of economic justice and fairness that has made our nation so great. ilvote no on this bill. -- i will vote no on this bi. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i yield myse one minute to say to my rules committee colleague that timand time again he criticizes the tax cuts that have been put into place. they really are the bush-obama tax cuts because we all know last december president obama signed an extension of those. i think it's important for us to look at the 2003 revenue flow and rook at what happened just few short years later in 2007. in 2003, mr. speaker, we had $1,562,000,000,000 in -- excuse me $1,782,00000,000 in revenues to the deral treasury. in 2007 after those tax cuts were put into place we had $2,

567,000,000,000 in revenues. that was a $587 billion increase, a 44% increase in the take that the federal government had because of the implementation of those cuts. it's important to recognize that if we can grow the economy we can generate an increase in the flows of revenue to the federal treasury. i'm proud to yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from ohio, mr. latourette. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. mr. latourette: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank you for the recognition. this moment in time on the floor reminds me exactly during a period in the 1990's. there is a lot of publicity given to the new freshman class and the freshman class of 1994 is being neglcted. welfare reform was the discussion. we -- our proposals were mean

to pregnant women and children and poor people. the president of the united states, plirn, decided he wasn't going -- president clinton decided he wasn't going to be the president of the rhetoric. he was going to be the president of the united states. he signed the welfare bill. the friends at that time looked like their dogs had all died because they were so depressed. president clinton decided to lead. now, i don't know what's going on in all of the other offices but we've taken a lot of phone calls over the last four, five weeks. some people ca in tell me to hold the lines. some people call in and tell me i'm an idiot. but most says you have to work it out. to the credit of the president, barack obama, he had the speaker, speaker boehner, nancy pelosi, harry reid, mcmcconnell, down at the white house to work it out. i don'think i will listen to

this continuous harang of how we're being mean to people because i don't think peoplen that side of the aisle believes that president barack obama would do the horrible things that the people are indicating he would do. i just don't believe it. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from massachusett mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i yield myself 10 seconds. mr. speaker, i hear a t about the bush tax cuts. if they were so good where are the jobs? i think it's simply wrong to have the middle class in this country bear the burden when the donald trumps are getting tax cuts. i yield one minute to the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: i thank the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. speaker, this is a very tough place to put america. not members of congress. we are paid to come here and do our job. but it's a very tough place to put america. and so i have a simple state of

facts present today and listen to my other colleagues, which i will, because it is a tough decision to in actuality support legislation that seems to be driven by thoughts that the only way to get something done is to hold a whole country hostage and a whole congress hostage. on the brink of august 2, we're now throwing something on the floor that is arguably supposed to be helpful. i am concerned that there are nuances in this legislation that will hurt people that we all care about, but it's a tough decision not to say yes to having america pay her bills. i hope for once that once we get past today that we will not in any way yield again to the voices of 87 members who care nothing about america and

simply cares about their way or the highway. i am upset and this is -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. mr. dreier: i was recognized, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will advise all members to respect the gavel. the gentlewoman was out of order. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: thought i was recognized. thank you very much, mr. speaker. at this time i'm happy to yiel a minute and half to mr. which the field. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. wittman: i rise in support of this legislation -- mr. whitfield: i rise in support of this legislation and i think that president obama, the leaders in the house and the senate shall be given a warm congralations on being able to come to some agreement to prevent america from defaulting on its debt. we all know that this is not a perfect piece of legislation. but one of the real positives of this legislation is the joint commission that's going to be

established by six members from the house, six members from the senate that will come up for recommendations to reduce federal spending. and we do know that exempt from that is social security, veterans benefits as well as medicaid. those who really need health care the most. but i've heard a lot of discussion today about this is not about jobs and i would just point out that getting our financial house in orders very important but we all recoize if you read any newspaper recently, you will find out that in this administration the excess of regulations coming out, particularly from e.p.a., has been a real hindrance to job creation in america. and not only that, but the health care bill that was adopted last year because of the sun earn -- uncertainty. so this is an important first step on getting our financial house in order.

