tractor on his farm in west virginia. and at this time, i would like unanimous consent, mr. speaker, to introduce a letter, he has written to the american people on memorial day of last year. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. poe: after world war i was over with, that generation went into the roaring 20's and great depression and the fathers of the greatest generation that went off to the great world war ii. i mention frank because he is the last surviving dough boy. this was taken in front of the d.c. memorial that's on the mall. frank buckles is spending the rest of his life trying to do something for those dough boys from world war i. on the mall, we have a memorial for the veterans of vietnam, for the veterans of korea and for the veterans of the greatest generation, the world war ii memorial, but there is no

memorial for the dough boys of world war i that served in these united states. in fact, this memorial for the d.c. world war i veterans is in the weeds and not taken care of by the park service. so what we are planning and what frank buckles desires is to have an expansion of this memorial, and expand it to include all of those who served in the great world war i. he says, i feel as the last survivor a responsibility to bring recognition to all of the millions to fought in that war and they are gone. i intend to give all my efforts and time i have left to see that a national memorial of world war i joins the other memorials on the national mall. i am dismayed that this country has erected memorials for world war ii, korea and vietnam but there is no memorial for the war to end all wars. what we should do, members of

congress, we should erect a memorial for that war that occurred in the last century and erect it for the dough boy for that generation, for frank buckles who is 109 years old, the last surviving dough boy. we owe it to them. there are no lobbyists for them. everybody has died. the only lobbyists are members of congress and school children throughout this country, like creekwood middle school that is raising money to pay for this national memorial. we as members of congress need to do is to honor these great americans that served in that great war, that war that we don't talk much about in our history books anymore. we owe it to them, we owe it to frank buckles and owe it to those dough boys. and that's just the way it is. and i yield back.

. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leave of absence for mrs. christensen of the virgin islands for today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the leave is granted. we resume the five minutes with the gentleman from pennsylvania. >> mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, this year the -- this week the president unveiled his budget to cut spending for three years. i appreciate the president's effort to rein in spending but we must go further. in order to understand our next steps we must understand how we got here. eight years of fiscal

responsibility, a blatant disregard for pay as you go budgeting have left us with a debt over 50% of g.d.p. to add insult to injury we work in a town that thrives on pet projects and individually directed spending. we recklessly spend on defense projects that are intended to keep us safe. the government's number one duty but help makes vulnerable in that they are untested and ineffective. in march, 2009, a report of weapons, researchers estimate that cost overrunned $3 billion. g.a.o. recommends that d.o.d. moves to sound, knowledge-based acquisitions. the president should continue on this path to reformed spending by recommending cutting programs like expensive warships, plane, and flawed missile defense systems that don't help in the fight against terror.

congress must also assert its constitutional right to provide for common defense by denying money to produce any weapon before it's tested. if we're smart with our dollars, we'll not only be safer, we'll be stronger. we are fighting two wars while simultaneously attempting to reassert our power as a global influence. now is not the time to pick and choose where we cut our spending. now is the time to streamline the way we do business in washington. now is not the time to protect sacred cows. nothing should be beyond our scrutiny. now is the time to subject tax expenditures to budget discipline. i agree with the president we must extend middle class tax cuts but end support for those making over $250,000 a year and we must refocus domestic spending so that our number one priority is job creation. next month, secretary of the treasury will submit to congress and the president an audited financial report for

the u.s. government, similar to those required of publicly traded companies. this report projects our unfunded net liabilities or the present value of future expenditures in excess of future revenues. this report helped us understand the true expense of promising to pay social security, medicare, and medicaid benefits at some future moment, even if no cash is disbursed today. the report projects our unfunded liabilities at $56 trillion. our large and growing deficits continue to increase government debt levels as a percentage of g.d.p. to unprecedented and unsustainable heights. the most troublesome and perhaps crippling outcome is that this process of unethical and unabashed spending, we have lost the public's trust. without this trust, we cannot govern. tackling this deficit of trust must be our first priority. let's try common sense, the president said.

let's invest in our people without leaving them a mountain of debt. let's meet our responsibility to the people who sent us here. our responsibility then is to make the more difficult road, -- role, the role that includes reform, benefiting government and the role that includes members of the house lead big example. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back his time. the gentleman, mr. jones, from north carolina. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise? mr. burton: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes out of order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. burton: today we had a hearing before the international relations committee and one subject brought up was enhanced interrogation techniques. waterboarding was brought up. one of my colleagues said, boy, that's torture. that's why we wouldn't be using

that. khalid sheikh mohammed who personally cut the head of daniel parole, personally killed him, he was personal -- daniel pearl, he was water boarded and before he was water boarded he said, i want to read from the c.i.a. memo, it says, the c.i.a. believes it would have been unable to obtain information from detainees, including khalid sheikh mohammed and others, says the memo. both had expressed their idea that the united states was wake and would be untable do what was necessary to prevent terrorists from succeed naring goals. tpwhever c.i.a. used enhanced techniques in its interrogation he said, when asked about future attacks, simply, soon you will know.

soon after he was subjected to the waterboarding, he became cooperative and as a result we were able to stop an attack that was going to take place in los angeles where a plane was going to fly into a building. we have said time and again, we don't believe in torture, and i don't believe in torture. but the definition of torture is in the eye of the beholder. they say waterboarding is terrible, it's torture. but do you know, and i don't think many of my colleagues know this, that the survival evasion rescue and escape training for our military personnel, and that's the special forces the navy seals, and pilots that fly in the military, they go through enhanced techniques like this and they go through waterboarding. they have for 30 years. maybe they're stopping it now. but they, for 30 years, since vietnam, went through waterboarding as a training technique. nobody called it torture then. and we certainly weren't

talking about a terrorist who cut somebody's head off and helped design the attack on the world trade center that killed other 3,000 people. c.i.a. director general michael aiden said on fox news sunday that the use of these techniques against these terrorists made us, the united states of america, safer. it really did work. and the thing that bothers me, instead of using enhanced interrogation techniques to go after terrorists to find out what's going on, we're instead bringing them from guantanamo to new york city. they've stopped that now because it's going to cost $250 million at least and the may cror of the city said he doesn't want that -- and the mayor of the city said he doesn't want that to to go on. but we were going to bring these terrorists who did these terrible things, cutting off people's heads and hanging them from overhangs in fallujah, we

were going to bring them to new york and we're providing them with legal help, and this guy who flew into detroit and tried to blow up a plane we gave him his miranda rights and then we went to his home country and brought his mother and father back to talk to him to convince him to talk to the american intelligence people. is that the way you conduct intelligence gathering? giving them miranda rights, bringing them to the united states after they've done these horrible things to americans, they're terrorists? we are in a war against terrorism. within bounds, we should use every enhanced technique we can come up with to elicit information from these terrorists before they kill americans. we should be going after them with everything we have instead of providing legal defense for them. they are not americans, they are terrorists who want to destroy the united states of

america and we as americans need to realize that and do whatever is necessary, including using enhanced interrogation techniques like waterboarding, which we've done with the military, our military, in order to save this country and protect it from terrorism. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from ohio rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes and include extraneous material in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. kaptur: the economic pain in the mid western region of our country is not subsiding in any meaningful way. approximately 600,000, over half a million americans, are out of work in just our state alone and over 20 million americans across our country. in our district, one county, ottawa county, is suffering from an unemployment rate that exceeds 17%, and just yesterday, another one of its largest employers, sylvan,

announced it would close its plant. there have been approximately 27,000 bankruptcies in just one county in my district. bankruptcy is a desperate act, an act taken only when you see no other alternative. today's "new york times" talks about desperate measures that homeowners across the country are taking. the front page article describes the growing number of american whors under water on their mortgages and the steps they're taking to cope with that situation. being under water means you owe more on the house than it's worth. more and more homeowners who are under water are taking the desperate act of walking away from their homes. even in the winter. when the real estate market started sinking in 2006, almost no americans were under water in their mortgages. now three years later, an estimated 4.5 million homeowners have reached what the "times" called a critical

threshold where the home value had fallen below 75% of the mortgage balance. frankly, as i predicted, the mortgage workout program hastily adopted by this congress are not working. for the majority of americans. some would say this is purposeful. to allow the five big wall street mega banks to further gain ownership of a huge segment of the u.s. real estate market. the "new york times" cites recent data that suggests the real estate market is stalling again and the number of people who have fallen below this critical threshold is expected to climb to a peak of 5.1 million people by june. mr. speaker, the figure would represent 10% of all americans with mortgages, one in 10. this is unacceptable in america. and without improvement in the housing market, america is unlikely to see improvement in the overall economy because housing always leads us into

recovery. all of us are anxious to see more economic growth. the most recent gross domestic product showed the american economy overall had grown at the fastest pace in six years, certainly better than the lost jobs of the bush era. but now, economists are saying we're headed for a jobless recovery. that is unacceptable. peter morici states we need 5% to 6% growth over the next three years to replace jobs lost in the recession and raymond hobson in his economic report out of chicago suggests the same thumb. -- same number. our nation got to these desperate times through the financial crisis. our economy if you thinks on credit and much of it was created on the securitization of loans which should lead to a discussion of the shadow banking system a secretive or paycheck netherworld where fraud can thrive even if it devastates the country.

equally in the shadows is the federal reserve. last week we had a hearing in the oversight and government reform committee with secretary geithner of treasury in his role as president of the new york federal reserve bank in the a.i.g. bailout. he recused himself from such activities as the bailout of a.i.g. once he was nominated as secretary of the treasury. but when i asked him for his recusal agreement for the record he stated, there was no documentation. no recusal agreement exists. nothing legal, no waiver, nothing. he made decisions and only he is accountable for them. there was a gasp in the room. beyond the shadow land of our nation's financial system, our small community banks are struggling as bad loans from commercial and residential real estate continue to plague our financial system. the small community banks that have survived are trying to lend to small businesses that are the engine of our economy

but they cannot do so if the big banks are holding credit hostage. and turning to tarp is not the answer for our community banks because it isn't treasury's job to pick winners and losers in the commercial marketplace. that should be a market function. the end result is that small businesses are dying too. the small community banks cannot loan to local small business. without access to credit, small business is letting people go, too, and the wall street banks are gaining edge on their competition. mr. speaker, this situation is simply unacceptable, and it's time for congress to rework legislation to allow people to stay in their homes and to begin creating jobs in this country so we can actually bring the deficit down as people pay their taxes to the treasury of the united states. i thank you very much, mr. speaker, and i yield back my

remaining time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back her time. the gentleman from kansas. ms. ros-lehtinen: i ask unanimous consent to take the time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to honor one of the most decorated ships of the united states, the u.s. coast guard cutter ingham. for 52 years, the ingham protected our shoreline. entering serve in 1935, the ingham delivered critical assistance to the united states in world war ii, korea and vietnam. the ingham protected allied ships that were ferrying supplies to great britain during the second world war. with the american flag flying high on her mass, the ingham battled stormy weather, dodged german u boats and eluded enemy aircraft. the ingham also served in the pacific acting as the amphibious flag ship for four of the philippine island

invasions. it was aboard the ingham that general mcarthur oversaw the battle of corridor. over 125,000 cubans fled north from the oppressive castro dictatorship. the ingham was instrumental in rescuing many refugees in these makeshift rafts and bringing seven refugee rafts to safety, saving 122 lives. she is the only ship in our history to receive two presidential citations and has been awarded an astounding 14 battle stars and 19 ribbons. the ingham and the many crewmembers that have served both on and below her decks are a testament to our great nation. a total of 912 casualties are honored on a memorial plaque on her quarter deck. having paid the ultimate price for our freedom, these men and women earned our respect.

when the ingham was decommissioned in 1988, she was the second oldest american war ship afloat. now a floating museum, it's through the exhibits and the memorials within the ingham that we can honor and remember all those 912 service member and women and all that they have done in the service of our nation. the ingham is a national historic landmark and serves as a national memorial to all coast guard men and women killed in action. and it is through the leadership of former key west commissioner bill verge, a retired u.s. coast guard reserve member and a vietnam veteran who serves as the executive director of the u.s. coast guard cutter ingham memorial museum as well as beth noel, development director for the museum, that the residents of key west and i were able to welcome the ingham to our maritime family with open arms.

