[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[House]
[Pages 24815-24821]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       30-SOMETHING WORKING GROUP

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Inglis of South Carolina). Under the 
Speaker's announced policy of January 4, 2005, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Meek) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the 
minority leader.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, once again it is an honor to come 
before the House. As you know, we come to the floor nightly to talk 
about the issues that are facing Americans and also what Members of 
Congress are trying to do about them. Even in cases when we are not 
trying to do anything about it, we think we need to bring those issues 
up.
  Mr. Speaker, we want to take the opportunity tonight to honor some 
great soldiers and warriors, the Tuskegee Airmen, for their 
contributions to our country.
  Mr. Speaker, when I traveled to Iraq, I had an opportunity to see the 
Tuskegee Airmen Wing there in Iraq, still running strong, still flying 
sorties, and still defending this country in many ways. Even in some 
other theaters, they have done an outstanding job.
  I am so glad to be here tonight with my good friend, the gentleman 
from Ohio (Mr. Ryan), who has some comments that he would like to make; 
and so I yield to him.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida for 
this opportunity to be here with him tonight, as we do every night; and 
I want to take this opportunity for a couple of minutes here with my 
colleague, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Strickland), who is also here 
to recognize the impact that the Tuskegee Airmen have had not only in 
Alabama, where they did the original training, but all over the country 
and the kind of impact and leadership that they have set out for all of 
us, quite frankly, to try to achieve.
  November 11, Mr. Speaker, marks the 51st year we have honored 
veterans. Memorial Day recognizes those people who have unselfishly 
given their lives in service to this Nation. Veterans Day honors all 
those who defend democracy by serving in the Armed Forces.
  The beautiful thing, Mr. Speaker, about the Tuskegee Airmen, when 
they were set up during World War II, these black military pilots were 
trained at a separate air field in Alabama, Tuskegee, Alabama, 
therefore named the Tuskegee Airmen. The establishment and the training 
of the airmen was an experiment to prove that blacks were incapable of 
operating expensive and complex combat aircraft.
  The true spirit of those men came through, however; and instead of 
the expected failure, the Tuskegee training program produced 992 
graduates, 450 of whom served in combat. They flew more than 15,500 
missions, destroyed 260 enemy aircraft, sank one enemy destroyer, and 
demolished numerous enemy installations. During World War II, the 
airmen earned 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 744 Air Medals, eight 
Purple Hearts and 14 Bronze Stars.
  This is what it is all about. And there is going to be an event on 
Veterans Day that my colleague from Ohio and I, and even our good 
friends from Florida, I am sure, will not be able to make, but we want 
to take this opportunity here on the House floor to honor those men who 
provided a tremendous example for our whole Nation.
  Mr. STRICKLAND. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.
  Mr. STRICKLAND. I thank my friend for yielding, and it is true that 
as the folks gather there in Youngstown, Ohio, we will not be able to 
be with them, but our thoughts will be with them as we honor veterans. 
And especially we will remember the Tuskegee Airmen.
  The Tuskegee Airmen have the distinction of never having lost an 
American bomber under their escort. The Tuskegee Airmen overcame the 
enormous challenges of prejudice and racial discrimination that existed 
within our country, and they inspired revolutionary reform within the 
entire Armed Forces of our Nation.
  The Tuskegee Airmen, with their courage and their dedication, paved 
the way for the full racial integration of our Armed Forces. The 
Tuskegee Airmen were not only heroes serving to protect American rights 
that did not extend to them as Americans, but they were also among the 
very first to challenge our Nation's segregationist policies. Because 
of them, because of the standard they set, because of the success they 
enjoyed through their hard work and commitment to this country, our 
Nation became a better country.
  As we honor all veterans, we especially are thinking of these 
wonderful men who set such an example for all the rest of us. I yield 
back to my colleague.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, if my colleague from Florida will 
continue to yield, I just want to get this into the Congressional 
Record. The speaker on November 11 in Youngstown is going to be Luther 
H. Smith at the VFW Post 6488's annual Veterans Day program.
  This gentleman epitomizes what it means to really be a hero. He 
received his military aviation training at the Tuskegee Army Air Field 
in 1942, and he then became a fighter pilot with the all-black 332d 
Fighter Group. He has said of the Tuskegee Airmen: ``We didn't start 
out to be heroes, but now we are legends.''
  Mr. Smith is credited with destroying two German enemy aircraft in 
aerial combat and 10 German aircraft in ground missions. So we want to 
welcome Mr. Smith not only into the Congressional Record but to the VFW 
Post 6488 in Youngstown, thank him for his service, all Tuskegee Airmen 
in Youngstown, and all veterans on Veterans Day.
  So I thank my colleague very much for allowing me to thank our 
veterans for their service to our country; and with that, I yield back 
to the gentleman from Florida.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. I just want to say to both of my colleagues from 
Ohio that it is so important that we recognize not only veterans, but 
we recognize celebrations that hold our veterans up. The Tuskegee 
Airmen had a very hard time in their day to even climb into an 
aircraft, let alone go into a theater of battle. But it is good for our 
country to be able to recognize past sacrifice and commitment. I know 
all veterans shoulder to shoulder today know that every American fights 
for the freedom of this country and countries that are in our coalition 
in the civilized world.
  I can share with my colleagues that I have many Tuskegee Airmen 
living in my district in Florida. They come out with their red coats 
on, and it is so good to see them standing strong with their chests 
out. As you know, the NFL has built a very strong relationship with the 
Tuskegee Airmen. They appear at a number of the NFL, National Football 
League, half-time shows.
  So we need to see our heroes and our sheroes while they are here, and 
not just look in a book and say, it was once, not only with the 
Tuskegee Airmen but veterans in general who come out.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank both of my colleagues for bringing this 
to the floor tonight and putting it in the Congressional Record, 
because I think every time we have an opportunity to celebrate those 
who have allowed us to salute one flag, we need to take that 
opportunity at the highest levels.
  Mr. Speaker, with that, I might mention that my colleague, the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz), has just joined us; 
and we now have another of our special guests with us, and I will leave 
it up to my colleague to recognize him.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Well, my two mentors in Congress. Really, just to 
see you two standing next to each other puts a little lump in the 
throat. The good gentleman from Massachusetts, who we have been getting 
e-mails about from folks that say they just love the accent from 
Boston.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Well, I cannot understand why anyone would ask about my 
accent, because I would submit that I am the only person in this 
Chamber tonight that does not have an accent.

