[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6673-6675]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   DIALOGUE WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Woodall). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 5, 2011, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Richmond) 
is recognized for 30 minutes.
  Mr. RICHMOND. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
  I would like to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Maryland (Mr. Ruppersberger).
  Mr. RUPPERSBERGER. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to serve as ranking member of the 
Intelligence Committee. The killing of Osama bin Laden is clearly the 
most monumental intelligence achievement in recent memory.
  Osama bin Laden was a terrorist leader who was responsible for 
killing thousands of innocent Americans--moms, dads, brothers, sisters, 
friends, and loved ones. Bin Laden was a threat to the United States 
and a threat to the world. He had the blood of thousands of people on 
his hands. As we all know, 9/11 changed America forever.
  Over the weekend, our military and intelligence professionals took 
extraordinary steps. They worked together as a team and killed the al 
Qaeda leader. It was a risky mission that was executed with intense 
training and a high level of skill. These professionals risked their 
lives to keep our country safe, and no American lives were lost. The 
men and women who carried out this operation exemplify the 
extraordinary courage of those who serve our Nation. The countless 
intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who had pursued bin 
Laden for years have the satisfaction of a job well done. I applaud 
them for their persistence and professionalism.

                              {time}  1930

  It was a great day for America. Justice has now been done. But let it 
be known, we have shown the world that if you come after Americans, we 
will come after you. Even if it takes disciplined persistence by our 
intelligence professionals and considerable time and resources, we will 
get you. Let that be a warning to all members of al Qaeda and any 
terrorists who attack the United States. Our fight against terrorism 
and those who want to harm Americans is not over, but we have severely 
weakened al Qaeda. We will remain vigilant as we continue to work 
tirelessly to protect our Nation.
  Mr. RICHMOND. Mr. Speaker, I am going to start something tonight in 
an attempt to engage more of our American people in the process.
  Mr. Speaker, I know that you know that it is no secret that America 
is still emerging from the recent economic downturn. We still grapple 
with high unemployment rates and our national debt. We are doing better 
than we were doing 2 years ago, but we have to do much better, and we 
will do much better, because we are Americans. That is our history. 
That is what we do.
  We persevered through the Great Depression of the thirties and the 
depression of the eighties and the recession of yesterday. We supported 
one another and persevered through hurricanes, through floods, through 
tornadoes. We mourned together and persevered through the 
assassinations of John F. Kennedy, through Robert Kennedy, and through 
Martin Luther King. We persevered. In addition, I personally remember 
the attempted assassination of President Reagan. I remember writing 
President Reagan a get well note in the second grade. I even remember 
getting a note back saying thank you. We persevered again.
  Fifty years ago today, an interracial group of Americans left 
Washington, D.C., on a bus trip to New Orleans with the goal of 
desegregating bus terminals. They were the first Freedom Riders. They 
never made it to New Orleans. They were beaten and bloodied throughout 
the South, but they sparked off a movement of over 400 Freedom Riders 
with the same goal and the same dogged determination and perseverance. 
Eventually our Nation repudiated segregation and embraced equality. We 
persevered.
  If we are going to shake off this economic downturn, we need to 
embrace the Freedom Riders' spirit of perseverance and dogged 
determination. That is so very American. America will only rise up 
again on the strength of our collective ideas. Americans make up 
America, the people make up the Nation, and it is the people who will 
keep this Nation great.
  Mr. Speaker, the U.S. House of Representatives is the people's House, 
and it is time that we listened directly to the ideas from the people.
  Mr. Speaker, I am inviting the American people to join in this 
conversation. Here is how to contact me. Here is how to talk to me. 
Here is how to talk to Congress. You can email me at 
[email protected]. Again, that is [email protected]. That is 
because I want to hear your ideas. Or you can go to Facebook and follow 
me or leave a message on the wall, or go to Facebook and contact me, or 
you can follow me and I will follow you on Twitter so we can have a 
free exchange of ideas.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to give credit where credit is due. You and the 
House Republicans last year launched YouCut based on a similar idea, 
and I applaud that again. YouCut requested that Americans identify what 
funding they would cut from the government's funding, and I am glad 
that you engaged the people.
  But I think we need to go further. We should and must request that 
Americans share how they feel about everything. What bills do they want 
us to champion, what laws do they want changed, what programs do they 
want extended or ended.
  Mr. Speaker, under House rules, I, unfortunately, can't directly 
address the American people. I must address my comments to you, Mr. 
Speaker. However, if I could speak directly to the American people, I 
would request that they send me their ideas for how to keep America 
great. I would request that they send me their thoughts on whatever 
they want to talk about.
  Mr. Speaker, the American people can, again, email me at 
[email protected]. I will lead a conversation with the American 
people in which they will be an active participant. I will bring your 
thoughts up here and I will talk about them. I will engage you and 
Congress so that people can read what you write and read your