toad in to stand tall with the u.s.s. mow hack, the ingham will be opened to the public as a living and breathing museum. this historic ship has saved so many lives and helped shape the course of american history. she and her crews have performed every mission in the best tradition of the united states coast guard. i give thanks to the unwavering dedication and work of the crew of the ingham for over half a century of service. the ingham is a demonstration for what it means to be an american and why we should always be proud to say so. so please come to key west and see for yourself this beautiful museum, a testament to the brave men and women of the u.s. coast guard. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does mr. frank of massachusetts rise? mr. frank: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. frank: and include in my remarks extraneous material. the speaker pro tempore:

without objection. mr. frank: mr. speaker, i recently got some firsthand experience with the right-wing propaganda machine operates. the pattern appears to begin with a lie and then have that lie multiplied through an echo chamber that repeats it and repeats it. in this case, a man named john fund who is an editorial writer at "the wall street journal," one of the most right winged of our publications these days on the editorial page just told a lie about me in november of last year. he gave a speech at restoration weekend -- i don't know what they were restoring but it certainly wasn't respect for the troops -- and he said that democrats are rattled by the november 3 election results. what do liberals do when they lose elections, they change the rules. chuck shumer and barney frank will have voter registration.

take well fair recipients you have, take all unemployed. it is a total myth. there is no such bill. there wasn't in november. then the right-wing echo chamber picks it up. "the washington times" says shumer and frank have plans to ram through legislation that will produce universal voter registration. and they say it will be on the floor of the house in two weeks. it's the lie repeated. glenn beck joined in. rush limbaugh joined in. this begins with a totally fictional accusation by john fund with no basis whatsoever. it is then repeated by glenn beck and repeated by "the washington times" and repeated by rush limbaugh none of them checked what we were talking

about, none of them seeing if it was accurate. i was asked by a constituent why i had done that. my response was, done what? i didn't do it. so i checked into it and found that the source was mr. fund's totally irresponsible myth in november. so i wrote to mr. fund and i will put this letter in there and said i was puzzled to have you say this. i checked. i now write to tell you that you are entirely wrong about me and in the absence of your being able to show any basis which you made such a statement to ask you to acknowledge that fact. he's not only a liar he's a coward. he wouldn't do it. my staff member asked him, called him up and said, what was this based on? well, i made a mistake. well, have you made a retraction? oh, yeah, he said. can we see it? i told a couple of people. mr. fund makes it up. it's a lie. it's a myth. there was nothing there and it's to discredit all democrats.

his right-wing cohorts echo it and echo it. the next thing is it will be on the floor in the next two weeks. this is the democrat disregard for the electoral process. and when we call mr. fund's attention to the fact that this was a lie, what does he say? whoops. but he's not going to tell anybody about it. mr. speaker, this is not the only case of this and i know this has happened before. but because i was directly involved here, i was in position to document this. it begins with a lie from this editorial writer from "the wall street journal." it is then a lie repeated by his right-ring colleagues. he refuses to do anything about it. i hope people will take from this to be skeptical when these right-wing skepticals like beck or limbaugh propagate these vicious smears. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman yield back his time? mr. frank: i yield back the

balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from washington rise? >> i ask permission to address the house for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. reichert: thank you, mr. speaker. now more than ever young people across this country understand the gravity of the issues that we face today as a nation. mr. speaker, i'd like to take some time this evening to share a poem that was written by a ninth grade student in washington state. this ninth grade student just happens to be my grandson. his name is caleb methina and he has written a poem. he said, papa, what do you think about this? i didn't know he was writing this poem but was pleased to get it and share it with those who are listening. it's called "we the people."

we the people of freedom and choice. we elected our main voice, hired to keep our country strong, our rights secure and list of options long. why is it then that this has happened? why have they disregarded us in this matter? thinking they know what's best and what we need. speeding through without the heed of what we choose and of what we demand. forgetting they are merely hired hands, easily removed, easily replaced. perhaps that is what's best for these united states. not knowing humility, only selfish ideals. now reacting blindly regardless of how others feel. secretly dealing, concealed by closed doors instead of

candidly conveying. betraying what was promised before. what has it come to? has it come to this? where we the people are just dismissed? as for me i know that i won't be silent, won't just stand by. i will not watch as my country, our country is taken. i cannot nor will not sit back. i will not fore sake it. if -- i will not foresake it. if we all stand up for our thoughts, if we have the courage to secure our rights that our founders painstakingly sought, if we risely decide who would -- wisely decide who would be unselfish leaders for our great country, surely the land in which we live will remain free. free for my children's children to admire and see.

if my forefathers fought for obtaining liberty to me then i can surely do like-wise to the utmost degree. mr. speaker, this young man speaks words far beyond his 15 years on this earth. he talks about liberty and freedom. this is the people's house, and sometimes we forget who we represent. sometimes we forget who we work for. we work for the people of these united states. we must listen to these words and the words of our constituents. listen to the words of caleb methina, a 15-year-old student and all the people and citizens across this country. listen to the words of our constituents across the country and respect their wishes to preserve and protect the freedom that has been so bravely fought for by so many.

thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? ok. the gentleman from texas. for what purpose does he rise? >> to address the house for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. here on the floor of the united states house of representatives, tribute must be paid to the incredible achievement of a constituent of the first district of texas, from longview. he's already a legend, been spies. he -- ben spies. he won the 2009 superbike world championship he started racing as an 8-year-old child with the central motorcycle road racing association and for good reason

has earned himself the nickname texas terror. he's the second youngest rider to win the american motorcyclist superbike championship and the fourth youngest rider with 20 a.m.a. superbike wins. he holds the third most all-time a.m.a. superbike wins and boasts the longest a.m.a. superbike winning streak. after coming off his third straight ample m.a. superbike championship, ben successfully beat the expected winner at the 2009 f.i.m. superbike world championship by six points with 11 poles in the 14th round series for a total of 28 round races. the discipline, dedication, and success he's displayed to the sport of motocross racing over the last 16 queers has set him apart as a true champion.

ben spies is -- ben spies is to be congratulated. he has no doubt blazed a trail for future successes with his steady hand, nerves of steel and balance like nowhere found here in the house of representatives. may god bless and protect an american legend, ben spies. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back his time. the gentleman, from broun, from georgia. -- the gentleman, mr. broun from georgia. for what purpose does the gentlelady from minnesota rise? mrs. bachmann: to address the house for five minutes. mrs. bachmann: i rise today to commemorate a sacred memory in our nation's history. it was 67 years ago today when a terrible event occurred, and

a brilliant event occurred. it was 67 years ago, february 3, 1943. we now call this memory the four chaplains day and honor this day in our nation's memory because of the valor and strength exhibited by four members of our armed services, four chaplains. the ship was a coastal liner, converted to troop transport for world war ii and it was with more than 900 men on board. it was a freezing night when the dor chester, one of three ships in a convoy, was tore pee dode. it was freezing and it was about 1:00 in the morning when a terrifying shot was fired by a nazi submarine 100 miles off the frigid coast of greenland and the ship quickly began to

sink in the cold, cold waters. many americans were killed by the explosion, others were trapped below decks. -- trapped belowdecks. the four chaplains on board remained calm and quickly passed out life vests to troops onboard. they helped the wounded. they prayed with troops onboard. then tragically, when all the life vests were distributed, there were more men than life vests. the four chaplains, without skipping a beat, removed their own life vests that they had on their body and handed them to the young troops who had none. as the ships went down, the four chaplains linked arms and witnesses said they saw the chaplains, as young soldiers, fighting against the cold, swimming in the water. they saw the four chaplains who

had linked arms, who embraced each other in a circle in the waters. they prayed for the troops who lost their lives and for those who would survive and they prayed until the chaplains were no more. the four chaplains were a catholic, two protestants and a jewish rabbi. their names were father john washington, catholic, reverend clark poling, dutch reformed, rabbi alexander good, jewish, reverend george foxx a meth ddist. these -- a methodist. they gave more than spiritual guidance to the troops that i gave liar lives on february 3, 1943. it was a decade later that president dwight eisenhower remarked he said, and i quote, and we remember that only a decade ago above the ship dorchester, four chaplains of

four faiths together willingly sacrificed their lives so four other americans might live. in the three centuries that separate the pilgrims of the mayflower from the chaplains of the dorchester, america's freedom, her courage, her strength, and her progress have had their foundation in faith. eisenhower concluded, today, as then there is need for positive acts of renewed recognition that faith is our surest strength and greatest resource. in 1960, mr. speaker, congress created a special congressional medal of valor never to be repeated again and gave it to the next of kin of the feign mouse, immortal, four chaplains. the distinguished service cross, the purple heart were awarded posthumously in 1944. may the greatest example of this greatest love, fulfilling scripture that says, greater

love hath no man than this, but that he lay down his life for his friend. may this chamber, mr. speaker, this congress, and the american people never forget the sacrifice of the four great chaplains. and may god forever bless and extend to them his peace for their memory. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back her time. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, the gentlewoman from ohio, ms. fudge, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. ms. fudge: thank you very much. good evening, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members be given five legislative days to enter and extend their remarks into the record on this topic. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. fsmudge: i appreciate the opportunity to anchor this special order hour for the congressional black caucus. it's currently chared by ms.

barbara lee of california. my name is representative marcia fudge and i represent the 11th congressional district of ohio. c.b.c. members are advocates for human rights and equality, nationally and internationally. our members have played a significant role as local and regional advocates -- activists and continue to work diligently to be the conscience of the congress. as members of congress, c.b.c. members also promote legislation to aid neglected citizens throughout the world. we understand that the united states, as a bellwether, has the ability to positively impact our neighbors abroad. this is why, tonight, we turn our attention to the grave situation in haiti after last month's devastating earthquake. mr. speaker, i now yield to my colleague and friend from the great state of new york,

representative clark. -- representative clarke. ms. clarke: thank you, mr. speaker. let me thank ms. fudge for her outstanding work in managing the time of the congressional black caucus and for her expertise and talent she lends to all the subject matter. this particular special order on aid to haiti is of great relevance to me. as we all know, on january 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked the caribbean nation of haiti, leaving most of the nation in utter devastation. critical infrastructure was destroyed and the death toll continues to rise as i speak with reports estimating over 150,000 people perished.

as one of my local councilmembers, mr. williams, stated or phrased it, in brooklyn, new york, -- phrased it, in brooklyn, new york, we were subject to a 7.0 aftershock as our vibrant community comes to grips with the utter death, destruction and devastation faced in their homeland. as a brooklyn native whose roots are firmly planted in my caribbean heritage this tragedy has hit home in more ways than i could ever imagine. new york is home to the second largest population of haitian immigrants in the united states. most of whom reside in my district. i would like to take an opportunity to just recognize the congressional black caucus

for the leadership they've taken in congress and ensuring that we remain focused and committed to assist haiti and to tend to the injured, orphaned, hungry, and dispo cissed as haiti -- and dispossessed as haiti continues with its recovery effort. i would like to thank chairwoman barbara lee of the congressional black caucus for his longtime leadership in fighting on behalf of haiti. i want to applaud her hard work in bringing the resolution to the floor that we just passed expressing condolences to and solidarity with the people of haiti in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake of january 12, 2010. i'd also like to thank chairman rangel and majority whip jim clyburn for working quickly to get h.r. 4462 passed in the house. this legislation would allow

all individuals who choose to donate during this time of crisis in haiti and claim an itemized charitable deduction on this year, 2009's, excuse me, tax return. as haiti continues to recover, my heart goes out to my haitian sisters and brothers as they endure this tragedy. i also express my deep sympathy and support for their familys -- families. through all the devastation and trauma, the 11th congressional district of new york, like the rest of this nation and the global community, has demonstrated a unity of purpose in mobilizing goods, services and volunteers to help their families and relations in haiti. while i will continue to applaud the humanitarian effort for haiti, it is important that we do not allow compassion

fatigue to set. in we must continue to uphold our commitment in helping our neighbors in the caribbean. as representative with the second largest population of first and second-generation haitian immigrants located in my district, my office has been inundated and overwhelmed with calls from concerned constituents about -- worried about their loved ones in their homeland. while my office has been vigorously working with the state department to meet the needs of our constituents, there are many concerns that still need to be addressed. for many haitian americans, a major issue is family reunification. most of their family members have lost everything, many are sick, injured, and living on the street. babies and the elderly are vulnerable to disease. a majority of them are traumatized by their

experiences. and since my constituents are blessed to live in the united states, many of whom have obtained their citizenship, they have the capacity to take care of their family members. they have the wherewithal to console, comfort, and nurse their families back to health and support their material needs. the only thing that impedes this reunification is that their family members are not american citizens and/or legal permanent residents and do not rank highly on the immigration priority list. i would encourage the administration to address this issue and work to reunite family member whors suffering from this devastation. in response to this tragedy, on january 15, 2010, the obama administration who is to be commended for their quick

action and their steadfast commitment have granted temporary protected status to haitian nationals currently in the united states. unfortunately, there are those who try to take advantage and exploit those who seek to change their status and i'm concerned that there are fraudulent entities offering services and inflating the prices of the application process for haitians seeking it. it is important that we empower our residents affected by the devastation with the information and resources they need to access this status. that is why just last week i joined my colleagues in the new york city congressional delegation, state delegation and new york city delegation in the opening of the haitian family resource center at the brooklyn armory. the center will be a one-stop resource center for families who have been impacted by the

earthquake. it will offer creole speaking translation services, immigration assistance and help with completing immigration applications, child guardianship, legal assistance, help in locating families members, mental health services, coordination of volunteer efforts and daily accurate briefings on the status of relief efforts. know that i will continue to work closely with my colleagues, the obama administration and caribbean officials to help this nation recover from this natural disaster. i want to thank you once again, my colleague, for sharing this time where we can share information with the nation about what is taking place in haiti and ask that they continue to hold this nation, our caribbean neighbors, in their prayers.