[[Page 24816]]


  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I would also like to welcome our good friend and my 
colleague, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Strickland), who has been a 
voice for the underprivileged for the past 10 years in Congress. Prior 
to that, he was a psychologist in prisons, a very dangerous job; and he 
had many other careers prior to coming to the United States Congress.
  So we have a heavy bunch here, along with our good friend, the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz), who keeps us all 
together and brings a little class and elegance to the whole operation 
and some sense and some civility and a little bit of grace.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Thanks.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Well, without her, I do not know where we would 
be as relates to being able to deliver a clear and crisp message that 
people can understand. She is our translator. She translates from 
Washington talk to everyday talk so that even some Members can 
understand and the American people.
  With that, since we are talking about those who are underprivileged, 
and those that are trying to, hopefully, be a part of our workforce in 
the future, there is an awful lot to talk about, a lot of ground to 
cover tonight, so we are going to try to cover it real quickly.
  A lot of action here under the dome today. The Budget Committee met. 
We are talking about those that play fiscal conservatives on television 
and those that are actually looking out for the financial well-being of 
our country. I might just say that as the 30-Something Working Group 
looks at issues that are facing young people and parents that have 
children that they want to be able to go to college, Mr. Speaker, and 
receive a higher education, there are a number of things that we have 
to cover.

