On the recordApril 8, 2014
I thank the gentleman for yielding. My home State is Illinois. The State of Illinois, Mr. Chairman, is a delightful place. It is the ``Land of Lincoln'' and the birthplace of Ronald Reagan, but it is a fiscal basket case. From a fiscal point of view, my home State is a national punch line, because one party--the other party--has dominated State government for years. For a decade, they have had the Governor's mansion. They have got majorities in both the Illinois House and the Illinois Senate. And what has happened? It has been avoidance behavior, Mr. Chairman. An unwillingness to take on serious issues. So what did the Democrats in Springfield, Illinois, do? They raised taxes. They didn't deal with the underlying fiscal problem. And what was the net result? The budget gap didn't close, higher than average unemployment, and more per capita debt than nearly any other State in the Union on the taxpayers of Illinois. {time} 1600 All right. So what does that all that have to do with this? Springfield, Illinois, is a foreshadowing, Mr. Chairman, of what not to do. Basically, we need to look at the fiscal situation in Springfield, Illinois, and look at it like a big, big traffic signal that says, don't come here; don't go this route; don't take this pathway. Instead, go another direction.…
