[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9630-9637]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     REPUBLICAN WOMEN ON JOB GROWTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 5, 2011, the gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. McMorris 
Rodgers) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority 
leader.
  Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS. Mr. Speaker, it is with tremendous pride that 
I stand with my fellow Republican women on the House floor tonight. We 
stand before you from every corner of America, as businesswomen, 
nurses, physicians, farmers, mothers, educators, and attorneys to tell 
you the story of the Republican woman.
  While our backgrounds and professions may be different, one thing is 
not: We are all conservative reformers committed to leaving America 
better for our children and grandchildren. After all, women in this 
country know better than anyone the effects of harmful economic 
policies. Why? Because two out of three businesses are started by 
women. Women-owned business are the fastest growing segment in the 
United States economy and they generate over $2.5 trillion in revenue a 
year. Women manage 83 percent of household income, spend two out of 
three health care dollars, and make up the majority of health care 
providers in America.
  Women are at the center of this debate, and the House Republican 
women are committed to leading it. But at a time when our country has 
accumulated over $14 trillion in debt and faced 28 consecutive months 
of unemployment above 8 percent, we know this is not an easy task. Yet 
despite the obstacles and the opposition, House Republican women are 
committed to fighting this fight, to creating jobs, to making America 
what she once was--the land of opportunity, innovation, and ingenuity. 
And that is why we are all here. That is why we ran for Congress and 
why we stand in the Halls of Congress; some of us for many years, 
others are brand new, all of us bound by the commitment to real reform.
  We have seen the numbers. Eighty-one percent of Americans know 
someone without a job; the average unemployed American has been 
searching for over 38 weeks; and since President Obama took office, we 
have lost over 2 million jobs in this country. We refuse to sit here 
and watch those numbers rise.
  As eastern Washington's Representative, I ran for Congress 7 years 
ago to help keep that American Dream alive. I spent 13 years working 
beside my mom and dad and brother in our family-owned business in 
Kettle Falls, Washington. I was the first in my family to graduate from 
college, and I later had the honor of serving as State Representative, 
while continuing to work in our family business and learning firsthand 
the value of hard work,

[[Page 9631]]

the value of opportunity. From the fruit stand in Kettle Falls to the 
Halls of Congress, I am here years later because I refused to let that 
opportunity be threatened.
  I come home every night to two beautiful children, Cole and Grace, 
and I want them to have the opportunities that I have had. I want them 
not only to know the American Dream and what it is, but I want them to 
have the opportunity to live it.
  America stands at a crossroads like never before in our Nation's 
history. Last year at this time the administration was talking about a 
recovery summer. This year we should be talking about a reality summer. 
The reality is clear and it is unprecedented. I was just home in 
Spokane, where unemployment is over 9 percent and there is one thing on 
the forefront of everyone's minds--jobs.
  So, tonight we Republican women are here to remind the American 
people that creating jobs is our number one priority. Our GOP plan for 
job creators will empower small businesses, fix the Tax Code, encourage 
entrepreneurs, increase competitiveness, and pay down America's 
national debt. We will stand on this House floor, debate in committee 
hearings, work with our colleagues across the aisle, and continue to 
listen to those at home until we get Americans back to work. And we 
will. We are on the road to economic recovery, and the House Republican 
women are committed to ensuring that we get there.
  With that, it is with great pleasure that I would like to yield to 
the dynamic woman from North Carolina.
  Mrs. ELLMERS. Thank you so much to my colleague from Washington, and 
thank you, Mr. Speaker, for allowing us tonight to come as Republican 
women to speak out to the American people.
  I came to Washington as one of the new freshmen here, and I am very 
honored to be part of this group. We are a group of women who believe 
in our country. We believe in the right of every American to achieve. 
There are no guarantees, but if you put your mind to it and you work 
hard, everyone can achieve.
  I, too, came from a family that was not wealthy. My parents did not 
really see the value in a college education. I am a second generation 
American here in the United States, and I am first generation college 
educated. I basically put myself through college and nursing school 
with many different jobs. I became a nurse, and I have been a nurse for 
over 21 years and am very happy to be so. I am a wife and a mom. My 
son, Ben, is 16 years old.
  When health care became such a huge issue in this country and when 
our President spoke about changing it, the best health care system in 
the world, I knew that that was not only going to be detrimental to 
health care but also the economy, because it is such a large portion of 
our economy. So I put myself forward to run for office, because I 
believed that if you are going to change things in Washington, you have 
to change Washington itself. So here I am, proud to be serving with 
these great women.
  We have many, many issues in this country right now that we are faced 
with, and we need jobs. Unemployment has been above 9 percent for over 
23 months now. Yes, our colleagues across the aisle put forward their 
plan over a year ago. That plan has failed, and it is time for a new 
plan.
  As a woman, being a multitasker, Mr. Speaker, as you know how 
wonderful women are, we can put our minds to it and we can solve these 
problems.

