On the recordApril 12, 2011
It is a great honor to be here on the floor of the House of Representatives talking to the American people about one of the most critical things that this body does, and that is to decide how much money we ask our citizens to contribute to the government and how that money is going to be spent. I didn't come here intending to respond to the gentleman who spoke before me, but he cast in one respect the whole debate over our budget very well when we had Mr. Broun's four-way test. The first thing that Mr. Broun listed was: Is it right/moral? And I agree with him because when we debate the budget of the United States, when we debate how we are going to spend the taxpayers' money, the first question we should ask is: Is it right, and is it moral? The converse is if we don't spend something, is it wrong and is it immoral. Today, I had the great honor of visiting Walter Reed Hospital. I got to speak with several of our extremely brave, courageous soldiers who have been injured in battle. And one young man who lost both legs, one just above the knee and one all of the way to his pelvis, and lost a little bit of finger on one hand was on what can only be described as bionic legs which he said are extremely good, the technology is extremely advanced; but they still don't help him walk. He talked to us for a long time about what he had been through, the progress he had made, and what he hoped to achieve with technology.…
