The Public Record
3 months ago I went with the Secretary of Defense to Aviano where, as the first order of business, we were to be briefed by Brigadier General Dan Leaf, the commander of our air forces there. General Leaf was there to meet us on the runway…
I want to repeat the commendation of the last speaker to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Ryun), because he served a purpose in raising this issue to the forefront. He caused us to take what he was proposing, to consider it in depth; and…
In five conflicts since the Constitution was ratified we have declared war, first including the War of 1812, last including World War II. In the period since then we have had bombardments and blockades and occupations and conflicts of all…
our problem is not with the idea of authorization. The President legally should seek our authorization before committing ground troops, and politically he would be well advised to get it. Our problem is with the text of this resolution…
Mr. Speaker, this year we mark the 25th anniversary of the congressional budget process and there is a lot to be proud of here because the budget process has helped us get to where we are, to the best fiscal position we have been in in 25…
Mr. Speaker, this is not just a railroad. This is a high-speed train. This is one of those bullet trains. In France they call it the TGV. Yesterday, at 6 o'clock, we had our first conference meeting, if we want to call it that. It was…
Mr. Speaker, the resolution we are about to send to conference does not protect Social Security, and it does not protect Medicare. It does not extend the life of either program or assure the solvency of either by 1 day. It does not rise to…
I shudder to follow that eloquence. The gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt) and I grew up 30 miles apart. He is from Charlotte, North Carolina. I am from York, South Carolina. Not Alabama, not Mississippi, but still the segregated…
I have to say do not do it except as the last act. But I am saying to the gentleman the responsible thing, the responsible thing is not to drain the budget dry so that the resources there are not there to deal with Social Security and…
Mr. Spratt moves that the managers on the part of the House at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the Senate amendment to the concurrent resolution H. Con. Res. 68 be instructed, within the scope of the…
Mr. Speaker, we have come a long way, but we are still a long way apart. Number one, there is a major difference between our position and theirs in the two opposing budget resolutions brought to the Floor of the House 2 weeks ago. First of…
I did not interrupt the gentleman except for the single purpose of pointing out what he was about to point out himself. The gentleman very correctly recognized John Lewis as a great American hero. However, the gentleman from California was…
That is 62 percent of the unified surplus which he quotes, $1.8 trillion. One hundred percent of the Social Security surplus, which is part of it, equals $1.8 trillion. They are the same thing over a different period. Over 15 years it…
When I came here, we were paying interest on the national debt equal to about $52 billion. In the years I have been here that bill has gone up to $252 billion. Dead weight. Produces no goods and services for anybody. We have got a proposal…
Mr. Chairman, we keep having a red herring dragged across the path of this debate. The principal budgeting contention on the floor, the alternative to their budget is our budget and it commits 100 percent to Social Security, is backed up…
This rule allows just 2 hours of general debate for a budget with $1.7 trillion of spending authority. That is a travesty. Let me tell my colleagues how this kind of haste makes waste, just one way that you can mask the numbers in a debate…
I would like for him to elaborate, to explain this so-called trust box that my colleagues are proposing. It is my understanding that the basic protection is a rule of order here on the House floor. As the gentleman knows, as the chairman…
Mr. Chairman, I was trying to get the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kasich) to tell us why Function 950 of his budget resolution provides no adjustment as it is required to do to provide for the pay raise, the extra pay raise for selected pay…
Function 950 of this budget is fatally flawed. That is the best reason yet to vote against the rule.
Mr. Speaker, I brought with me a potential terrorist weapon of mass destruction delivery device. It might be classified. Close your eyes. Here it is. A briefcase like this was brought into a hearing by a biological weapons expert in the…
First of all, it allows us to realize a return on the investment of more than $50 billion that we have already sunk in ballistic missile defense. Secondly, it supports ground-based interceptors, the best candidate. They are treaty…
I have followed this issue for a long time, since chairing a panel of the Committee on Armed Services in the mid- 1980s on SDI for 4 years, and I want to put this whole matter in some context, explain to my friends who do not understand…
This is the budget resolution that the Budget Committee passed out yesterday. It provides $205 billion less than the President requested. It is essentially flat from 2004 to 2009, the very period and years when this system will be…
we should not be asked to vote on this ill-timed resolution, asked to sign a blank check for this deployment; and were it not for the consequences, I would not vote for it, certainly not in the form it comes to us. But if at this critical…
The majority argues that articles of impeachment are required by the rule of law. The rule of law starts at the source, with the Constitution and specifically Article II, Section IV. How the Congress removes a President elected by the…
Politicians like John Spratt
