination to replace him if he did not change his vote. I mean, this 
is the kind of thing that was going on. When you talk about procedure, 
I totally agree with you. They control the process from the White 
House. Do not let anybody tell you they do not.
  Ms. CORINNE BROWN of Florida. My comment that night was a snake is a 
snake, no matter what color it is, and the AARP are getting in bed with 
a snake, the Republican Party, on this issue. I said it and I stand by 
it. Now I understand that the AARP is asking for some changes. My 
constituents constantly call me about AARP and I tell them my position. 
I have always supported them because they were an advocate for the 
seniors, but on this issue they really deserted the seniors.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, if I am not mistaken, and I do not know, I 
do not have the information in front of me, but there was a strong 
suspicion that AARP was looking to sell this Medicare prescription drug 
policy, and again it is an example of corporate interests holding sway 
around here because somebody is trying to make a buck.
  I yield back to the gentlewoman.
  Ms. CORINNE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I want to raise another 
issue with my colleague, and it is pertaining to the Vice President 
Cheney and the package he received when he decided to run for Vice 
President.
  My understanding, and I want to be correct on this, but I understand 
he got a $34 million retirement package when he retired, but also I am 
trying to find the exact amount that he gets every month.
  What was very disturbing to me is that his company Halliburton got a 
sole source contract before the first shot was fired. I have worked 
really hard trying to help minority and female businesses get a part of 
government opportunities, government business, but this is an example 
of sole source, no competition, no nothing, billions of dollars to your 
company and then say, well, you know, I had nothing to do with it. 
Well, who believes that? But let us go on.
  I received calls from soldiers. Let us say Halliburton was supposed 
to provide 25,000 meals a day, twice a day. They were charging the 
American taxpayer for 100,000 a day. That is criminal, but yet there is 
nothing and we are still doing business with them, and you know it is 
just nothing. It is just amazing about how they are running this war.
  We gave them, I want to be correct, $89 billion for the first 6 
months. Six months later, they came back and

[[Page 18188]]

asked for another $87 billion. Everybody talked about the second $87 
billion. No one talks about the first $89 billion. There is no 
accountability. They will not even tell Congress what they did with the 
first. They certainly did not provide the military with the flak suits 
and the armor and what they need to protect the Humvees. What happened? 
What happened to the first $89 billion? There is no accounting, no 
telling the people, that is our job of oversight, what happened to it, 
and then 6 months later, they came with another $87 billion. I did not 
vote for it and I support the troops 100 percent, even though I know 
that they were sent to a war based on lies from the beginning.
  I went to all of the briefings. I went to all of the discussions, and 
they did not show me not one single thing that they did not know in 
1991.
  So people said, well, why did some Democrats vote for it and others 
did not? Well, I come from Florida and I know they stole the election 
in Florida, and my grandmother always told me if you lie, you steal, 
and it goes on and on. So I had no trust in this administration.
  Certainly, they were telling Members, please give the President the 
authority to go to war, he is going to use it as a hammer. I mean, I 
guess some people really trusted him, and I guess the American people 
still trust him, but I go with the facts. I knew that this 
administration started out based on lies.
  What happened in the 2000 election was criminal and what have we 
gotten from that? We have a war in Iraq. Now we are taking the Medicare 
prescriptions, pollution, and Leave No Child Behind is just a slogan, 
because we have cut funds for after school programs, Head Start 
programs, day care programs. A wonderful slogan, Leave No Child Behind, 
stolen from the children defense armor, should I say, adopted by this 
administration.
  So there is a lot of anger in me because this administration 
constantly misleads the Congress and the American people.

