Paul Broun

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, my amendment zeroes out the HIV research RDT&E funding under the Department of Army, moving $22.7 million to the spending reduction account. Again, here we see research being conducted by a military that does not focus on the core mission of national security. HIV research is being conducted in my home State of Georgia at the Centers for Disease Control, as well as at the National Institutes of Health. It is this type of duplication the American people have demanded that Congress eliminate. This may mean agencies and departments coordinating more effectively to share information, but we must all work together, more sufficiently in the name of reduced spending. I urge support of this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, my amendment eliminates the environmental protection research under the Department of the Navy, sending $21.7 million to the spending reduction account. Again, we see research being conducted that is not directly related to the Armed Forces' mission, which could and should be conducted elsewhere. Currently, the Department of Energy, EPA, Department of the Interior, and NASA are all conducting similar environmental protection research like the Department of Defense. This is yet another example of duplicative programs conducting duplicative research. Instead, let's free up the Navy to research technologies that fulfill their constitutional obligation of providing for the common defense of our Nation and its citizens, while decreasing unnecessary spending. I urge support of this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I appreciate the gentleman yielding. Actually, this just cuts the money, 10 percent, out of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. It doesn't go into cutting Special Ops or other funds that the gentleman from Washington, my good friend, Mr. Dicks, was talking about. It just cuts 10 percent out of the Secretary's operating budget. I just wanted to clear that up. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Would the gentleman yield?

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, my amendment would reduce the operating budget of the Office of the Defense Secretary by 10 percent, moving roughly $217 million to the spending reduction account. I have spent a considerable amount of time here on the floor of the House during this appropriations process working hard to find spending cuts across every level of the Federal Government and across nearly every agency. The Office of the Secretary has roughly $2.1 billion included in this bill for its operation for this fiscal year, which is four times the combined operating budget of the Secretaries in our three previous fiscal year 12 appropriations bills. I understand the challenges that the Secretary of Defense faces on a daily basis and the enormity of the department he is tasked with overseeing, but even the Department of Defense must do its part to reduce the deficit. I urge support of this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I am a physician, and I represent Fort Gordon, Georgia. We have a tremendous amount of soldiers as well as vets from the Vietnam area with post-traumatic stress disorder. I am also in the Navy reserve. I was seeing patients earlier today, and I saw a lady who was a sailor, who was an intelligence sailor in Afghanistan. She is suffering from PTSD and all the problems associated with that. At Fort Gordon, Georgia, we are trying to expand the facilities there to treat PTSD, to do the research and development--that's a teaching hospital as well as a hospital that cares for soldiers. So I applaud my friend from Houston's amendment here. It is certainly an extremely important issue that we are going to face. We are going to face this issue for the next five, six, seven decades as a Nation. We cannot put as much emphasis as this issue is going to demand over the next few decades even. So it's actually an extremely important amendment. I congratulate Ms. Jackson Lee on this amendment, and I rise in support of the amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. This amendment eliminates both the Environmental Quality Technology Research account and the management support set to accompany that research under the Department of Army, sending $25.7 million to the spending reduction account. Much of the research conducted by the Army is of merit and deserves the funding provided. Without some of these research programs, we would not have many of the technologies that protect our servicemembers and make them more effective soldiers. However, I do not see the need for the Army to conduct research on technologies pertaining to environmental quality. This type of research would be best conducted in the university or in the private sector. Asking the Army to research something that does not directly coincide with their direct mission is imprudent, and these funds would be better used in reducing the burden of debt on our Nation. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Speaker, today we asked President Obama, through his virtual town hall, why he won't support the energy bills that have been passed in this House. We also asked President Obama why his administration is keeping American offshore energy resources off- limits. An example of those bills that were passed by this House are three that came out of the Natural Resources Committee that would have created 1.2 million jobs. President Obama won't support those. The sad truth is that we already know the answers to these questions, because the administration has made it clear that they want to export American jobs and invest in other countries' resources rather than developing our own. Republicans want to help our economy by creating jobs and creating energy independence, but liberals in Congress are standing in the way. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to consider all the good Republican energy bills would do for jobs, our economy, and our gas tanks. It is imperative that the Senate signs these bills and the President signs them into law.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, my constituents know that Washington could learn a lot from using just some good old-fashioned Georgia common sense. I want to tell you a quick story. Earlier this month after one of my town hall meetings, a mayor from a small town in my district came up to tell me about the hard times that her city has been dealing with recently. Unemployment has shot through the roof, and many businesses in Hoschton, Georgia, have been forced to downsize or shut down completely. The mayor told me about how tough times have also required her to make some bold choices about Hoschton's budget. Ultimately in efforts to keep the town afloat, she ended up slashing their budget by a whopping 67 percent. The mayor said to me, ``Everything has to be put on the table. Nothing can be impossible to cut.'' My liberal Democrat colleagues need to take note. It's long past time for the Obama administration to stop spending money like there's no tomorrow. There is a tomorrow, even though right now, with over 9 percent unemployment, that tomorrow is looking pretty bleak. America's runaway spending has gotten so far out of control that it's hard get a grasp on the amount of debt our Nation is in or how long it will take us to repay the almost $14\1/2\ trillion that we have borrowed. Americans don't want excuses anymore; they want solutions. They want less spending and more jobs. They want burdensome regulations removed from the backs of small businesses who can put so many more people back to work. They want more free choice and less big government when it comes to their day-to-day lives. Washington needs to follow the lead of small cities, small businesses, and families who are tightening their belts all across this country. That small Georgia town in my district that cut 67 percent of their budget to deal with their financial crisis ought to be a model and a blueprint for the Obama administration and for Congress.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I yield to my good friend, the gentlewoman from North Carolina, Virginia Foxx.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer my amendment which would cut $175 million in FY 2012 by eliminating the Foreign Agricultural Service. This is a corporate welfare program that essentially gives handouts to private businesses that don't need taxpayer dollars in order to grow their profits. It is essential that we make significant cuts to our budget this year and focus on reducing our deficit and tackle our debt. This is an unnecessary program and a waste of money that we could use to reduce this fiscal burden. I understand the position that my dear friend from Georgia is in. It is true that the Ryan budget is the only budget to pass either House. I supported the Ryan budget, and I supported the Republican Study Committee budget, which would have reduced even more money from this bill. Regardless of how one voted on a particular budget, we all have an obligation to move the debate in a direction that calls for more serious spending cuts. It is critical for the economic future of our Nation. It is critical for our children and our grandchildren. It is critical in creating new jobs and having a stronger economy here in America. So I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Well, maybe they could ride share. That would be a good way to save taxpayer dollars also.