On the recordNovember 17, 2011
I thank the gentleman from Texas, Chairman Smith, for his leadership on this issue and so many others on Judiciary. Mr. Speaker, when Odysseus was returning from the Trojan War, he was passing the islands where the sirens sang. Many a sailor had succumbed to their sweet melodious sound and died. So Odysseus made his men put wax in their ears, and he made them tie him up to the mast. Against his will, he made them tie him up, and he did it because he lacked the will to restrain himself. When people take our freedom, we recoil. But when we've proven ourselves to be wholly incapable of exercising that freedom, we should give it up. Congress has proven itself to be hopelessly incapable of balancing the budget. We need to be made to do so because we cannot bring ourselves to make the hard decisions required. As my colleague and friend, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte), who's been a leader on this issue, mentioned in his remarks, six times in 50 years is laughable. You would do better than six out of 50 if you just guessed. Six out of 50 is laughable. We are incapable of balancing our own budget. And when South Carolina, Mr. Speaker--which does have a balanced budget requirement--was facing tough economic times, we had to cut public safety money to prosecutors. I had to cut and furlough employees who were making $19,000 a year. I had to furlough prosecutors who had $100,000 in student loans for 7 days.…