                              {time}  2010

  Speaking as a nurse, I've always taken care of many patients, but 
none more dear to me than my seniors. And what they are faced with 
today because of the destruction that has been put forward by our 
Democrat colleagues across the aisle in ObamaCare, it has truly done 
just that--destroyed it. And it is our job to rescue it back for the 
American people so that it will be there for our seniors and it will be 
there for generations to come.
  As it is right now, $500 billion has been taken out, and a 15-person 
panel will be put in place to decide what kind of health care you 
receive. That right will be taken away from you and your physician. 
Imagine a group of individuals without any health care background 
whatsoever deciding for you whether or not you'll be able to have 
surgery or whether or not you'll be able to have a treatment. Imagine 
trying to explain that to your family. Imagine sitting at the bedside 
of your loved one and telling them that, No, I'm sorry, your doctor 
cannot do surgery on you, and there is no way that we can appeal it. 
That is what has been put in place by ObamaCare, and we are determined 
as Republican women to pull back on this.
  We spoke about jobs. My colleague from Washington has a wonderful 
illustration of what we need to do. That is the answer to the problems 
that we face here in America today. And as a woman, I am dedicated, as 
are my colleagues, to doing just that.
  Again, in closing, I'll just say that it is an absolute and 
incredible honor to be here--and I am getting emotional--with my fellow 
women who are going to stay tonight and speak to all of you out there 
in America about the importance of being a good conservative woman and 
how much we all, if we work together, can come up with the answers to 
our problems.
  Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS. I'd like to yield to the gentlelady from South 
Dakota.
  Mrs. NOEM. I appreciate that.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to join my fellow female colleagues 
and Members on this side of the aisle to highlight exactly what it 
means to be a Republican woman.
  Mr. Speaker, I grew up in a family that didn't believe that there 
were certain tasks for boys or certain tasks for girls, but that we all 
did it all. My dad taught me how to drive a semi-truck and a combine, 
just like he did my brothers. I was expected to help with the chores 
even though they were tough and they were often dirty ones. I grew up 
thinking that I could do anything that the boys could do, and that way 
of thinking has certainly stayed with me. Over the years, I helped run 
our family businesses, including the farm and the ranches. I helped run 
the family restaurant and our hunting lodge. Although our businesses 
never grew so large that I was one of the women who are a part of what 
controls now 51 percent of the New York Stock Exchange, I always 
remembered what my dad said, and I always remembered that I could work 
just as hard as the guys could. My contribution was always just as 
valuable.
  A few years ago, with young kids, raising them still at home, I saw 
that we needed someone with business experience, someone with common 
sense and ag experience to serve in our State legislature. So I ran and 
won a seat there. I realized that if I was going to be there and spend 
time away from my family and away from my businesses, I wanted to be as 
effective as I possibly could. So that meant running for a leadership 
position.
  So in my second term I became the assistant majority leader in the 
South Dakota State legislature. I soon realized that the place that 
really needed a person with common sense and business sense and a place 
that really needed someone who had worked in agriculture and run 
businesses and someone who isn't afraid to roll up their sleeves and 
get to work was in Washington, D.C.
  So I ran for Congress last year on the platform that we need people 
to represent us who have real-life experiences; who have experience 
running businesses, balancing checkbooks, dealing with regulations, and 
paying taxes. I didn't run because I was a woman, and I didn't expect 
people to vote for me because I was a woman. That had never ever even 
entered into my thought process, as the person I was running against 
was also a woman. I worked to earn each vote in talking about what was 
important in this country, in talking to folks about our life 
experiences and my position on the issues. That's what I knew mattered 
to South Dakotans, and that's what mattered to me.
  Mr. Speaker, my agenda, the Republican agenda, is indeed pro-women. 
It is

[[Page 9632]]

pro-women because it's pro-small business, pro-job creator, pro-family, 
pro-economic growth. You see, just as my dad taught me years ago, women 
in my home State of South Dakota and all across this country, we care 
about the same things that men do. They're worried about the security 
of their jobs; they're worried about their children's future, and 
they're worried about finding a job if they need one.
  We're worried about the excessive spending that this country is 
engaging in and the overwhelming debt that we're continuing to 
accumulate and that we're going to leave to our children and our 
grandchildren. We're worried about what new government regulation is 
going to come in and hinder our businesses and what is around the 
corner that's going to try and control our portion of our lives or hurt 
our small businesses on the street corner.
  Mr. Speaker, our Republican Conference has rolled out a jobs plan. 
It's pro-woman and it's pro-man because it does exactly what we need to 
get our economy back on track. It cuts burdensome regulation; it fixes 
the Tax Code; it increases American competitiveness, and it maximizes 
our production of American-made energy.
  I would like to close by thanking all of my colleagues for this 
opportunity to speak on the House floor tonight on what it means to be 
a Republican woman and what it means to be someone who serves here with 
common sense, business experience, and life experience, who cares about 
our children and grandchildren in this country. I would like to thank 
my colleagues as well for organizing this special hour. It has been my 
honor to serve and to speak and to share this evening with you tonight.
  Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS. Next, I'd like to yield to the gentlelady from 
Florida.
  Mrs. ADAMS. Thank you. I, too, want to join my colleagues here 
tonight. And like my distinguished colleague from South Dakota, my 
father always taught me that you can do and be anything you would like 
as long as you're willing to work hard for it. It had nothing to do 
with your gender. It's just as long as you're willing to work hard for 
it.
  So I took this to heart, and it is something that has stuck with me 
throughout my life whether it was when I joined the Air Force at 17 or 
when I was a single mother working two jobs trying to keep food on the 
table, or as a person who was working during the day and paying my way 
through the police academy at night or later on as a State legislator 
and now as a Member of Congress. I know what it's like to struggle, and 
I understand how difficult it is for women and families across this 
Nation during these tough economic times. I never aspired to be in 
public office, but a strong sense of justice and a love and an 
appreciation for our great country led me to where I am here today.
  I ran for the Florida legislature years ago after I lost my second 
husband in the line of duty as a deputy sheriff because I was always 
there testifying on behalf of victims' and citizens' rights issues. One 
year I couldn't believe what I had heard, and I got involved so much 
with legislation that had passed that I felt it tied my hands as a 
police officer to do what I was sworn to do, and that was to protect 
and serve the community I was hired in in Orange County, Florida. So I 
decided to do something about it. I ran and was elected to Florida's 
33rd district.
  Eight years later, as I was preparing to come home and retire and be 
back and reacquaint myself with my family, I witnessed what a lot of 
people, a lot of families witnessed throughout this country--and that 
was our country was accruing an astronomical amount of debt. They were 
recklessly spending taxpayers' hard-earned money, and the passage of 
the Obama health care plan and rapid unemployment in Florida and across 
the Nation was just too much to bear. So I knew our country was heading 
down the wrong path--an unsustainable path--and something needed to be 
done.
  The trajectory of the Nation's fiscal path was clear. Like so many 
mothers across this country, I saw the future of our Nation and 
especially our children's future at risk. I couldn't sit by and watch 
as our country continued down this reckless fiscal path. I had the 
strong desire to change our Nation's course, and that's what led me to 
this Nation's Capital.
  The truth is that our Nation expects more from its leaders in 
Congress. I came here to make a difference--to remove the barriers to 
job creation that have been imposed by this administration's addition 
to spending, taxation, and regulation. Only by giving more power back 
to the families and small businesses that make this great Nation can we 
put our economy back on a sustainable path and help the private sector 
put people back to work.
  I made a promise to the men and women in District 24 that I would 
fight to end the spending-driven debt crisis that led to our Nation's 
dire economic state. I will continue to keep this promise, and I will 
continue to fight for families across this country by working towards 
fiscal responsibility, lower taxes, and by removing job-killing 
regulations that have stifled our Nation's economic growth for far too 
long.

