The Public Record
Tom Coburn is a former U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, serving from 2005 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Coburn was known for his fiscal conservatism and advocacy for government transparency. He was a practicing physician before entering politics, which influenced his views on healthcare and government spending. Throughout his tenure, he was a vocal critic of wasteful government expenditures and often called for reforms to improve accountability in Congress.
That is an important point that the President has never mentioned. No matter what the surpluses are in the future, no matter how great they are, saving all Social Security money for Social Security plus all the rest of it will never save…
Let me add one other thing. The Social Security System, as designed, was a good system. We had a lot of people working to pay for very few people getting benefits. ... So now we have two problems: We have, one, the population shift with…
The actual rate of return, real dollar rate of return on one's money that one puts into Social Security over the last 30 years has been less than 1 percent per year. It has been six-tenths of 1 percent. Well, one could loan the money to…
I would just add one other thing. Somebody may think that I am one of those extreme conservative radicals. A father, a grandfather, I deliver babies on the weekend still. I love children. But I also know if they do not have guidance and if…
One key point. We heard that the Republicans had not done anything for municipal bond funding for schools. The President vetoed a tax cut for schools in terms of their ability to float bond issues. He vetoed it from his own desk. So to…
I would just say that I agree with the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Minge), that there should not be the first tax cut until we have secured our children and the seniors in this country and what has been promised to them. But there also…
I would just summarize by saying that we should recognize what corporate welfare is. Everybody talks that word. Everybody says it. But now it is time to vote. It is time to take the money away from the richest corporations in this country…
I probably do not have an explanation other than to say that there are no clean hands when it comes to soft money, not on either side.
My question would be, that may very well be true. Why are we increasing overhead 19 percent? The point is, we are disproportionately increasing overhead. Let us agree to trim the overhead down and give the money to the communities rather…
The actual numbers of people with AIDS in our country declined 6 percent this past year. That is a fact produced. It is because we are doing a good job on triple drug therapy and there are more people living with HIV that the actual number…
Yes. Under mandatory spending. It is already being spent. The money is being spent. Otherwise, we would not have had the administration in the last year. I would just ask to make one additional point. Given all that technically, we have…
First of all, they are already spending this money, so it is offset. It is already being spent.
First of all, I am not stating that a legislative waiver is necessarily the best answer. I know that may be the temptation of us as a body, and in fact we may need to do that. What I am saying is that there is a lack of available…
Yes, I am, and I still would tell him that I will vote for a priority for our veterans over the administrative overhead of HUD every day.
That is right. What we are saying is if we write that statutory language, we will continue to take administrative expenses from the mandatory side rather than from the discretionary side. That is how you have been doing it the last 7 years.
The statement that this will not eliminate any abortions is not a correct statement. The vast majority of partial birth abortions are elective abortions. Elective. That means somebody who is pregnant who does not want to be pregnant. It…
No, I did not say that. I said the partial-birth procedure is a question of infanticide. There are lots of mistakes of reproduction. Never is it necessary to use the partial-birth abortion method to solve that problem.
Let us clarify for the American public, the vast majority of all partial birth abortions that have been performed in this country have been for the elective termination of a late pregnancy, not associated with fetal malformations, not…
I just want to clarify three misstatements of fact that were just made. Number one, the ban on partial-birth abortion never puts a woman's fertility at risk. That is number one. Number two, this bill does allow in the instance of the life…
First of all, we just heard some significant misstatements of fact. These companies did not violate the law. In fact, the law was changed in the midst of them carrying out their right to carry on a business. And the fact that the…
Finally, I too believe that life begins at conception. But I know what the Supreme Court said, is they do not know when life begins. But we know life is present at 26 days. We know it. There is no doubt about it. Science has proven that by…
I would just say, to do research to take life, to do research to take life somehow does not smell right in this body; to spend our dollars. I agree, nobody wins in abortion.
I would just again reemphasize, nothing in this amendment limits any drug whose primary purpose is not an abortifacient. There is no limitation on any research of any other drug if its primary purpose is not that of an abortifacient.
I would just say that we would not want any drug, no matter what its ill-use might be, if it has a positive use to ever be denied by the FDA. We know lots of drugs today that are approved by the FDA that have tremendously, terrible side…
First of all let me say to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), I am very thankful that she is a cancer survivor. This amendment in no way whatsoever will limit any drug research. The other reason why I know that that is the…
Politicians like Tom Coburn
