[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14583]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1010
                  WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED IN 2065 YEARS?

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, everybody outside of Washington, DC, 
understands government spending is out of control.
  For those inside the Beltway who don't get it, the Congressional 
Budget Office put out a report that explains it loud and clear. The 
report says, ``Deficits will cause debt to rise to unsupportable 
levels.''
  That's right, unsupportable levels. Every family struggling right now 
that tries to make ends meet understands that you can't spend more than 
you make.
  In 55 B.C. the Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero supposedly 
warned Rome before it crashed and burned: ``The budget should be 
balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be 
reduced, and the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and 
controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed, 
lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of 
living on public assistance.''
  So what have we learned in 2065 years since Cicero first said these 
words? Apparently government-gone-wild big spenders haven't learned a 
thing.
  And that's just the way it is.

                          ____________________