On the recordDecember 23, 2022
I appreciate the gentleman from Pennsylvania yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, today America faces the Congress as we debate--yes, debate--just days before Christmas, this spending that will take place next year. In the 20 years I spent on the Rules Committee, I do know that the staff and the members do hard work, and I respect them for that. But the differences between our parties appear at the Rules Committee. For 8 years, Republicans--6 of those years with me as chairman of the Rules Committee--held government spending completely flat, discretionary spending. And yet we see what is happening now is a good bit of that discretionary spending they are moving to mandatory spending--mandatory spending that will put a burden on the taxpayer of this country--not just 4,100 pages, not just $1.7 trillion, but actually empowering government to intrude into the lives of American citizens. Over $20 billion will be given to the IRS over this next year. {time} 1115 The Federal Government under President Biden does not even have government employees reporting to work. They stay at home. Yet, we add 87,000 new IRS employees. Mr. Speaker, what we have today is the difference on the priorities, I think, of the American people, people who want to have jobs and careers, people who want to be safe in their own homes. An open border with this President and the Democratic Party is openly assisting illegal immigration into this country with literally an unlimited amount of money.…
