Charles W. Stenholm

I rise in support of H.R. 5, of which I am an original cosponsor. I cosponsored this bill because I believe that it will help ensure the availability of vital health services for patients in this country. Listening to the debate today, the…

this week the Blue Dog Coalition expressed our deep concern over the announcement that the Federal Government had reached the debt limit just 9 months after increasing it by $450 billion. The Federal Government hitting the debt limit so…

I rise in opposition to this tax and spend bill before us today. This bill will force States to increase taxes to pay for the increased spending necessary to meet the costs of the bill's unfunded mandates. The Republican bill would impose…

just a few days ago the President stood in where the Clerk of the House stands and told the Nation that we will not pass along our problems to other Congresses, other Presidents and other generations. I stood and applauded that statement…

a year ago the Blue Dogs warned about the danger of making long-term commitments for tax cuts or new spending programs. We were concerned that the projections were based on unrealistic assumptions and that the projected surpluses could…

I know the chairman of the committee did not intend to misspeak, because much of what he said I totally agree with. That is, it is not the Committee on Appropriations that has in fact got us to this point of impasse, but it is the…

we are really living under the budget that passed the majority in the House. We are really living under this budget. What has it given us? We have borrowed $400 billion over the last 12 months, enforcing the budget that passed the House…

often when we Members come to the House floor to make our arguments about public policy, our rhetoric differs significantly because we have sharply different visions. Our policies are aimed towards different goals and priorities, and those…

But I take this to the floor today to notice that the Blue Dog Democrats and I believe a large number of my other colleagues on this side are going to insist that when we get into a CR that takes us into a lame duck session or a CR that…

it is amazing how we can rewrite history on the floor of the House, On the economy and the actions of this body that took place from 1990 until this year. Let me quickly review. The 1990 budget took Democratic support along with Republican…

We are here tonight not for fingerpointing, but in an offer to work in a bipartisan way for a solution. We offered ours last year in the budget debates and we were turned down. That is perfectly the prerogative of this body. The majority…

I want to continue on the general thesis of the concern that many of us have on this side of the aisle, that we seemingly have forgotten about budgets and balanced budgets and we seem to not be willing to talk about the deficits that are…

But if I understand the gentleman from California correctly, this provides for a clean increase of $450 billion in the debt ceiling, so all who vote for this are voting to borrow an additional $450 billion clean. It is not going to be…

I misspoke. But if Members on this side would have an amendment of which we believe would be a better way to proceed regarding increasing the debt limit, which many of us are prepared to give the President what he has asked for as a clean…

With all due respect, I understand why you are doing what you are doing. I continue to be extremely disappointed in the lack of consideration for minority views in this body. The last time I got into this exchange, I was reminded that at…

I like the spirit of optimism that my friend, the gentleman from Texas, has taken. I would encourage him to look at the letter that a large number of Democrats have sent to the Speaker offering a considerable number of votes for a clean…

I ask my friend, the gentleman from Texas, for clarification to see if I understood what I think I heard him say, that he meant to say regarding the debt ceiling: that we do have a crisis that has been ascertained by the Secretary of the…

I think making tax cuts or spending increases permanent is not fiscally responsible.

I would just ask the chairman respectfully if the criticism that you just made of the Matsui amendment would not be equally applied to your bill on the floor, because it is the same language? Now, as far as the word ``raid'' is concerned…

Mr. Stenholm moves to recommit the bill H.R. 2143 to the Committee on Ways and Means with instructions to report the same back to the House forthwith with the following amendment: At the end of the bill, add the following new section: SEC…

I want the children of small business men and women to be able to inherit the family business that their parents worked to build. I want the children of farmers and ranchers to be able to inherit the farms and ranches that their family has…

finally, after 16 hours of debate, we get an opportunity for a clean up-and-down vote on whether we should increase our national debt ceiling by $750 billion. This motion to recommit reaffirms our support for the President and our men and…

my friend from Texas has now three times made a very impassioned speech regarding that this is for the troops, and I want to again say, every single person over here supports our troops. In addition to that, I will say I support our…

Why can we not just for once be honest with the American people? Every single Member of this body is in favor of supporting our troops in Afghanistan. And any rhetoric notwithstanding is not being honest. Everyone that makes statements…

I want to report that our total public debt outstanding on April 30, 2002, is $5,984,677,357,213.86. That is up $323,329,559,211.21 in the last 12 months. That is up. We have borrowed a public debt of $323 billion. That is what we are here…