Joe Cunningham

Well, I am on the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on National Security, and my two passions are national security and education, and I am trying to get on that committee in Appropriations so I can support the authorizors.

they demagogue and say it is a cut. A classic example: Last year the President's direct lending program cost $3 billion to administer, another $4 billion to collect. GAO study. That was when it was capped at 10 percent.

we are trying to get 90 percent of this dollar down to the Zip Code to where parents, teachers, local administrators, and the community, and I would say family as well, because there are grandparents that want to invest in their children.

if we take this dollar and we only have half of it--and I carried this dollar for 40 years because of a lesson that my father taught me, I am not going to get into that today. But if we take half of this dollar and leave it here in…

I would think it would be fair to look and say which of the 14 are good? Can we take one or two, get rid of all the bureaucracies, all the pay for all of those staffs and all of those buildings and focus and say, that is wasted money? Let…

if I could just finish one thought on it on how we are wasting money for education. That was at 10 percent. When the government shut down the President said he wanted 100 percent of student loans to come out of the government. He wanted…

Not specifically on this issue. You can see on education, when we had the hearings in the 104th, we had eight of them, and the main concern from industry, small business, unions and major business was that children coming out of our school…

Would the gentleman agree, though, that nationally we have a system where computers are given to the schools, and they are ending up in a corner because they do not have the technology to upgrade? This is fantastic.

Think what we can do if we get 90 percent of the Federal dollars there, eliminate bureaucracy, and get private investment into our schools. That is a vision for the future of education.

Who has been patiently standing by. I don't know of my colleagues, how many of you, it is difficult to pass a school bond even on a local district. In California it takes like two-thirds to pass a proposition. It has been very difficult…

I think the gentleman's crossroads program is one of the most important programs we are working on in Congress.

my colleague across the way said that it is not amnesty. It allows illegals to remain in this country. That is amnesty. I do not care what semantics are, but it allows them to stay here and we are opposed to that. If you are here…

I think the diligence of the chairman, the gentleman from North Carolina [Mr. Taylor], is extraordinary, especially in the case of his medical problem, and he has fought back, and I want to thank the chairman. I would also like to thank…

we are saying that the school system, especially in Washington, DC, is in an emergency situation, that we would like to take a look at that, that it has succeeded in other places in the country. Yes, there are good teachers here. I have…

besides thanking the chairman, the gentleman from North Carolina [Mr. Taylor], there is another gentleman that should be thanked, and that is General Becton. General Becton has taken on an enormous job in saving the schools in Washington…

one of the most damning things about this body is the partisan deceit that takes place, partisan deceit for political gain. This bill allows a 35 percent error rate within a district. Yeah, can you make it up nationally. But look in the…

first of all, we need to differentiate between legal and illegal. The United States of America has more legal entrants than all the other countries put together. That is good. However, where we must draw the line is illegal immigration. It…

we have heard a lot about campaign finance reform. There are a lot of us that would like to do it and have it brought before the floor. But do we think the Democrats would include the Beck decision, where the union bosses cooperatively…

it is amazing for those that talk about the defense budget is too much, that have never served in the armed services and seen hostility or even seen the odd end of a weapon, but yet we ask our men and women to do that every single day. Too…

I voted against the bill that would have a pay increase. In our own conference when the veterans' COLA came up, I fought against my own Republican Party because they wanted to cut a veterans' COLA. Why? Veterans sign on a dotted line that…

I think if we had more debate like this, I find this very refreshing, I think we are talking to issues, we are talking about education, we are not talking politics. I would like to thank Members on both sides. In the 104th Congress, as…

There were excessive administrative costs in all areas under the administration here in Washington by the Older Americans group, of the 10 different groups. When we ask for funds, I would just like to make sure that the ranking minority…

I, like the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Saxton] and my colleague from Maryland, agree that in the best interests of the country and of the safety of the tuna dolphin that it would be good to pass and push on this bill. After all, it was…

we are today proudly returning to Americans more of their hard earned money. I am honored to help provide the people of San Diego County some long-overdue tax relief, through my enthusiastic vote for H.R. 2014. For families with children…

I agree with the gentleman partially, except that I intentionally put in the language that would allow this to happen. The only problem is that every source we have gone to has said no, it will not happen. The gentleman is correct, there…