[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 7789]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           CASH FOR CAULKERS

  (Mr. WILSON of South Carolina asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, first there was a 
government scheme that offered financial incentives to upgrade to more 
energy efficient cars--Cash for Clunkers--and that program came in over 
budget--by 300 percent. Now Congress is trying to do the same thing 
again with Cash for Caulkers, a program designed to encourage you to 
make your home more energy efficient.
  I support the bill's intent to encourage energy efficiency, but I 
believe there are other ways to achieve our energy goals without 
borrowing money we can't afford. This is the people's money, not the 
government's money. Almost $5 billion has already been spent on 
weatherization programs in the spending bill, and there is plenty of 
evidence that the funds have not been spent as they should. Despite the 
evidence, Congress decided last week to pile on another $6.6 billion at 
a time when Washington must get serious about spending.
  The American people cannot afford for Congress to pass another 
multibillion-dollar bill we can't afford. Tough choices are needed to 
curb Washington's spending habits and Cash for Caulkers is one such 
easy choice to forgo.
  In conclusion, God bless our troops, and we will never forget 
September 11th in the Global War on Terrorism.

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