                              {time}  2020

  We need to get our people back to work. We want jobs, and that's what 
we are fighting so hard to do. As Republican women, we understand, and 
we will continue to fight to empower small businesses and to reduce the 
regulation that is hurting our businesses.
  Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS. Let's hear from the gentlelady from New York.
  Ms. BUERKLE. First of all, let me thank my colleague from the State 
of Washington for hosting this very special and important Special 
Order.
  When the Obama administration took office, many Americans were so 
concerned that the administration was too inexperienced to know how to 
even govern this country; but we soon understood that they were too 
mistaken to learn and too arrogant to care.
  Americans continue to see the unveiling of various provisions of the 
President's health care bill, such as the creation of the Independent 
Payment Advisory Board to ration health care, a disastrous half 
trillion dollars in Medicare cuts for new benefits, the betrayal of our 
friendship with Israel, and the willful pursuit of Libyan ``kinetic 
action'' in opposition to the wishes of the American people and in 
defiance of the War Powers Act. We have been betrayed by the choices of 
the leaders we depended on to steer this ship safely through troubled 
waters.
  But I have hope, just like the other Republican women here tonight, 
that while we have to accept the Democrat leadership's choices for a 
time, nothing says we have to live with them. I am here in Congress 
because I have watched the American Dream become increasingly fragile, 
and I said to myself over a year ago that I would not sit this fight 
out. Mr. Speaker, this is a fight. This is a fight for the very United 
States we love so dearly.
  Both sets of my grandparents came here from Italy. They worked hard; 
they raised their families, and they gave back to their communities. My 
presence in Congress, really in so many respects, just like so many of 
my colleagues', embodies the American Dream. I am a registered nurse, 
an attorney, and for the last 13 years have represented a teaching 
hospital. I am the mother of six children and a grandmother of 11. Mr. 
Speaker, I am a proud Republican woman.
  We Republican women stand here tonight not as an anomaly; we 
represent millions of Republican women who say that we are not going to 
accept being marginalized because of our political party. We are real 
women. We are real Republicans. We are here to restore the American 
Dream.
  Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS. Next, I would like to yield to the gentlelady 
from Illinois.
  Mrs. BIGGERT. I thank the gentlelady for having this tonight.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank all of the Republican women who are here and 
especially the freshmen because they have brought so much enthusiasm, 
so much talent, so much intelligence to this body, and it really has 
been such a help to us.

[[Page 9633]]