ms. fudge: thank you so very much. i want to thank you for your passion on this issue and for all of the work that you have done, as you say, representing one of the largest haitian american groups in the country. so i just really do say thank you from all of us, members of the c.b.c. mr. speaker, as members of the c.b.c., we express our deepest sympathy and support to the people of haiti. the nation, of course, recently experienced one of the largest recorded earthquake in its history. on january 12, the quake devastated many parts of the country, including the capital of port-au-prince. to put the earthquake in some kind of scale, it had a magnitude of 7.0, and a series of strong aftershocks. there have been at least 52 aftershocks at 4.5 magnitude or above. the damage is severe and catastrophic. the government of haiti is

reporting an estimated 112,000 deaths, and 194,000 injured. "the new york times" reports that 225,000 homes were severely damaged or collapsed. nearly 1/3 of the country's population are currently at risk of long-term displacement and vulnerability. in total it is estimated that three million people have been negatively affected by the earthquake. in the immediate wake of the earthquake, haiti's president, renee garcia previousal -- preval, appeared for international assistance. humanitarian assistance from the united states and from all over the world has been generous. the united states in the first two weeks following the earthquake sent aid workers

focused in three areas. first, that these workers searched for these survivors and provided rescue assistance. teams with heavy lift equipment, medical supplies and triage supplies went to the country. and they addressed haitians' critical need for food, clean water and sanitation, medical assistance and emergency shelter. and thirdly, provided emergency relief experts to set up infrastructure and logistic operations. numerous americans have provided donations to fund these efforts. also, the congressional black caucus joined president obama in calling for continued financial aid for haiti's quake survivors. the sheer scale of the relief effort in haiti has brought together tremendous capacity and a willingness to help. the massive humanitarian relief operation under way in haiti has been hampered by a number

of significant challenges, including a general lack of transportation, extremely limited communication systems and damaged infrastructure. the relief effort is expected to last for many, many months and recovery and reconstruction will begin as soon as possible. president barack obama assembled heads of u.s. agencies to begin working immediately on a coordinated response to this disaster. the u.s. agency for international development, better known as usaid, is the lead agency within the u.s. government responding to this disaster. on january 14, the administration announced $100 million in humanitarian assistance to haiti to meet the immediate needs on the ground. the department of homeland security has temporarily halted the deportation of haitians and granted temporary protective status for 18 months to haitian

nationals who were in the united states as of january 12, 2010. president obama has pledged an aggressive coordinated effort by the u.s. government. the state department, department of defense, department of homeland security, coast guard, usaid have already mobilized to ensure that critical resources are positioned to support the response and recovery effort, including efforts to find and assist american citizens in haiti. members of the congressional black caucus have proactively engaged to facilitate assistance to haiti. recently, i joined my colleagues in the house of representatives to unanimously pass h.r. 4462, the resolution would allow individuals who made charitable contributions to those in haiti to claim and itemize their charitable deduction on their 2009 tax

return instead of waiting until next year. and those who made donations via text message to use phone bills as proof of donation. i was proud to be an original co-sponsor of this bipartisan legislation. representative meeks coordinated a letter to speaker pelosi, minority leader boehner, appropriations chairman obey, and appropriations ranking member lewis requesting robust emergency funding to assist haiti. immediate u.s. assistance to haiti in the wake of the catastrophic earthquake is vital to support stability in that very fragile country. representative maxine waters is introducing a bill that will require the treasury department to cancel haiti's debt. the government of haiti cannot afford to invest in humanitarian relief, reconstruction and development efforts while continuing to make payments on debts owed to

multilateral financial institutions like the international monetary fund, the world bank, and the inter-american development bank. even before the earthquake, debt payments to these institutions were a tremendous burden that interfered with the ability of the government of haiti to meet the needs of its people. the bill requires secretary geithner to support three specific actions that should be part of the international community's response to this very, very terrible tragedy. the first is to complete -- is the complete cancellation of all remaining debts owed by haiti to multilateral financial institutions. secondly, the suspension of haiti's debt payments to these institutions until such time as the debts are canceled, and, thirdly, the provision of additional assistance to haiti in the form of grants so that the country does not accumulate

additional debt. representative meeks in coordination with chairman skelton and representative mack have introduced a resolution to commemorate the efforts of the united states armed forces, of local first responders and other members of operation unified response for their swift and coordinated action in response to the earthquake in haiti. i am proud to say i have supported each of these initiatives. there has been an outpouring of international support for haiti. the first priority has been saving lives. that means getting water, food, shelter, medicine and other basic supplies to victims. beyond the essentials are issues of security and debt repayment, both of which can undermine rebuilding efforts. the united nations' secretary general, sought approval from the security council to send an

additional 3,500 security officers to haiti. the officers are needed both to maintain public order and to guard deliveries of food and aid. so far violence has been scattereded, but fears of violence grow as the difficulties of living without water, food and shelter mount. as the world bank president has said, outside support should be in the form of grants. through grants, money can be appropriated according to goals and capacity while easing haiti's debt burden. for example, haiti owes about $38 million to the world bank. mr. zolic, however, announced that no repayments would be dufort the next five years. and the world bank is seeking to cancel all of haiti's remaining debt owed to it. many relief organizations are accepting donations to sent to

haitians. cash donations are the most efficient and effective way to help the relief hate -- effort in haiti right now. they allow humanitarian efforts to purchase often within the affected region itself, the exact types and quantities need. you can find organizations and ways to help through the white house's website which is www.whitehouse.gov. or visit the u.s. agency for international development's website at www.usaid.gov which has a list of nongovernmental organizations and instructions on how to help. mr. speaker, haiti is the world's first black-led republic and the first caribbean state to achieve independence which came in 1804. haiti is still plagued by violent confrontations between

rival gangs and political groups. president rene previously won the election -- preval won the election with 58% of the vote. the wealth gap between the impoverished creole-speaking majority and the french-speaking minority 1% of whom own nearly half of the country's wealth remains unresolved. even prior to the earthquake, haiti's infrastructure has all but collapsed and drug trafficking has become a major problem. today, haiti is the poorest, least developed country in the western hemisphere, and prior to the earthquake was ranked 149 out of 182 countries on the united nations human development index. we have all seen the pictures on tv of the children of haiti.

it is heartbreaking. we all recognize the urgent need for assistance to the smallest of the earthquake's victims. the outpouring of sympathy has led many to consider adopting a haitian child. however, mr. speaker, the u.s. state department recently announced that new adoption applications are not being processed. at this time, the main priority is reuniting children with their families. the process of determining whether a child is an orphan is a long and complicated one. the recent adoptions that have been processed were haitian children who had previously been matched and cleared for entry into the united states. since last week, the u.n. children's fund, unicef, and its partners have identified and registered some 200 unaccompanied children found in orphanages.

and wandering in neighborhoods in port-au-prince. based on the given information and photographs taken, workers will begin to trace the families of these children, if they exist. a similar registry was used after the 2004 tsunami in indonesia, and more recently in cyclone hit mir amar. right now the best assistance that people can do is to give a financial contribution to a humanitarian organization working in haiti. days after the earthquake, secretary of homeland security, janet napolitano, announced the designation of temporary protective status for haitian nationals who were in the united states as of january 12, 2010. this designation will allow eligible haitian nationals in the united states to continue living and working in our communities for the next 18

months. they will provide a temporary refuge for haitian nationals who are currently in the united states and whose personal safety would be endangered by returning to haiti. granted t.p.s. to haitians would provide them with the ability to work legally and contribute to the reconstruction effort of their country until it is safe for them to return. haiti has enormous potential, but rebuilding the country requires a coordinated strategy. here in the u.s., we can support the transition from humanitarian assistance to reconstruction through cash-for-work programs, so haitians can be paid for clearing roadways and reconstructing infrastructure. haiti can also boost its private sector by investing in and building the infrastructure for power grids, ports and roads. also important is revitalizing agriculture so haitians can

replace food aid program with food from their own farms. to help jump start the haitian economy this 2008, the united states passed the hope act which provides special rules for the duty-free treatment of select clothing imports, haiti's dominant manufacturing sector. they can create jobs in their manufacturing and agricultural sections. they must grow the haitian economy, and be managed transparently this will require haitians to unify since foreign assistance can only go so far. the haitian people working with their government must come together to rebuild a newer, stronger haiti. the difficulties faced by haitians should not deter us from providing assistance. our leadership and moral strength is only enhanced when

help others. truly, we lift as we rise. i now yield to my good friend, distinguished colleague, and one who knows much about the haiti situation, mr. donald payne of new jersey. mr. payne: thank you. let me express my appreciation to the gentlelady from cleveland for calling this special order. she has been such a tremendous resource to the congressional black caucus and as we know, the congressional black caucus has been very involved in haiti for many, many years, for the 22 years i have been a member of this congress, haiti was always number one on the agenda and we went through the years when there was dictatorships

and then the elections and president aristide being elected to office and then his being deposed and military generals took over and then president clinton having the foresight to restore president aristide, 22,000 u.s. troops went to restore democracy without us even having one casualty and the current situation where president aristide left and the new government -- we have been involved throughout the years. let me tell you, when we heard the news of the earthquake, 7.0 on the richter scale only six miles deep, bringing it so close to the surface that made it the mag -- made the magnitude even greater, the aftershocks that continued, we

said we must to something quick and do something drastic. since then, the congressional black caucus has held emergency meet wgs the usaid, department of state, nongovernmental organizations and other stake holders in the region to get a sense of the effort on the ground in order to take information back to our constituents and organize the legislative efforts in congress. we, on wednesday, january 13, the c.b.c. international task force called an emergency meeting with the c.b.c. staff regarding the devastation in haiti. usaid deputy administrator john bruce briefed staff about the u.s. response and the extent of the situation. counselor cheryl miller, chief of staff to secretary of state clinton, briefed c.b.c. members on january 13 and january 15. the congressional black caucus

held a haiti disaster relief meeting with members to discuss legislative efforts and opportunities we could then move right into effect. conversation -- conference calls to various members of the congressional black caucus, hosted conference calls with their constituents, to provide them with updates about relief efforts being made in our respective districts. we had tremendous interest in different parts and in our state of new jersey, new jersey for haiti was formed. it's www.nj4haiti.org and that organization, which i co-share with senator lezniack said we needed to move into action and a social service worker in the city of elizabeth was able to get the united way of the

greater union county to be partners in arranging drives for supplies and listed organizations that could receive contributions, red cross and other organizations that were already doing work throughout the land. so as i indicated, the c.b.c. jumped into our meetings, had the conference calls, on how -- had a special order following the news on january 12, immediately, members of the congressional black caucus came to the floor to discuss the earthquake in haiti and relief efforts and what we intended to do and the following day on the 14th of january, congressional black caucus members were briefed via a conference call with david meltips, senior vice president for the international affairs of the american red cross on the 15th of january,

congressional black caucus members were briefed through a conference call by the state department for updates so we just remained active the week of january 18 through the 22nd. we produced two bipartisan measures on haiti in congress. tuesday, the 19th, chairwoman lee introduced a resolution expressing condolences to and solidarity with the people of haiti in response. chairman rangel introduced h.r. 4462 that would allow individuals making a charitable contribution after january 11 and before march 1 to victims of the earthquake in haiti to claim charitable deductions on their 2009 tax returns.

