[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 18100]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    AN ADMONITION AND A REDIRECTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Oklahoma (Mr. Lankford) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today for an admonition and a 
redirection, somewhat of a philosophical conversation.
  America started with a great, healthy reality of what government can 
do and what government cannot do. A government can't really control all 
of what is happening in every State from one central area. We begin at 
the very beginning with individual States, individual local government, 
individuals making decisions for their family.
  Right now, we see in every poll, in every conversation, that every 
one of us has this great frustration that is rising among the American 
people. That frustration is not rising because the American vision, the 
American Dream, and the American spirit is failing. That frustration is 
rising somewhat because of what we are doing and because of this 
constant challenge that is occurring nationwide to the concept of a 
representative republic, the constant asking of the question: Has this 
become too gridlocked? Has it become too partisan? Has it become too 
hard to be able to get things done?
  Maybe we need to do it a different way. Quite frankly, the American 
people know in their hearts that they should be represented, they 
should be heard, justice should be done, trust should be here, common 
sense should prevail. The basic principle among so many people, that we 
should speak for those who cannot speak for themselves, that every 
American should be heard, it goes from the Book of Proverbs to the very 
foundation of our constitutional system now.
  So what do we do about that?
  Well, around the world we see it. We see the frustration of other 
people in other countries. We see it in Syria as they are split up in a 
civil war. We see it in Cairo, in the streets at yet another set of 
protests. We see in Thailand, the absolute corruption of their 
government breaking out in things. We see votes in the Parliament in 
the Ukraine right now as worldwide, continent by continent, there is 
constant frustration with their government and people rise up in the 
streets.
  What do we do about it? How do we lead? We are the leaders in our 
country. So what do we do?
  Here is my quick admonition to us:
  Stop running down America and each other. We are different. We think 
different, we function different, our families function different, but 
we should still be able to honor each other.
  We see each other's worst. We see on the social media sites and we 
see on the press reports and we see everything else. We know so much 
about each other that there is this sense that it is different now. But 
quite frankly, Americans have always been flawed people. But we are 
people that are gathered around our work, our faith, our community, and 
our family, and that has made us different.
  We have got to stop demeaning a representative republic. This 
constant statement of ``we are gridlocked and things aren't working'' 
implies to people all over the country maybe this system of government 
that made us the most powerful economy, the most powerful military, the 
greatest bastion for freedom the world has ever known, maybe it doesn't 
work anymore.
  The problem is not a representative republic. The problem is not our 
Constitution. The problem is we are trying to do something that is not 
that. We are shifting away from the way that we were founded into 
something that doesn't really exist.
  Quite frankly, the partisan gridlock is not something new. The patron 
saint of Oklahoma is Will Rogers. You can take every joke he made about 
Congress in the 1920s and pull it up today and it is still funny 
because things haven't changed on that because, quite frankly, we think 
different. But that is the nature of a country that is like ours.
  We have all these voices from all over the country that should come 
together and that should work together; but they should find us with 
solutions, not getting into their life and taking things over. They 
need to see a government that is thinking for them, not trying to make 
them the servant. They see it.

                              {time}  1015

  Why did we have to vote this week about lead in fire hydrants? Isn't 
that a no-brainer issue? The government has become so strong and so 
powerful in communities that communities are not sure if they can 
replace their fire hydrants anymore? Why is it that Americans can't get 
insurance anymore? Because they are waiting on a government Web site 
and they are worried about what is going to happen in a month because 
they are waiting in line for that.
  Why is it that the education outcomes continue to decline when we 
increase Federal control year after year after year, and yet our 
outcomes continue to decline? Even this week, there is another 
international poll coming out for that.
  Why is it getting harder and harder to start a company, find a job, 
pay your gas bill? Why is it tougher to fill up your car with gas or 
pay the bill for your cell phone?
  It is because of increasing regulations, increasing fees, increasing 
control, and Americans continue to get frustrated because they know 
this is not what we were designed to be. We are doing too many things. 
We have got to get back to trusting the American people, our State 
leaders, our local leaders, and we have got to set the standard for 
what leadership looks like in America by our rhetoric and by our 
actions.
  We can honor people and honor each other, even in our differences, 
but we have got to get back to doing this Nation's business the way 
that the American people in their hearts know it should be done, where 
their voices are heard, and where they get to make the decisions.

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