  When I was elected to Congress, I was the only Republican woman to be 
there. It was kind of lonesome, so I thought, well, at least I can be 
the president, the vice president, the treasurer, the secretary of the 
freshmen Republican women that year, but there was nobody else to be 
there with me, so I had to do it all alone. I've been here a long time. 
This is my 13th year. To see what has happened and the enthusiasm and 
what is going on and the changes that are happening is incredible.
  I came from a family where my father was the first to go to college. 
His parents had emigrated from Finland even though they were Swedish. 
He went to college, but he always said to my three siblings and me, You 
can do anything you want to do if you get a good education; but he made 
one mistake, maybe, because he said he would pay for it. So my older 
sister went to medical school; I went to law school; my brother went to 
law school; my sister got her master's in Latin and Greek, but she 
doesn't use that too much anymore.
  So that was true, because I never, never expected that I would be in 
Congress. I never expected that I would be a lawyer. In fact, I went to 
a wonderful school--Stanford for undergraduate--and then applied to law 
school. For my first year, I went to the University of California; and 
the first thing that greeted me was a professor who said, You're taking 
the place of someone who belongs here, which was a man. That really has 
changed my life, because I excelled in everything I did. I transferred 
law schools, by the way, and went back to Illinois.
  My first job out of law school was clerking for a judge in the U.S. 
Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. The reason I got it was that 
a young man from a different school where the judge had always hired--
the judge didn't particularly like him, so he called over to 
Northwestern, and they sent me over there, and that's how I got that 
job. I continued in the legal profession, but I found that I got 
involved in a lot of volunteer work along the way, too--being chairman 
of boards and whatever and then running for and being elected to the 
State assembly.
  The reason I wanted to go into the State assembly and into Congress 
was from what I learned from volunteer work--and from having four 
children, first of all, and then from being president of the high 
school school board--because I wanted my children to have the best 
education; and the way to do that is to get involved and to participate 
as with all of the others, like being chairman of the Visiting Nurses 
Association of Chicago, and I got into Medicare and Medicaid. So all of 
these things led me to want to go into Congress. I was asked to do 
those things. Then finally, when a seat opened up in Congress, I said, 
I'm going for this. I was elected, and I've been here and on three 
committees that are really important still--with the Financial 
Services, the Education and Labor, and the Science Committees.
  Let me just talk a little bit about trade because, as has been said 
by so many Members much more eloquently than I, government does not 
create jobs; it's the private sector; but government needs to act to 
reduce and get rid of the barriers that we have put on so many of the 
businesses so that we can have economic growth so that we can have 
those jobs. One way is to look at the trade issue.
  We cannot have protectionist trade policies. Free trade agreements 
are one of the many ways to improve all American standards of living 
and to get our economy back on track. The administration has three 
trade agreements that are on the shelf, already negotiated and all 
ready for approval--Colombia, Panama and South Korea. These trade 
agreements alone have the potential to create 250,000 jobs for 
Americans in America. What has been so concerning is that the President 
has not acted, and a failure to act means that we will continue to lose 
sales and jobs to other countries which do not face the trade barriers 
that our goods and services are facing. On many products, tariffs would 
come down immediately upon the enactment of these agreements, giving a 
boost to exports and jobs.
  Let me just tell you about one company that has trade with Colombia. 
It's a big company with big, big machinery; and every time they send 
one of those pieces of machinery into Colombia, it's a $200,000 tariff, 
which shouldn't be there, while we have open doors and while we have 
trade that can come here.
  We have wasted so much time. We have wasted at least 2\1/2\ years for 
not doing this. I think, with these trade agreements, such an increase 
would provide a tremendous boost to the national economy, especially to 
my home State of Illinois, where we rank No. 5 in the exporting States 
for manufacturing and agriculture products. So I would encourage the 
administration to immediately send up those trade agreements. Doing so 
would immediately put people back to work and provide a much needed 
boost to our economy.
  I thank all the women who are here today, and I thank you for doing 
this and for giving us the opportunity.
  Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS. Thank you. A great point.
  Next, I would like to yield to the first woman from Alabama.
  Mrs. ROBY. Thank you so much, and to the gentlelady from Washington, 
I appreciate so much the opportunity.
  What an honor and a privilege to serve with each and every one of you 
and to be here on the floor tonight to just share with Americans about 
who we are and what we stand for and why we are here.
  The question that I'm most often asked in the district and certainly 
here as well is: Why in the world would a 34-year-old woman with a 6-
year-old and a 2-year-old run for Congress?
  I will tell you that Margaret and George, my two children, are the 
very reasons that my husband, Riley, and I decided to enter into the 
race for Congress to represent Alabama's Second District: because we 
are committed to leaving this country, the best we can, in better shape 
for our children than it was for us. That's why we're here--and what a 
privilege to serve.

                              {time}  2030

  In college, I studied music and thought I was going to work in the 
music industry and went to law school to further those aspirations, 
where I met my husband, Riley, and we were married shortly after law 
school and we both went into private practice.
  About 2 years practicing law, I was watching the news one night, and 
my predecessor on the city council said that she wasn't going to seek 
reelection, and I felt this lurch in my stomach. It was just really a 
gut check moment for us. I tapped Riley and I said, That's what I need 
to be doing. I want to serve my community.
  Of course I had a wonderful example in both of my parents. My father 
is a public servant and my mother served in many capacities as a 
volunteer in our community all growing up, and I think that gave me 
that sense of urgency of wanting to be involved in my community. Riley 
and I didn't have children yet, but we knew we wanted to, and I 
thought, if we're going to live in this city and in this State and 
raise our children here, then we want to be a part of it.
  I served 7 years on the Montgomery city council, and shortly after my 
son, George, was born--he was 8 weeks old--we started praying about 
this opportunity to run for Congress, to serve Alabama's Second 
District and our country. So little George was 8 weeks old, and I felt 
as a mom of these two small children and as a wife that I had something 
to bring to the table, that it was an opportunity to bring a 
perspective as the one that runs through the grocery store and goes to 
the gas pump as to how much Americans are hurting with the lack of jobs 
right now. Again, what a responsibility and a privilege. Riley and I 
wake up every single day and know that we have a real responsibility to 
serve the people that we represent.
  I recently had the distinct privilege of going with you, my colleague 
from Washington, to Afghanistan for Mother's Day. I serve on the House 
Armed Services Committee. What an honor to spend that time with our men 
and