absent this change, taxpayers would need to wait until next year to claim a deduction for these contributions on their 2010 tax forms, so this will speed up deductions eligible for 2009. the bill makes it clear that taxpayers making a charitable contribution to victims of haiti relief earthquake through text messages would be able to rely on the cell phone bill while claiming charitable deductions. the first time any activity or action of this nature has been done. the c.b.c. international task force held a staff meeting to discuss the next steps on haiti on that day of january 19 and the committee that i am privileged to chair. on wednesday, january 20, c.b.c. members were briefed by ambassador raymond joseph,

haiti's ambassador to the united states. the legislation that we had, we are also in the process of developing what we have done in our meetings. we've taken a look to see what we can do with the u.s. citizenship and immigration service to discuss t.p.s. and humanitarian parole and other important items. the c.b.c. looked at other issues in representative -- and representative hank johnson's office drafted a letter to secretary clinton with details about the use of security contractors as pat of ongoing relief and congresswoman waters is working on haiti debt cancellation bills and representative meek from new york is dealing with a marshal

plan on haiti -- a marshall plan on haiti. i intend to ask, from the columbia university, dr. sachs, brief the c.b.c. on future planning and how should new haiti be planned, how should port-au-prince be redone, how should satellite cities be created? because we feel this is an opportunity now to right many of the wrongs that have happened in the past. the house foreign affairs committee will have a hearing on haiti in the next few weeks and congressman meeks will be holding a hearing on international financial institutions and how they can assist haiti. congressman john conyers has been in contact with the air force liaison and he is going to participate when the time is right in c.b.c. members taking

trips to haiti to see firsthand what we should do we've been reluctant to go -- from going down en masse because we wanted to have the -- our agency people on the ground be free to do things that need to be done. however, when the time is right, we'll have a large delegation of members of the c.b.c. to go. as you know, on the 21st of january, the c.b.c. held a press conference to discuss the congressional response to the earthquake. our c.b.c. met with transafrica, its director nicole lee and melinda miles working together for haiti. n.g.o.'s that have been on the ground for many years find out what is the position of n.g.o.'s and how do they see the situation and how can they better assist as they -- as we move forward?

c.b.c. facilitated a call with n.g.o. leaders working in haiti with the department of state to discuss n.g.o.'s experiences and concerns as the u.s. builds and executes recovery and relief and the rebuilding of haiti and we found that very instructive for the n.g.o.'s and for the department of state . on the 19th, the c.b.c. international task force held a staff meeting to discuss priorities again as relates to it and with congressman cummings with the coast guard and maritime trade organization heeled a briefing about the coast guard and its congoing work. we held a meeting with the coast guard at the haitian embassy. the c.b.c. met with the haitian government and talked about various problems we wanted to take a look at, the t.p.s. guide we looked at the caricom

memo, discussed haiti's debt relief numbers from treasury. we have dealt with the c.b.c. constituency outreach guide and these were all things as i indicated that the congressional black caucus has done. as i wind down, i want to once again remind americans that haiti has been a tremendous part of the growth and development of our nation. as i mentioned on the floor before, it was back in the late 1800's when haiti had a -- had the enslaved people of haiti had a rebellion against the government of france and in a pollon's army after 12 year struggle, lost the war to haiti, becoming -- haiti becoming the first country where enslaved people overthrew the power -- the european power and became a republic.

just the third republic ever in the world at that time. so we have a tremendous amount of regard and respect for haiti as they defeated the french. therefore causing france to lose much of the wealth that it gained from haiti. half of the sugar and coffee and cocoa and other products, in europe, 50% of them came from haiti alone. haiti produced more wealth to france than all the 13 original colonies gave to the u.s. government. so haiti, once it became independent from france, france became cash poor, but it still had land in the louisiana territory, and as a result of their defeat, were forced to sell the lears territory, negotiated by jefferson -- to

sell the louisiana territory, negotiated by jefferson to the united states, that opened up the west for the united states. france had armies of 20,000 persons where the u.s. army was just about 5,000 strong. so the french had a more powerful military here in the western hemisphere and would have been a problem for the united states had not the treaty been made and france, being forced to sell louisiana territory. many other haitians are involved in our history, the battlele of savanna, where haitians fought for our independence, helping to turn the tide of the revolutionary war. we know that jean batees, popularly known as the father of chicago, was a haitian colonist in north america, mixed french and haitian ancestry and he was the person

that discovered chicago and is called the father of chicago, back in 1968. so there are so many people of haitian descent and haiti itself that has a great deal to do with our development. finally, let me just mention this last point that when world war ii began, the u.s. started to become concerned about the dependence of rubber from territory that was going to be controlled by the japanese. by 1942, the indonesians, the british controlled rubber plantations provided 99% of the commercial rubber for the world. in the earliest days of world war ii, the united states realized the disastrous consequence if rubber plantations femme to japan. this would cut off to the

united states and its allies rubber supplies and absolutely critical commodity, as you know, not only for the economy but to keep a war effort moving forward. . the united states made presentations in 1940 and 1941 and we started to increase our rubber stockpiles. but reseverers went to hatey to attempt to grow rubber trees in haiti. the haitian rubber project was not to be a part of the war effort, but it really was. it was not something that was necessary. if we weren't concerned about rubber being cut off from the united states. what happened, though, is that much of the land was denuded. natural habitats were destroyed.

ebony trees and plants that were natural in haiti were taken out. in the attempt to grow rubber trees was started on large portions of land. there was some haitian scientist who said it would not work but the united states tried to experiment. today, one of the biggest problems in haiti is erosion. people are dependent on wood for homes and heating. this situation started by the united states for the war effort with the attempt to grow foreign seed that would not grow in that kind of topo graphy. when we look at the tremendous

erosion in haiti today, the deping of it happened to be at the time when the united states felt it needed to have the growth of rubber trees in our hemisphere in a place that was close to the united states. and so once again, as we look at how haiti has impacted on the united states, this consequence of a negative development on the part of the u.s. government, i think once again is a reason why we should have strong passion for our sister country haiti. for our sister country haiti. we will continue in new jersey to continue to move forward with all of the many people that are involved. we look forward to have a mass at the basilica at the end of the month of february. our governor is going to provide an office that we can work with to try to be sure that people

who may be coming with t.p.s. and other problems, unification, parole, adoption, that we will be able to service these people who are crying out for help. and so, with that, i see one of my colleagues here from the great state of texas, congresswoman sheila jackson lee, who has done a tremendous amount of work in this area and sits on important committees and certainly has a great deal to contribute. so at this time, mr. speaker, i yield my time to the gentlelady from texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee is recognized as the

leader for the remainder of the minutes. ms. jackson lee: there is an enormous history involved around haiti and the track record of the congressional black caucus. let me continue my remarks and i will yield myself such time as i may consume. ms. jackson lee: thank you for your courtesy and i note on this congressional black caucus hour

that two of our members have come to the floor, chairwoman, honorable barbara lee and member from california, chairwoman of the financial services committee and recent returning from haiti, maxine waters. i will just recount as the chairman just did, chairman payne, a lot of the work we have done here in the united states, but also in case many wonder why we are continuing this effort and why we have made a commitment as members of the congressional black caucus to never give up or give out on haiti and view this as a long-term recovery and restoration is because the damage is so devastating. this reflects the early stages of the collapse of whole neighborhoods, literally the collapse of port-au-prince and the devastating disaster that

the people still face. today as we are looking at recovery, there are haitians lifting stones by hand one by one to remove some of the debris that is already there, knowing that between 150,000 to 200,000 are known or expected dead. we know that behind this rubble, there are lost loved ones who have yet to be accounted for, some 4,000 americans are unaccounted for. u.n. workers unaccounted for. and so when we talk about this today or next week or maybe in march or in april, maybe in june, you will understand the magnitude of devastation. i know that many of us can recall briefly the earthquake around northern california and san francisco and oakland.

we remember the baseball game in session or not. one of the more starker earthquakes and remember the response, the fear, the stopping of the game, the damage. but this was a 7.0 on the richter scale and to see all of the beauty of this island destroyed, all of the history go. this is one of the islands that has the greatest history that one can imagine and people who are proud. this is where people live now. this is where our children live, where babies are born, on the streets of port-au-prince and elsewhere. so, we are not here for a reason that is made up. we're here because as we speak, these are the homes of people who are living in a devastating condition. no, this was not a rich nation, but people worked every day. they wanted to provide for their family. they weren't interested in handouts and wanted to build their nation.

now, today, unlike we have ever experienced, we can see the overwhelming devastation here in haiti. and again, the tragedy is, who is still not found. so i rise today to comment on the question why is america responding, why is the congressional black caucus, the conscience of that response. today, we were able to hear from the usaid administrator as invited by the chairwoman barbara lee and attended by 40-plus members of the congressional black caucus, sitting in a room litening intently in how to move this will tragedy forward. america will continue to respond with immediate humanitarian assistance to help the people to rebuild their livelihood. there is no estimate of death or destruction, but the damage to buildings is extensive and the

number of injured or dead estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands. this is a continuing example. we look forward to haitians helping themselves. the united states government has already contributed 402 million in earthquake response, funding for haiti and deployed 17,000 in military personnel, somewhat like the military personnel that was in hurricane katrina. this isn't an effort to remove the sovreignty of haiti and we are working closely with president pre-val and we -- preval and we are moving quickly to a haiti-led effort. the food program will provide commodities. and u.s. military will provide security escorts. american allies have initiated a response to the earthquake and

we believe it is important to mention that there be one general of all of these agencies, state department, department of defense, department of homeland security and coast guard and usaid. i'm pleased to make note of the fact that in the meeting, i made a request to the usaid administrator to respond to all of the churches that have been calling members of congress and the state department, all of the safe community churches, mosques, synagogues who want to help the administrator. and they indicated they would appoint a safe liaison to work with the religious bodies in order to do the right thing. there are a group of religious persons who are now held by the haitian government. to your knowledge, they are still there. their representation was they wanted to help the children.

i don't disregard that fact. i'm sure there were good intentions, but we know in the protection of these children, we must have order and a regulation, regular order, if you will. there must be a process of giving relief and helping these children who are now orphans. and the haitian people love their children. i'm looking with ways of deploying children for medical help. there must be a medical airlift for the second stage of surgery. these children with broken legs and arms, have the ability to come for temporary care. but we can't have a regular process of people going forward to try to secure these children. we want to help these religious leaders who we believe had wonderful and good intentions. there are those in my community who have reached out. but there has to be a precise way of dealing with the children. the southern command deployed a team of 30 people to haiti to

support u.s. relief efforts. many are from around the world are helping and there are many who are working individually. so woy make the point that we want to -- i would maintain the point that we want to help. there are need for resources and need for long-term recovery and building haiti against this kind of devastation. i will work to protect the children of haiti. i yield by saying this. allowing me to thank all of the haitian americans all over the nation. let me particularly thank with a heavy, heavy emphasis on their dedication, the haitian american community in houston, texas and we look forward to them going home to check on their relatives and let me thank the medical doctors at the texas medical center that i was able to secure and help within 48 hours of the

earthquake. let me make note of the houston rotarians. i yield to the gentlelady from california and i yield to her to manage the rest of the time. ms. lee: let me thank you for that presentation and leadership and commitment. let me ask the speaker, how much time do we have remaining, please? the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady has 10 minutes left ms. lee: i yield to a member of congress who not is a legislator but a great humanitarian. we saw her recently in haiti as she went to katrina and back now to join us tonight on the floor to talk about not only her recent experiences but her

commitment to haiti. congresswoman waters from california. ÷ the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. waters: i'd like to thank the chairwoman of the congressional black caucus, ms. barbara lee network leadership she's provided since this disaster. she's been involved in assistance to haiti, public policy wise, and with the other kinds of disasters that have confronted haiti over a long period of time. so i join with her in all the efforts to do what we can to assist the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, haiti. i spent a good part of my career trying to be of assistance public policy wise and again when these dast verse struck haiti. so when the earthquake took place, we were all stunned and

we all immediately began to make the inquiries of the usaid and the u.n. and the red cross and all those agencies responsible for disaster relief and those inquiries and briefings have been going on every day, headed by congresswoman barbara lee. i decided at one point i had to go to haiti. i just had to be there to talk with some of the people i've worked with over the past to talk with president proval to and see what we could do additionally to be of assistance to our agencies. i want to tell you that usaid is working very, very hard. the u.n., working very, very hard. and i want you to know that usaid employees were sleeping on cots inside the embassy. many of their homes were destroyed. still, there were six missing persons when i was there for usaid and the state department.

