Phil Gingrey: “But I rise, Mr. Speaker, in strong opposition to the underlying legislation, H.R. 1361, the RECOVER Act. This…”

“But I rise, Mr. Speaker, in strong opposition to the underlying legislation, H.R. 1361, the RECOVER Act. This legislation is bad fiscal policy. It increases the cost to America's taxpayers of providing disaster assistance, while increasing the probability that the Federal Government will lose money to default losses. It was Huey Long, the long-time Governor and Senator from Louisiana, the gulf coast, the Kingfish, as he was known, who said, ``I can frighten or buy 99 out of every 100 men.'' Mr. Speaker, I am not suggesting that my Democratic colleagues are trying to buy votes with this bill. But I do know that we need to closely examine the money our government spends to ensure that it is spent responsibly. We have worked hard to fund the redevelopment of the gulf coast, committing more than $110 billion of Federal resources.…”