Jeff Flake

May I inquire as to the time remaining? The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Arizona has 3 minutes remaining.

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: At the end of subtitle I of title X, insert the following: SEC. 1099C. CLOSING OF NATIONAL DRUG…

I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I would just like to engage in a colloquy briefly if we can. As the gentleman knows, I have worked and he has worked to decrease funding for the NDIC, the National Drug Intelligence Center. This is a…

I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in support of the RSC budget. With a deficit of $1.6 trillion, a debt of $14 trillion, it's no surprise that we've got to do something. We have to do something dramatic. This budget actually…

I would question in a time of budget austerity that maybe we have authorized that program.

In my view, we ought to roll out the red carpet for anybody with a Ph.D. in those fields to stay here and work.

This is not a choice at all. It's a mandate. That's why we've got to end it. It's been a boondoggle for 30 years. It remains so. Let's vote for this amendment.

The taxpayers have subsidized ethanol for far too long. This amendment will simply bring that slowly to a stop.

I hope that nobody in this Chamber or watching here misses the irony of this, that we are spending money to subsidize Brazilian agriculture so that we can continue to subsidize agriculture here. That is just incredible when you think about…

I think any impact there will be is dwarfed by the impact of having a $1.5 trillion deficit and a $14 trillion debt and what happens to us as a country if we continue to run that kind of deficit and debt.

Reclaiming my time, I just want to say, in closing, the gentleman is exactly right. Any dollar that we provide in this program has to be taken from a small business or an individual through taxes. That is money that they can't use to…

I just want to rise in strong support of this amendment. The gentleman is right; this was not asked for by the Department of Defense. And if we could save a half billion dollars, money that will not affect the war or the warfighter--but we…

Again, this is a package that we simply cannot afford. We cannot go on as if the deficit and the debt don't matter. Not only that they don't matter, but we expand them considerably. We can continue the tax cuts for every American. We can…

I would love to hear an explanation from the Rules Committee as to why this wasn't included and why only amendments that may make Members feel good about voting on but have no possibility of delaying this package were even considered.

Those who advocate for this legislation are forgetting one very, very important thing: we are broke.

I thank the gentlelady for accepting the amendment. Some have asked, Why do this if there's no intention to earmark the program? Why do we need this language? Unfortunately, in the past, with programs that have been adopted like this…

I thank the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Larsen) for introducing this resolution. And I urge my colleagues to support it. We want to express our condolences to the families and the friends and loved ones of those who perished in the fire…

In closing, I just want to urge my colleagues to support the resolution. It's a great cause. And certainly I think we all owe it to our constituents and to the country to recognize the stewardship that we have to ensure that we pass on the…

A week ago I introduced a privileged resolution asking the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to report back to the House as to the extent of their investigation into the PMA scandal. A motion to refer that resolution to the…

I think we are overspent, we are overtaxed. We shouldn't put this additional burden. But if we are going to do it, certainly we ought to ensure that it goes to its intended purpose.

Just to conclude, I appreciate the majority's willingness to accept the amendment. Again, I appreciate the fact that there are no earmarks in this authorization. What we're seeking to do here is that when money is appropriated for these…

Last year we established a grant program called the Emergency Operation Centers. It was established by Congress in FY 2008, in the Homeland Security bill. Last year in the spending bill, it showed that 60 percent of the funds in this grant…

How can we ensure, or can we do anything to ensure, that China intervenes in Afghanistan in a responsible way?

I think this is the most important hearing so far, given the timing, with the President announcing his new strategy just last week.

This is our fourth hearing on Afghanistan in this subcommittee.