David Thomas

Mr. Speaker, the previous two speakers, the gentleman from Tennessee and the gentleman from Texas, talked about the national debt and how much it has increased from 1994 to 2004, and those numbers sound scary to people. But most of that…

I find it ironic that the yellowed notes made their way down into the well in terms of, need I say, class warfare, in terms of cuts for the richest people in America and the poor working people do not get a break. If someone would actually…

I did not say what has happened to our national debt. I said ``paid down on the national debt,'' money that went to the reduction of the national debt. That was my statement. Now, let me go on and talk about his concerns and my concerns…

I am just concerned that if people are really worried about not having enough taxes, I understand you can voluntarily write a check to the Treasury and at least you will feel real good about making sure that more of your money stays in…

I actually thought that since it is under the process called reconciliation, governed by the rules of the Senate, by the way, not the House, that anything that is done under the reconciliation process by definition cannot be permanent. In…

this amendment, like the last one, ought to be verified and categorized as violating the truth-in-advertising law. This amendment has nothing to do with education. It does not mention education other than in the title. All it does is…

we believe it is legitimate and we want to move forward. All this does is do away with dividends. Therefore, we are agreeable to having an up-or-down vote.

after looking at it, it is our opinion that these numbers have nothing to do with it. It just guts the numbers and, therefore, it is not germane, and we raise the point of order.

I am glad we have begun this debate to do something that is necessary to help solve a problem we have in this country. Clearly, there will be differences in our views as to how we do this, and I guess that is no surprise. I think most all…

I believe the Federal Reserve's recent warning about the dangers of deflation is worth noting in the context of this debate. The spectre of deflation, I believe, raises the stakes in this debate over a growth and jobs plan. In fact, the…

I rise to introduce the ``No-Net-Loss of Private Lands Act.'' This legislation is a common sense proposal which will limit additional Federal land acquisition in the public land States. Throughout our country, the Federal Government…

Currently, as the gentleman may know, under the U.S. Tax Code we punish U.S. corporations for being U.S. corporations. Several provisions of our Tax Code put U.S. corporations at a disadvantage versus their international competitors. These…

I must tell you I am very pleased that that is the case. We have worked very long and hard to develop an energy policy to bring it again this year before the Senate. As you recall, we had one last year. It went into conference and we were…

Funds derived from the sale of rough diamonds are being used by rebels and state actors to finance military activities, overthrow legitimate governments, subvert international efforts to promote peace and stability, and commit horrifying…

I take a moment to talk about at least one of the pending matters. Certainly our focus is, and should be, on what is happening in Iraq, supporting our troops, so we can support whatever needs to be done now as this war, hopefully, comes to…

I am a firm believer that no bill should pass this House until it is ready. I am prepared to tell the House this bill is more than ready. It passed twice last year, and the Senate failed to act. As recently as March 20 of this year, the…

If the Senate bill were not flawed in several different ways, the suggestion the gentleman makes would be acceptable. I think it is evidence that even the Senate recognizes some fundamental problems when they are willing to accept a bill…

I would like to continue to talk a bit about the most important item before us, the issue most of us have on our minds, and that is our forces in Iraq, the efforts that are being made there and the reasons for those efforts. Certainly, at…

I can tell my colleagues right now that in California, no serious and responsible professional teacher would think that their 20 or 25 years devoted to the classroom should be capped off by scurrying to another school district where there…

In other words, Mr. Speaker, this is an attempt to create a lockbox to preserve Social Security. And then, no matter how much the gentleman may not like the explanation, when we read the black letter language, what it says is that instead…

more than anything else, we all are thinking about the conflicts that are going on in Iraq and about our men and women who are fighting there. Of course, we have to continue to do what we have to do. Our lives go forward. We think about it…

This particular provision is called the Armed Forces Tax Fairness Act of 2003, and a couple of examples, I think, will make it quite obvious as to why it is the tax fairness part of the title that we should focus on. As we now know for…

I will talk a moment about an issue that has been important to Wyoming and to the entire country. As in many cases, the things we do here and the national laws we pass have different effects in different places. Wyoming, being a rather…

As cochairman of the Rural Health Caucus in the Senate, we have been working for a very long time and will continue to work for equity payments between urban and rural areas. In this instance, in-home health care costs are often higher in…

again I hope we find ourselves in a position to move forward. I don't think there is a soul here who would not admit we have talked enough about this judicial nomination. I don't think there is a soul here who would deny we have all made…