[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 19284-19286]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            YEAR IN REVIEW: FIRST SESSION OF 112TH CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kinzinger of Illinois). Under the 
Speaker's announced policy of January 5, 2011, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. West) is recognized for 30 minutes.
  Mr. WEST. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
  I think it's very important that, as we draw to the close of this 
first session of the 112th Congress, we come back and we do what I 
believe is a yearly review or an assessment.
  Mr. Speaker, today, the 8th of December, was the target adjournment 
day that the leadership of the new majority of the United States House 
of Representatives hoped would mark the end of the first session of the 
112th Congress. Yet today we are short of completing some of the most 
important work that we must accomplish.
  As we enter the final days of 2011 and approach the end of this first 
session of the 112th Congress, I must take the time to offer an apology 
to the citizens of the 22nd Congressional District of Florida and to 
all my fellow citizens across this great Nation. It is not because we 
have not changed the conversation here in Washington, D.C., but because 
I would have hoped our exertions would have been as a collective body a 
bit greater. Failure to pass a balanced budget amendment was a great 
disappointment and an example of a lack of exertion.
  When I was elected to the House of Representatives in November 2010, 
I was one of over 80 new Members that you, the American people, sent to 
the House of Representatives, entrusting each one of us to come to 
Capitol Hill and work diligently--and differently than our 
predecessors--on the critical issues our country was facing during 
these challenging times. Record high unemployment; a quickly growing 
debt; out-of-control spending that leads to budget deficits year after 
year; a spiraling foreclosure rate around the country, and specifically 
back in our district in south Florida; businesses shutting their doors, 
due in part to increasing uncertainty provided by the government from 
crushing regulations issued by Federal agencies in Washington, D.C., 
and the list goes on.
  Friends, neighbors, colleagues, and our fellow citizens all believed 
our Nation was on the wrong track, and we were concerned for our 
future. Many of them felt our country's best days were in the past and 
that our future looked bleak. Each of them wanted our Federal 
Government to take a different course of action.
  Mr. Speaker, I spent the majority of my adult life--22 years--serving 
in the United States Army, never having been elected to public office. 
I have dedicated my career to serving our great

[[Page 19285]]

Nation. But unlike many of those whom I serve with here in Congress, I 
am not a career politician. I have led soldiers in combat on foreign 
battlefields, and was ready to go to our Nation's Capitol and lead from 
the front on this new battlefield. I understood that where my political 
experience would fall short, my military training would enable me to 
serve my constituents well in the Halls of Congress, because in the 
military we were taught a simple principle, Mr. Speaker, and I think 
you know it well: We work until the mission is complete. And on 
election night of 2010, I knew that I was embarking, along with my new 
colleagues, on one of the most challenging missions that I would ever 
face.
  The leadership of the new majority in the House of Representatives 
created a calendar for the first session of this Congress, and as a 
newly elected Member of this body, I provided my assessment, stating 
that I believed the schedule did not provide the necessary days on 
Capitol Hill to address the pressing issues our Nation faced. Now, 1 
year later, unfortunately, it seems I was correct. On the eve of the 
holiday season, the United States Congress is dealing with some of its 
most important issues, all while pressed against the desire to be home 
and with our families and loved ones.
  Mr. Speaker, I, along with you, spent many holidays away from my 
family and friends while serving our country in the Armed Forces. Every 
time I was away from home during the holiday season, as well as I'm 
sure you did, I proudly put on my uniform and did my duty on behalf of 
the American people. And while I may not wear the uniform of the United 
States Army any longer, I am proud to put on my new uniform of a suit 
and tie and spend this holiday away from home, once again putting our 
country first so that we may finish the job our constituents entrusted 
us to do.
  Now, I don't want people to think that I am not happy about certain 
things, because I am truly pleased that the regular order has been 
established here and returned to the House floor. The American people 
are able to see vibrant debate on the pressing issues and legislation 
is developed by Members and cleared through committee. We are slowly 
seeing a move away from megabills. Yet these so-called omnibus bills do 
a disservice to the American people because, rather than allowing 
elected representatives to vote ``aye'' or ``nay'' on certain 
provisions, these bills create a bill that includes hundreds of 
provisions for passage.
  During the first session in the month of April, I was able to bring 
to the House floor H.R. 1246. This bill cut $35.7 million of wasteful 
spending in the form of printing and reproduction at the Department of 
Defense. What was so important about this legislation is that the vote 
was 393-0, meaning that we were able to get unanimous support from both 
Republicans and Democrats.
  The American people expect their elected to work together to deal 
with the issues of our Nation. However, Mr. Speaker, we have witnessed 
over 900 days without the United States Senate passing a budget. That's 
900 days. When the House of Representatives did our job and passed a 
budget on the 15th of April 2011, Democrats continued to use it as a 
political weapon since it finally addresses the exorbitant mandatory 
spending that is bankrupting our country and leaving critical programs 
like Social Security and Medicare on an unsustainable path.
  Americans continue to struggle with 9 percent-plus unemployment for 
over a year. In south Florida, it is even higher. But instead of 
debating the 20-plus bills passed by the House, many bipartisan, that 
address the anemic jobs situation in which we are stuck, these bills 
languish on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's desk while President 
Obama continues to try to convince the American people that this is a 
``do-nothing'' Congress. It is indeed a ``do-nothing'' Senate.
  One of the most important and constitutionally mandated functions of 
the Congress is to fund the Federal Government each year before the 
beginning of the fiscal year on October 1. This year, of the 12 funding 
bills, the House completed six of those bills and the United States 
Senate only completed one. Congress did not finish conferencing any 
appropriations bills to be signed by the President by the October 1 
deadline. This means that once again we had to pass continuing 
resolutions to prevent a shutdown of the Federal Government.
  I wrote the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations 
suggesting that appropriations bills should be considered on a 
priority-based tiered system. I presented several questions, such as 
what he believed should be considered priority bills and whether or not 
certain appropriations bills should cover a 2-year period in order to 
provide more certainty in the marketplace.
  Mr. Speaker, in the military something that continues to fail means 
that it is broken. And when something is broken, it must be fixed. Our 
fellow citizens understand that the path we are on is broken and they 
also understand it is time to fix it. Therefore, we must focus on 
structural reforms to our legislative and appropriations process.
  Over the course of my first year in office, I have been asked 
numerous times why we refuse to compromise and why can't we just get 
something done. Mr. Speaker, I find it very funny that no one talked 
about compromise in regard to a $2 trillion health care law or a $1 
trillion stimulus package or cap-and-trade or Card Check. But my answer 
is simple: The House of Representatives has tried to work with the 
Senate and President Obama; yet they refuse to listen to the will of 
the people. Tabling the cut, cap, and balance piece of legislation 
during the debt debate is a prime example. Instead, they wish to remain 
on the same path that has proved to be a failure year after year. They 
refuse to believe that we need major structural reforms. They did not 
heed the message of the American people of November of 2010.

