[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 20858-20859]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      FINDING OFFSETS FOR KATRINA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gohmert). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Emanuel) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, the cleanup effort along the gulf coast is 
now fully underway. The floodwaters of New Orleans have receded. We are 
shifting our focus to rebuilding and restoring lives as we all watch as 
another hurricane is on its way, and obviously put this work on hold as 
we again once again not only evacuate that part of the coast but also 
parts of Texas.
  Congress has allocated more than $60 billion in disaster relief. It 
was the right thing to do, but with some estimates as high as $200 
billion, some here are questioning whether or not we can afford 
rebuilding given our fiscal situation.
  I would like to remind some of my colleagues that a number of us 
mentioned that we may get into a situation where we could have a crisis 
and we should be able to handle as a country the condition and economic 
condition,

[[Page 20859]]

and we already have over $7 trillion of debt. In the last 5 years this 
Congress has added nearly $2 trillion to America's debt. China and 
Japan have become our bankers. And now we are in dire straits where we 
cannot help Americans unless we write $200 billion in hot checks.
  This Congress is becoming known as the Congress of hot checks. That 
is all we do. We got a problem, we write hot checks around here. Now 
the truth is, some Members of Congress have written $400 billion for 
the effort in Iraq, hot checks. Now we say we cannot pay for our own 
Americans, $200 billion to rebuild their lives, rebuild their 
communities, and restore their families unless we find ways to cut.
  My suggestion to all of us is if we were willing to do $400 billion 
and going for Iraq, we have got to figure out a way to help our fellow 
Americans in time of need. That is our obligation to fellow Americans. 
If we are willing to do $400 billion for Iraq, we need to do $200 
billion for Americans who live in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, who 
have been affected and had their lives for no other reason other than 
natural disaster literally uprooted.
  Some have talked about cutting health care. Some have talked about 
cutting education. Some have talked about cutting basic infrastructure. 
Others are talking about repealing the estate tax and tax cuts for 
those who earn hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of dollars, the top 
1 percent. Instead, I believe what we should have is a balanced 
approach. There should be tax cuts on the table and spending. That is 
the way to fund the reconstruction of Katrina's damage to Louisiana, to 
Mississippi, and Alabama.
  Let me give you some examples in the tax area, places that I refer to 
as corporate welfare. When we had the corporate tax bill up last year, 
it was a $5 billion problem that we had to solve. This Congress passed 
$150 billion in tax giveaways to solve a $5 billion problem. Now, I 
cannot believe none of you think that we cannot find a little fat in 
that bill. If you go back and look at it, you can eliminate handouts to 
special interests, somewhere around $32 billion.
  A couple of examples. A repeal of the bill's provisions that weaken 
interest allocation rules would generate $14.4 billion; $5 billion by 
repealing the special rules for the timber industry; $100 million for 
NASCAR track owner subsidy; $169 million tax break for Puerto Rican rum 
makers; and the suspension of duties on ceiling fans, which would 
provide an additional $92 million. That bill is not the only bill, but 
those are examples.
  I ask you, nobody planned through Katrina's damage, but given the 
damage, do we really need to give the ceiling fan industry $92 million? 
Do we really need to give the Puerto Rican rum makers $169 million when 
literally families are asunder and they need the help to get their 
homes, their lives back together, their education, their savings 
accounts, their health care?
  We recently passed an $80 billion energy bill. We are providing Exxon 
Mobil and other energy companies $9 billion in tax subsidies to drill 
for oil when oil is at $65 a barrel, the highest it has ever been. At 
what time does that market work out its own where it becomes efficient 
that the oil companies are getting $69 a barrel? You know what? We do 
not need a tax subsidy from taxpayers to drill and explore for oil. Ten 
dollars a barrel, I got it. Fifteen dollars a barrel, I got it. Twenty-
five dollars a barrel, I got it. We will help our domestic industry.
  Exxon Mobil and the other corporations, this quarter alone, had a $10 
billion profit, 69 percent up since last year. At what point do we stop 
subsidizing big oil? There is another place we can save money. 
Unfortunately, because of that subsidy, the American taxpayers are not 
only paying $3 a barrel for oil, but on April 15 they are paying 
another $10 billion to the energy industry because they are subsidizing 
it on Tax Day and every day at the pump.
  Mr. Speaker, this afternoon I did some quick research and found we 
could easily come up with more than $56 billion in offsets just 
eliminating corporate welfare this Congress has handed out in just the 
past year. The fact is that this country can afford to rebuild after 
Hurricane Katrina, but it cannot be done on the backs of those who need 
our help the most. It cannot be done by cutting health care. It cannot 
be done by cutting education. It will take leadership and require 
Congress to do something this Congress that writes hot checks has not 
done before, and that is stand up to special interests.
  The American people expect us to do what is right for America. We are 
all in this together. Let us take on the special interests, the 
corporate interests as it relates to corporate welfare. Everybody has 
skin in the game when it comes to rebuilding America.

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