in addition to that, the u.n. lost 30 people, yet they got up every day with this disaster doing the best they could are there problems? certainly. problems with logistics and coordination and all of that you've seen the images on television you know how terrible the destruction was. the number of people, the thousands of people, up to estimates of 250,000 who lost their lives. well, it's worse than you see on television. the destruction is massive. looking at the buildings, they're pancaked. the buildings are in rubble. the stone and debris in the street, it's heartbreaking and painful to experience. however, we're doing everything we can possibly do to give support. i have concentrated on debt relief for haiti. yesterday, i introduced legislation to require the secretary of the treasury to use a voice vote and influence of the united states within the multilateral financial institution to cancel all of haiti's remaining debt. the bill has 30 co-sponsors,

including chairwoman barbara lee, donald payne and others. i sent a letter to treasury secretary geithner urging him to support debt cancellation for haiti. my letter was signed by 94 members of congress, including majority leader steny hoyer, financial services committee chairman barney frank and foreign affairs committee ranking member ileana ros-lehtinen. canceling haiti's debt will free up the country's meegle resources allowing it to begin meeting its immediate and long-term needs. it's an important part of the overall aid we can pr provide. there's not enough time this evening to go through all we need to share about debt relief, but i thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. ms. lee: i want to thank the gentlelady for her leadership and leading the effort on debt relief. haiti certainly should not have to repay any loans given the

devastation that it has faced, not only during this recent disaster, but in the past. so thank you again, congresswoman waters, for your leadership. congressman towns of the great state of new york work a large haitian-american population, large caribbean american population, also a minister who has been a strong voice on behalf of the haitian people throughout his life, congressman ed towns. mr. towns: i'd like to thank the gentlewoman from california, the chair of the congressional black caucus for her leadership. i know time is running out but i wanted to take at least a minute to thank some people i know who work hard to do whatever they could do to believe in terms of every way to create atmosphere and climate to get people involved in helping the people of haiti.

gregory jackson who heads the brownville recreation cent for the new york has been involved in clicting all kinds of items, vivian bright who heads the woman's caucus has been collecting things to send to haiti and of course i want to salute them. then i want to thank deal med who has put together all kinds of medical supplies and i want to thank warren corn for taking them down and of course i want to thank the bedford stiveson ambulance service who went to haiti right away and were able to save lives and able to deliver babies and all of that. i want to thank them for their work and encourage them to continue. let me just say there's 125,000 people from haiti that live in new york and we're not going to forget haiti. we're going to make certain thirks congressional black caucus has indicated over and over, we're going to be there. i yield back the balance of my

time. ms. lee: thank you very much. let me again thank you for your leadership, congressman towns. i want to just close this evening by first saying that as chair of the 42-member congressional black caucus, i want to reiterate tonight that our thoughts and prayers continue with -- continue to be with the people of haiti during this difficult period. we know the haitian people are resilient people and that they will move forward in rebuilding their country. but we want to make sure that the people of haiti understand that the congressional black caucus stands with the people of haiti as they move forward in this next phase of recovery and reconstruction and we'll be doing everything in our power to make sure that once, unfortunately, haiti doesn't make the front page of the news or the 24-hour news cycle ends with haiti as the lead story, we will continue to be there.

congress will continue to be there working as we move forward to develop a haiti marshall plan. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 9, 2009, the gentleman from missouri, mr. akin is recognized for 60 minutes as designee of the minority leader. mr. akin: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. speaker. our topic this evening and one that i think has received some coverage in the media and is something that is of concern to many americans is some -- is the level of spending in the

federal government, the budget that has been proposed, the size of deficits and overall where the american economy stands. these are all very important topics and the -- these topics could not be more timely. the president has just released his new budget for the next couple of years. we can take a look and see exactly what the numbers are. and so these questions probably even more so because of the high level of unemployment have quite a number of americans asking some very serious questions and have, i would say, quite honestly, a number of people in elected office here in washington, d.c. extremely concerned about the fact that we are not doing what we should do in terms of fiscal responsibility. now one of the things that happens in the political world, and this may be a surprise to

some people but not to others, and that's that there's sometimes a significant gap between what people say and what they do. i've prepared a few charts here just to give us an introduction to this subject about the budget, about spending, and about what is really true and what's really a significant factor and what are more preferal kinds of questions -- peripheral kinds of questions or issues. the first statement was made by the president, president obama, in his state of the union address here in this chamber not many days ago. this was his comment. he said the true engine of job creation in this country will always be america's businesses. but government can create the conditions necessary for businesses to expand and hire new workers. now, this particular statement is quite true. in fact, it corrects an extreme

misconception that some in government would love to have passed on to the americans, but in fact, it's not true. that is that government never can create jobs. you say, well, congressman akin, how is it that the government can't create jobs? can't they take taxpayer money, go out and hire somebody, and if they hire somebody doesn't that person have a job? the answer is yes, but really no. what happens is when the government hires one person, various economists disagree on the exact number, but you take about two or 2.3 jobs out of the private sector you -- for every job you create in the public sector. it doesn't really create jobs, it takes money from other people to hire someone. when you say the government is going to create jobs, that's economically false. what the president says is true. the true engine of job creation in this country will always be america's businesses that is

true. in fact he went on to acknowledge that it's not just any business but it's particularly small business. someone has figured the statistic that 80% of american jobs are in companies that have 500 employees or less. so small business that is 50rks0 employees or less -- 500 employees or less, is very much the place where jobs are created. now we have some people in politics that are always blasting those rich guys, those people that own businesses, we're going to tax the rich guy and make sure he pays for everything. there's only one little problem with that theory. that is that a lot of people that own those small businesses are reasonably well to do because they have successfully put a business together have managed it, taken considerable risks, have spent a whole lot of sleepless nights war rying about balancing the books, but somehow, in spite of all that they were successful.

and they wake up 10 years later after they created a small business and find out that they're a millionaire. they may have started sleeping under a park bench somewhere, a husband and wife look at each other and there's a smile and they look and they realize that their dream has come true. the american dream worked -- worked for the owner of some small business. what that means is because they have money they can reinvest that money in their own business and when they do, they'll add a wing on the building, add some new machine tools or a new process or new idea and create jobs in america. so what the president is saying is true. the true engine of job creation in this country will always be america's businesses but government can create the conditions necessary for businesses to expand and hire new workers. the government can do that. maybe it would be more accurate to say that unless the government gets in the way, that's the natural cause of small businesses, grow and to add additional jobs.

what are the kinds of things that the government can do to try to create those jobs? they want to create an environment, it's like if you're trying to grow a plant, what do you want for a plant to grow? got to have some water, got to have some sunshine, got to have the right temperature, got to have the soil conditions and chemistry more or less right. in the same way, you can grow jobs in america if you keep certain basic factors and functions in perspective and we're going to go into that in a minute. let's take a look at this statement being true, these are the words, but here in fact are the actions of what is being proposed as you go further into the speech. first of all, what's being proposed are $2 trillion in tax increases over 10 years. $2 trillion in tax increases. we're going to talk about that in a minute. who is going to pay the $2 trillion? where is that money going to

come from? you bet, it's going to be taxpayers. then we have this job-killing cap and tax legislation. my chart says cap and trade, people want to call it cap and trade. they really want to call it the global warming tax. but this cap and tax legislation puts a big tax on energy. now guess who uses energy, aside from homeowners? aside from people who drive cars? of course, small businesses. they use energy. depending on the type of small business, some use a great deal of energy, so you have here a proposal which is about an even portion of government red tape and government taxation. if i had to judge the bill, i think the red tape may be more onerous an the taxation which is bad enough. the combination of the two are deadly to small businesses and deadly to job creation. we'll get into that in a minute. .

we're going to have taxes on employers who don't offer the government health insurance plan. what we're going to say, yeah, we're going to tax you on your energy and we have another tax. we're going to tax you on health insurance. and guess what? you're going to pick up a big piece of the tab for this government-run health insurance plan, which is supposedly only costs $1 trillion. that's not talking about the amount of cost shifting that will go to various state governments. but you have an extremely expensive proposal for the government to take over 1/5 of the u.s. economy with this mandated top down -- i can't remember how many times, four or five times in this bill, you have the government shall do this, shall do that. this is another proposal which

the president says he wants to move forward with. and then it increases taxes and small business owners who make over $250,000. a whole lot of small business owners can make over $250,000. again as i mentioned, if you put the taxes on these people, they'll pay their taxes, but they're not going to put that tax money back into their business to create jobs. and so, what we have here he the words that recognize that businesses create the jobs and small business create the jobs. but then in terms of action, what we're doing is we're doing the very worst possible thing you can do in terms of creating jobs and helping our economy. let us take a look -- you know, economics can be pretty boring sometimes. i would like to talk to you this evening a little bit about job

killers. if you want to kill a plant, you don't give it any water. if you want to kill a plant, let it freeze. there are certain things that makes it so that a plant dies. if you want to kill jobs, there are certain things you can do to kill them or create them. let's talk about the first factor. it wouldn't surprise you, it's taxes. how does tax taxes. how does taxation affect small business people? it works this way. if you tax them more and more, they will have less money to put into their business and have less money to hire people. that's the same effect i was talking about. the government can tax, but when they do, they are taking that money away from the small business. when you add a government worker, you lose two employees from the local company. taxes are absolutely deadly and are going to be a big factor in

unemployment. no big surprise. other people have recognized this. that is not rocket science. this is not laser science. it is simple lemonade-style economics. and others have recognized it. what do they do? j.f.k. understood it. he cut taxes. ronald reagan understood it. he cut taxes. and george bush during the recession also cut taxes. in each of those situations, the economy responded fairly rapidly to those tax cuts. why? the small businessman is getting money to help in his business. first of all, taxes are a major factor a if you raise taxes a lot, you're going to lose jobs. we have $2 trillion in tax

increases. we have the cap and tax bill. the thing i'm taxing on energy with all sorts of red tape in it and we have the employers, socialized medical bill where the government takes over health care. $ trillion that has to be picked up by small business people. and you have increases on anybody making over 250,000. that hammers small business people. and this list doesn't mention the fact that the tax on capital gains, dividends which were put in place prior to the last recession under bush to help the economy, those are going to expire, so they are going to compound this problem. here, we have words, we understand the jobs are created in businesses, but we don't really understand, because our actions are saying, we're going to do just exactly what it takes in terms of tax policy to kill

jobs. the second and if you want to kill jobs, it's red tape. red tape means that it's more cost for businesses to do their work. if the government says yeah, you have to write a report. you have to check this. you have to go to court. you better do that. all of that red tape may not be a direct tax, but it's costing a lot of time for an employer to try to comply with government red tape. you think we have a fair amount of red tape in america? think about what the average american has in their own lives and multiply that for the american business. we have words, this sounds good. and in fact, this sounds true. the actions are the exact opposite. i recognize that i have been joined by a good friend of mine, congressman bishop. and i would like to yield you some time if you would like to talk about the budget.

i would like to talk about a different couple comments. i would like to talk about, can you blame it on the previous administration? we keep hearing it was president bush's fault that we are in the economic problems and i would like to get back to the job creation question. i think you have some specific examples from your district where there were jobs that we're talking about, and particularly an employer that is affected by this budget. could you share with us, please. mr. bishop: i thank the gentleman from missouri for yielding. this presents a particular interesting problem that we do have here. the president has talked about creating jobs. and i recognize that much of what we have in this budget that you have already mentioned does not create jobs, but has a stifling impact on jobs.