                              {time}  2030

  Not only the budget. We have Hurricane Wilma. We have the Hurricane 
Katrina investigative panel. We have issues as they relate to Iraq and 
misspending there. And at the same time, we have a culture of 
corruption and cronyism and coverups going on here, right here in the 
capital city.
  I just want to bring a quick point just to start us off tonight. Some 
folks run around and say, what is the Democratic position? Well, the 
Democratic position is making sure that the everyday American does not 
end up paying the bill for billionaires, billionaires, not everyday 
Americans, but billionaires, to run away with the U.S. Treasury and 
special interests to have free rein on the U.S. Treasury.
  Now, I do not blame the billionaires for getting what they get. I do 
not blame the special interests in this town for getting what they 
want. I blame those that give them what they want when they want it. 
And it is up to us, as the representatives of the people, to make sure 
that that does not happen and that we work on behalf of the American 
people.
  Representatives Kind, Capps, Edwards, Moore, and Schwartz moved in 
the Budget Committee today to direct the chairman, on behalf of the 
committee, to consider an amendment in the Deficit Reduction Act of 
2005. The amendment eliminated all new student-paid fees to increase 
the cost to receive a student loan.
  What they have done here, Mr. Speaker, and when I say ``they,'' I 
mean the majority side, is they are saying there are not any offsets or 
cuts in this bill; but what they are doing is they are putting 27 
percent additional fees on students that are receiving student loans. 
Now, that is 27 percent more that they have to pay. Some folks call it 
a tax. So one would think we are just talking about students. We are 
also talking about parents. When the students cannot pay for their 
education, who kicks in? Mom and Dad, family, Granddad, Grandmother. 
She is digging into the retirement fund to help pay to make sure that 
her grandson will be able to go to school. They continue to carry the 
message on down of adding these new taxes on to students and families 
on the State government.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, the interesting point that our friends 
always make is if we tax corporations, then they just pass it on to the 
consumers. So they raised fees, and it is getting passed on too to the 
students. As we go through this tonight, let us ask other Members, Mr. 
Speaker, to pay very close attention. I do not think it is a 
coincidence that the very programs that are getting cut, student loans, 
Medicaid, school lunches, these just happen to be by coincidence the 
programs in Washington, D.C. that do not have lobbyists. There is no 
one down here greasing the wheels, putting money into the Republican 
campaign coffers for student loans, for the fees to be decreased. There 
is no big lobby group out there for that.
  And there is no big lobby group out there to make sure that poor 
people have the proper kind of health care that they need. So as we go 
through this tonight, it is important for all of us to remember that it 
is not a coincidence that our friends cut programs where there are not 
big lobby groups and big donors and then they keep the programs that 
have corporate welfare in them or that the lobbyists want. Then they 
are off to shakedown street, K Street, which is where all the lobbyists 
are. They go down to shakedown street, shake down the lobbyists. The 
lobbyists donate money to the Republican Party, and they keep the 
system going.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, that was a 
party-line vote. A 27-percent increase, which I call a tax increase, on 
students that want to go to school, 27 percent, a party-line vote. 
Democrats voted not to increase those fees on them. Republicans voted 
in the majority.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Sixteen Democrats voted to reduce the fees, 
eliminate all fees that would increase the cost of receiving the loan. 
Sixteen Democrats voted for that amendment. Twenty-two Republicans 
voted against that amendment.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, here is another one just today from 
the Budget Committee. This is not something from yesterday. It will 
probably come out in the hometown paper tomorrow, but the Members here 
in this Congress, Mr. Speaker, will get what happened in the Budget 
Committee today because that is where they put the cookie on the bottom 
shelf. I mean, that is when it happens. The same thing, a motion to 
link the tax cuts to spending cuts.
  This is what is going to happen, Mr. Speaker, and we might as well 
call it so that everyone knows exactly what is going to happen and 
illuminate what the majority is doing right now. We are going through 
all of this process with all of these cuts, a real big number as it 
relates to the cuts; and then a couple of weeks from now when folks are 
doing something else, the majority is going to come up with the tax 
cuts for billionaires. They may give everyday Americans a little tax 
cut, just a little one.
  Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we have Katrina, which was a 
catastrophic storm that took out the gulf coast. We had Rita that also 
hit the gulf coast, and we have Wilma that we are going to talk about 
in a minute that also hit south Florida. And we have this thing we call 
a war in Iraq and Afghanistan that we need money for.
  I am saying this to make this point and then we are going to go to 
the next level here: the President of the United States and this 
Congress, Mr. Speaker, have borrowed more from foreign governments than 
42 Presidents combined. Since the Republic started, this President has 
outborrowed from foreign nations. In the 224 years, from 1776 to the 
year 2000, the U.S. Presidents borrowed a combined $1 trillion from 
foreign governments and financial institutions, according to the U.S. 
Department of the Treasury. In the past 4 years alone, President Bush 
and the majority of this Congress have been authorized and borrowed a 
staggering $1.05 trillion, just in 4 years.
  Folks come to the floor and they are dazzled on the other side. Why 
are they

[[Page 24817]]

