Paul Broun

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to thank three members of The Bulldawg Nation who not only competed well at the 2010 U.S. Open Championship, but also represented our great state and flagship university with class. All three have displayed the fortitude and dedication that makes them great role models for young golfers today. Hudson Swafford battled back from shoulder surgery to compete in this year's Open, Erik Compton has survived two heart transplants, and Russell Henley has worked hard to receive numerous awards, including being named Golfweek's National Player of the Year after finishing No. 1 in the final Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index for 2009-2010. Henley also tied with one other player for low amateur status at the 2010 U.S. Open. I urge my colleagues to join me in commending these young men. I also hope Members of the House will turn their attention to the attached article--written by author and Bulldawg great Loran Smith--on the class they exhibited at this year's U.S. Open. Fans Love the Dawgs; Dawgs Love the Open (By Loran Smith) Pebble Beach, CA.--At the par-4 dogleg No. 8 hole at Pebble Beach, hard by the Pacific Ocean, a fan yelled out as Russell Henley passed through in the second round on Friday: ``Go Bulldogs!'' This obviously was a fan who had become attracted to the play of Henley, playing partner Erik Compton and Hudson Swafford, who was in the group behind them. If he had shouted the familiar ``Go Dawgs!'' it would not have given him away as a new Georgia fan. ``It has been amazing,'' said Compton, who missed the cut with a two round total of 158, 16 over par. ``You won't believe the number of times I heard someone shouting, `Go Dawgs!' It made me feel like I was back in Athens.'' Compton has something to do with the regard for the Bulldog contingent in that his compelling story continues to attract attention. How many times do the TV networks and the Washington Post show up to interview a guy who is 16 over par? It would only be natural that a player who has had two heart transplants would attract media attention, even when he misses the cut. That he wants to follow his dream of playing the PGA tour with his considerable challenge piques the media interest. ``Anyone going through what he has gone through makes it something special in the fact that he is here,'' said Chris Haack, his coach at Georgia. There is more to the story. ``I think Russell and Hudson (Swafford) have enjoyed themselves and have played to the crowd,'' Haack continued. ``They have made a lot of friends for the University of Georgia.'' It would be easy to spot Henley and Swafford with their Georgia golf bags and Bulldog head covers. But they were not all show. They displayed shotmaking savvy that engendered respect. ``That is the thing that I have enjoyed the most,'' Haack added. ``I think they showed the other players in the Open that they can play golf and should be joining them out here someday.'' Haack met a couple from Colorado during the first round. When he showed up on the second day they were following his guys. ``We became Georgia fans after talking to you and watching your players,'' the Colorado couple said. ``They are very nice, and it is fun to see them having such a good time and enjoying themselves.'' Early in the week, Haack was in the middle of his summer golf camp when Swofford called him and said, ``Coach you need to come out here and see this place. You just won't believe how unbelievable it is.'' Haack was torn emotionally. He wanted to be here, but he felt responsible to the kids in his camp. At first, he hesitated. ``I haven't made any arrangements,'' Haack said. ``I don't even have a place to stay.'' With that, Swofford caused Haack to rethink his plans with an invitation to room with him. Haack discussed it with his campers, fully expecting to stay in Athens if there were any expressions of disappointment. The campers told him he ought to strike out for Pebble Beach. ``I was excited about coming out here when I got the call,'' Haack said. ``The fact that two of our players are competing in the Open is special, and it doesn't happen very often. Might not ever happen again. The players arranged a player instructor pass for me which gave me access to the practice tee. I have had a great time. Who wouldn't enjoy Pebble Beach?'' In the first round, when Swafford was leading briefly at 2- under par, the text messages began streaming in. All Haack could think about was that his players had to be getting attention for a lot of recruiting prospects. ``These boys have done Georgia proud,'' he said. ``I'm grateful that they wanted me to come out and join them.'' In the background, the waves of the Pacific were crashing against the rocks along the 18th fairway and sea otters were cavorting energetically in the ocean. The Georgia contingent, enjoying themselves to the fullest, realize that there are few golf experiences to compare to the Open at Pebble Beach. For Henley, there is something extra. He now has a chance to become the low amateur by nightfall Sunday.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the accomplishments of the NCAA National Champion Augusta State University men's golf team. The Jaguars, competing in their first ever Division I National Championship, beat seven larger schools from prestigious conferences to win their first national title. In a classic ``David vs. Goliath'' battle, this year's NCAA national championship came down to the wire as Augusta State defeated 10-time champs Oklahoma State 3-1-1 in the final match of the 112th NCAA Championships at The Honors Course just outside Chattanooga, Tennessee. Led by this year's National Coach of the Year Josh Gregory, the Augusta State men's golf team has stamped its name in the record books and established what I hope becomes a dynasty. Jake Amos, Olle Bengtsson, Jacob Carlsson, Taylor Floyd, Brendan Gillins, Mitch Krywulycz, Carter Newman, Henrik Norlander, Patrick Reed, Shawn Yim, Coach Josh Gregory, students, faculty, and supporters should all be immensely proud. I congratulate them all, and I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing their success and wishing them all the best in future seasons.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Well, Lucifer rebelled against our creator, God, and was thrown out of heaven. And we're trying to fight all of those spiritual wars today because of that. But the thing is, what the progressives or radicals or socialists--whatever you want to call them--are trying to do or the proposal from people like Saul Alinsky and others is that you just totally destroy your enemy, and then you build up a socialistic society out of it. I've had person after person in my district, just working folks--not politicians, just working folks, say to me, Paul, why is President Obama trying to destroy the free enterprise system? Because that's exactly what he's doing. I hear that over and over again from lower middle class working people all the way up to small businessmen and - women who are just saying, Why are we trying to destroy the free enterprise system? Why are we creating all this debt? And the people in my district in Georgia are just seriously questioning all this huge debt. What this chart shows is the deficits for each year. That doesn't reflect the debt that's accumulated. The debt would be an exponential curve if we showed that.