[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17319]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      WASHINGTON IS OUT OF CONTROL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Price) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, America has been the light of 
liberty and a beacon of hope to the world for centuries, truly 
centuries. We are the greatest Nation the world has ever known. We have 
provided more hope and more opportunity and more liberty and more 
freedom for more individuals than any nation in the history of mankind.
  But today, July 9, 2009, folks in my district and folks across this 
land are not just concerned; they are fearful. They are afraid that the 
very Nation that they know and love and that has been the greatest 
Nation in the history of the world is slipping away from them--in so 
many ways, so many ways.
  Mr. Speaker, we all just got back to Washington from a week many of 
us spent at home over the July 4 break, and I heard people come up to 
me and tell me that they were concerned and worried and fearful about 
the amount of spending and the amount of borrowing and the amount of 
taxing coming out of Washington. They say Washington is out of control. 
Mr. Speaker, they are right. They are absolutely right. The deficit 
this year, $1.8 trillion; four times the largest previous deficit. Four 
times.
  Borrowing. We are borrowing 50 cents of every single dollar we are 
spending. Mr. Speaker, it is out of control. Taxing, raising taxes on 
every single American. I don't care what the President tells you, Mr. 
Speaker, it is not true. They are raising taxes on every single 
American.
  Now the solution, one of the solutions, is to allow this deliberative 
body, this greatest deliberative body in the history of the world the 
opportunity to allow the Representatives in this body to work their 
will, to say I believe I am going to represent my constituents in this 
way and offer this amendment on this bill and thereby allow the House 
to make a decision.
  We are in appropriations season, Mr. Speaker. It is a time when we 
decide how to spend Americans' hard-earned money, the money that they 
send to Washington. During that season in the past, the House has 
allowed appropriations bills to come to the floor under what is called 
an open rule which means that everybody gets the opportunity to amend 
the appropriations bill. They get the opportunity to offer an amendment 
in the House, and the House gets to vote on the amendment.
  There have been amendments offered on recent bills that have not been 
allowed. In fact, this is the most repressive majority in the history 
of the Republic if you use the number of closed rules, not allowing 
amendments to come to the floor.
  This, Mr. Speaker, this is the most repressive majority ever in the 
history of this Republic.
  An amendment that was offered but not allowed to the bill we voted on 
today would have prohibited funding for any new international 
organization for the purposes that would tax American energy companies 
from abroad. The only conclusion I can draw is that the Speaker and the 
Democrats in charge want American energy companies to be taxed by 
foreign governments.
  An amendment that wasn't allowed would have reduced the spending 15 
percent on this bill to 2009 levels, a savings of $17 billion. That 
amendment, Mr. Speaker, was not allowed. I can only assume that the 
Speaker and the Democrats in charge want to increase spending by $17 
billion over 2009 levels.
  An amendment that wasn't allowed, an amendment to prevent U.S. funds 
from being used to pay the legal expenses of United Nations employees 
who have been charged with malfeasance, not allowed. Mr. Speaker, I can 
only conclude that the Speaker of the House and the Democrats in charge 
want the American taxpayers to pay the legal expenses for United 
Nations employees who are charged with malfeasance.
  Mr. Speaker, an amendment that wasn't allowed would have prohibited 
assistance to members of foreign terrorist organizations. Mr. Speaker, 
the only thing I am left to conclude and the American people are left 
to conclude is that this Speaker and the Democrats in charge want the 
American taxpayer to provide assistance to members of foreign terrorist 
organizations.
  Mr. Speaker, this isn't the way the House is supposed to be run. It 
is not the way that the House has been run for the last 233 years. It 
is not the way that the American people learned about democracy, that 
their Representatives would be allowed to represent them actively and 
aggressively so that people had the opportunity to represent their 
constituents equally with every other Member.
  Mr. Speaker, right now in this Chamber we have tyranny from the 
majority, tyranny that is not allowing the voice of the people to be 
heard. Mr. Speaker, I demand that this Chamber, that these Members of 
this House of Representatives make certain that the rules are 
appropriately followed and end the tyranny of the majority in this 
Chamber now.

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