I want to say that I also am introducing a bill that hopefully takes care of this problem. I think because those with low-income need this protection, because fire departments are seeing a lot of damage in those homes that have bad wiring…

Adopting this amendment is going to demonstrate the firm commitment this House has to those individuals who literally put their lives on the line. Fire fighters, first responders, lost 100 lives last year, half as many as all the law…

this week the House is considering H.R. 7, the Education Savings and School Excellence Act of 2000. For years, we have watched as our education quality has gone way below the standards set by other nations. For example, the U.S. 12th…

there are too many curiosity questions on the Census long form. Right now, on the average, one out of every six citizens of the United States that are sent the census long form are asked questions that take almost 25 minutes to fill out…

I would like to discuss for the next 4 or 5 minutes why everybody is talking about Social Security, why they are concerned that Social Security is in trouble some time in the future, why young people today think the chances of their…

Right now under the legislation as we amended it in 1983, it started at 2 percent per year increase after age 65, then it went to 4. This year it is going to 6 percent. The amendment that I have proposed would move it up to 8 percent…

I am proud to stand with members of Congress who have introduced bills that advocate comprehensive reform of Social Security. We understand the immensity of the challenge facing the country as baby boomers retire, how demographics result…

Especially if you exercise and you live longer than the average, then you of course are going to get more than your money back. So everybody should exercise, all seniors should contribute to the workforce and contribute their talents, now…

It is so interesting. I chaired the Social Security task force. The futurists for health care are suggesting that within 25 years, anybody that wants to live to be 100 years old would have that option. Within 35 to 40 years, anybody that…

There are a lot of parents of this bill. The gentleman from Texas is one of those parents. This is something that has been in the works with bills introduced for the last 15 or 16 years trying to correct an injustice. It is interesting it…

first, I would thank the gentleman from Wisconsin (Chairman Sensenbrenner) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall), who have done such great service to further the efforts of science and research in this country. I would also compliment…

early this morning the Steve Forbes campaign called me and said that Steve Forbes' wife flew into Michigan late last night; and sometime between 12 p.m. and 5 a.m. this morning, the family made its decision that he would be withdrawing…

I bring this chart because I think if we do nothing else, we should be up front, very honest. We should not continue to hoodwink the American people in talking about reducing the debt of this country. I bring this chart, the total debt of…

I would like to talk a minute about the challenge facing this Congress as we develop next years new budget. Part of the question is, are we really going to pay down the debt, and do we really have a balanced budget. The answer is no on…

I would like to talk, Mr. Speaker, about what is happening with our national debt. The public debt of the United States that technically every citizen now or our kids and our grandkids eventually are going to have to pay off. Mr. Speaker…

Mr. Speaker, this is a modified, open rule. It is a good rule. It allows us to discuss federal agricultural policy as we deal with dramatic changes in agriculture. Last February, I served on the Committee on the Budget as well as the…

Mr. Chairman, it was simply a mistake. They made a mistake on the crop insurance. They put the wrong price down. And who ended up suffering, of course, is our farmers that bought that insurance with the mistake incorporated in that…

Mr. Chairman, American agriculture is in a very serious situation right now. While the rest of the economy is experiencing strong profits and strong employment and good income, farmers are at the lowest level of net profits that they have…

following up on the previous speaker, I would just like to suggest that since this administration took office, the public debt has increased $1.5 trillion, but that is not just the President; that is Congress and the President who control…

let's concentrate on constituent interests, not special interests. As the great political reporter Theodore White wrote, ``the flood of money that gushes into politics today is a pollution of democracy.'' I haven't accepted PAC…

the budget resolution, the authorization bill, H.R. 1550, and the FEMA director, James Lee Witt, all suggested that a $5 million appropriation to the Fire Administration be authorized in order to implement certain changes in the Fire…

I think I have exciting news, regarding what we have accomplished in our Social Security Task Force. Our bipartisan Task Force has been working on Social Security and the possibility of a bipartisan agreement to move a solution ahead. Last…

Staff tells me that it comes out of the NSF research that has already been cut $25 million. It does not come out of the Antarctic money.

Agriculture in this country has very serious problems. It is the second year in a row that we had low commodity prices. Profits for farmers are 30 percent below what they were just a couple of years ago. We can lose maybe 10 percent of our…

on the tax cut and on the debt reduction, we are interested in both. We developed a trigger last week when we passed our tax bill that accomplishes the assurance that we are going to pay down the debt. The Senate is putting in a provision…