Steve Womack: “I think Congress would be a lot better off if a criteria for being elected was to having been a mayor once upon a time.”

I am going to take that 30 seconds and brag on this guy right here, Tom Cole. He has reengineered, somewhat reinvented a lost appropriations process, and I am eternally grateful. I know I speak for the American people in thanking Mr. Cole…

There are only about 578 people that will be affected by this. You know, the Guard is over 100,000.

I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the last speaker, my friend, Earl Blumenauer. It was a source of pride for me to be here on the floor this morning and see the gentleman's last speech on the floor of the House of Representatives…

I think a lot of us up here would agree that the federal bureaucracy has become bloated, but I think we need to be a little bit more precise in downsizing a department with a mission as critical.