next we need to start working on removing uncertainty on the regulatory side of the government. and so i would urge everyone to support this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair would advise the gentleman from massachusetts has three minutes remaining. the gentleman from california has 2 3/4 minutes remaining. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: we one final speaker so if the gentleman has others. you're good? all right. at this time, mr. speaker, i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from maryland, the democratic whip, mr. hoyer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for dwo minutes. -- two minutes -- for two minutes. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for yielding. we have missed, in my opinion, a wonderful opportunity. an opportunity to make a grand bargain as the speaker wanted to do, as leader pelosi wanted to do, as leader reid wanted to do, as the president wanted to do and as the vice president wanted to do. for months now the world has looked to america and asked whether we were still a nation that paid its bills. or whether thanks to the

ideologicalal intrin generals of a few we would do the unthinkable and default on our obligations. we are a more responsible and honorable naon than that. we are only that the point because the far right wing for the first time in american history has chosen to hold our economy hostage in order to enact the radical, ideological agenda far out of st with the majority of americans. if nothing else, these months have shown the american people who puts our cntry's welfare first and would who would rather have ideological purity at all costs. i am voting for this bill. not because i like this bill, although it does do sol things th i think need -- some things that i think need to be done. we need to bring down the deficit, we need to address the debt, we need to return to fiscal responsibility. but default for the united states is not an option.

this would affect all of the people that i represenand all of the people of this country if we defaulted. at the very least this bill averts that outcome. by paying our bills through 2013, which will bring certainty to a struggling economy that badly needs it. this bill cuts snding by $1.2 trillion and also establishes a process to arrive at additional spending cuts. the second set of deficit reductions will be entrusted to a bipartisan committee. hopefully that committee will accurately reflect the priorities of this nation. we are here because we missed, as i said, a great opportunity. may i have one additional minute? mr. mcgovern: i yield to the gentleman from maryland. mr. hoyer: the chance to pass a truly balanced aeement that relies on both spending cuts and revenue. we're not there. but i have said many times during the course of this debate

, to govern is to compromise. not to sell out, as some people think on this floor that voting for a compromise is somehow a sellout. we cannot run america on that theory and that is not what democracy is all about. i urge my colleagues to ensure that arica in fact pays its bills. that america -- mr. dreier: i yield my friend additional time if he'd like. mr. hoyer: i'd be glad to yield. mr. dreier: i thank my friend for yielding. i don't know if he hearder. i closed the rule debate by talking about the connecticut compromise which established a bicameral legislature july 16, 1787, in high closing remarks here, it was called the great compromise and my friend is absolutely right. we're at that point today in dealing with an issue not of that magnitude but clearly a very important one and i'm happy to yield my friend an additional 10 seconds. 15. mr. hoyer: one minute.

i yielded to you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts' time has expired. mr. dreier: oh, i yield 45 seconds to my friend. mr. hoyer: ladies and gentlemen, i have said numerous times during the course of this debate about whher america was going to pay its bills, that we need to vote not as republicans or democrats but as americans. americans concerned about the fiscal posture of their country, concerned about the confidence that people around the world have in the american dollar which is, after all the, the standard of the world -- after all, the standard of the world. that's what i think this vote is about. it should not be about partisan politics and very frankly it should not be about ideological extremes. it ought to be about responsibility. it ought to be understanding our oath of office is to preserve and protect the united states of

america. this bill does that, vote yes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california has two minutes remaining. the gentleman is recognizesed. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i feel very honored to follow my good friend and classmate, the distinguished docratic whip, as we talk about this compromise and where we are. now, mr. speaker, saving social security and medicare is a priority that i believe both political parties share. contrary to much of what has been put out there, this is something that is addressed in this measu. we're going to be able to save social security and medicare. again, working together in a bipartisan way. creating jobs, democrats and republicans alike talk about that. how is it that we're going to be able to do that? getting our fiscal house in order. it's a very, very important step in our quest to ensure that the people who are hurting and looking for jobs will have an opportunity to get them. sending a positive signal to the global market that we are the

world's economic military and geopolitical leader by increasing the debt ceilinger with sending a positive signal that we are going to continue meeting our obligations and our responsibility. but at the same time dramatically reducing spending, the problem that has gotten us to this point is what we're doing for the first time ever, after 75 times increasing the debt ceiling, we're nally getting to the root cause and the problem is, as has been said over and over again, is our debt and we're going to turn the corner on that in a thoughtful and balanced way. mr. speaker, i want to compliment the president of the united states, i want to compliment both leaders of the united states senate, harry reid and mitch mcconnell, and i want to congratulate speaker john boehner who has done an absoluly phenomenal job in ensuring that we wouldn't continue business as usual and i also want to congratulate minority leader pelosi for her effort that she's put in to getting us to the point where we are today. and so, mr. speaker, i urge my

