[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 17654-17655]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         OUT-OF-TOUCH DEMOCRATS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to a topic 
that I have discussed in this Chamber several times in recent months. 
As we enter the dog days of summer here in Washington, D.C. and the 
temperature continues to rise, so too does the rhetoric we hear from 
the other side of the aisle.
  Democrats continue to say Republicans are out of the mainstream. 
However, from where I stand, I see nothing but hollow allegations and a 
complete lack of any legislative agenda for the American people from 
the other party. Meanwhile, Republicans continue to pursue a 
commonsense solutionist agenda that addresses important issues like 
securing our homeland, supporting our troops, growing the economy, and 
looking out for families and small businesses.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to take a minute to read a quote from the 
minority leader, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), from a 
recent press conference she held: ``It is important for us to take down 
their numbers, to take down their numbers on Social Security, to take 
down their numbers on credibility. That was very important. If you are 
the challenger, you are not going to go up against the leader in full 
strength. You have to take them down first and then you move out in a 
positive way.''
  This quote has troubled me greatly over the past week. I strongly 
disagree with this type of leadership.
  While Republicans remain committed to moving forward with a positive, 
commonsense agenda, Democrats continue to rely on obstruction and 
partisan rhetoric. Republicans are concentrating on progress, and our 
results are hard to argue with. New jobs figures show that 146,000 new 
jobs were created in June. The economy has created over 3.7 million 
jobs since May 2003, and we have seen steady job gains for each of the 
last 25 months.
  There are more Americans working than ever before. The unemployment 
rate fell to 5 percent in June, the lowest it has been since September 
2001. The energy bill passed by Congress will create nearly half a 
million new jobs in the manufacturing, construction, agriculture and 
technology sectors by reducing our dependence on foreign oil while 
exploring different sources of renewable fuels and nuclear energy.
  This legislation will also help eventually lower the cost of 
gasoline, a drag on profits that is hitting small businesses hard. 
Republicans have been working diligently on behalf of small businesses. 
According to a small business survey, over 80 percent of small 
businesses spend an average of $25,000 annually on attorney consultant 
fees and life insurance premiums in an attempt to avoid the crushing 
blow of the death tax. We are working to repeal the death tax because 
we feel this money could do more if it remains in the hands of business 
owners and not in the hands of the government.
  In addition, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection 
Act of 2005 that President Bush signed into law will reduce the number 
of abusive and frivolous bankruptcy filings that have hurt the economy 
and small businesses by raising the cost of credit.
  Republicans are improving our Nation's transportation and 
infrastructure. House Republicans passed the highway bill which will 
fund our Federal highways and help increase the quality of our 
transportation and infrastructure. This will allow small businesses to 
move products more efficiently and economists estimate that for every 
$1 billion spent to improve our highways, 40,000 new jobs will be 
created.
  House Republicans are working to facilitate job training for American 
workers. Hundreds of thousands of new jobs are being created under our 
watch, and we are dedicated to providing adequate job training for all 
Americans who seek it. The Job Training Improvement Act will break down 
barriers for millions of job seekers by streamlining bureaucracy and 
making sure more time is spent training for the jobs of the 21st 
century.

                              {time}  2245

  In addition, the Vocational and Technical Education for the Future 
Act will strengthen and improve the framework of current vocational and 
technical education programs, add new accountability measures, focus on 
academic achievement, and streamline Federal funding to help States and 
local communities make the most of Federal resources.
  Republicans are also dedicated to national security and the war on 
terror. We are promoting responsible government spending and are 
committed to

[[Page 17655]]

upholding vital American programs like Social Security. Democrats are 
committed to rhetoric that does nothing to keep America safe or grow 
our economy.
  It has even come so far that the minority leadership is willing to 
contradict themselves in order to block growth. On March 6, the House 
minority leader stated on Fox News Sunday that ``we must stop robbing 
the Social Security Trust Fund of its money to pay for other things.'' 
Yet in the June 24 edition of Congress Daily she stated, ``There is 
nothing wrong with Social Security lending money with the prospect of 
returning it.''
  This week, I sat down in my office to do some reading and came across 
a series of editorials from leading Republican and Democrat Members. It 
was the sharp contrast in our ideologies that I saw when reading these 
articles that made me want to come to the floor tonight.
  One of the Democrat's editorials claimed that the first 6 months of 
the 109th Congress will be remembered as legislatively unproductive. 
This is not only untrue, but it demonstrates the complete unwillingness 
of the House minority to acknowledge and join in the effort for 
progress in America.
  Republicans are proud of our vast accomplishments in the first half 
of the 109th Congress and we hope we can work with our friends on the 
other side of the aisle to bring forth ideas for the betterment of the 
Nation. I am proud of our accomplishments not just because they 
represent good policy but also because so many of them attracted 
bipartisan support. More than 40 rank-and-file Democrats voted with us 
to enact some of the most important measures of this Congress--despite 
opposition from their leadership. I want to thank those on the other 
side of the aisle who acted in this Nation's best interest and put 
politics aside.
  We are working towards solutions that will create a stronger America 
that we can hand down to future generations with pride. We want to 
preserve vital programs like Social Security, continue to create jobs, 
lower taxes for hardworking Americans, and address the security issues 
facing our country. I look forward to the day that the minority joins 
us in a bipartisan effort to strengthen our Nation and stops attempting 
to block progress for the sake of partisan politics.
  In the meantime, I hope the American people will examine the record 
so that they can see which party truly is out of the mainstream. When 
they do, they will come to one and only one conclusion--that the 
Republican principles of progress and solutions are benefiting the 
entire Nation, while the Democrat tactics of obstruction and 
stonewalling contribute nothing. It is the Washington Democrats, Mr. 
Speaker, that are truly out of the mainstream--not the Republicans.

                          ____________________