some things in which jobs are our responsibility, we also have put a stifling influence on the decisions we have made. this budget is $3.8 trillion. that's a whole lot of money. that's $1.6 trillion more than we have. and in every one of the budgets that takes place, it is about choices. in our families, we do the same thing, certain things we need and want. my problem in the budget, specifically in the areas that i'm deeply concerned is that we have a lot of stuff in here that we want that is being funded and things that we need that isn't being funded. one of the few constitutional responsibilities we have in this country is defense. last year, you and i were down here talking about missile defense. it is essential for this country. we cut missile defense. it was about priorityization and i believe you thought, we put

our priorities in the wrong place. and you don't build a missile without people. when we cut the missile defense program, we took jobs away. we go after another kind of missile program and decided to take it out. that's where the speech just went. what it means, this budget decides to go after nasa and take away the constellation program. "time" magazine said the best invention was the ar inch es rocket. this was our problem to replace the space shuttle. i think space exploration is one of the core responsibilities of the federal government. in taking this out, what you are doing is cutting 7,000 jobs

nationwide of people involved in space, engineering, math and science, which the president wants to encourage kids to study, go in, engineering, science and math but we don't have any responsibility to encourage that on the real side. where the problem comes is the people that make the motors for these rockets make the motors for our missiles. mr. akin: let me get the connect because you are building up to something here. what you're saying is there are solid rocket motors being built in america which are very high tech and being built by a particular company and used for the space program but also used for something else, is that correct? mr. bishop: in defense. mr. akin: not just space but our defense? mr. bishop: both of those are core responsibilities of the government and one that this administration has decided to

cut. and it's not necessarily they are companies that are making these -- there are two companies that make those motors. one hasn't made one in a couple of decades but it is people that do it. when you cut these programs, when you cut the missile defense last year and this year, the people with the expertise that we need to build the defense of this country are going to be gone. they are going to find another job or go on unemployment. this is one of the travesties of this particular budget and it would be ok with me perhaps if they had come up with a new plan, something they are going to do to move us forward. they cut the program, throw people out of work if it goes through. but this budget would cut the program and throw people out of work and more importantly, fail for us to defend this country,

which is our constitutional responsibility. it would fail to allow this country to move forward in space exploration and in defense, because the industrial base of this country would be gone. the acquisition guys over in the pentagon understand it. they said it's not about jobs but the kinds of jobs. therefore it is important for the future of this country to have the right kinds of jobs in the industrial base. and it's not simply a spigot that you can turn on. and we need more missiles to defend us against the iranians and who knows what else might be out there. if you lose the capability, you lose the capability sm in this budget, we lose the exiket we need to defend this country. 23409 just about the amount of money but where we put our priorities. do we do what we have to do

first. we are paying a lot of money for a lot of wants. let me give you a simple example, if you spend what we funded for acorn, you could fund this program and still have money left over. mr. akin: wait a minute. people going to jail for voter fraud and other strange and weird behavior, registering illegals and registering people who don't exist, turning them out to vote and even on videotapes, we see them encouraging people to build bothels and bring in underaged immigrants, you are saying -- mr. bishop: that got more funding than it would take to fund this program. mr. akin: there's a difference between jobs and jobs is what you're saying. some of these things are very

high-tech kinds of jobs and require building companies over a good number of years, building exabets, putting that team together and you have to have enough work to keep that team operating or else they have to dissipate or go somewhere else and if we need that capability for defense of this nation, that in many of our opinion has to be performed. it might be nice if the federal government did it, but if we have invading armies, we aren't very effective. mr. bishop: this is like a double disappointment to me. not only are we spending too much and taxing too much, we aren't spending it in the right place. mr. akin: that's a very, very visible kind of thing. a solid rocket motor has a lot of technical aspects. and we have an advantage in that from a technology point of view.

and you are saying we are going to give that up and spend it on ache corner? a whoil -- a corn? congressman, thank you for joining us. we are joined by dr. burgess, a good friend of mine. and we are talking about the budget and job creation and how those things connect. i was taking apart a little bit because we hear good words and the actions don't seem to fit. so if you could join us, please. . mr. burgess: you know a week ago we heard from the president here in the house of representatives and he talked about this recession that he inherited, ok, it's almost as if no one -- no president has ever had to deal with a recession before. but i don't know about you but 20 years ago we had a pretty bad recession where i lived in north

texas. and in fact i remember it very well because my -- i'm a doctor, my medical group that i was in was under such stress from this recession that it broke up. i found myself on january 1 of 1990 beginning a whole new venture as a solo practitioner in my town and quite honestly i wondered how i would make it. the recession was rough, we didn't have anyone coming down from washington with a big bag of dollar bills saying, you guys doing all right, you need some more cash? we'll be glad to front it to you. at that time the bad actors were the savings and loans that had imploded but real estate markets had fallen, energy prices had fallen and texas was certainly upon hard times. the reason this came to mind was the story recently about the number of people in the administration who worked in a private sector job and the number is astonishingly low. it's in the mid single diths. and no wonder when this --

digits. and no wonder these people go to people who have done things in the past that have been creative and successful and created new jobs. february of 2000, february of 2000 i was -- i had ended my first month in this new medical venture and i didn't have any money. i couldn't take any money home, certainly, because i didn't have any money and i had nurses on my payroll that were depending upon me, their families were depending upon me. it was a tough time, it was hard to borrow money, i went down to the bank and borrowed $12,000 to meet payroll for that two-week interval. the banker was not kind to me, he charged me $14% interest, it had to be -- -- he charged me 14% interest, it had to be -- mr. akin: whoa, there wasn't someone to come bail you out with free money? mr. burgess: no, my bailout was my friendly banker who said --

mr. akin: 14% interest? mr. burgess: for a loan. mr. akin: you can say that with a smile on your face. mr. burgess: today. but here's the deal, $12,000 to me, i realize here $12,000 doesn't even calibrate as budget dust, $12,000 was an enormous sum of money to me at the time. i'm not able to take a paycheck home but i need to be able to pay my employees. no money was coming across the counter because i'm an ob-gyn. but you have to wait a few months before the delivery occurrence and you get paid for the work. i was so scared -- mr. akin: sort of one of those nine-month lead time type of things. mr. burgess: correct. i was so scared about what the future held for me. it cost me nearly $25,000 a month just to pay my employees, what is my world going to look like in june? i'm borrowing for operation alex pences and i've got no way to really catch up that slack.

well, to make a very long story abbreviated, money did start coming in over the counter, that was the last money that i ever had to borrow, but, boy, i tell what you. when we come down here and talk about this budget, i remember just how i felt those days, how was i going home to face my family, no paycheck? you talk about tightening your belt, there wasn't a belt to tighten. we didn't have anything. i knew i had to continue to perform for my patients because i was obligated to do that, i knew i had to continue to perform more my employees because i was obligated to do that, i didn't ask any questions, i didn't wine about it, i did what i had to do which was borrow $12,000 and it scared me to death. and we're going to borrow $1.9 trillion tomorrow just to meet our debt obligations for the next, what, 14 months? are you kidding me? and the problem is we got an administration where no one has worked in the private sector, no one's ever had to go down and borrow that money and put their

name on the line. no one's ever signed a paycheck on the front, all of their paychecks are signed on the back. that's their problem. their natural tendency is to look for the government to get bigger because that's where the solutions come from. no, the solutions come from the private sector, the entrepreneur, the doctor, the cardiologist, the saddle maker, the air conditioner repairman. that's where the recovery of our economy lies and we are fixing to kill the golden goose -- the goose that laid the golden egg with this massive debt. what's going to happen when we have to monetize $1.9 trillion? what's going to happen to interest rates? i paid 14% in february of 1990. you know he what? that might look like a pretty good deal 10 years hence. mr. akin: you know, dr. burgess, what you have communicated here aside from being a doctor, we always put doctors sort of in a special category and maybe a little bit on an elevated platform, but what you've communicated is just the heart of a guy that has a business and

how much risk you took and how you plowed into uncharted territory just trusting that you could generate that business and to get the business going and afterwards you had employees, you provided a great product for people and there's a whole lot of texans who are thankful for dr. burgess for delivering them. but you gave us an understanding of how that whole system works. and just like your one example, there are really thousands upon thousands of business owners that are looking at this thing and saying, what in the world is going on? now we've talked about words and then actions. here's some words, but families across the country are tightening their belts and making tough decisions. the federal government should do the same. hey, that sounds pretty good. that's what you were just talking about, doctor, that families have to tighten their belts and take a good look and make choices between one thing and another. congressman bishop just made a brilliant explanation of why the federal government is making lousy choices. not only are we spending too

much, taxing too much, borrowing too much, we're also doing it for the wrong reasons. and that just doesn't make a whole lot of sense and this is starting to get to the point where i think things are going to get interesting, we're going to bring on another witness, a fantastic young man who really does know something about budgeting and the big question i think that comes to a whole lot of americans' minds is this question, when is too much too much? when do we get to the tipping point where the whole thing just like a table dumps and the whole economy just basically falls to pieces? you know, just like in your business, if you borrow too much, you could have pushed it too far. you intuitively knew that. what happens when we start getting into this? we're saying families across the country are tightening their belts but we sure as the dickens are not because our action is we're going to double the debt in five years, raise the deficit to a record $1.6 trillion this year, that's $10 -- 10.6% -- let's put this in perspective.

it's one thing to have a deficit during a year. but when you put the deficit and compare it to the overall product of the whole nation, that's a significant statistic. and last year we set a record. the year before we set a record. during the time george bush was finishing and nancy pelosi had this congress we had a $450-something-billion deficit. that was big. that was 3.1% of g.d.p. that was too much spending. and then we come back around to 2009 and what do we do? we go from $4.5 billion, billion isn't a big number anymore, let's try trillion. $1.4 trillion of deficit. that's three times more with the current president and when you look at it as a percent of g.d.p., 9.9% of g.d.p. so now we've learned our lesson,

right, for 2010? certainly that was too much. no. no we're going to go for $1.6 trillion instead of $1.4 trillion and 10.6% of g.d.p. when is enough enough? my good friend, congressman hensarling, don't want to pick on texas too much but you have really taken the lead on a number of these economic issues. we need some help tonight. and we need to ask that question, when is too much too much? please, help us. mr. hensarling: well, i thank the gentleman for yielding and i certainly appreciate his leadership tonight on an issue that is of great concern to every american. every american who has children, every american who has grandchildren and are wondering, what is washington doing drowning them in a sea of red ipping? again, when you say how much is enough, we are already there. and so it's been somewhat of a

surreal experience, i think, for the american people as of late to see washington go mad. never in the history of our nation do i believe have i seen such an explosion of spending of deficits and debt. and as a lot of the public know, the president of the united states on friday came and spoke to the republicans in the house. and i give the president credit for doing it. i think it speaks well of his character that he would come and speak to us, something that our own speaker i don't believe has ever done. and i had the opportunity to speak to the president at that exchange and i asked our president, i said, mr. president, your last budget that you submitted tripled the national debt over 10 years and took the cost of government from its historic level of roughly

20% of our economy up to 25% and if -- we haven't seen such levels of government since world war ii. the cost of government relative to the economy. and i asked the president that question and the president didn't answer it. the president declined to answer the question on friday. but, you know what? he answered the question on monday and he answered the question with this document, because on monday, on monday the president submitted his proposed budget for the united states of america for the next fiscal year and for the nine years following. and guess what we found out in this document? what we found out was the answer to the question is a resounding yes. president obama has now said to the american people loud and clear, yes he, i will triple the -- yes, i will triple the

national debt in over 10 years, i will triple the national debt. yes, i will take the government to levels we haven't seen since world war ii, up to 25% of our economy. the largest budget in the american history. mr. akin: i'd like to just bud in -- butt in. i do butt in a few times. before you jump a little further, one of the things the president said because i was at meeting when you asked the question, one of the things we heard was, well, you know, i inheritted a lot of this stuff. so it was like saying, it's not my fault that i'm spending all of this money. and this is hard for me to understand. i'm thinking, look, you've got the previous president, he spent with the pelosi congress about $450 billion, which you and i, gentlemen, thought w it was too much deficit. and we didn't like that. in fact we voted against a lot of that kind of spending.

but that's now in a sense is water over the bridge or down the river or where the water goes, but now he's taking that and tripling it in his very first year. now, my question is, how you can blame the guy that came before when youee times doing more than what he did? you can explain that because i don't get it? how you can blame that on someone else? mr. hensarling: i thank the gentleman for yielding and it's an important point to make simply because as opposed to leading too often, frankly we see the president, we see the speaker, we see our colleagues on the other side of the aisle saying, well, the truth is, you republicans spent too much money. well, guess what? i agree. but only congress, only congress can spend money. congress has the power of the purse. the only money the president can spend are those moneys that are authorized by congress.

now, the president can propose, the president may be given pots of money by the house -- by congress that he can allocate, but ultimately it is congress that controls the power of the purse under our constitution. now, we had 12 years where republicans controlled congress, wrote the budgets, wrote the spending bills. and i wasn't proud of the deficits that occurred in those years, but they averaged about $104 billion a year. mr. akin: so just taking a look at some notes i had, this would be about from 1996 to the year 2007 and you tal -- and you total that up and that's 12 years of republican deficit spending more or less. mr. hensarling: if the gentleman would yield, i think the most important point here, and we shouldn't spend obviously a lot of time on the blame game, the american people want solutions.

but what we typically hear from our friends on the other side who aren't offering a solution to the fiscal crisis is that it's your fault. here's what i would say. i'm sorry that republicans spent as much as they did. but our average deficit when we controlled spending was $104 billion. we now have three years for the democrats to control spending and the average deficit is $1.1 trillion. . what was an annual deficit under republicans has turned into a monthly deficit under democrats. i'm not proud of the spending. many of us on the floor fought our own party leaders for fiscal restraint. but in order of magnitude, you can't even compare the two. when it comes to spending and deficits, republicans are rank amateurs compared to democrats.