[[Page 9634]]

women in uniform, but particularly the women that are serving overseas 
away from their children and particularly on that day. As a mom that's 
here in Congress, on a plane back and forth, doing my best to serve my 
constituents and my country, I realize, looking into their eyes, the 
tremendous sacrifice that they make, that what we do here doesn't even 
hold a candle to. It was truly an honor to get to spend that time in 
the war zone, to have a better understanding of what our men and women 
sacrifice for our liberty and freedom that we have right here.
  I am committed to doing my part to help remove this cloud of 
uncertainty that is hanging over job creators in the United States of 
America. As I travel throughout my district--and all of you do--I hear 
story after story about what is the government going to do to us next. 
I was at a manufacturing company 2 weeks ago in the district where they 
put a $1 million addition to their 700,000 square foot manufacturing 
facility, remanufacturing, only to keep up with the regulations that 
are imposed on them by the Federal Government. This is where we are. 
How in the world can we expect the private sector to be creating jobs 
when the heavy hand of government is that strong?
  So I am committed to that, and I am committed to real reforms that 
will allow for the private sector to do what they do best. That is what 
our country was founded on. I am proud to serve my State and my country 
as a Republican woman, but more importantly as a conservative committed 
to doing my part to get our country back on track, not for the next 
election but for the next generation.
  Thank you.
  Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS. Thank you.
  Let's hear from the lady from Ohio.
  Mrs. SCHMIDT. I thank my good friend from Washington.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today because I really want to say thank you to 
my parents for instilling in me the opportunity to live the American 
Dream. My father didn't have much as a child. He didn't even have an 
education. But he grew up in a place where he could live his dream. He 
knew if he worked hard that he could live and do what he wanted to do, 
and that was to provide for his family, buy a farm, own a business, and 
give us the opportunity to lead our lives in the way that we wanted to. 
I instilled that hope and that desire in my own daughter. Over 5 years 
ago, I decided to run for this office. It was March 23, 2005. I'll 
never forget the date. It was the day my daughter got engaged. As we 
celebrated both decisions, I realized the enormity in the decision that 
I was making. See, back then I realized that government was spending 
too much money, and we had to do something about it. But now that she 
is married and I've been here over 5 years and administrations have 
changed, I realize that we weren't spending as much then as we are 
today. The accelerated spending is really hurting our American Dream.
  My daughter owns her own business, and she has two wonderful little 
children, but I fear that they won't be able to have the American Dream 
that she is trying to hold onto and that I was afforded by my own 
parents. And I look today and I say to myself, what has this 
administration done to help us move forward? A year ago, the President 
announced that in 2010, June 17, was going to be the summer of 
recovery.
  How is that recovery going? Well, we're still over 9 percent 
unemployment. We spent over $1 trillion in stimulus money to no effect. 
Our underemployment is at 19 percent. We have over 14 million people 
that are underemployed and looking for work and 9 million people have 
part-time jobs. But in addition to those statistics, our economy is not 
growing, and it's not growing because this government is getting in the 
way of the growth and it's with overregulation.
  I worked with Bob Gibbs on one bill, H.R. 872, the Reducing 
Regulatory Burdens Act, which took an erroneous court decision and put 
it in its place. But it's more than just that bill that's in our way. 
As a mother and a grandmother, I'm alarmed at the USDA getting into my 
grandchildren's lunch boxes and into my pantry with overregulation, 
telling schools what they can provide for their students. They're 
taking potatoes out of the lunch room. It's not just eliminating 
potatoes to one cup a week, but it's the enormity of the burden of 
expense that's put onto our school system, over $5 billion mandated to 
public schools, and most of that burden is on schools that can least 
afford it.
  I could go on and on about the overregulation that is squelching the 
ability for our country to grow. I have a stake in this. Actually I 
have two. It's Michael and it's Anthony. They mean everything to me. I 
want those two wonderful little boys to have all the hopes and dreams 
that I had as a child fulfilled as an adult. I want them to have the 
same hopes and dreams that my daughter had fulfilled. I want what my 
father gave to me, the belief that with God and living in America, all 
things are possible.
  We have to stop the overregulation and the overspending that is 
occurring in this country today. Our future is at stake, and it is 
serious. The Republican women in the House get it, and I applaud them 
for fighting with me for their children, for their grandchildren, but 
most importantly for my Michael and my Anthony.
  Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS. Next I would like to yield to the gentlelady 
from Kansas.
  Ms. JENKINS. I thank my friend from Washington for yielding me some 
time.
  My name is Lynn Jenkins, and I am a Republican woman in my second 
term from the Second District in Kansas. Before entering public office, 
I worked for over a dozen years in public accounting as a certified 
public accountant helping businesses and individuals with their tax 
planning, their tax compliance, and I did that so they could focus on 
what they did best and that was create jobs and be successful for their 
local economies.
  I originally ran for office for the House of Representatives in 
Kansas, because I was frustrated by the burdens the State government 
placed on my clients and the families. As a member of both the Kansas 
House and the Senate and then as State treasurer for a term and a half, 
I was pleased to help Kansas work to secure sound economic policies.

                              {time}  2040

  But several years ago, I became increasingly concerned about the 
policies of the Federal Government and how they were holding back our 
citizens and our job creators. So I ran for Congress, and I am honored 
to be here this evening with my fellow Republican women to highlight 
the Republicans' plan to promote job growth.
  Over 2 years ago when I came to Washington, my goal was to pass 
policies to stimulate the flagging economy and get us back on firm 
financial footing. Unfortunately, one of the first things the Democrat 
majority did at that time was to ignore our proposals for economic 
growth and choose instead to pass a stimulus package that we 
Republicans opposed. And just as we predicted at the time, it has 
failed.
  Let's look at some of the facts. The White House advisers said that 
passing the stimulus would keep unemployment below 8 percent. The 
unemployment rate is currently over 9 percent, and it has been above 8 
percent for more than 2 years. I've got a visual aid here that shows a 
new study by economists from the University of Western Ontario and Ohio 
State University found that the President's failed stimulus, the 
largest stimulus in American history, destroyed or forestalled roughly 
1 million private sector jobs. Taxpayers will end up paying $1.16 
trillion for all the private sector jobs lost or forestalled by the 
Democrats' stimulus.
  The facts tell us the total cost of the Democrats' stimulus, 
according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, to be over 
$820 billion, and interest on the debt for the bill will be nearly $350 
billion for over a $1 trillion pricetag. The number of net jobs the 
economy has shed since the Democrat stimulus was signed into law is 
reaching almost 2 million. In the last 12 months, entrepreneurs have 
started up

