[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 16]
[House]
[Pages 21490-21491]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            OPERATION OFFSET

  (Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, Katrina breaks my heart. When I consider the 
tragic aftermath of this extraordinary storm, now 1 month hence, I 
cannot help but think of that person in the Bible who speaks of how the 
rains came down, the winds blew and beat against the house, the 
floodwaters rose, and the house fell with a great crash.
  Congress is now involved in a critical debate about relief and 
rebuilding and how we will pay for what could be hundreds of billions 
of dollars in recovery and reconstruction of the gulf coast.
  Last week, House conservatives offered their own plan, a series of 
budget cuts simply known as Operation Offset. It contained many good 
ideas, and it seems to have engendered, Mr. Speaker, an important 
debate here in Washington, DC, and all around the country.
  It seems that Members of Congress know and the American people know 
that raising taxes or raising the national debt is no way for this 
national government to respond to the extraordinary costs of Katrina. 
We must ensure that a catastrophe of nature does not become a 
catastrophe of debt for our children and grandchildren through 
introducing tough budget cuts like Operation Offset.

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