Tim Ryan: “The issue here is that the earmarks are a very small percentage of the Federal budget. All of these bills have been…”

“The issue here is that the earmarks are a very small percentage of the Federal budget. All of these bills have been bipartisan. If you look at all of the appropriations bills that have passed out of the House, there has been a significant number of Republicans who have joined with the Democrats to make these investments, especially Members of the Appropriations Committee that have looked at these issues very carefully to make these investments in a bipartisan way. The energy bill, of which our friends on the other side, Mr. Speaker, have derided us and it's a Democratic this and a Democratic that, 314 votes; 314 votes, which is 70 or 80 Republican Members of this body have joined with us to try to increase CAFE standards, make investments in alternative energy, make investments in the middle America and the Midwest. This is on a bipartisan basis. So it seems like those folks who come to the floor seem to be on the fringe level of the party that they're talking about these things. But I think it's important for us to talk about some of the investments that we have made here. There has been a significant shift in priorities. Now, we haven't come anywhere close to achieving what we have wanted to achieve since we have taken over. We don't have 60 votes in the Senate, and the Republicans have done a good job of blocking a lot of our legislation that we've tried to pass.”