Steve Austria

Mr. AUSTRIA

Mr. AUSTRIA. Let me just real quick, as I mentioned earlier, tell a story. I had a couple of businesses and they actually came to D.C., and this is how concerned they are. They are struggling to make payroll. One business has an opportunity to be able to expand and create new jobs but can't get the financing and credit. When you start combining, increasing taxes, when you start combining the debt that we are just continuing to increase, to try and tax and spend your way out of an economic crisis I don't believe is the right way to go. We can do better than that. I think when the American people spoke this last election last November and they wanted change, this is not the type of change they want. They didn't want to see government just continue to increase and a huge infusion of tax dollars and expanding government. What they wanted to see was real economic stimulus, a plan that will create and save jobs and sustain those jobs over the long term. Again, I believe our small businesses are the backbone that makes that happen. There are families out there that need relief. They need the permanent tax cut right now that we have offered on our side.

Mr. AUSTRIA

Mr. AUSTRIA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Officer Jason D. Via, who was named the 2008 Springfield Police Patrolman's Association Patrolman of the Year. Officer Jason D. Via began his career with the Springfield Police Division on November 17, 2003. After completing his recruit training, he was assigned to the uniform patrol, where he continues to serve today. He is an extremely dependable, well respected officer who is a person his fellow officers and citizens can rely upon. Jason was nominated for the Patrolman of the Year Award for 2008 because of these exceptional traits. During 2008, Officer Via was selected to participate in the Safe Streets Task Force with three other officers. During his service in the Task Force, he took a subject who was arrested for trying to solicit another officer and turned this person into a confidential informant. Using this information, he was able to make several arrests of street- level drug dealers. From these arrests, he was able to ``flip'' some of them and arrest several suppliers. Upon making his last arrest, he seized over seven ounces of crack cocaine, as well as at least $5,000 in cash. Due to his diligence and hard work, approximately nine mid-level dealers and suppliers were arrested, making our streets safer. For these reasons Officer Via deserves our gratitude and special thanks.