I think that what we see here is a pattern that is developing with the majority party, and when they don't want to talk about something, they don't want to debate it on the floor, they want to maybe cover a few things into the bill, then…

you know that the price at the pump is what everyone is talking about. And in my district in Tennessee, moms are now spending over $100 more to fill up the tanks than they were when the Democrats took the gavel in both the House and the…

traveling through my district in west and middle Tennessee this past week, gasoline and the price at the pump are what everybody is talking about. Busy moms in Tennessee are now spending about $240 to fill the minivan up every month…

It's so interesting listening to this debate this morning. And I think that the gentleman was rattling off some bills that they have passed. The problem is they're all talk and no action. They don't do anything to get the price down at the…

Mr. Speaker, as has been discussed, this is House Concurrent Resolution 331, and I do join my colleagues in encouraging all of us, not only to support the resolution, but to be effective spokespeople for what the resolution means; that we…

Getting our hands around waste, rooting out waste, fraud and abuse is something our freshmen class when we came to Congress said we were going to be committed to. And certainly pushing forward earmarks and the issue of pork-barrel spending…

I heard from one of my constituents who said they felt like this bill was not really about rescuing homeowners, they felt like it was another attempt at wealth redistribution. They felt that the risk and the costs that are borne and should…

truckers from Tennessee are visiting me this week, many of whom are operating at a net loss because of oil and gas prices. Gas prices are at historic highs. Residents of Clarksville, Tennessee are paying $51 for a 15-gallon tank of gas…

I rise today to honor Memphis Music. This summer, my district will play host to a tradition that has evolved with the city for more than 70 years, Carnival Memphis. Every year, Carnival Memphis lifts up the best of our city and asks it to…

What they wanted to do was have a budget that was just going to keep the focus on spending and taking more out of the taxpayers' pocket. And in order to get to their number, their desired number, the $683 billion tax increase that's going…

I have two adult children, and I am going to have a grandbaby in just a few days, and it is so disappointing when you see what that child is going to be responsible for when they come on the face of this Earth. This year alone, Washington…

I want to welcome another member of the Budget Committee to our discussion this evening. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mario Diaz- Balart) was a freshman with me in 2002, and we all worked together starting the Washington Waste Watchers…

I appreciate that our majority has set up this Special Order hour and those of us in the minority have the opportunity to come to claim this time and to talk about issues that are of tremendous importance to us. Over the past few weeks…

this is an important week here as we are hearing the updated assessments from General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Under the leadership of General Petraeus, our troops in Iraq have accomplished an astonishing reversal in a…

And when you look at the fact that we are finding many more weapons caches than we were and when you look at the fact that the attacks are down and the deaths are down, you have to ask, how did this happen? And the way it has happened is…

Security on the ground, a secure and stable environment. And that is what the counterinsurgency strategy has been about, and the results that it has yielded. As we have just discussed, indeed, and as Americans know well, we had a surge…

today is a serious day on Capitol Hill. General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker have returned. They are reporting to the Nation on the progress in Iraq. Since they were last here, this is what the Iraqi Parliament has passed: A pension law…

Every once in a while, we need a wake-up call, and I think that is indeed true. And today has been a very serious day. This week is a very serious week here on Capitol Hill. And as I entered the Capitol again this evening to participate in…

Look at this chart. You can see what happened with Federal revenues in 2001, 2002. Look at what happened when we reduced taxes in 2001 and then again in 2003, and look what happened, how we took off with a growth in Federal revenues. It…

The budget that was presented is over a $3 trillion budget, and it calls for a $683 billion tax increase. And discretionary spending is increased in this budget by $280 billion. So, what I'm hearing the gentleman say, that's not enough…

And I'm about to be a grandmother. And I appreciate the gentleman from Georgia's comments about the historical data that is involved in that. And as we look at the budget, and how did this budget get to be so big? That is just so very…

In 1993, the $240.6 billion tax increase that came about in 1993 is something that people in this Nation stood up and said we are not going to stand for this. I think another one that we could add to the reading list of those who are…

Budgets are supposed to be about priorities. Budgets should reflect the priorities of a nation, and they should lay out the funding for what we think is important, where we should spend the taxpayers' money. And I think we have to stop…

that half, half, not a third, not a quarter, not a tenth, that half, 50 percent, of what we know comes from electronic surveillance. That means that all of these new forms of communication that are out there, this is what the terrorist…

There is no issue that trumps the security issue. This is something that we know to be very important. As I travel the country and as I travel my district, what I hear from people is, Why are you not taking this up? Why are you not taking…