[[Page 9635]]

the fewest new U.S. businesses in more than a decade. The national debt 
has increased by more than $3.5 trillion.
  The Federal Government shouldn't be in the business of job creation. 
We should be focusing our efforts here in Congress on putting policies 
in place that encourage private sector job growth, and that's why I'm 
so proud of the Republicans and their job proposal that's before us. 
Included in the proposal are many reforms. Some include an opportunity 
to fix the Tax Code to help job creators; spur investment; create more 
American jobs by streamlining our Tax Code; by increasing 
competitiveness for American manufacturers; by reining in this 
unsustainable debt and start living within our means; addressing the 
issue of regulatory overreach; and encouraging entrepreneurship and 
growth.
  So, tonight, along with my fellow Republican women from across this 
Nation, I'm calling upon our President and the Democrat majority in the 
Senate to work with us. Help us pass our jobs plan so we can get 
Americans back to work.
  Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS. Great. Thank you.
  Next, I would like to yield to my classmate and member of the Rules 
Committee from North Carolina.
  Ms. FOXX. Thank you. I want to thank my colleague from the State of 
Washington, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, for organizing this Special Order 
tonight, and Mr. Speaker, I am a Republican woman and so proud to be a 
part of this great group of women that we've heard from tonight.
  Growing up in a poor family in rural North Carolina meant that there 
were many opportunities in life that simply weren't available to me. 
But there was one important opportunity that has always been available 
to me and to all of us, and that is living in the freest land on Earth, 
where working hard, taking chances, and persevering are catalysts for 
success.
  I'm a Republican woman because over the course of my life I've seen 
how the incentive to succeed and the guarantee that the fruits of your 
labor are your own have shaped a people and a Nation that accomplishes 
great things.
  Before I came to Congress, I worked in higher education and as a 
small business owner. Over the course of my career, I encountered good 
government and bad government. Each is a powerful force. Good 
government frees us to pursue ideas to invest our money as we see fit, 
to build, create, and grow a business or even to fail in our endeavors. 
As a small business owner, I also observed firsthand how government has 
the power to crush people under high taxes and oppressive rules, or it 
has the power to unleash creativity with a light touch and low taxes.
  I came to Congress as a Republican because my life experience in 
business and education taught me that, by easing off the rulemaking and 
the tax hiking, government can help foster an environment where 
hardworking, innovative, and dedicated people can succeed.
  I'm a Republican because I want to be part of creating a Federal 
Government that is nimble, focused, responsive, and aligned with the 
Constitution. I believe that such a government will capitalize on our 
strength as a Nation of innovators and entrepreneurs by removing 
barriers to job creation and wealth creation.
  As Republicans we're going to put our government on track to spend 
less and live within its means, just like women across the Nation do 
every day with their family budget. When government is right-sized, our 
economy grows and businesses create jobs.
  We know that the Constitution guarantees the rights of the people, 
not the rights of the government, Mr. Speaker. That's why as a 
Republican woman I'm focused on making sure government doesn't stand in 
the way of the people, and that the laws we make here in Congress 
expand freedom, rather than expand government.
  Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS. Thank you.
  Next, I'd like to yield to the gentlelady from Missouri.
  Mrs. HARTZLER. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, my 
friend from Washington State.
  This is so exciting to get to be here tonight, to get to visit with 
the American people about what it means to be a Republican woman, and I 
am honored to represent Missouri's Fourth Congressional District, and 
as I share with people about the great district that I get to 
represent, it's a story of the heartland.
  Missouri's Fourth District, we are just made of small towns and 
farms, and we work hard and we hunt on weekends and go to church on 
Sundays, and we just want the government to leave us alone. And 
basically, what we have seen over the years is Washington getting 
bigger and bigger and pushing out the private enterprise and 
threatening our basic freedoms. And so that's what we have to push back 
against and restore America's greatness.
  Who I am and the reasons I align myself with the Republican Party is 
a reflection of my background and experiences that I've had over the 
years. I wanted to share just a few of those things with you.
  I grew up on a farm near Archie, Missouri, and my mom and my dad and 
my sister and I, we raised corn and soy beans and had a lot of hogs and 
had a cow/calf operation. And one thing that strikes me as very pivotal 
to my life is my parents in January would sit down and take several 
days cash-flowing the year, projecting forward what they thought the 
yields on the crops were going to be, the prices on the crops, looking 
at the expenses, the payments that we had, seeing if we'd be able to 
make it all work. And after a few years, my mom and dad called my 
sister and I over and said, you need to sit here with us and learn this 
process.
  Well, I can tell you, as a little kid, that wasn't the most exciting 
way to spend our evenings, but it was a wonderful experience because we 
learned how hard it was to make everything work and to pay for 
everything and to live within your means. And I learned that you can't 
spend more than you take in. I learned fiscal responsibility that is so 
much a part of the Republican Party, and what we're here trying to do 
is to restore that because Washington keeps spending money that it 
doesn't have, and we can't do that at home. We don't do it on our 
farms. We don't do it in our businesses, and it's time that Washington 
learned some lessons from the heartland and from ordinary families like 
mine.