colleagues, i urge my colleagues to support this measure and with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. thchair now recognizes members from the committee on ways and means, chairman, mr. camp from michigan, and ranking minority member mr. levin from michigan. the gentleman from michigan. mr. camp: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. camp: mr. speaker, if the congress does not act and act now, america will default and that would wreak havoc on our economy and make it harder for americans to find and keep a job in an already weak economy. default cannot be an option and i am pleased that the bill before us ensures that will not occur. just as default would threaten the economic health of this country, so would increasing taxes. raising taxes on families and job creators would hinder investment, incolleague the cost of doing business and -- increase the cost of doing

business and result in even less hiring and fewer jobs. that's the wrong direction when we're struggling with an unemployment rate of 9.2% and 14 million americans looking for work. the good news is that the legislation before us recognizes these basic facts, it avoid as default, it makes sure that the government pays our bills and it does not increase taxes. and though some have argued the new joint select committee on deficit reduction could pave the way for tax increases, that is not going to happen. the committee structure, the baseline it will work off of and the fact that republicans are in the majority in the house virtually guarantees that tax rates will not go up. furthermore, this legislation finally forces washington to make serious changes to the way it spends taxpayer dollars. there are real budget reforms, there is a path to a balanced budget amendment and there are automatic spending cuts if congress does not rein in spending on its own. i applaud the efforts of all those who helped craft this

agreement, especially speaker boehner and leader cantor. i urge my colleagues to recogne this opportunity to fix what is broken in washington and use this occasion significantly cut runaway spending. mr. speaker, i urge a yes vote and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: thank you. i now yield two minutes to my friend, a most distinguished member of the ways and means committee for a long time, mr. charles range of new york. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york voiced for two minutes. mr. rangel: thank you, mr. speaker. while i stand on this floor as an american and a person that loves this congress so much and i'm embarrassed also as a member that a president of the united states would have his domestic and foreign policy actually held hostage because with him and only him and no other president have we decided that we would almost put in jeopardy the faith

and fiscal responsibility of this country paying its dels debts. you know, a loof people have said that we got to a $14.4 trillion debt because we got drunk and spent money like a drunken say lore. if that is so -- sailor. if that is so the people have in "the hangover" certainly aren't the wealthy people in this country. and this decision was decided without any consideration of the people that are longing for jobs in our great country. if the republicans had to hold had the president hostage, whichish wish that they would have held him hostage on the questions that my constituents wake up in the morning and ask, not whether or not the debt ceiling has been risen, but how can i get a job, how can i really get back my dignity, how can i put food on the table? these are issues that you certainly don't resolve by cutting spending, causing people

to lose their jobs and to lose their hope. , indeed i'm glad that we're not going to default but the days a head we ought to be spending some -- days ahead we ought to be spending some time talking about what most americans wa and that's a fair tax system where the wealthy who have gained so much during this spree that we've had and not allowed a hangover to be with the people that are jobless. we still have time to close this responsibility that we have, to close the debt that we have, not by laying off people, not by just cutting programs during the recession, but by thinking how question train people, how we can research and how we can get our people back to work. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan. mr. camp: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to a distinguished member of the ways and means committee, the gentleman from new york, mr. reed. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for two minutes. mr. reed: thank you, mr. speaker. $14.4 trillion.

$1.6 trillion every year added on to that national debt. the people in november, 2010, spoke loudly. we are listening. it is time that we in this chamber accept the fact that d.c. has to and will change. because the american people have spoken loudly. they want us to get our fiscal house in order, they want us to bring certainty to the american markets so that we can invest in this great country again and put people back to work, not only for this generation but for generations to come. i rise in support of this legislation. it is not the cure-all, it is not the one battle that will win this war on our national debt, but it opens us up on a path to where we need to be firmly dedicated and dess minutesed to

carry on -- and disciplined to carry on this battle and battles to come. so i ask all my colleagues, let us govern responsibly, let us avoid default, but continue on this battle and continue on we will as the new class, as a freshmen member of this great chamber. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michin. mr. levin: i now yie a minute and a half to another distinguished member of our committee, mr. kind of wisconsin. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. mr. kind: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of this agreement. this is the wrong way to rebuild our great country. i support itecause the alternative is unacceptable. defaulting on our nation's obligations for the first-time in our nation's history, doing so would be the greatest unforced error ever committed in the history of our country. and it's all political. the performance of our congress

the last couple of months has a lot to be desired. if king solomon were ali today i think his metaphorical solution to all of this woul be to kill both women and spare the child. if we are to achievewo fiscal solvency for our country, there are three things i think needs to half. we need to invest in our future. you do that in investing in job creation and scientific research and the infrastructure upgrade our nation needs in brought to you by expansion. that's not happening -- needs in broadband expension. that's not happening. we need to look for smart savings in the budget start by changing how we pay for health care based on the quality and not quantity. stop appropriating for the military. it's ending taxpayer subsidies going to large agri businesses with mailing addresses in new york, chicago and san

