John Campbell

Mr. Speaker, 9 years ago, this House passed this ban on Internet taxes. It has been in place for 9 years. During that time, we have seen tremendous growth, economic growth, come from the Internet and also tremendous opportunity for people…

I applaud those words. I applaud the basis upon which this council was established.

Let me ask, though, but then why is it, if they are competitively bid, that this one is going to Sherwin- Williams paint company?

I thank you. Again, my question was, I am sure, they are obviously a well-known qualified paint company. By the way, I don't represent any paint companies, to my knowledge, none whatsoever. So my question is, how do we know they are the…

this particular earmark is for a swimmer detection sonar network for $1.5 million. The company developing this technology is in New Hampshire. Interestingly, there are about three other companies that do a similar technology or do…

Well, I think Sherwin-Williams thinks there is, by the way. Then the final question I would have for the gentleman would be if this $2 million goes to Sherwin-Williams to develop this product, and they, in fact, develop it, will the…

If I may inquire further, Mr. Chairman, you said you are sure the military, so you are not aware if, in fact, the military has asked for this kind of technology? I guess the answer to that is no. The next question I would have is what…

this is an earmark ostensibly for a ``Paint Shield for Protecting People Against Microbial Threats'' for $2 million. Apparently this $2 million will be going to the Sherwin-Williams paint company in Cleveland, Ohio. I actually have a…

Then I am sure if the gentleman goes over every single one, he can answer the questions, what investigations, what research has been done to determine that this technology is effective and is worth $2 million of taxpayers' funds? If you…

What evidence of that is there, if I may ask? What do the taxpayers get for this $2 million as evidence of their ownership of this product or technology?

in listening to all this discussion, I have to think that the taxpayers of America have to wonder what's going on here, that in this bill there has been a proposal to say, well, we'll let these government agencies spend 100 cents on the…

you know, I don't disagree, and I'm not in a position to disagree with anything about this school said by either the lady from Nevada or the gentleman from Nevada. Again, let me reiterate, that is not my point. My point is that there are…

I stand here as a member of this fringe that is happy to associate with the 83 percent of Americans who think this Congress is doing a poor job. We have got a lot of talk about cuts, but there is one thing that's clear. There is an…

first of all, I am happy to stand up here and identify myself with, as the majority party says, ``the fringe.'' You know, you may have noticed recently that the approval ratings for this Congress are not very good. In fact, I think the…

If you already established it as a cut below last year's level, then yes, it is. But I would ask the gentleman that, is the gentleman proposing to increase the deficit, which, with this amendment, the deficit would go down and taxpayers…

Thank you. You know, the question before us is $11.8 million, as I mentioned to you before, is a cut from $12.5 million. So the question I would ask you back is, well, why is it not $12.5 million?

And so, you don't agree with me, or see any problem with us, as Members, sending taxpayer funds in the creation of things named after ourselves while we're still here?

I guess that means that you have proposed a cut in that program if it's already below where it was. So I guess you had proposed a cut in that program. So I would ask you, I guess, if you cut that program, you must have some reason that you…

we already had a debate and discussion about whether there should be earmarks and whether there should not be earmarks. And let me just say that as much as I think there are many inappropriate earmarks, I don't think there have to be no…

We drafted it with that intention, and it is my intention and expectation that it does.

It seems that quite often on this floor, particularly on the other side of the aisle, that we measure how much we care about something by how much money we spend on it. If that was the measure of everything, Paris Hilton would be the most…

This House can do better than this earmark process. We can do better than what is going on. Their earmarks have led to some of our colleagues who are now in jail. It has led to other problems with other colleagues. Let's reform it or get…

I will just say that the certification actually says the funding will be used for the establishment of a center. Perhaps that is in error.

we did fight hard for this transparency, and I am glad we have this transparency. But the reason we have it is not simply to rubber-stamp every earmark that the Chairs of committees decide in their judgment to put in. Let me quote again…

I want to make clear, I hate the earmarking process. I absolutely detest it. And I am going to be very interested in seeing which Members vote for the amendment that I intend to attach to every appropriations bill which would call for a…