talking about all of these things? And we come to this floor night 
after night and say, you know something. Something is really wrong 
going on here, and we need to bring this to the attention of the 
American people.
  I have a little chart here that I just want to get out of the way 
right now. We will pull it up. Forty-two Presidents, Republican and 
Democrat, 42, not 10, not 20, not 25, not even 30, but 42 Presidents. 
One President, one President outborrowed 42 Presidents from foreign 
countries.
  What has happened here, Mr. Speaker, is that the country is now 
depending on foreign governments to run our government. Some folks may 
ask why are we talking about the billionaire tax cuts? We are talking 
about those tax cuts because it is weakening a country, bottom line. 
That is all that is happening here.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I am champing at the bit here 
because he is absolutely right, and one of the things I want to 
emphasize, because I think in the last few nights we have not gotten 
this point across to the Speaker and to the folks who might be hearing 
this conversation this evening, the purpose of the 30-something Group, 
the main purpose, is for us to help get some understanding out to our 
generation about the issues that we are debating in this Congress and 
how it affects them. And the student aid cuts that the gentleman was 
talking about just a few minutes ago, more than any other issue almost, 
is the easiest for folks in our generation to understand how it impacts 
them.
  What maybe is not so obvious is what Congressman Meek was just 
talking about a minute ago. The Republican leadership, our friends on 
the other side of the aisle, will try, as they put forth this 
reconciliation act, AKA budget cuts, because reconciliation and other 
words that are used inside this Chamber and in this Capitol, that is 
Washington speak for budget cuts, the budget cuts that they are saying 
they are going to need to put forward to address the deficit and to 
address the out-of-control spending that they have engaged in are not 
for Katrina relief, are not being put forward so that we can pay for 
Katrina and for the aftermath of Katrina. They are so that they can 
preserve the $70 billion in tax cuts that they have put forward.
  Let us boil this down to its simplest terms. They will represent and 
have been representing that they have to do these cuts because the 
impact from Katrina is so significant and we have got to do something. 
We have got to get a handle on the spending. Why does getting a handle 
on the spending have to be on the backs of the people who can least 
afford it and we are going to enrich the backs of the people who do not 
need help?
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman from Florida will 
continue to yield, I think it is quite interesting too that our good 
friend Jim Wallace, an evangelical preacher, and several others from 
religious organizations, are stepping up and trying to pressure the 
Republican Party, who have called themselves Christians and who have 
utilized the Christian right and the label of the Christian Coalition 
and yet in the very next breath they cut poverty programs, cut programs 
for average people. I find that horribly hypocritical.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to be even more 
specific, because he is absolutely right. The groups that are out there 
trying to help those in need are opposing these cuts. Every major 
religious institution has sent letters to our Speaker, to this 
Republican leadership, asking them not to do what they are trying to 
do, not to harm people who are most in need, particularly in exchange 
for preserving tax cuts for our wealthiest citizens.
  Just in student aid alone, they are proposing a cut of more than $14 
billion from the student aid program, which is the largest cut in 
history to Federal student loan programs. On top of that, it increases 
the cost for student borrowers who are already saddled with about 
$17,500 in debt. They will be forced to pay $5,800 more for their 
college loans. In my community that is really real money.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. That is a lot of money.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. That is real money. I do not know a lot of 
people who can just reach into their pocket or go down to their local 
bank branch and yank out $5,800.
  Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. I yield to the gentlewoman from Nevada.
  Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I am not part of the 30-something Group, 
but I was about 20 years ago.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. You are now.
  Ms. BERKLEY. I thank the gentleman. I have to tell my colleagues here 
that I have been watching them speak up about the things that I care 
very passionately about, and I thought it was about time that I came 
down here and lent my support and my voice because they should not be 
carrying the burden for the rest of us.
  When they talk about student loans, I went through college and law 
school on student loans. My dad was a waiter when I was growing up, and 
there was not very much money, and no one had gone to college in my 
family until I went to college. And without those student loans, I 
guarantee I would not be standing here today. So I put myself in the 
place of thousands and thousands of Nevadans and millions of Americans 
that are depending on those student loans to make a difference in their 
lives. And getting that college education does not change only one's 
life. It changes the entire direction of one's family. It is an 
investment in our future.
  And I wanted to share with my colleagues that a couple of days ago 
when Senator Reid took to the floor of the United States Senate, as a 
fellow Nevadan, I do not think I have ever been as proud of him as I 
was a couple of days ago, and I have been pretty proud of that man for 
a number of years. But I think he gave us all a voice. And what he said 
was that we wanted to give this government back to the American people. 
The American people are entitled to know what went on in the decision-
making process to take this country to war.
  I sit on the Committee on International Relations, and I went to 
every classified briefing and every confidential briefing because I am 
the mother of two sons who are 20-somethings, and I knew that I would 
be sending other mothers' sons and daughters into a theater of war, and 
I wanted to make sure that I had my facts straight. And when they told 
me that there were weapons of mass destruction and they located the 
location, they showed us on the map where these weapons were located in 
Iraq, and when they talked about nuclear capacity within 6 months to a 
year and shared with us the strong al Qaeda ties to Iraq and assured us 
that there was an imminent threat, I supported the President based on 
those issues.

                              {time}  2045

  But I bring that up because that is so much a part of what we are 
seeing now. There is deception, there is deceit.
  Remember when they said it would only take about 100,000, 150,000 
troops to go in? There was one general that said we would need half a 
million troops. What did they do? They retired him.
  When the Budget Director, Mr. Lindsey, said it would cost $200 
billion, and we are there now, they said, no, no, no, it is not going 
to cost us anything. It is going to be the oil revenue coming out of 
Iraq that is going to pay for this war. We went ahead with that based 
on their justification and what they said.
  I want to know and I want to have an investigation. Because when I 
voted, I voted on a certain set of circumstances, and the American 
people are entitled to know why their sons and daughters are dying in a 
foreign land.
  Did we have to do this? If we did, where are we going? And I want to 
tie this in to the budget, because we are standing here today and 
knowing that next week we are going to be voting on