                              {time}  2045

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman again. She 
made a comment before about who represents the majority, and not that I 
am looking to take away from the electoral college, because I know that 
is the way we elect the President under our Constitution, and I am not 
going to get into the specifics about what happened in Florida, because 
the gentlewoman knows much more than I do about what happened. But the 
bottom line is, there is no one who can contest the fact that President 
Bush lost the majority. He lost the election in terms of the majority, 
in terms of the actual number of people who voted, by half a million 
people. Half a million less voted for him than for his opponent.
  So I often wonder, when I come down here and hear some of the things 
he says, it is not difficult to figure out that he is not representing 
the majority, because, clearly, the majority did not elect him. Nobody 
on either side of the aisle is contesting that, the fact that the man 
lost the popular vote by almost a half million people, which is a huge 
amount.
  Beyond that, I want to say to the gentlewoman that I did not vote for 
any of those appropriations, nor did I vote for the war either. We know 
now that the war has already cost over $200 billion. These figures that 
come up about 80, or 80 here or there; it is well over $200 billion 
already. And one of the biggest things that worry me beyond the actual 
cost of the war is this money that is being spent to rehabilitate or 
redevelop or whatever the term is in Iraq.
  We talked earlier about infrastructure here in the United States and 
how, over the last 4 years, as Democrats, we wanted an economic 
stimulus package, whether it was new school construction or new 
highways or new hospitals. Well, that is what is going on in Iraq. 
Millions and millions of that money is being spent for reconstruction 
in Iraq. And I am not talking about damage that was done as a result of 
the war; I am talking about new buildings.
  I will never forget, they did not do it this year in September, but 
last September, in 2003, there were a couple of my Republican 
colleagues who, with glee, came to the floor and brought bookbags. They 
had just come back from Iraq, and they had these bags loaded down with 
bookbags and books and pencils and paper and everything, the American 
eagle on the front of it. And they proudly displayed them here in the 
well and said, Look, every schoolchild in Iraq today got one of these 
bookbags with these books and papers and pencils.
  And I looked at it, and I even got on the floor, I believe, at the 
time and said, You know, I have schools in my district, and I am not 
one of the poorest in the State, believe me, where nobody has anything 
like that. Not only does the school not issue it, but the kids cannot 
even afford to come to school with the pencils or the paper.
  Now, I am not trying to begrudge anybody anything, but, to me, it is 
an outrage that we are spending all this money in Iraq, and we are not 
spending it here in the United States. It is just outrageous.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will, on 
just that point.
  Mr. PALLONE. I yield to the gentlewoman.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. The President indicated from the 
beginning that they would be able to pay for the expenses. They have 
one of the largest oil reserves in the world.
  But then the President says, Well, we do not want to burden their 
people down with debt. But it is okay for the American people, our 
children and grandchildren, to pay this debt.
  And then they cut Social Security and Medicare and Housing and 
Veterans' Affairs. This administration has already put out a memo that, 
If reelected, we will cut all domestic programs, all domestic budgets.
  So it is okay for the American people to carry this burden, but yet, 
why are we saving the oil reserves? Why is it that part of it, a 
portion of it, cannot be a loan to these people? It is just amazing to 
me.
  Mr. Speaker, when the gentleman talks about teachers, when I go to 
the Dollar Store, they are in there buying supplies themselves, the 
teachers, because the schools cannot afford it, particularly with this 
new provision of Leave No Child Behind. It is a real crunch to the 
school systems throughout. I know, Florida, in talking to the 
superintendents, where we put in these additional standards, standards 
are wonderful, but once we find out that a kid has a deficiency, what 
are they going to do about it? We did not put the money there to follow 
the standards.
  In other words, it is what they call an unfunded mandate. Does the 
gentleman know about unfunded mandates?
  Mr. PALLONE. Oh, absolutely. I remember, years ago, and it may be 
before the gentlewoman was here, that the Republicans, when we were in 
the majority, because I was here from 1988 to 1994 when the Republicans 
took the majority, and we would get procedural motions on a regular 
basis from the Republicans about unfunded mandates, how the Democrats 
were passing legislation and not providing the money to back it up.
  Clearly, No Child Left Behind is the biggest unfunded mandate that 
ever existed around this place. The gentlewoman is absolutely right.
  We do not hear anything about that now because they just want to talk 
about how wonderful the program is. But there is no money for it, not 
anywhere near what there was supposed to be to fund it.
  I wanted to go back, and maybe the gentlewoman does not want to 
stress this Halliburton thing so much.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. No, no, I want to stress the 
Halliburton thing.
  Mr. PALLONE. Well, I have to just talk a little about it, because I 
have some of the statistics. The gentlewoman had asked about some of 
the statistics concerning the money.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Does the gentleman know how much a 
month Mr. Cheney gets?