[[Page 6674]]

ideas. I will also put your name on it. I don't want the credit. I just 
want a better country for our seniors and for our children.
  Every couple of weeks while the House is in session I will make sure 
to come down here and start this conversation with America again. 
Although it is a conversation by me alone right now, I would suspect 
that we will get other colleagues joining in the conversation as we get 
other Americans joining in the conversation.
  But right now we are going to stop, and I want to talk factually for 
a second about our financial situation, and I want to do it as 
nonpartisan as I can and not lay blame on one party or one President. I 
just want to talk about where we are.
  We can start with recent history. According to the U.S. Treasury, 
when President Clinton took office, the national debt was $4.188 
trillion. When President George Bush took office, the debt was $5.728 
trillion. When President Obama took office, the debt was $10.672 
trillion. Remember, the total debt is the sum of our accumulated annual 
budget deficits, so it shows a history of out-of-control spending.
  So what is our current budget deficit? Last year, the U.S. Government 
spent about $3.5 trillion and collected $2.1 trillion in revenue. The 
deficit was right at $1.2 trillion. The nonpartisan Congressional 
Budget Office estimates that this fiscal year's budget deficit will be 
in the neighborhood of $1.4 trillion. The deficit for this fiscal year 
is projected to be higher than that of last year due to increases in 
mandatory spending and less growth in revenues as a result of the 
temporary payroll tax reduction as a part of last year's bipartisan tax 
deal.
  So here we are, Mr. Speaker. The total amount of U.S. debt today is 
in the neighborhood of $14 trillion and the current debt limit is 
$14.294 trillion. The Department of the Treasury estimates that the 
debt will reach very close to this limit the week of May 16, at which 
time we will be forced to do some courageous things to avoid 
jeopardizing the full faith and credit of the United States of America.
  So, what is the big picture? Well, the fact is over the last several 
years the U.S. experienced an imbalance between spending and revenues. 
As a result of the recession, we spent much more than we brought in.
  I would like to point out that our recent spending spurred hiring in 
the private sector. It also provided small businesses with 
unprecedented tax relief. It helped home buyers purchase homes in this 
tough market; it helped police, teachers and firefighters continue to 
get paid; and it helped cities and towns across America weather this 
financial storm.
  Last Monday night while leaving Afghanistan, I was having a 
conversation with a colonel in our Armed Forces. I was talking about 
this Special Order and I was going back and forth with him about his 
input and about ideas on how to engage people. He volunteered to be the 
first person to start the conversation and to pose a question.
  He didn't really have much of a comment, but he wanted to pose a 
question to the American people. And his question was very simple, and 
it dealt with how big and what we do as Americans. So, right now I will 
start with his question, and that was: As Americans, what do we have, 
what do we want the government to provide, and how are we going to pay 
for it?

                              {time}  1940

  I think that that's a very basic question but it's at the heart of 
the debate from Democrats and Republicans and Independents. So that's 
what I think that we will start tonight with, Mr. Speaker, that if I 
could ask the American people a question, I would request of them to 
tell me how they feel about that statement: What do we have, what do we 
want the government to provide, and how are we going to pay for it?
  Everyone agrees that where we are now is not where we need to be. 
We're dealing with big issues that demand big solutions. We have an 
aging population, rising health care costs, crumbling infrastructure, 
and uneven educational outcomes. Fortunately for us, America does great 
things. I believe that we can find a balanced approach that combines 
some reductions in spending on some programs, but combining that with 
increases in revenues for those who are most able to afford it and 
other policies that will promote faster economic growth, like during 
the Clinton era.
  The current budget proposals, both the President's budget and the 
Republican budget proposed by Congressman Ryan, don't exactly get it 
right. They both leave room for improvement. We have to get this right, 
Mr. Speaker. The only way that we can get this right is by both parties 
working together and sacrificing.
  We know that the American people don't want to underfund education or 
investment to grow the workforce. We know that they don't want us to 
sacrifice our long-term global competitiveness for short-term gains. 
Americans believe that we can walk and chew gum at the same time. Mr. 
Speaker, we can invest in tomorrow and still get our fiscal problems 
and our fiscal house in order.
  How do we move forward? There are a number of options, but one thing 
is for certain. We should be honest about the tax burden currently 
faced by Americans.
  I want to briefly show you another board, which we're not making any 
proposals but we want to talk about for a second, the effective tax 
rates.
  The Congressional Budget Office just finished completing an 
analysis--in fact, they finished it in 2010--about the effective tax 
rates, which are the actual average rates of taxes paid. What we're 
going to look at today is the taxes on the top earners were far lower 
than the top tax rates. The tax rates for the top earners in this 
country are right at 35 percent of their income. Well, when you look at 
it after deductions--and legal deductions--and policies that we set as 
a country, those tax rates are far lower than 35 percent.
  The top 10 percent of earners, representing approximately 12 million 
households in this country, paid an average tax in the neighborhood of 
16.2 percent. Now, after paying taxes, their average income was 
$289,000.
  Let's look at, now, the top 5 percent of earners, which only 
represent 5.9 million households. They're taking home an average post-
tax, after-tax income of $440,500. They're paying an effective tax rate 
of 17.6 percent.
  So you can see that when you look at 16.2 and 17.6, those numbers are 
far below the 35 percent that's in statute.
  Now, when we get to the top 1 percent of earners in this country, 
representing only 1.2 million households, they took home an average 
after-tax income of $1.3 million, while paying only a 19 percent 
individual tax rate. So they fall right at 16 percent under the tax 
rate that's on the books.
  Again, I'm not proposing what the numbers should be. But what we do 
know is that the top number is 35 and the lower three numbers are 16.2, 
17.6, and 19 percent as the effective tax rate.
  So the question to America, the question to this Congress, Mr. 
Speaker, is: What is the appropriate number if we're going to continue 
to pay down the debt, stop running deficits, but at the same time 
continue to take care of our seniors, invest in our children, do all of 
those things that continue to make this country what it is?
  The next thing I'll talk about: What is the biggest takeaway from 
these facts? It's about sacrifice. What are we willing to sacrifice to 
do the things and allow government to do the things that government 
should do? What are the sacrifices we will make to take care of our 
seniors, to take care of our children, to invest in innovation, to 
protect our homeland, to spread democracy, and to do all those critical 
things that we want to do?
  These are the facts, Mr. Speaker. I encourage the American people to 
draw their own conclusions based on the facts--not hyperbole, not 
conversations from either side, not political rhetoric, but from the 
facts.
  So, as I have laid out our debt situation, I would ask that you send 
me your ideas on what you think the numbers should be. This is the 
people's House. We see how they feel in the polls, but we need to hear 
their stories

