Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Massachusetts for yielding time. But, Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, I have to rise today in opposition to this rule and the underlying bill. Even though we have all had the opportunity to meet with our constituents in our districts over the past 6 weeks, it's clear that the ruling Democratic elite still do not seem to get it. My constituents in North Carolina want the Federal Government to stop spending, but this bill authorizes an additional $5 billion for two new government-funded energy efficiency loan programs. Mr. Speaker, the so-called stimulus in 2009 included over 8 billion in taxpayer dollars that were supposedly meant for energy efficiency in homes. At the time, the ruling Democrats boasted that it authorized $4.7 billion for the Department of Energy to issue grants for a home weatherization program. However, though it was touted as another shovel-ready program, the Department of Energy has used less than 10 percent of those funds in the program's first year; just over 30,000 homes were weatherized instead of the hundreds of thousands promised. If the Department of Energy can't implement the $4.7 billion program in the stimulus, why should we authorize another $5 billion loan program? We have not seen any evidence of these programs working or being implemented correctly. Mr. Speaker, apparently the $8 billion in stimulus spending was not enough.…”