[[Page 18189]]


  Mr. PALLONE. Well, this is what I have. This is a Congressional 
Research Service report that was issued several weeks after he made 
that statement on, I guess it was on Meet the Press, and Cheney made a 
statement that he severed the ties with the company, got rid of all his 
financial interests, has had no financial interest in Halliburton of 
any kind, has not had now for over 3 years.
  Despite those claims, the Congressional Research Service issued a 
report several weeks after that Meet the Press interview, and they 
concluded that, because he receives a deferred salary and continues to 
hold stock interests, he still has a significant financial interest in 
Halliburton. And they said, basically, he has $433,000 in stock 
options. Basically, his deferred salary is about $200,000 a year. That 
is what he gets deferred, because of these stock options, about 
$200,000 a year that he gets from Halliburton.
  This notion that somehow he does not have a financial interest 
anymore is just nonsense.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Well, Mr. Speaker, my records indicate 
that the deferred compensation account was valued at between $500,000 
and $1 million.
  Mr. PALLONE. That is correct, if you take the whole value of it. I 
think it gives him about $200,000 a year for the rest of his life. But 
if you take the whole value of it, that would be right.
  The other thing I wanted to say is that, when we talk about 
Halliburton and what they have done in Iraq and the illegal activities, 
we are not making this up. I just wanted to give some facts. First of 
all, Halliburton has acknowledged, so this is not myself or the 
gentlewoman making this up, they have acknowledged, and I quote, ``They 
accepted up to $6 million in kickbacks for their contract work in 
Iraq.'' They admitted that.
  Second, they are now being investigated by the Pentagon for 
overcharging the American Government for its work in Iraq. They face 
criminal charges in a $180 million international bribery scandal during 
the time that Cheney was the CEO. They have repeatedly been warned by 
the Pentagon that the food they were serving 110,000 U.S. troops in 
Iraq was dirty. And a Pentagon audit found blood all over the floor of 
the kitchens that Halliburton supplies all over in Iraq.
  And, finally, Halliburton is getting around an American law that 
forbids doing business with rogue nations. Thanks to a giant loophole, 
Halliburton is able to do business with Iran, of all nations, through 
one of its subsidiaries in the Caymen Islands.
  So here we go. In World War II, they called these war profiteers. If 
you were a war profiteer in World War II, it was like you were the 
worst person on earth. People would not even talk to you. They would 
not have anything to do with the company. Here, they are profiting off 
the war in this fashion, and we do not hear anybody from the 
administration talking about it in terms of their wanting to sever 
their ties or they do not want them to continue doing their work. They 
continue to get all these no-bid contracts as we speak. It is just 
unbelievable.
  So I do not know if the gentlewoman wanted to say anything else, but 
the other thing I wanted to mention tonight when we talk about these 
special interests, because it still has not been resolved, is this 
whole issue of this energy task force. When he first became Vice 
President, one of the first things Cheney did was establish this task 
force that was supposed to come up with a new energy policy.
  Groups like the Sierra Club and a few other groups that wanted to 
find out who was on this task force and who was behind this task force, 
because this was a secret task force, they had to go all the way to the 
Supreme Court because Cheney and Bush refused to give out the 
information about who sat on this task force.
  Now, the gentlewoman and I can speculate, but, obviously, they were 
trying to hide something, probably some oil and gas CEOs that were 
involved in this thing. And to this day, they do not reveal the names 
of the members and what this task force was about. And when they 
finally came up with the legislation from this task force, all it did 
was help the oil and gas companies.
  As the gentlewoman and I mentioned, one of the biggest problems the 
average American faces right now is the rising cost of gas. I do not 
know what is going to happen this year with home heating oil again. 
These guys, both Cheney and President Bush, were from the oil industry, 
and they continue to hide who was involved in this energy task force in 
coming up with this energy policy.
  Fortunately, that bill, which passed here, has not passed over in the 
other body, so it has not become law. And I hope it does not between 
now and the end of the year. But this is just another example of 
playing right into the corporate interests. It just never ceases.
  If the gentlewoman does not want to add anything else, I will 
conclude this evening, Mr. Speaker. But I just wanted to say, once 
again, that, if we look at the record of President Bush and the 
congressional Republicans, there is absolutely no indication that they 
are shifting in any way their emphasis away from the special interests 
to the middle class. They have squeezed the middle class families.
  When I was home during our August break, I had open houses. I had 
hundreds of people showing up at my offices, and they all had the same 
problem: I lost my job; my job went overseas; I tried to get money for 
retraining, and the money was not there. The public is just being 
squeezed.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Just one thing, if the gentleman will 
continue to yield.
  We constantly try to bring up an extension on the unemployment. This 
is money that people have actually paid into it. But this 
administration and the House refuses. Because of what reason? Because I 
am not quite sure. They do not want the public to know how many people 
are unemployed? What is it?
  Mr. PALLONE. Well, I do not understand the whole phenomena. Somehow, 
in some Republican minds, and I am not saying all of them, because I 
know there are some that do not agree, but certainly the majority and 
the leadership seem to think that somehow unemployment compensation is 
somehow welfare or some sort of giveaway.
  They refuse to acknowledge, I think, that people have paid into it 
while they worked, and they just seem to think somehow it is some sort 
of giveaway to people who do not want to work.
  These are people that have tried to look for a job and have not been 
able to find one. You have to show that in order to get the benefits.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Well, Mr. Speaker, this whole question 
of outsourcing and then this administration talking about the jobs they 
have created, they are low-paying service jobs. And most people are 
happy to have a job, but we have lost the best jobs. And this 
administration refuses to do training programs, or they cut those 
programs, educational programs.
  The 9/11 Commission was talking about the recommendations, and I was 
listening to them. And they were talking about the young people in 
Iraq, and they did not have jobs or training. And I said to myself, We 
have that same problem right here in the United States.
  We have that same problem right here in the United States. And so 
while we are addressing other areas, other countries, Iraq, their 
training and education, we need to be doing the same thing here with 
the people that are paying the bills. It is amazing.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, let me give the gentlewoman an example, and 
I have used this example before, but I will use it again.
  I mentioned all the people that came into my office for the open 
houses. The one thing that very much stuck in my mind was a gentleman 
came, and I will not mention his name, who had worked for the 
Frigidaire plant in Edison, my largest town. The plant closed, and 
1,500 jobs went to China. Everybody lost their jobs, good jobs, union 
jobs, health benefits, good pension, the whole thing.
  Under one of the bills that was passed here, in the event that you 
lose