[[Page 24818]]

a budget that is an embarrassment to me.
  When I was growing up, I always wanted to serve and be a public 
servant and be in this great body. I never believed I would be taking 
student loans away from youngsters who are just like I was. I never 
dreamed I would be taking poor children and keeping them from getting 
the health care that this Nation should be providing for them so that 
they can grow up to be strong adults. I never dreamed that women that 
depended on child support for their children, that we would be taking 
away the money to find the deadbeat dads.
  This, to me, is absolutely an affront to what it is to be an 
American. We have an obligation to our fellow citizens, and I am afraid 
and I am embarrassed that we are not living up to our obligations.
  But we are in the minority. We cannot get anything done in this body. 
It is the leadership of this body in particular that has to do what is 
right by the American people.
  As the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) said, why 
would we be giving more tax cuts to the wealthiest people in this 
country and taking it from the backs of people that cannot possibly 
afford to pay for these things? Why would we take student loans away 
from youngsters? Why would we take quality health care away from 
children? Why would we take the opportunity to get your deadbeat father 
to give you the money, to pay their child support, why would you take 
that away from people?
  This is foolish and shortsighted, and it is desperate, and the reason 
we are desperate is because of that war and the mistakes that we made 
going in to it. This administration had better come clean. We owe it to 
the American people. This stonewalling truly has to end. It is an 
embarrassment, but it is bad for this county.
  That is the main reason why I am standing here today, because I care 
enough about the American people, I care enough about my constituents. 
My constituents are going to be hurt very badly. Two hundred thousand 
of my fellow Nevadans are going to be without health care if they cut 
that Medicaid. I have got 18,000 students that are going to be cut away 
from that student loan program. Over the next 5 years, funding for that 
child support collection is going to be cut by $60 million. We should 
not be doing that.
  I am here to share these statistics with you so you know how 
devastated the State of Nevada would be if this Republican 
reconciliation plan goes through.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield 
further, if I can just say one thing, first of all, it is such a 
pleasure to see you and have you join us tonight. The gentlewoman from 
Nevada (Ms. Berkley) has been an amazing advocate for the people who 
are on this floor tonight championing their cause. Those of us in the 
30-something generation have had an opportunity to stand on your 
shoulders for the years you have been in Congress and been in the 
legislature in the State of Nevada fighting for the people that have no 
voice. That is really why we are here. We are so glad and privileged to 
have you join us tonight to take up this fight.
  Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield further, I 
think the gentlewoman is being overly gracious in her compliments. I 
appreciate it, and I want to return them by telling you how very proud 
I have been of the three of you standing here every night in the well 
of the House telling the American people the truth. That, 
unfortunately, has become a rare commodity in this House.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield, I am just so 
impressed with my friend from Nevada, and I really do mean that so 
sincerely, to come here and to acknowledge that the vote that was taken 
3 years ago was a mistake because the American people and Members of 
Congress were misled. It is that simple.
  Ms. BERKLEY. If the gentleman will yield further, if I could chime in 
a minute, I think what hurts me and offends me the most is I took this 
information, I went back to the people I represent. I was on every 
television show, I was on every radio program, and I shared with them 
the information that I received, and I defended my position. Not only 
did I defend it, I was an advocate for it. If it was wrong and based on 
faulty information, I owe it to my constituents to let them know that.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Members should be aware of the fact that the Republican 
chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Pat Roberts, it was 
reported, recently said that if the information had been available, he 
doubted that the resolution authorizing the invasion into Iraq would 
have passed the United States Senate. That, to me, really spoke 
volumes.
  But if I could just for one moment get back to a point that was 
raised by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek) earlier, and if he 
could again just show that chart to our friends and colleagues.
  Let us just read the title again. ``President Bush does in 4 years 
what 42 presidents managed in 224 years,'' and that is borrow from 
foreign governments, borrow from foreign governments the moneys needed 
to finance the war and finance a tax cut that is primarily created to 
benefit 1 percent of the American people.
  Now, the President speaks of an ``ownership society.'' We have heard 
that term before. I think it was interpreted by most of the American 
people that they would have the American dream realized for themselves 
and their children. But what is happening is America is being 
mortgaged. America is being sold.
  Mr. Speaker, I know that you are aware of this and many of our 
colleagues, that when debt issues from the Treasury Department, who is 
purchasing that debt? It is the Chinese Central Bank, the Japanese 
Central Bank, the Korean Central Bank, individuals and governments in 
the Middle East. We are being bought by foreign governments that do not 
share our values.
  So not only are we becoming economically dependent on this debt that 
is being purchased by, in some cases, potential adversaries, but we are 
eroding our own national security. What if we have political 
differences with any of these nations?
  We constantly hear from the Republicans a concern about Taiwan and 
what the Chinese are doing in the Formosa Straits. There is a lot of 
chest-thumping about we cannot let that happen. But if we get right 
down to it, we are beholden to the Chinese Central Bank. We are selling 
our country to foreign interests. That is why this is so shocking. Now 
it is something that I dare say most Americans do not understand, but 
it is the reality.
  If the Chinese wish to leverage our political decisions, all they 
have to do is say, ``We are not going to continue to finance your debt, 
the debt that you used to give tax cuts that benefited in a 
disproportionate way to the billionaires, the 1 percent of Americans.''
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, the gentleman 
is hitting it right on the head. We talked about the carpenter hitting 
the nail right on the head the other night. I can tell you that, even 
now as we speak, in committee today a budget passed out of the 
committee on partisan lines with one Republican, one Republican, voting 
with the Democrats to stop this madness.
  One day, if this continues, if this continues, let me just say, in 
all fairness to President Bush, he did not do it alone. The majority 
had to be along with him on this. The majority Senate had to endorse 
this, that it is okay for you to knock on the door of the Bank of China 
and say, and when I say China, I knew the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 
Ryan) was going to get excited, but knock on the door and say we need 
more money. If this continues, one day one of these countries is going 
to rise up and say ``we own you'' on behalf of the majority.
  Mr. RYAN of OHIO. If the gentleman will yield, the Republican Party 
has been in charge of this Chamber since 1994. They have had control of 
the Senate for a number of years. They have had the Presidency since 
2000. They

