Tom Rice

We are giving billions in tax credits to individuals who are not authorized to work in our country.

the president has this attack on oil and gas companies which already pay the highest effective tax rate in the country at 41 percent versus what most companies pay at 26 percent.

we have spent $19 trillion, but we have got more people in poverty than ever before under our current economic policies.

How does it help them to produce more products at a lower cost?

So how do higher taxes generate this economic opportunity?

I do not think that is the right way to look at debt.

So when listeners hear you say 'balance,' they need to think tax increase, because that is what we are talking about.

When I say 'balance,' I mean the revenue should be equal to the expenses, or expenses should be less.

The government ought to be more accountable. It ought to be more effective. It ought to be efficient.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm honored to serve on the House Budget Committee. I'm honored to advocate on behalf of this budget. There's one thing for sure: we can't keep going the way we are. If you look around the world, if you look at…

I agree with the comments that Mr. DeFazio had earlier that we are being left behind in the world.

OK. All right. You say current receipts on the Highway Trust Fund cover about 60 percent of current funding levels.

I think we have to invest in our infrastructure because American competitiveness, American business, middle-class jobs, and our entire economy are at stake.

I believe we are our own worst enemy. I think with overregulation and the cost and the delay that results that we prevent ourselves from being competitive.

I believe that highway funding is incredibly critical infrastructure. Funding is incredibly critical.

We must always ensure that our military's readiness is not compromised by an inability in Washington to properly set spending priorities.

It's not the time to retreat and stop investing in American innovation. We need to maintain a competitive advantage now more than ever.

I urge the leadership of this Committee to craft a budget that replaces these mindless, across the board cuts with a responsible and balanced alternative.

Studies have been done--29,000 jobs, 21 percent annual return on investment to construct that road.

I may disagree with you there, there are a few I might like to get rid of.

my priority has always been jobs. And my name plate on my desk says jobs, jobs, jobs.

We have got two major infrastructure projects in my district.

Thousands of potential jobs, no Federal dollars involved.

spending money on meritorious infrastructure is not really an expense but an investment that pays returns.

I come from a background of local government, county commissioner, and recognized early on that if our county was going to attract jobs, that we had to be competitive.