Cynthia Lummis

I just find this completely inconsistent with what we were told at the time as part of the rationale for the Federal Government doing something the private sector had been doing in my State extremely well.

I thank the gentleman from Florida. Mr. Diaz-Balart has been a powerful spokesman for responsible Federal budgeting. I now once again would like to recognize my colleague from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson), who will be talking further about…

Are you aware of any manufacturer that has moved into your district from a foreign country, saying this is a better place to do business? It's more economical here? I can make a better profit here?

Are you aware of any employers in your manufacturing district that have pulled up stakes and moved their businesses elsewhere?

The chart I have to my left, the viewer's right, is exactly illustrating what the gentleman has just been discussing. If you look at the spread between spending and taxes that occurs on the far side of the dotted line, that shows you what…

What do you hear from your constituents? Do they believe that they are ready for the kind of reforms that you believe are necessary to save our country?

Is there any instance where the Federal Government has done the same thing? Has the Federal Government gone to its employees and said, We need to cut you back to 32-hour weeks so we can keep you employed, keep you on your benefits so you…

Are you aware of any circumstance since you have been in Congress where the Members of Congress in the leadership have been called to the White House to sit down and talk about how we are going to cut spending?

That $2 billion a day you just mentioned, that would only take either 3 or 4 days for the entire budget of the State of Wyoming for 2 years. That covers our whole budget. It's a stunning number. That's how much money we're talking about.

Tonight's discussion will be about bills that Members of the Republican Conference have sponsored that have not yet gotten a hearing that we still think are very good ideas for our country at this time of high debt, high deficits, and when…

When you and I and the American people want to start a business and we want to borrow money to do it, we go to a bank, and we have to present a business plan with income projections and where we are going to get the money to pay the debt…

In May of this year, we issued some Treasury bonds, and the sale was undersubscribed, which means there were not enough countries or individuals who purchased U.S. treasuries, our debt, at the price at which they are being offered, which…

But what is really frightening about that chart is, in 5 years, our debt to GDP will be at 112 percent, whereas right now Greece is 115 percent. In other words, in 5 years, we're going to be right where Greece is right now. And that…

It is the power of the purse that this Congress holds that allows us to gain control of situations like this, and that is why this discussion is so important.

Yes. Recall that President Obama, since he took office, will double the debt in 5 years, triple it in 10 years. This is absolutely unsustainable. When the Budget Committee met with Mr. Orszag, who is the director of the OMB, the Office of…

I would like to use the image of President Obama saying over and over and over to the American people, ``If you like your health insurance, you can keep it.'' And this bill does not fulfill the President's promise. ... This bill does not…

I thank the gentleman for yielding because I have questions. My questions are the same kinds of things that my constituents are asking: Are Republicans just going to be window dressing in this event? Why were we invited if the President is…

So, how can the President say, if you like your insurance you can keep it, when the fact of the matter is, if your insurance does not comply with government standards, that you will be penalized under the Internal Revenue Code for keeping…

I was on an airplane returning to Washington, D.C., today when I learned of the President's proposal; that it was not his intention to have a summit this week where members of the majority party and the minority party had an opportunity to…

I agree with Ms. Lummis that we ought to focus more on the future than in the past.

I would really like to focus more in the future with my questions.

I believe the ultimate solutions have to be on a bipartisan basis because, frankly, I don't think either political party... has the political will or even the political capability of making all the tough decisions alone.

I commend Chairman Spratt because I think deficits threaten our economic future, our children and grandchildren's future, and even the political independence of our country as we become more and more indebted to foreign nations.

If this is such a great bill, why do so many people need exemptions? Could that be part of the reason, the very simple question: If this is such a great bill, why does everybody want to be exempted from it?

I favor reducing spending, which is something that neither Republicans nor Democrats have taken seriously.