[[Page 24819]]

cannot govern. They are incapable of governing this country.
  We have poverty rates up, we are cutting programs that are 
investments into the United States of America, and we have borrowed 
over $1 trillion in just 4 years from foreign countries, and the 
national debt is above $8 trillion. That is not governing. That is not 
providing a bright future for the country.
  Talk about reducing the tax burden. The burden on average people is 
higher now, and these kids that we are also cutting their student loans 
and health care for are the same kids that are going to have to pay the 
interest on the money we are borrowing, which never seems to be 
recognized by our friends.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. If the gentleman will yield, $8 trillion is a 
really, really big number, a difficult number for a lot of people to 
get their minds around in terms of a concept. Tell us, how much money 
does that translate per man, woman and child in America?
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. That is $27,000 for each person. So if you are a 
baby born today, right now, my nephew, Nicholas, born 3 weeks ago, he 
owes $27,000 to pay for the debt.
  Now as we look at the numbers, as the gentlewoman stated earlier, he 
is going to go to college and have to borrow money, $17,000, $18,000, 
now an additional $6,000. So this kid before he even gets out into the 
workforce to have a full-time job is going to owe $27,000 on the debt 
and $23,000 on student loans. That is $50,000. Run that out 22 years, 
plus the additional burden we are putting on this young fellow, and 
what kind of future are we leaving to this kid?
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. He is not even walking yet.
  Mr. RYAN of OHIO. He is still sleeping 23 hours a day.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. They cannot get out of the hospital, and they 
already owe the Federal Government, and we owe foreign countries all 
kinds of money.
  Mr. RYAN of OHIO. Is that an ownership society?
  Mr. DELAHUNT. He is going to own that interest rate, too, because 
that is interest rate is going up.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Let me tell my good friend, the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz), it starts right here. We talk about 
third-party validators, and we believe in that in our working group we 
have here.
  I hold in my hand here from the Republican Study Committee, which it 
seems like the majority is following the lead of this group, and they 
have said originally in this report that they wanted $35 billion in 
cuts. Let us talk about those cuts.

                              {time}  2100

  Let us talk about those cuts: $35 billion in cuts, and all of this is 
on the table and a majority of it is in this budget, Mr. Speaker, that 
was passed by the Republican majority out of committee today. Cuts to 
Medicare, cuts to Medicaid, student loan cuts, we talked about that; 
food stamps, school lunches. But not a mumbling word, not a mumbling 
word about taking back tax cuts from billionaires. Not a mumbling word.
  Not one, Hey, you know something, we are at war. Maybe we need to ask 
these folks who have never given anything. As a matter of fact, I do 
not blame them. I go back to not blaming the billionaires. We never 
asked them, we never told them that they need to do something. Let us 
just keep it going.
  This is the document. I want to make sure that the Members who did 
not see this document, they can go online to 
www.john.shadegg.house.gov/rsc/, that is www.john.shadegg.house.gov/
rsc/. Do not take it from me. Go find it for yourself.
  So how do we get to the point where we are?
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I think we should put a link on 
the 30-something Web site.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Yes, why do we not do that? We are going to get 
staff to put this on the Web site, because this stuff just does not 
fall out of the sky. This does not just fall out of the sky. The 
President cannot do it by himself. Take it from me, he cannot. He has 
to have his Republican majority, he has to have a majority, obviously, 
over in the Senate to do it; and he cannot do it by himself.
  So folks start talking about what is going on here. Why are these 
foreign countries owning our debt? Why are they owning our debt? Why 
are we taxing our students? This budget that was passed through the 
Budget Committee on a partisan vote, with the exception of one 
Republican, and I am going to write him a thank-you note tomorrow, the 
bottom line is $14 billion and a tax on students. Not just students, 
but parents who have to take up the cause because the kids can no 
longer try to pay for their own college or the majority of college. If 
parents have a college fund going now, they need to go back and talk to 
their financial adviser and put some more money into it, because if 
this Republican majority continues to go out of control, there will not 
be any assistance for your child. That is not just me presenting a 
budget. You can go online and see this for yourselves.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Speaker, could I just for a moment speak on behalf 
of those who have white hair and are looking towards receiving 
Medicare. The United States Senate is sending over a budget to this 
body, and there will be a so-called conference committee that will 
reconcile the differences; and in that Senate budget is, for the first 
time in my experience, and I have been here 9 years, a significant cut 
not in Medicaid, but in Medicare.
  If my colleagues remember, there was a former Speaker of this body by 
the name of Newt Gingrich. He would come to this floor frequently at 
this hour of the night, have conversations that were noted by the 
American people, and he talked on one occasion about beginning to 
reduce Medicare and allowing it to wither on the vine.
  Well, every American who shares the color of my hair ought to be 
aware of what has happened in the other branch, in the Senate, in terms 
of Medicare, because I do not want to say it is the beginning of the 
initiative or the concept of allowing Medicare to wither on the vine, 
but every American should be aware that there is a cut to that 
particular program that has saved the lives and extended the lives of 
millions of elderly Americans.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I am also going to speak up for 
those of our colleagues with white hair, because Mr. Meek and I 
represent tens of thousands of folks with white hair.
  When the President talked about an ownership society, I think he was 
talking, well, I must have misunderstood him because, apparently, he is 
more interested in making sure that the top 1 percent of the population 
owns everything and that they are the only ones in a position to own 
anything.
  Because if you look at people's ability to afford housing, in almost 
every major city in America, it has become virtually out of reach. The 
average price of a house in just my county is $348,000, the average 
price of a house. Now, that is not an attainable price for an average 
middle-class person, never mind somebody who is on the lower end of the 
socioeconomic spectrum.
  But let us talk about senior citizens. Let us talk about the folks 
who are living on fixed incomes. And then, let us turn to the people 
who are in our community, in south Florida, who just got hit by a 
category 3 storm who, right after the storm, were in a bad enough 
situation to begin with, because we got hit much worse than anyone 
expected. But then, 2 days ago, it started pouring rain on the houses 
that were already blown out by the wind and the rain.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, if the gentlewoman will yield, I 
cannot help but see that picture behind you and see a lady there with 
silver hair. So if the majority has its way, not only did she get hit 
by a category 3 storm, Wilma, but she is going to be hit by a 
Republican majority Congress at the same time.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Oh, yes. These people in this picture, this 
lovely couple who happen to be constituents of mine, they live in a 
condominium in my district where I just went door to door giving out 
self-heating meals. These are people who are