mr. akin: would you say that again. that is hard to get your mind around. what you're saying is what republicans spent in one year, the democrats are averaging in one month. so there are 12 times faster spending money. you have a chart, i see. mr. hensarling: i thank the gentleman for yielding. this covers the last seven years. it's in the blue. and you can see declining budget deficits until the democrats took control of congress. mr. akin: the blue in your chart were republican and those were the butts and above the line is how much our deficit was, right? mr. hensarling: correct. i'm not proud of the fact there were deficits under republican control, but look at the three years once the democrats came into control. look at what happened in 2007. look at what happened in 2008.

look at what happened in 2009. and again, it just goes to show that what was an average annual deficit under republicans has now become an average monthly deficit over democrats. i know the president is fond of saying, well, it's not my fault. i inherited a mess. well, i have two observations. you know what i would say to the president? yes, mr. president, you're right. you inherited a mess. i agree. but guess what? when it comes to trillion-dollar deficit, you inherited it from a democratic congress. and also, mr. president, if i recall properly, you were a member of that democratic congress. you were a united states senator and your voting record was about close to spending as there was. so to extent if i had the

opportunity to speak again, you inherited the problem to some extent. but even if you didn't, let's say the administration is absolutely blameless then why, mr. president, are you making the worse? mr. akin: not just making it worse, but tripling it in the very first year, from $450 billion all the way up to $1.4 trillion. i want to ask you that question i was getting at and i think a lot of americans want to know this, when do we hit the tipping point? is there a certain point that we have to pay attention that we're going to get things so far out of kilter? we have another guest from florida joining us, congressman posey and i encourage you join us on this question on the budget, the tremendous level of

spending, tremendous level of taxing and the tremendous level of debt that we're picking up. mr. posey: i thank the gentleman from missouri. that's only half of it. what they are spending is in the wrong direction. we want to talk a little bit about the wrong direction that congress is going and i hope they won't go further as they continue to follow the president in the wrong direction. now i want to remind you that when the president was in my district campaigning, he made a pledge. it's all over the internet right now, that he would close the gap between the space shuttle program and the constellation program, initially, it was three years that we were going to outsource jobs to russia top launch astronauts. and all the international -- other astronauts that we promise todd launch, the gap was three

years, four years, five gears, maybe more. the cost the russians are going to charge us is $50 million per astronaut. when we have no more shuttle, lord only knows what they're going to charge. but back to the campaign promise, the president promised that he would close this gap. the time period between the shuttle, last flight and the first constellation flight of the aries. in other words, for people who aren't that familiar with the space program, what we're moving from is the old technology the shuttle, which we see launched in those beautiful pictures with the hydrogen and oxygen central fuel on the main rocket engines and the two solid boosters, two tanks on the side of the aluminum and ammonium chlorate.

we are replacing that with a new vehicle? mr. posey: correct. and the new rocket would allow us to go back to the moon as well as back and forth to the international space station as well as to mars. mr. akin: is this a more powerful system? mr. posey: more powerful than the saturn v. the president promised he would close this gap because as mr. bishop mentioned, we will lose if we don't close the gap 7,000 of the best and brightest space team members this country has ever seen. and he would ensure that we remain first in space. space is the only thing that the united states of america is universeally unden eyebly

respected for around the globe. some respect us for knowing, some respect us for a lot of things. but the only thing we are respected for is our space program. we are first in space and it is a matter of national security and it is a matter of economic security. all wars aren't fought with bullets and bombs. so the president made these two promises. they were witnessed and online. he said we need to lead in this global marketplace in high-technology development. and we need to encourage more trouble to go into math and science. we know now that we are only training 1/10 the number of engineers that we need and half of them are foreign students that we expect to go back to their countries. china is graduating 10 times more of these highly specialized

engineers than we are. mr. akin: i want to get you to your point. he made a promise that we're going to close this gap. does the budget close the gap or not? mr. posey: well, we'll get there. the first thing that will happen is he accepted the resignation of michael griffin, the genius behind the constellation program and the aries rocket. and for six months when they were having the meetings, the nasa chair remained empty without an administrator. mr. akin: no administrator to replace him. mr. posey: general bolten will do a first-class job. the president created a commission to tell us how we continue to explore space under

current budget conditions. and the commission met a number of times. they reported to the science committee and they said you can't do that on the cheap. you just can't do what needs to be done to keep america first in space. you can't do it on the cheap. it will take another $300 billion a year. well, we were certainly looking forward to that are extra money being put into the program. for as little as 1% of the failed stimulus plan spending, we could have flown that shuttle for five years and closed that gap and -- mr. akin: 1% of the stimulus bill, which was i think about $800 billion or so, the one that didn't work, at least the rocket motor probably would have gone. this one, we lit it and it fizzled.

mr. posey: it was sb employing people. these aren't low-wage jobs. and no state is spared the benefit of technology that has been developed. however, while we are having people trained to hold road signs that say stop and go to regulate traffic, we are giving the pink slips to the brightest and greatest. we have the best engineers in the world who were laid off in apollo literally pumped gas at gas stations until their homes were foreclosed and then they were forced to move on never to return again. we had to remove the space program again as mr. bishop -- mr. akin: you are making the same case that congressman

bishop just made, you are getting highly trained people and takes years, a whole lot of research to do it and you cut it off at the knees. i wanted to recognize mr. bishop and i promised i would get back to congressman hensarling. we are getting close on time. congressman bishop. mr. bishop: i appreciate the gentleman from florida. there are some core responsibilities the government would have to do and the government has promised they would do these and the people that are working on the nasa side are the same people we need on the defense side. one would think as mr. hensarling showed the amount of money that is being thrown in this particular budget, $3.8 trillion, you could at least cover the needs. mr. akin: both of you have made a very significant point. you're saying 1% of that stimulus bill, there was a stimulus bill that didn't work and they don't work well anyway,

but 1% of that would have taken care of that promise and taken care of those high-tech jobs in florida -- mr. posey: around the country. mr. akin: and of course the rocket motor, the solid rocket technology, these are places where the priorities need to be. what government can provide for the national defense. it's not state government. this is something that should be fundamental to our thinking down here. mr. bishop: if i could ask the gentleman from missouri because you said the keyword, priority. before we actually deal with our priorities, we have to look at what is in this budget and what isn't in this budget. and what the gentleman from texas is going to show, we could have done better in this proposed budget, and we must. the status quo is not acceptable. the way we have been doing things is not acceptable. there has to be a better alternative. mr. akin: i yield to the the

gentleman from texas, congressman hensarling. you want to give us a visual picture. we have been talking about boxcar kind of numbers. but sometimes a graph is worth an awful lot. mr. hensarling: i thank the gentleman for yielding one more time. the budget that the president has submitted to the american people is simply breathtaking. breathtaking in its spending, breathtaking in its deficits, breathtaking in its debt. this is a budget that will ultimately put us on the road to bankruptcy. there's no other way around it. and i'm not exaggerating these points. but look at the trajectory of spending under the president's proposed budget. and as we continue to run deficits, the red ink is there for a purpose.

we had never seen spending at these levels. now the gentleman asked a question earlier. at what point do we reach the point where that red light is blinking -- we're there. we're there. most economists believe you cannot sustain a debt to the economy or g.d.p. ratio of over 3%. anything over that long term is unsustainable. the president is proposing a $1.6 trillion deficit, the largest in american history for this budget, which would weigh in as 10.6% of our economy, largest debt to the economy ratio since world war ii. the deficits never fall below $700 billion under his proposed budget plan. they average $1 trillion.

the deficits under this proposed budget will average $1 trillion a year. and so the gentleman asks, is this sustainable? the answer is no. what i really don't understand. we had dr. peteror zag who writes this budget for the president. was in front of the budget committee yesterday. and in open committee, the director of the office of management and budget said yes, it is unsustainable. he, himself admits that long-term this spending plan of the president of the united states is unsustainable, which begs the question. why don't you put a plan on the table to solve the problem? where's the leadership?

this is a man who was elected to be president of the united states of america. his own director of the office of management and budget said this is fiscally unsustainable. so what do they bring to the american people? well, they bring a quote, unquote commission. happy to look at a commission if it's fair, if it's real, if it's not just a political fig leaf but begs the question again, what the administration is counting on, are we going to have a commission and propose something and congress will enact it and we'll save that money. mr. president, where's your plan? if you know you're on the road to bankruptcy, why don't you put a plan on the table and solve it. what else does the president suggest? they talk about a freeze. well, unfortunately, there is no freeze in the budget. after the $1.2 trillion stimulus

plan, after several hundred billion dollars of omnibus spending plans, another omnibus spending plan, after the proposed almost $2 trillion takeover of our health care system, after a proposed $800 billion carbon tax, after increasing spending on what we call nondefense discretionary, the nondefense component of what congress votes on everywhere, that has increased 84% in the last two years. and my point is, that after this explosion, this explosion of spending, what we hear is the rhetoric of a spending freeze. but guess what? when you look at it, 87% of the budget is subject to the so-called freeze. . second of all the president is

going to wait a full year before i turn on the freezer and then i'm going to turn it right back on after just a few years. on 13% of the budget. and so when you crunch the numbers, what you discover is, what the president's bold plan is, to provide fiscal responsibility at a time of fiscal insanity, is that he proposes to grow government by 49% over the next 10 years instead of 49.3%. now, if that's a freeze i would hate to see a spring thaw. i'll yield back to the gentleman. mr. akin: you've really answered the question. we are some on -- we are on some very shaky ground economically and you're saying we're already there. the thing that's frightening and this is something that just kind of amazed me, we got punished by voters to a large degree from republicans and democrats that said, you guys are spending too much. and then what happens is, we come down here and triple the

rate of spending. no wonder people are mad. it's like the people in this chamber are tone deaf. you certainly not, gentlemen. and i'm very thankful, i know the american public is thankful for the fact that you hold the line and you're making clear what the priorities are and the fact that we can't just run out of control. it's a little bit like, the guy says i'm going to stop smoking next month, i'm going to stop eating too much next month, and yet just going to continue with the pie eating contest. mr. hensarling: if the gentleman would yield one more time, not only has there been this explosion of debt and deficit and debt, there's nothing to show for it but the deficit and debt. where are the jobs? where are the jobs? we were told if we had this massive stimulus pran that jobs would be created -- stimulus program that jobs would be created and unemployment would never go beyond 8% and we're still mired in double-digit unemployment. mr. akin: the answer to that, as you know, it was a stimulus package, it stimulated the creation of a lot of government

handouts and jocx, but didn't fix the unemployment program. congressman posey again from florida, i appreciate you coming out again tonight. the expertise in your district and congressman bishop, and just to let you go, i got a minute or two and then i'll close with you in a couple of minutes. >> three quick point -- mr. posey: they're spending it in the wrong direction, they're touting an extra $6 million they're going to into nasa to create 1,500 jobs but i told you how 7,000 are going to be lost, how does that make any sense to anybody? it doesn't pass a straight face test. i love commercial launches, i support commercial launches, nongovernmental rockets and the development of them. but we cannot give up a man space flight program that works and it's cost effective for us right now and so i implore congress to keep the president's promises honest and fulfill those promises that the

president made. the president obviously is not willing to do that. i hope congress is. thank you, sir. mr. akin: well, thank you very much. one of the things, as we talk about this deficit, budget and all, i think that a lot of americans may not understand and that's that we've got something stalking us here. people talked about this, that and the other thing but if you want to talk about the fiscal concern that we need to be watching in our country, it comes from medicare, medicaid and social security. this is the budget that's being proposed. this is how much money we have in terms of receipts. this is the money that's coming into the government. this is what we're proposing spending. and if you take a look at that, more than half of that is medicare, medicaid and social security. those programs are called entitlements. what that means is we wrote some laws a long time ago, it's like a machine and somebody's turning the crank and it spends money. and it's spending more than half of what this budget shows and quite a bit more than what we have in terms of receipts and so

that is a big question. and that's one of the things that we must deal with. congressman hensarling has been very direct in the fact that we need some solutions. we don't need to be on the same drug and drag it out until we're completely on our back. we have to start taking a look at these problems, take some sober-minded solutions and start moving forward with a plan, we've not seen that and we think the americans want that kind of leadership. congressman hensarling. mr. hensarling: the moments we have remaining, i just want to make it very clear, this isn't just us saying it. listen to this, "wall street journal" yesterday, quote, all of this spending must be financed until deficits and deficits are to rise. cnbc, the deficit for this year would be 10.6% of the total, a figure unmatched since the country was emerging from world war ii. "new york times," the budget projects that the deficit will peak at nearly 1.6 -- $1.6

trillion in the current fiscal year, a post-world war ii record. it would then decline but remain at economically troublesome levels over the remainder of the decade. cnbc, quote, part of a record $3.8 trillion budget that would boost the deficit beyond any in the nation's history, it is unacceptable. we have better alternatives. mr. akin: thank you, congressman hensarling, and congressman posey, and i thank you also, congressman bishop, for joining us tonight. thank you, mr. speaker, i think that concludes our hour. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. hoekstra, for 60 minutes.