                              {time}  2050

  Something else I learned on the farm is that hard work pays off 
usually. Of course there are a lot of things dealing with weather and 
other things that you can't control. But one thing lately that you 
can't control is the amount of government regulations that are 
threatening agriculture. Now the EPA is trying to regulate dust. Well, 
I still live on a gravel road. And I have news for people at the EPA: 
If you farm, if you drive down a gravel road, you are going to get 
dust. So don't try to fine us or tell us that we can't have that. 
That's just a lack of common sense. So Washington needs to listen to us 
ordinary people and not do that.
  Something else I learned growing up was a love of our country and a 
respect for our military. My dad served in the U.S. Army Reserves. That 
really made a huge impression on me, that he was willing to serve his 
country. And all of those brave men and women who today are putting 
their lives on the line for us deserve our highest respect. According 
to the Constitution, there are only a few things we're supposed to do, 
and one of them is to provide for the common defense. And I'm so 
honored to sit on the House Armed Services Committee, where I can work 
hard for those men and women and keep our country strong and safe and 
secure.
  I grew up and became a teacher, and I taught home economics. Now they 
call it ``family and consumer sciences.'' I love that. I chose that 
profession because I believe in the family, and I want to make it as 
strong as possible, and I love young people. One thing I taught was a 
class dealing with finances in the home. I taught the kids how to 
balance a checkbook, and kids got it. I would say, You can't spend more 
than you take in. They understood it. And I don't understand how come 
Washington doesn't understand

[[Page 9636]]

that same principle. So that's what I'm trying to bring here, how we 
need to have a balanced budget. And that is one thing the Republicans 
are fighting for.
  I also taught a class called food services. It was a vocational class 
where we actually--I trained them in how to have a job. And a lot of 
food service jobs are beginning career opportunities for young people, 
and they can move forward. But I taught them, if you work hard and you 
do an excellent job and become skilled in what you do, you can move 
forward in life. And in America, anything is possible. I want that to 
still be the mantra that we share with our young people today, and make 
sure we preserve the opportunity that we had.
  Later I was a State representative. And then after that, the Governor 
appointed me as chairman of the Missouri Women's Council, and I enjoyed 
that for 2 years. In that council, as an agency in the Department of 
Economic Development, we helped women connect with and meet their 
economic goals, and that's jobs. You know, Mr. Speaker, women are 
starting businesses at twice the rate of men, which amounts to 400 new 
businesses every day that are started by women. And women-owned 
businesses are the fastest-growing segment of the United States 
economy. There are 10.6 million businesses owned in the United States 
by women that employ over 19 million American workers, and women-owned 
businesses generate some $2.46 trillion in revenue each year. Women are 
smart. They're able to own their own businesses, and we here in 
Washington need to help them meet those goals, not provide hindrances 
for it. And clearly from the last speaker, you see that President 
Obama's plan has failed. Throwing money at something does not create 
jobs. There is a better plan.
  I'm also a small business owner now. My husband and I own a company 
where we sell farm equipment. We employ about 50 people, have three 
stores. So I know the challenges of day-to-day operating a small 
business in America. Most jobs in America are created by small business 
owners, the same people that President Obama is trying to tax. What he 
doesn't understand is that if you tax job creators more, they're not 
going to have money to be able to hire a worker. It doesn't make sense. 
We've got to change course here.
  A couple of stories, quickly, I wanted to share with you from 
businesses in my district reflect how the policies here in Washington 
are killing jobs. One is, when I was on the campaign trail a couple of 
years ago, I met with a business who told me that they wanted to open 
up a second location. Things were going pretty well. They had about 30 
employees at the time. But they asked about this new health care bill 
that was being debated, that the President was pushing through. And 
they said, If this passes, our business will fold. We provide health 
care for our employees as much as possible. We provide them a stipend 
so they can go buy their own policies. But if this bill passes, we 
can't afford that. So they told me they have decided not to open up a 
second location because of the government's takeover of health care 
that Washington was forcing down the throats of Americans. That is 
tragic because in this town, there are hundreds of people out of work. 
And it broke my heart that what is going on here in Washington was 
directly causing people to be unemployed back home.
  Another example: I've been visiting with a lot of companies in my 
district that manufacture goods. And thank goodness we still have a lot 
of manufacturing jobs here in America. But as I visit with them, they 
share with me the hurdles that they're having to overcome just to stay 
open because of Washington's policies of high taxes and regulations. 
Their competition is overseas. And they've told me, Vicky, we do not 
want to move to China. We do not want to take those jobs there. But yet 
if we move there, we're not going to have to pay near as many taxes, 
and we don't have to live by these awful regulations from EPA and all 
these other government agencies. So we're going to try to stay here as 
long as possible. But please, please help us get government off our 
backs. And I assured them I certainly would do everything that I can 
because, you know, as House Republicans, we know how to create jobs, 
and that's what we're putting forward.
  We're putting forth a plan to lower taxes. We're putting forth plans 
to push back on these government regulations that are out there that 
are killing jobs, hurting our farmers. We are promoting trade overseas 
and want to get these trade agreements passed--and we're also getting 
rid of that huge uncertainty of debt that is hanging over our country 
and promoting a balanced budget, like my mom and dad did around the 
kitchen table at home, like I taught my kids at school how to do.
  But the last thing that influences me is being a wife and mother. And 
that is what inspires me to continue to fight for faith, family, 
freedom, and our future. That's what we're all about.
  Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield to the 
inspiring Representative from Tennessee.
  Mrs. BLACK. My name is Diane Black, and I represent the Sixth 
Congressional District in Tennessee. I am hearing more and more from 
women in my district. More and more women are decision makers in their 
households. As a matter of fact, statistics show us that 84 percent of 
women are primary decision makers today. They set their budgets. They 
buy groceries. They take their children to school and to doctors, and 
they also work outside the home. I hear from women all over my district 
who are on the front lines, and they say that the economy is making 
life tougher and that they are constantly trying to do more with less. 
They tell me that when they go to the grocery store, how much the 
rising food prices are cutting into what they buy. Gas is more 
expensive, and their budgets are shrinking, and their choices are 
limited because Washington is deciding for them.
  As these past few years got harder, government stood in the way of 
our economy getting back on track. And in Tennessee, we have an 
unemployment rate of 9.6 percent. I also hear from women in my district 
whose husbands are looking for jobs, and these women are working two 
jobs to make ends meet, a struggle that is very real to me. As a nurse 
for over 40 years, I worked two jobs when my children were little and 
our family was trying to better ourselves, as my husband was working on 
his degree. I worked not only as a nurse, but I also had a school for 
children in my home. My fellow GOP women here tonight, we are all with 
similar stories of struggles and challenges and working hard for our 
families. Government needs to get out of the way and allow businesses 
to grow so that jobs are created and America gets back on track.
  I am a Republican woman, and I am proud of that. I am proud to say 
that I am not only protecting children and their families but also am 
working to make sure that our country gets back on track so that we 
have jobs that will allow these families to be strong and grow.