[[Page 24820]]

frail. They were told that they had to leave because many hundreds of 
the apartments in this condominium complex alone are being condemned 
after the rain because there are gaping holes in the roof. And on top 
of that, with thousands of people now, thousands of people in Palm 
Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties who were hit by Wilma and whose 
homes are being condemned, there are numbers in the thousands, and that 
is just after this week's rain, we expect more rain in the future; and 
they are not even done counting the number of buildings that have been 
affected.
  This budget reconciliation, these budget cuts cut housing vouchers, 
cut affordable housing programs. Just in our State, we would take a 
3,500 section 8 voucher cut. So we are talking about people who are hit 
by a natural disaster who are being forced out of their houses, and now 
they will have the manmade disaster of this budget cut, these budget 
cuts that will force even more people out of their houses.
  But ``we want to create an ownership society in America.'' The 
President of the United States was elected to help people own things 
and to accumulate things. All I can see anyone accumulating is people 
who already have a whole lot and could live their whole lives not 
accumulating one more thing.
  When is it going to stop? When are we going to be able to be in a 
position here in this Chamber to move this country in a new direction 
and start helping people again?
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Speaker, there is another crisis coming too, and 
that is the cost of home heating fuel in the Northeast and in the 
Midwest that is going to strike particularly the elderly. As we know, 
gas is about $3 a gallon, and the utilities are now predicting that 
families could pay as much as 70 percent more in terms of their heating 
bill. The Energy Department predicts that the cost of natural gas is 
going to go up by some $350 next season. At the same time that that is 
happening, we hear that Big Oil has done rather well.
  For example, Exxon-Mobile recently reported that its profits in this 
past quarter, the third quarter, increased 75 percent.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Wow.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Not a bad quarter. In one quarter, Exxon-Mobile had a 
net profit of $10 billion. Simultaneously, today in the Budget 
Committee, there was a motion, a motion to increase the so-called 
LIHEAP program.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, can the gentleman explain who offered 
that motion, what party?
  Mr. DELAHUNT. It was a Democratic motion. It would have increased the 
funding for that particular program, which allows low-income people, 
primarily elderly people, to benefit from a purchase of discounted 
energy, whether it be oil or gas, but primarily oil.
  While Exxon-Mobile is making $10 million, in the Budget Committee 
today, Mr. Speaker, the Republican majority said, no, we are not going 
to increase that program. And, by the way, the chairman of the Energy 
and Commerce Committee said no to any rescission of the $16 billion 
that this Republican-controlled Congress passed in the form of 
subsidies for Big Oil this year. If you are investing in oil this year, 
it was reminiscent of the gold rush back in 1849. You really scored 
well. Now, is that what we are about as a people? Are we not violating 
a social compact, a covenant, where we all come together and get 
through the hard times?
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, there is a certain amount of 
corruption within the system, is there not, when that happens? There is 
just a certain amount of corruption and incompetence in the system.
  Now, I know our friends, they like to say, well, all the Democrats, 
all they want to do is spend, spend, spend. But they have borrowed and 
spent over $1 trillion just in the last 4 years from foreign countries, 
more than the past 42 Presidents.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Record breaking.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Record-breaking spending, record-breaking deficits. 
The party of fiscal conservatism has become an absolute joke. It has 
become a caricature of itself.
  Here is a conservative that we may disagree with on many, many 
issues, Cal Thomas of the Washington Times, a conservative newspaper, a 
conservative columnist, one of the most conservative in the country who 
tries to provide a little advice to the Republican majority: ``Here is 
a suggestion on your budget cuts: Don't start with the poor, start with 
the rich.''
  Mr. DELAHUNT. The oil companies are a good place to begin.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. A good first step, $16 billion in subsidies to 
them. They have not done anything with trying to reduce the cost of 
prescription drugs, allow for reimportation, allow the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services to negotiate down the drug prices of a $700 
billion bill that we were told that night was $400 billion.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Can someone explain to me, anybody, why the oil 
companies, that had revenues in the last quarter of some $100 billion, 
each and every one of them saw huge increases in terms of their net 
profits, why they need subsidies?
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I will tell the gentleman why. 
Because according to the Republican leadership, they do not want an 
ownership society; they want an own-everything society. That is why. 
Because they fall into the category of groups and individuals that the 
Republican leadership in this country clearly believes should own 
everything.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I think the Republican Party, after 
they give the $16 billion in subsidies, will head out to shakedown 
street, K Street, where all the lobbyists are, and they will say, hey, 
we just gave you $16 billion in public taxpayer money, and average 
people, middle-class people, people who need LIHEAP, who have high 
heating costs and everything else, they took that public money, they 
gave it to the oil companies, the oil companies are going to make 
tremendous profits and have made tremendous contributions to the 
Republican Party.

