The Public Record
I know if I was in a cockpit of an airplane, I would want to be armed as protection because that guy is going to cut my throat and I want to be able to defend not only myself but the pilots in the back, and I do not need a pilot program.
Mr. Chairman, if the DeFazio amendment fails, I am going to offer an amendment to put it at 25 percent. I will not do that if that passes. I cannot imagine it not passing, because the public has spoken, the airline pilots have spoken, and…
Mr. Chairman, I support not only the underlying bill but the DeFazio-Thune amendment, and let me tell my colleagues why. I spoke a little bit on the bill itself. Two percent is a good step, and I commend the chairman and the ranking…
What we resent on this side, and they know the gamesmanship when they had the majority, but the inferences that Republicans do not care about our families is wrong. We do. I would give my life for my family. And I would not give a dime to…
George Washington was quoted as saying, ``An atheist is a person with no invisible means of support,'' and I think that that person that brought this lawsuit forward, I do not think, I know, he has got the right to feel like he does; but…
I would tell you, I am a veteran, the gentleman that just spoke is not, and I would say that the gentleman's party over there in 1993 talked about decreasing the tax for the middle class. They could not help themselves. When they…
I have a family in San Diego. They are not in my district. I called him a Hispanic American and he corrected me and said, ``I'm a Mexican American, Congressman.'' That gentleman has since passed away. When he immigrated to California over…
I grew up in Missouri, and many of the folks who pass away, they try to pass down their farms, and they have to sell off the farm that they have had in their family for 200 years because they cannot afford to pay the taxes on it, up to 55…
I support first amendment rights. There are certain limitations in which I think we all agree. I just sat through a Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing, which I am very limited in what I can say about the memo that was…
Today we are being asked to vote for a campaign finance reform bill. And, like most in this body, I see that we are currently at a place where special interest money is threatening our democracy. Votes should not and cannot be influenced…
my colleagues on this side of the aisle are not evil. Matter of fact, I spoke to the gentleman from New York's (Mr. Rangel) staffer just yesterday. He informed me that only about 9 percent of the population that he represents own their own…
My point is, why are we here in this position? Why are we here today asking for more and more money? Eight years of the Clinton administration and 124 deployments has nearly devastated our military. The cruise missiles, we do not have JDAM…
I think that is exactly what I said. But the reason we got here is because 124 deployments in the last years of the Clinton administration have nearly destroyed our military, and we cannot bail ourselves out of it.
Mr. Speaker, both sides had problems with the election. I think the number one thing that upset me was the dispatchment of hundreds of lawyers trying to disenfranchise our military from voting based on technicalities. I am also glad that…
I volunteered to stay on this committee because I think, of all the areas in which Congress can improve, it is in Washington, D.C., our Nation's Capital. We have made great strides, and Mr. Speaker, the chairmen have made great strides…
I do not plan on taking the full 5 minutes. But we have just gotten through with the defense bill and the Select Committee on Intelligence has just passed its conference report, and our Nation is at war, and above the regular amount the…
the Subcommittee on Defense and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is the absolute best committee, I think, to serve on in this House. When we go to our meetings, we do not know the difference between Republican or Democrat…
I thank and I take the gentleman's words from California (Mr. Thomas) as a friend and I take his word as gospel. But I will say if the problem cannot be worked out, my friends from American Samoa, from Puerto Rico and from California, we…
The reason is the U.S. must continue to exempt canned tuna or they will destroy domestic processing and the entire fishing industry not only in California but Samoa, Puerto Rico, and other places. I have been working with my good friend…
I came on this committee thinking I was going to show them something. They have taught me. It is a bipartisan committee. It works very, very well; and I would like to thank the gentleman from Florida (Chairman Goss) and the gentlewoman…
8 years ago I was put on the Subcommittee on the District of Columbia, and I am still on the Subcommittee on the District of Columbia, because I volunteered to stay there. This was during the time of Marion Berry, and I thought what better…
the defense bill has been neglected for a long period of time, not necessarily by appropriations or even authorization, but by the utilization of our Armed Forces without replenishing those forces. It has prevented modernization in many…
September 11, 2001 will long stand as one of the darkest days in U.S. history. But in the aftermath of those heinous attacks on our nation, the world has seen us in what may well be our finest hours. With each passing hour after of the…
the gentleman on the other side cannot hide the truth. Associated health care plans, if you have a union or large business that has maybe 3,000 or 4,000 employees, they can go to a health care organization and negotiate lower rates because…
I would like to laud my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Veterans issues are very important. Both sides of the aisle support this bill very well. But every once in a while we have got people that just cannot stop themselves from…
Politicians like Joe Cunningham