francisco. not even the working families. and finally, we need tax rrm. to simplify a code that acts like an anchor ojob creation but fair. asking the most wealthy to contribute their fair share as well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. kind: i support the agreement. i ask my colleagues to do so. i yield back. mr. mcgovern: -- mr. caffer: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: i yield to the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cohen: i have voted twice to raise the debt ceiling. in may. i voted this past weeke for leader reid's program which had cuts. but i can't vote for this program because the first series of cuts we know the second series of cuts we don't know. i fear it's a trojan horse. if you look inside that trojan horse it's the whirlpools and

the shoals and that's an odyssey in journey this country should not traverse. this country has been taken by a group of ideologues that don't want to reduce it. want to hurt employment figures to hurt the president of the united states, mr. speaker, and i don't want to hurt him. one justice said the greatest danger is to by men of zeal. well-meaning but without understanding. justice brandaise is with us today. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. camp: i yield two minutes to a distinguished member of the ways and means committee, the gentleman from texas, mr. brady. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. brady: mr. speaker, it's important we know as we try to change this government that we're actually making changes the direction we're going. without the budget control act our government will be over 23%

of the size of our economy by the end of this decade. the budget control act changes that. by the end of the decade it will be about 21.5% of the size of our economy. it is comparable, come close to the shrinkage of the economy under president reagan in his first -- in his eight years in the white house. truth of the matter is this doesn't go far enough for conservatives. you can't cut far enough or soon enougfor members of congress like myself because we just believe this country is so deep, so dangerously deep in debt. but with this vote today, tonight we cut out the same amount of spending the president put in this government in that ill-fated failed stimulus bill. and later this year we get a chance to vote another cut in this government equivalent to the size of obamacare. so we start with two strong

cuts reversing and strengthening the size of government. in this bill we achieve 2/3 of the discretionary cuts included in the ryan budget in the past prosperity that the republicans , the house members believe in. someone goes, the senate passed a budget and agreed to 2/3 of your cuts. in discretionary we would have celebrated. we're not celebrating today because we know there's so much work to be done. we know also this holds -- this cuts spending today. it puts controls on future congresses in the way they spend. that's important. and holds congress and the white house more accountable for getting the size of this government back in control. without increasing taxes on families like you, on our job creators back home on main street. mr. camp: i yield an additional 30 second. mr. brady: thank you, chairman. thank you, speaker.

it does so today. i support this bill as a first step, anxious to get to more spending and savings and getting this wasteful, bloated government down to size, and i know, too, any vote, my principle is tax cuts and spending cuts, if i can change the direction of this country with bigger spending cuts, my vote will be a yes. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: mr. camp, i just want to ask my colleague from michigan, are you ready to close? camp camp yes, i'm prepared to close. mr. levin: i yield myself the balance of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has three minutes remaining. mr. levin: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: oh, without objection. mr. levin: thank you. the republicans in this house have tak this nation to a

dangerous and unnecessary brink . i definitely do not want our nation to default on its full faith in credit, but i also don't want our nation to default on our solemn obligations as a nation, as a community to all of our citizens. that's why we need a balanced approach, to keep us on an even keel as we move ahead. this means savings and revenues . i peat, this means savings and revenues. so as i vote today, as the ranking member on the ways and means committee, i will keep in mind how we must not let wn our citizens who need programs.

one example, unemployment insurance. it's set to expire at the end of this year. as millions desperately look for work and i just now have received a report that this year's extension, next year's extension would cost $45 billion. we need to get those resources. if we're not on a balanced path, we will not be able to address critical needs of our fellow and sister citizens, such as unemployment insurance. we need balance to be true to ourselves. i now yield the balance of my time to the budget committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan. mr. camp: thank you,r.

speaker. as a member of the -- mr. levin: mr. camp, i think it takes unanimous consent to do that. i'm sorry, mr. camp. the speaker o tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentleman from michigan. mr. camp: thank you, mr. speaker. as a member of the national commission on fiscal responsibility, our debt commission, we received testimony from experts in economic policy research. and they said that when debt loads of a country reach above or at 90% of their economy or g.d.p. that results in the reduction in economic growth in that country by about one percentage point. and using the administration's economic model, that one percentage point increase in our g.d.p. or decrease in our g.d.p. costs about one million jobs. that's why this debate is so important.