I thank the chair. And something that you said, Dr. Lynch, intrigued me.

If I can, Mr. Ambassador, that is already sort of a consequence of the failure of the government.

Those are all good metrics for our inputs, but what about the output?

I support the substitute amendment, and I oppose the underlying bill. I think my Democratic friends actually have it all wrong about this bill. I could be mistaken, but I think there was a drafting error in this legislation. When…

It puzzles one why Congress wouldn't seize on that opportunity as one measure to put a real dent in the debt without having to create weeping and gnashing of teeth.

This would be a big dent in the debt if we simply put the resources into IRS to collect the money that is owed.

That is what the tax gap is, correct?

According to one study, the percentage of income paid in taxes for the top one-tenth of 1 percent of taxpayers in that top bracket has declined from 70 percent to 40 percent.

Would you agree if those numbers are accurate, that would suggest that the de facto income tax in this Country is becoming more regressive, not more progressive?

We are making incredible and, in my opinion, sometimes egregious policy decisions that are going to do real damage to the United States of America.

Budgets are about values and require elected decisionmakers to balance the needs of our constituents with fiscal responsibility. The Republican Ryan budget this Chamber deemed adopted yesterday is in no way a reflection of the American…

I have to say to you, Ms. Olson, the numbers available to me are quite clear. They are not ambiguous.

Perhaps making a Devil's advocate argument about it, though, the idea of 'Why would we negotiate with or be engaged with a criminal regime?'

Should the Congress of the United States not read into that a resolve to end cooperation?

So while one can understand the concerns raised by my colleague, and I share them, on the other hand the idea of 'let us not engage, let us in fact have a policy of implacable hostility,' has consequences.

Your committee's annual work on the NDAA is a model of bipartisan inclusivity. We should strive to follow that more often in Congress.

This isn't an opportunity for partisan exploitation. This is an opportunity for the Oversight and Government Reform Committee to look at an agency where something went dreadfully wrong.

On April 12, Pakistan's Parliament unanimously demanded the end of all U.S. drone strikes in Pakistani territory.

I thank my friend from West Virginia. Madam Speaker, America's commuters and businesses want us to speed up transportation improvements. However, the House Republicans have offered only a speed bump. We face a transportation crisis, with…

I will commend President Bush for the work that he did on global AIDS.

It is an insult to the African Union and to every African that in 2012 a building as symbolic as the AU headquarters is designed, built, and maintained by a foreign country.

This should be a symbol of Africans pulling themselves up, but instead it looks like China is doing it for us.

Budgets are about values. The budget we are about to debate today, the Republican budget, does not reflect American values. It is a budget for the survival of the fittest. It cuts the highest tax bracket from 35 percent to 25 percent…

As the House votes on the budget this week, I remind my colleagues that a budget represents our values. Sadly, tragically, this Republican budget seems to value only cruel Darwinism debasing the American society as we know it to survival…

I would hope that the Obama administration would be able to dedicate more time to dealing with Africa.