[[Page 18190]]

your job because it goes overseas, and I have not favored these trade 
bills, but regardless, it provided that there was going to be, 
absolutely, retraining programs for these people if a plant closed and 
so many jobs went to China or some other place overseas.
  This guy comes into my office, and he had actually found another job. 
I do not think it paid as much or was as good, but it was still a good 
job.

                              {time}  2100

  It required retraining. He went to the Federal office or maybe it was 
a State office with Federal dollars to do the retraining to qualify for 
the job. They told him we do not have any more money. Federal dollars 
had been cut back, and there was no money. This was something that was 
authorized and required under the law. There was no money from the 
Federal Government to do it, he was not able to get the job. He is 
sitting home not working.
  It is unbelievable. As the gentlewoman says the promises, if you lose 
your job overseas, we are going to retrain you, we are going to give 
you a Medicare prescription drug benefit, and it is absolutely not 
true. When I go home, that is all I hear. I call it the middle class 
squeeze: Rising prices, health care, higher education costs, and gas 
prices. At the same time if you have a job and are not keeping up, even 
those people who have a job, they are getting less real dollars and the 
prices keep going up, and nobody in the Bush administration seems to 
think anything is wrong. That is reason enough why we have to have a 
change in November.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown) 
for joining us this evening.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) for his leadership day in and 
day out speaking to the American people. I hope this is a wake-up call 
because God knows, we need one. This administration talks the talk, but 
they do not walk the walk. As the veterans say, they do not rule the 
world. They talk about how much they care about veterans as they cut 
programs. There will be a cut in all programs under another 4 years of 
this administration.
  These people on the other side of the aisle really do believe in 
giving the moneys to their corporate friends, what I call reverse Robin 
Hood, robbing from the poor and working people, to give tax breaks to 
the rich. That is their agenda, and they push it through over and over 
again. I really hope the American people will give us some help in the 
next election.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman.

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