[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 17315-17316]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     TAXPAYER-FUNDED SPENDING SPREE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Olson) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, when Congress passed the American Recovery 
and Reinvestment Act early this spring, the administration and 
congressional Democrats argued that a $800 billion taxpayer-funded 
spending spree was necessary to create jobs and grow the struggling 
economy. It was rushed through with little time to review the policies 
that would implement this massive spending plan.
  I opposed this unwise scheme for many reasons. It will put an 
unbearable burden of debt upon our children and our grandchildren. It 
was loaded down with pork-barrel projects to pay back liberal special 
interest groups.
  But I also opposed it because I believe and continue to believe that 
it will not grow jobs in our economy. The government is not nor should 
it be an employment service that mandates private-sector hiring 
decisions. Predictably, we are now seeing that these reckless spending 
decisions are not growing our economy. The June unemployment numbers 
saw the unemployment rate rise to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent. This 
translates into 467,000 jobs lost in the month of June alone.
  Before passage of the ARRA, the Obama administration predicted that 
unemployment would peak at 8 percent before decreasing this fall. But 
unemployment has already reached 9.5 percent, and the situation is not 
likely to improve until long after the White House predicted.
  However, the administration hardly has cause to be surprised. In 
fact, after they sold this massive Federal spending spree as a job 
creation measure, it turns out that jobs don't seem to be a priority at 
all.
  I would like to bring my colleagues' attention to the funding 
announcement for the Smart Grid Investment Grants, which received $3.9 
billion in the Recovery Act. The Vice President himself announced this 
grant in April when he said this is about jobs, jobs.
  In the information provided to the applicants for this grant funding, 
one of the frequently asked questions is, Will DOE use a number of jobs 
estimated to be created and/or retained as a criterion for rating a 
proposal for funding? The answer: ``No.''
  Let me repeat that again. Will jobs be used as a criteria to 
determine whether or not this project will be funded? The answer from 
the DOE is no.
  In fact, the guidance goes on to say that DOE removed the criterion 
on the extent of jobs creation and now will require applicants to 
report quarterly on the number of jobs created and retained. Job 
creation was supposed to be the primary requisite for receiving 
recovery funds, and yet now has been changed to simply a reporting 
requirement. This is typical Washington. Instead of creating more jobs, 
we are creating more paperwork.
  The Vice President now says they misread the economy, but the truth 
is they misread the solution. The stimulus bill was a grab bag of 
Democrat spending priorities, not a timely, targeted and temporary 
stimulus package. Government spending does not, does not, create jobs 
or wealth. It consumes it and destroys it.
  We are throwing money at a problem that is not increasing consumer 
confidence, financial certainty or provide a business environment that 
will encourage job growth. Democrat policies are clearly, clearly, not 
creating jobs. I cannot, I cannot in good conscience justify throwing 
good money after bad. That only leaves a legacy of debt for our 
children and our grandchildren to pay.

[[Page 17316]]

  I will continue to oppose policies that I believe hurt the American 
people and the people I represent, and I will gladly, gladly work with 
my colleagues across the aisle whenever there is an opportunity to do 
so because good policies that help Texans and help Americans aren't 
Republican, and they aren't Democrat; they are the right thing to do.

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