                              {time}  2100

  I believe that I'm not only speaking for myself, but also for the 
women back home and across this country.
  Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS. I would like to yield to the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), chairman of the International Relations 
Committee.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I thank the gentlelady from Washington for yielding 
me the time. I'm inspired to hear my wonderful colleagues, proud 
Republican women, proud to be Republican, as well as plugging our 
gender because we have a very positive story to tell our country.
  And as my wonderful friend, the colleague from the State of 
Washington, pointed out, my name is Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; and I 
represent Florida's proud and beautiful 18th Congressional District 
that covers from Bal Harbor all the way down to sunny Key West, 265 
miles of coastal beach area.
  And I'm a daughter, I'm a mother, I'm a grandmother, I'm a wife of a 
Vietnam veteran, a former educator and a former small business owner. I 
fled Castro's communist Cuba with my

[[Page 9637]]

parents when I was 8 years old. I'm proud to be a naturalized American, 
so Cuban by birth, American by choice. And I am also a Republican 
woman.
  I entered public service after talking with my parents, with the 
parents of a school, a small private bilingual school that I operated 
along with my parents in Hialeah, a blue-collar working town of Miami-
Dade County.
  And after hearing from the parents of the school that I operated 
about their hopes and their dreams and the problems and the concerns 
that they had, I decided that the best way to help them was not just to 
help them individually, but rather to help them in a bigger way by 
being involved in the legislative process in order to change the 
policies that were causing them difficulties.
  As we have said here tonight, Mr. Speaker, our Nation faces grave 
economic dissatisfaction and a sluggish economy and no job recovery. 
And Republican women understand and recognize the need for creative and 
bold solutions to get America moving in a positive direction once again 
so that small business owners, such as the Ileana Ros-Lehtinens in 
south Florida, who have a small school or who have a small business, 
are not hampered by burdensome regulations that inhibit their growth.
  And we know how small business suffers due to this growing 
bureaucracy and this unnecessary regulatory wrangling that goes on and 
that has occurred in the last few years, and the previous speakers 
spoke on this issue of the regulation that has run amuck.
  So Republican women also recognize this economic prosperity cannot be 
created by government because small and medium-sized businesses are the 
engines that fuel our economy. So together, Republican women don't want 
to--we're in unison to say that we do not want to leave this burden, 
this financial debt, this deficit to our children and grandchildren. We 
want to leave them with a more prosperous and secure Nation. And that's 
why I'm proud to be a Republican woman.
  Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS. I'm proud to yield to my colleague from 
Washington State.
  Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER. As the youngest woman in the U.S. Congress, I'm 
proud to be here tonight joined by my colleagues from across the 
Nation. And I'm here tonight to politely decline the anti-woman label 
that some who must not have better things to do have pushed our way, 
because the women here in this Chamber, the Republican women on this 
side of the aisle, as you've heard, are incredibly diverse. They're 
cops, attorneys. They've served, they're moms, some of them have served 
in public office like myself. There's a tremendous group of problem-
solvers here and that's what we need.
  We know that we need solutions, and the most important solution we 
can find right now has to do with bringing more jobs to folks at home, 
making sure that we have good, strong American jobs that will support 
our families.
  And as Congress looks for the job creation solutions that so many 
Americans are craving, I believe that we Republican women possess or 
bring a special skill to the table. One of my woman colleagues summed 
it up best when she said, women take technical problems and come up 
with creative solutions. We're simply better at looking at the issues 
from outside the box. I believe much of what she said, and I think 
that's one of the reasons that you see us here tonight fighting for the 
families back home, whether it's home in southwest Washington, where 
they've been out of work; where it's the mom who knows how much it 
costs to put gas in the tank, how much it costs for health care, for 
the education bills; who's worried about her older parents and making 
sure that they have access to health care; or thinking about her 
children and her grandchildren.
  It's these women in and throughout our Nation who have really borne 
the brunt of this economy. So it's very important that we're at the 
table here tonight pushing back on that label, because we do represent 
those American women; and the solutions that we're bringing and that 
we're fighting for are going to make it so that those women who have 
dreams to start their own business, to plan for retirement, who want to 
see less of their hard-earned dollars going into the gas tank, those 
are the women we're standing up for tonight, and the solutions that 
we're bringing forward are going to help them help their families, help 
our communities, and help our country.
  I recognize we have limited time here tonight, and I thank you for 
allowing me to share and stand up with these tremendous ladies.
  Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.

                          ____________________