                              {time}  2115

  Mr. MEEK of Florida. I want to say quickly just today, news flash 
from the Budget Committee, happened over there in the Cannon Building, 
really nice building named after Speaker Cannon, who used to walk 
around here smoke cigars and all and is well known.
  But I can tell you this. There is a heating program that is out there 
to help poor people. Since we are talking about these big companies 
that are making all of these big profits, it would have increased the 
funding to provide for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program 
from $1 billion to $3.093 billion. That would impose a temporary 
windfall profits tax on the oil companies to assure that the amendment 
is deficit neutral.
  Now I am going to tell you something. You want to talk about this 
budget is keeping not only everyday Americans in the cold but is 
definitely keeping poor people in the cold.
  But I cannot tell you, when you say, can you explain it to me, well, 
I cannot explain to you the reason why we have CIA agents being outed, 
not only one but a number of them.
  I cannot explain to you the reason why we still have Michael Brown on 
the Federal taxpayer dollars, on the dole, at the same salary he was 
making pre-Hurricane Katrina, and why the Secretary of Homeland 
Security extended not only the 60-day contract they had with him but 
another 30 days, saying we have to learn something from him.
  I cannot explain to you why the majority side puts together a report 
talking about cutting, and I am going to tell you, we gave the Web site 
out earlier. This is third-party validators, cuts to Medicare, cuts to 
Medicaid, cuts to student loans, cuts to food stamps, cuts to school 
lunches for poor kids. I cannot explain to you why.
  I cannot explain to you why veterans have to wait so long for 
assistance. I cannot explain to you why that was the case.
  I cannot explain to you why this administration, after this Congress 
acted, with many Members on this side pushing for military families to 
be reimbursed for equipment they had to buy

[[Page 24821]]

for their loved ones while they were in theater to save their lives, to 
give them the Kevlar and the vests that they needed, I cannot explain 
to you why the Defense Department waited for the regs for that program 
for them to even get the money back, back in February. Senator Dodd 
from Connecticut had to write the Defense Department, who is a 
Democrat, had to threaten them to write the regs, and they finally 
wrote it. I cannot explain to you why.
  This is to reimburse military families for equipment they bought, 
husband, wives, what have you. I cannot explain to you why.
  But one thing that I can tell you, that it is important that we 
illuminate these issues so not only the Members know that we know what 
they are doing on the majority side but the American people know.
  Now I am going to say back for the one Republican that voted with 
Democrats on this budget, on the backs of the American working class, 
on the backs of retirees, on the backs of those that wake up every day 
and try to provide for their children, provide for their family, I am 
glad that he voted with us. Maybe, just maybe, this hour is working on 
the conscience of some.
  Real quick, since we are going out of time, you want to give the site 
out? Then we can close out.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. [email protected].
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, with that, we would like to yield 
back the balance of our time and thank the Democratic leader for the 
time.

                          ____________________