[[Page 6675]]

directly from them, Mr. Speaker. I will request that the American 
people send me those stories, tell me about their hardships, tell me if 
they think they're paying too much. But give me a specific example. 
Tell me how that tax rate, that tax liability, that tax burden affected 
your family. I want to know. I think Congress wants to know. We don't 
presume, and I certainly don't presume to know everything. I think it's 
very critical.
  My grandmother told me a long time ago, Mr. Speaker, smart people 
know what they know and know what they don't know. I'm telling you 
today that I don't know everything, and I'm willing to listen to the 
people that do.
  After all, we need everyone's creativity, everyone's inventiveness, 
everyone's ideas if we're going to keep this country great. This is 
America, home of amazing structural feats: The San Francisco Golden 
Gate Bridge in California, the Hoover Dam on the Arizona and Nevada 
border, Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. This is America, one of the 
most inventive nations in the world. We brought the world bifocals and 
the modern suspension bridge, dental floss and the doorbell, the 
airplane and peanut butter. America brought the world the defibrillator 
and the traffic light, digital recording and the Super Soaker water 
gun, the artificial heart and the personal computer.
  This is America, a Nation of firsts and a Nation where our inventive 
spirit rings from sea to shining sea. This is America, where we do big 
things because we have big ideas. As President Obama said in this 
year's State of the Union Address: We're a Nation that says, I might 
not have a lot of money, but I have this great idea for a new 
invention; I might not come from a family of college graduates, but I 
will be the first to get my degree; I might not know those people in 
trouble, but I think I can help them, and I need to try; I'm not sure 
how we'll reach that better place beyond the horizon, but I know we'll 
get there. I know we will. We do big things.
  Those were President Obama's words from the State of the Union in 
which he laid a course of where we are, where we need to get to, and 
why we all know we'll get there.
  Mr. Speaker, again, I wish I could directly address the American 
people. If I could, again, I would invite them to reach out to me on 
Facebook, on Twitter, or by email. Email me at [email protected].
  We've been through rough patches before and we got through them 
because we're Americans. We will work together and we will listen to 
the American people. Our perseverance, ingenuity, creativity, and work 
ethic are unmatched. We're going to get through this because of our 
people.
  Mr. Speaker, last week I had the opportunity to travel to 
Afghanistan, Batumi, and Baku, and over there I just want to say that 
the energy and the optimism in our troops were unmatched because they 
were representing America. They were representing what that flag stands 
for. They were representing the sacrifice that stands in this country's 
history.

                              {time}  1950

  We didn't always get it right since our founding, but we've always, 
always made it a goal to strive to be a more perfect union. I hope that 
through this conversation, we will continue to pursue being a more 
perfect union.
  I want to take a detour for a second and just thank the New Orleans 
Hornets and thank their GM, Dave Dickerson, who when they found out 
that I was going over to Afghanistan to visit with some troops, that 
they sent care packages and T-shirts and bands and stickers and 
magazines to our troops because they understood the sacrifice that our 
troops were making and they wanted to make sure that they participated 
in just saying to our Louisiana troops, thank you, job well done, we 
appreciate your sacrifice.
  Mr. Speaker, tonight, thank you for allowing me the time to have a 
conversation with you about what I believe the American people stand 
for, about the greatness we have inside ourselves, about the great 
things that I know we can do when we stand together. And thank you, Mr. 
Speaker, for allowing me to invite the American people to participate 
and become their own representative in this Congress and talk about 
their ideas and express their desires, their wishes and what they're 
willing to sacrifice and those things they think we need to do.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________