                              {time}  1710

  And while Washington, D.C. has a budget deficit, the leadership 
deficit is even more disconcerting. Mr. Speaker, leaders take 
responsibility; and rarely do they take credit, a simple lesson that 
was taught to me as a young captain in the United States Army. A strong 
American leader would not take the misfortunes facing the American 
people and leverage it for political gain. And the facts speak for 
themselves.
  Since January of 2009, more than 2 million Americans are unemployed, 
close to 26 million are underemployed. National unemployment has been 
at or above 9 percent for 28 straight months, at or above 8 percent for 
34 straight months. And it is double that in the black community.
  Average gas prices have gone from $1.83 to over $3.45. The Federal 
debt has gone from $10.6 trillion to over $15 trillion, with 3 straight 
years of trillion-dollar-plus deficits. And the debt per person, Mr. 
Speaker, has gone from $34,000 to $48,000.
  Food stamp recipients are up by 41 percent. Americans in poverty up 
16 percent, with an increase of 6.4 million Americans. The Misery Index 
is up 65 percent, and nearly 48.5 percent of Americans are on some form 
of government aid.
  Home values are down 11 percent, and health insurance premiums are up 
23 percent, from $3,354 to over $4,000. United States global 
competitiveness is down from first to fifth in the world.
  We currently borrow 42 cents on every dollar, a dollar which soon, 
thanks to the insidious monetary policies emanating from the Federal 
Reserve, may not any longer be the default currency of the world.
  Yet with these abysmal statistics, all we hear from the big megaphone 
of the White House is that we need to tax people--particularly certain 
people--more. We hear about extending a payroll tax holiday, which is 
nothing but a Band-Aid approach that only provides a very short-term 
impetus. What no one is telling the American people, especially our 
seniors, is that the constant use of payroll tax breaks continues to 
erode the funding of Social Security, which for the first time this 
year was running at a deficit.

[[Page 19286]]

  When combined with the unemployment situation, we are speeding up the 
demise of Social Security in America. At some point, there must be 
structural tax and unemployment reform; and we must incentivize our job 
creators.
  America is suffering, Mr. Speaker, from crony capitalism in which the 
government is picking the winners and the losers in the free market, 
using our hard-earned taxpayer dollars. We have an Obama administration 
which believes it is the preeminent venture capitalist in our Nation. 
Episodes such as Solyndra and MF Global should cause us all grave 
concern.
  You see, American exceptionalism is not constrained by class or 
caste. There are income levels in our country; but sound economic, tax, 
and regulatory policies enable our citizens to transit those levels 
because America is about equal opportunity and not equal achievement, 
where liberal progressives believe that they are the arbiters of 
fairness.
  There is no leadership emanating from the White House. Instead, we 
have policy by election-cycle sound bites where the purpose is just to 
get reelected.
  Too many politicians are now focused on manipulative and deceitful 
rhetoric and not developing visionary, pro-growth economic policies for 
America. The obvious goal, it seems to me, Mr. Speaker, is to create 
more victims in America, an America of dependency, not individual 
independence.
  Therefore, our Nation is truly at a crossroads. There is an ever-
widening ideological chasm of what we are going to become as a Nation: 
Shall America continue as a constitutional Republic led by men and 
women of courage, conviction, and character? Or shall America become a 
bureaucratic nanny state, ruled by manipulative deceivers seeking their 
own political gain?
  Is America truly that shining city that sits upon a hill, Mr. 
Speaker, or will that light be forever extinguished? The choice lies 
before the American people. I hope that they will choose wisely because 
our children and our grandchildren are watching, as well as our enemies 
abroad.
  But, Mr. Speaker, for America I say this: fear not, for the Guardians 
of America's Honor shall ensure that the greatest days for this 
constitutional Republic lie ahead.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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