[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 21]
[House]
[Page 28949]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1815
                 DEMOCRATS HONOR FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Hall) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HALL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor in defense of 
fiscal responsibility. After 6 years of disastrous management and 
record deficits, the new Democratic House has restored fiscal sanity to 
the Federal Government. We have reinstated PAYGO, or pay as you go, and 
passed a budget that will balance Federal spending.
  As the Speaker knows, PAYGO requires the House to live by the same 
rules that American families live by. Like them, if we want to spend 
more money on something, we know we have to spend less money on 
something else. Just as families sit down and make tough choices every 
day, Congress now has to decide what the government's priorities should 
be.
  And the new Democratic majority has made America's priorities the 
priorities of this Congress. We have twice passed the SCHIP legislation 
to provide working families with health care for their children.
  We passed the College Cost Reduction Act, the largest investment in 
college financial aid since the GI bill. This bill increased Pell 
Grants, provided tuition assistance for future teachers, and enabled 
loan forgiveness for first responders, law enforcement officers, and 
fire fighters.
  The new Democratic Congress also honored America's promise to our 
veterans by passing the largest budget increase in the history of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs.
  We have passed appropriations bills that fund the most pressing needs 
of our country. As the bridge collapse in Minnesota showed, there are 
serious infrastructure needs throughout the country. In fact, there are 
13 deficient bridges alone, according to a study that we were shown 
today in a Transportation and Infrastructure hearing, in my district, 
the 19th Congressional District of New York.
  The House has increased funding for highway repair by $631 million 
over the President's request to make these important repairs.
  We have provided $400 million extra to improve the quality of 
teachers in America's schools.
  House Democrats provided $1.8 billion above the President's request 
to invest in renewable energies to save our environment and end our 
dependence on foreign oil.
  Because we have funded these vital needs for America, the President 
has threatened to veto these bills. After borrowing more money than 
every other President in history combined, President Bush has decided 
to pretend to be fiscally responsible. Unfortunately for the President, 
his Halloween costume just doesn't fit. For as he protests over $22 
billion for American needs, he has watched $35 billion in taxpayer 
money get lost or stolen in Iraq. With the money the President has lost 
in Iraq, we could pay for all of these important needs with billions 
left over. The President has spent over $2 billion in Iraq to improve 
oil production; yet still, production of oil in Iraq remains at below 
prewar levels.
  Now the President threatens to veto the Homeland Security bill 
because House Democrats have added that same amount to train first 
responders and protect our ports. It seems that the President believes 
it is more important to waste money in Iraq than to provide critical 
equipment and protective gear for 250 fire departments in New York.
  The President has stood by while contractors have gone $144 million 
over budget building the embassy in Iraq. With this $144 million, I 
believe we should instead provide health care for over 20,000 New York 
veterans.
  The President has paid $2 billion to provide drinking water to the 
Iraqi people, although fewer Iraqis now have access to drinkable water 
than before the war. Yet the President threatens to veto $1.2 billion, 
as compared to $2 billion, for clean drinking water here in America.
  Finally, the President stood quietly by as the American government 
shipped $8.8 billion in cash to Iraq and simply lost it. You heard me 
correctly, lost it. There are absolutely no records to explain where 
this money went. It just disappeared into the Iraqi desert.
  The new Democratic majority has spent the last year restoring fiscal 
sanity to the government's budget. We have passed legislation to help 
middle-class families insure their children and pay for college. We 
have funded important needs across this country. I am proud of our work 
and I urge the President to stop playing politics and sign these 
important bills.

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