mr. hoekstra: thank you, mr. speaker. tonight i come to talk about a variety of issues. you know, clearly the country faces tough times. clearly our states face very, very difficult times. and as over the last few months we've had the opportunity to go and to listen to our constituents at the state level, talk about some of the issues that are important to them, my home state of michigan is struggling today with 15% unemployment. the highest unemployment rate in the country. and one of the things that we consistently hear about is, you know, washington made us do this . i hear people talking about, you know, our state needs to raise taxes. why? so that we can get the federal highway dollars. and what we forget is that those

who are -- those were our dollars to begin with. those aren't federal highway dollars. those aren't -- those are michigan highway dollars. as a matter of fact, for 53 years a state like michigan has received 83 cents on the dollar, 83 cents for every dollar that we send to washington for our gas tax and now washington tells us in tough times to get that money back, you have to put up a state match. that's wrong. in 2001 president bush passed with this congress' help legislation calling no -- calling for an improvement in k through 12 education. it was called no child left behind and it put the federal imprint on our k through 12 education system across the country and across the state of michigan. that's wrong. why? why do we need the federal government telling us how to run

our schools at the state and at the local level? it's a community issue, it's a family issue, it's not a federal issue. it's also not very efficient. just like in the highway bill, the federal government forces a state like michigan to build things we don't need. we build overpasses but they're for bicycles, we build fences not to protect motorists but to protect turtles. and you wonder and say, why are we doing this? these are our money -- this is our money, this is not the priority for our state to get our state moving. so you've got issues with highways, you've got issues with education. and it's not only that the money's being spent unwisely, but it's also being spent

inefficiently. let me talk about no child left behind. k through 12 education. i see my friend is going to join me and i welcome him and, you know, i'm talking a little bit about the bureaucracy and the need to return to federalism. i'll yield. mr. akin: if it's all right, if you take a look at what's happened over the last 50 years, this government down here has just grown like topsy. for a while you and i were in the majority and we passed some conservative bills and we did the best we could, they were mostly blocked by senators. but what i think the public really wants is i think they want something different out of this city. i think that they really want the federal government not to threaten them anymore. i think they want us to deconstruct. you mentioned the no child left behind and i thought that was -- mr. hoekstra: let me reclaim my time for just a second. i want to make it clear to, you know, the people in the chamber, i want to make it clear to the people in the country, around the country, and the people in

michigan, no child left behind was a bill that i voted against because i believed in parental control, i believed in local control, i believed in state control and i just want to make that clear because i might not have done that as i was describing what this congress was doing. but, you know, i have voted to, you know, get rid of the federal highway program or to basically deconstruct it. i want to deconstruct the education department and return the rights back to the states so the states can focus on what they need to do but more importantly that the federal government can focus on what it needs to do. trade policy, national security and those types of things. i'll yield back. mr. akin: congressman, i really respect you for that vote. because what i think a lot of people listening this evening might not understand is, congressman oak hoekstra took -- hoekstra took the very first house bill of a republican administration, it was their pet bill, and you had the guts to

stand up as a republican to the republican administration and say, no. because i believe education is a local control kind of issue. now, i have to relate an amusing story because i voted no on it too and some staffer made a mistake and invited me to the bill signing ceremony so i actually sat in the bill signing ceremony for no child left behind after having voted no the same way you did and that's precisely what i think the public wants. they want us to take this place apart. education can be done fine at a state level and in my opinion as a former state rep i'd say it ought to be done at the local level. but certainly we don't need a bunch of washington bureaucrats telling us how to educate our kids. i really couldn't respect you more for that independence of thought and the clairian understanding that that's just not a federal priority. mr. hoekstra: now i think reclaiming my time, and i think you and i have had a discussion about this. but i really do believe and i

want to build off the thought that you had, is that our constituents want us to deconstruct washington. they don't want to us tear it down, they want us to constructively go through the process and shed the things that are not washington issues, move them back to states, move them back to communities and move it back to individuals. . . we sat through much of 2009 where we saw abomination which was tg go to take away from us the right to set our own health care agenda and probably

construct, not deconstruct, but construct a new building here in washington, d.c., probably several new buildings filled with bureaucrats, who were then going to make the decisions that you and i historically made about our health care. i'll yield. mr. akin: you are going to wonder where i'm going with this perhaps, but here's what i'm thinking. i'm a guy who was an engineer and i liked geology and they have a scale about how bad an earthquake is. if you use a richter scale, that is one whale of an earthquake and if you rate how bad legislation is in congress, the one you chose to talk about, that health care bill, that is probably the worst bill i have seen in 22 years and high enough on the richter scale that when it got done, american

civilization would have been shaking so badly there wouldn't be much left. and i want to see where you are in rating these things, the same sciencist that im. that cap and tax bill is another one that is not quite as bad but still a real mess of a bill. mr. hoekstra: i have seen this up close and personal in michigan and you may have seen it over the last 18 months, as president obama was developing his economic strategy, he had the governor of michigan sitting next to him quite frequently. and i thought that is a good strategy because he could then ask and say, governor, did you try this in michigan. and if the answer was yes, ok, well, we won't do that at the federal level. it seems to be whether it is cap and trade, cap and tax, whether it is health care, what we have seen is in washington as we have

adopted many of the same policies that our governor in michigan adopted and the end result is we have seen unemployment grow. we have seen huge deficits that at the end of the year are fixed, but there are massive cuts in the size of government. we are losing population. so we are seeing our citizens leave. and now we are starting to see that at the federal level. a whole set of massive tax increases that the president and the democrats in congress are going to let the tax cuts expire, meaning it's an effective increase in taxes. 41 new taxes in the budget -- i don't remember what the number was. do you know? mr. akin: there were quite a number of them. if you add it all together, trillions of dollars in tax increases. mr. hoekstra: you and i, at the beginning of 2009, we saw

unemployment at just under 8%? mr. akin: if we didn't pass that stimulus bill, we might see unemployment go over 8% is what we are told. and we are at 0 something and that is not counting people who have given up looking for a job. used to be said that america was a great experiment and to a degree we could be an spreement because different states could try things. if you had any brains, you wouldn't repeat a dumb idea. we tried this government control of health care in massachusetts and tennessee and we turn around and it didn't work worth a hoot for them. and you are saying that in the case of michigan, you have a governor that seemed to has majored in bad ideas and why would you perpetrate bad ideas that don't work. mr. hoekstra: i want to talk to you about an experiment. we briefly discussed this idea.

what's happening right now at grassroots america i think is very, very healthy. people are engaged and as they have gone through the last year, as they saw the passage of a stimulus bill, $787 billion. then as they saw a cap and tax bill pass in the middle of the night where they added 400 pages in the middle of the night. mr. akin: 300 pages at 3:00 in the morning and we are trying to find a copy of the bill and it doesn't exist as we're debating it. that's a new record. mr. hoekstra: 2,000-page health care bill and gets over to the senate and senator from louisiana, she receives $300 million. mr. akin: louisiana purchase? mr. hoekstra: louisiana purchase. and we have the deal for

nebraska that says even though you as a state, you are pretty healthy, you are only at 5% unemployment but you don't have to pick up the unfunded mandate that the other 49 states are going to get. the other 49 states, including the state of michigan are going to pay for your unfunded mandate because i need your vote. so you get your deal. mr. akin: what do you think the public thinks about that kind of thing? mr. hoekstra: we know what they think because we saw it a couple of weeks ago in massachusetts where they said this is absolutely wrong and we're going to stop it. and effectively what the people of massachusetts did on that momentous tuesday night, they had the opportunity to change history because after watching this house and this senate for 12 months and this administration, they said, no more. they effectively recalled their

democrat senator and replaced it with someone who they believed would listen more closely to their demands and their desires and to start deconstructing washington. that's the proposal that i have in that i said i have been through this before. i was through this in 1993 and 1994. i introduced legislation back then. i called it a voters' bill of rights. and as i have been sitting with constituents in my district and i heard them say, congressman, i have some call me pete. pete, look, we call our senators. we talked to them about the stimulus bill. we talked to them about health care. we talked to them about cap and trade. we talked to them about bringing gitmo to michigan and we get the same thing. they answer. they are rude. and then they hang up.

and then they said, pete, there's nothing we can do to hold these folks accountable. the earliest we can do anything is 2012 when these bad things may happen. as i have been listening to them. i asked my staff, go back and get the bill of rights. i have introduced them. my colleagues here on the floor don't like it. one of the lead things we proposed in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 was a bill that says one of the keystones was the voters' bill of rights is when you call your senator or your representative and they arrogantly answer the phone, are rude and then hang up and then vote wrong, which traditionally means they are voting for bigger government and taking rights

away from the individual, rights away from the states, you now have an option. the option is that when you leave the meeting where you're talking about this and someone gives you a piece of paper that has a knew lines on it and you -- few lines on it and you say get a few voters to sign those lines and then the top of it says, this is a recall of senator so and so or a recall of representative so and so, it allows the voters to exercise accountability throughout the process. i call it i wrote an op ed. what it does, it allows the people to take back ownership of their government. and if there's one thing we see and michigan is a recall state. i had a mini town hall yesterday and i ran into a township

official who is being recalled. it's very, very tough when they are being recalled. but it clearly humbles people when they recognize that the voters can come back. and if they don't like what we are doing, the voters can stand up and say no, it's time for you to come home because you know longer understand who you work for. and it's time for us to have an opportunity to send someone to washington that will listen to us. mr. akin: you know, that's an interesting proposal. and shows a lot of imagination on your part and doesn't make you popular with the establishment here but a bunch of us have been blshment because you need to subsidy construct. it is not to destroy government but prune out all these things that have grown. mr. hoekstra: making it more efficient. you and i know that with no child left behind when the taxpayer from michigan, the

taxpayer from lansing, the taxpayer from detroit or holland sends a dollar to washington for education, it goes to the bureaucracies. it goes to the state bureaucracies. and at every juncture, there's just pacman comes out and takes a piece. and by the time it gets to the classroom, there may be only 65 cents left. mr. akin: you are starting with the assumption that the 65 cents is going to do some good and not possibly harmful. i would even bet that some of the programs coming out of washington, d.c. just in and of their nature -- but you know, one of the things particularly the washington establishment has misunderstood and perhaps some of our national media. they would like to write off a whole lot of americans as a

bunch of crazy tea party people. what i have seen of that movement, it defies party labels and it is a pretty broud spectrum of americans who are saying enough already and this idea of deconstructing and i think they get sick of -- we talked about 300 pages of amendments at 3:00 in the morning. here is another thing that bugs me and tell me what you think. we have this deal called the farm bill. it's not a farm bill. it's this deal that is made between food stamps and this and that and all put together and set up from a particular point of view to pass. but what's happened is if you really looked at the individual component parts, most people would say, i don't like it. and yet by pack acking that stuff up we up with more federal spending and those americans that are starting to pay

attention. i tell you what should spook people. they are starting to read some of the legislation and that's a scary thought. mr. hoekstra: you know. that is exactly the type of process that people don't like and they don't like the fact that when the president comes out and says during a campaign, you know when we get to the health care negotiations, it's going to be on c-span so that we can see where that gentleman, whether he's arguing for his vote or -- fighting his constituents or whether that person over there is fighting for the insurance companies or fighting for the unions or whatever and it's kind of like we get to there and you're watching c-span at 11:30 at night and someone walks up to the microphone coming out of the white house and says, hey, we got a deal. we got a deal. mr. akin: transparency?

what deal? mr. hoekstra: you are announcing this at 11:30 and nothing better to do than watching c-span and find out and that's the transparency. that's where the concept of recall gets real power. recall says i think two things. it says to washington stop the midnight deals. the other thing i think, it provides a tremendous amount of power and authority. it tells washington, stop the power grab. stop taking the stuff away from the states and away from us a