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. In fact, it's my understanding that we've nationalized more of our private economy in our country just since the Obama administration took over from the Bush administration--we've nationalized more of our private economy under this administration than Hugo Chavez has in Venezuela, in the whole time the Communist dictator Hugo Chavez has in his country down there in Venezuela.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Well, during the Bush administration, we had the TARP funds, the Troubled Asset Relief Program that the Bush administration promoted. It was actually through his Secretary of the Treasury, Hank Paulson, who came to us and said, The sky is falling, we had to pass a TARP or the economy would crash. I voted against that because I wasn't in favor of bailing out the incompetent Wall Street bankers for their malfeasance. I want to bail out Main Street, small businessmen and -women. I want to bail out the small community banks by getting the Federal regulatory burden off them so that they can compete in an open marketplace. I believe very firmly that the free marketplace, unencumbered by government regulation and taxes, is the best way to control quality, quantity, and costs of all goods and services, whether it's banking services or health care, in my business as a medical doctor, or selling tires and gasoline and automobile parts and appliances, like my dad did, or any other good or service. The best way to control it is through an open marketplace unencumbered by taxes and regulations. And the more taxes and regulations we put on business and industry, the higher the price goes, the quality goes down, and we have less of those things for the people who are consuming. And we're going to see that in health care.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. It is right there in the book. That is the first thing I looked at.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Well, thank you. I appreciate you yielding back. We have got about 2 more minutes left. I just wanted to add something to what you just said about being enslaved. My good friend Star Parker who, by the way, is running for Congress in California, in Los Angeles, whose welfare mom got saved. She accepted Jesus Christ as her own Lord and Savior. She started looking at her lifestyle, and she started trying to break out of that welfare state that she was in and had a great deal of difficulty. She wrote a book called ``Uncle Sam's Plantation'' where she described all that. And she's been a great voice against this government largesse--socialism, if you will, because she knows how it destroys families, it destroys communities, it destroys everything. And we are headed in a direction in this country where freedom is being taken away from the American people. The American people need to stand up and say ``no'' to the steamroller of socialism and say ``yes'' to freedom. Let's stop all this government spending. Let's stop all this bigger government and government takeover, and let's put us back on the course of the Constitution with limited government. And that's what the Tea Party movement is all about. I yield back.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. That's what I understand. In fact, he dedicated the book ``Rules for Radicals'' to the first great radical, Lucifer.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Passing a budget.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Before you take that down, if the gentleman would yield.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Akin, you're exactly right. The American people get it, though. The administration doesn't. That's the problem. In fact, whether it's the oil spill and the disaster that's going on there and their disastrous response to that or forcing ObamaCare through against the will of the American people, all this administration is showing the American people is its arrogance, its ignorance, and its incompetence. That's exactly what the American people have seen. In fact, just on the oil spill, just the other day I was talking to a fireman in my district and he asked me about this oil disaster and the poor response that this administration has shown. This working guy, just a guy trying to make a living and take care of his family and struggling to make ends meet, asked me if this administration was purposely not responding to this oil spill just so that they could force through their cap-and-trade. I call it tax- and-trade. Because President Obama himself said this was about revenue. He had to have that revenue from this energy tax to pay for his health care plan for ObamaCare. And that's what we see over and over again. And the American people get it. They understand that this administration is bungling the oil spill, the ObamaCare, and you're talking about a budget. We're asking, Where's the budget? Back in the ObamaCare debate, the leadership here in the House said that they were going to deem and pass. Deem and pass. That sounds like a bad place in a spaghetti western where the bad guys are setting up to ambush the good guys. And that's exactly what was happening. Now, on the budget, Leader Hoyer is saying that we're not going to have a budget and that they're going to deem the budget. So we're having another deem and pass by the leadership in the House to not even set forth a budget. And why? Because Democrats don't want to--a lot of the Democrats, particularly Blue Dogs, don't want to vote and those vulnerable Democrats don't want to vote for the massive debt that's being created and incurred--or already incurred, actually. Tremendous debt that's already incurred by this administration and by this leadership in the House and the Senate. They don't want to have to vote on that again because they're scared what the American people are going to do in November.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Akin, if you would yield.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. The folks watching on C-SPAN tonight, Mr. Akin, may wonder if Congressional Research Service is some far-out right-wing group that might be trying to hammer the Democrats and trying to castigate them in a negative light. But that's not so, is it?

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Thank you, Mr. Akin. I appreciate you yielding me some time. As you were talking about putting straw or hay on the oil, we can make electricity out of that. Just think about that. What better source of electricity than doing that? Before Mr. Scalise leaves, I want to just tell him just for his edification--I think he knows what I'm fixing to tell the American people and Madam Speaker--is that we recently--in fact, just in the last day--sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service to ask them to give a special exemption for taxes on the money of all the people who are being harmed economically by this disastrous oil spill. They won't have to pay taxes on the money they get, which is absolutely fair. We saw that happen. The Internal Revenue Service was going to tax the recipients money that they received in Hurricane Katrina, as you know, in your own home city there in New Orleans. And Congress had to act to say to the Internal Revenue Service, Don't tax that money. But I wrote the Internal Revenue Service and said, Please give a special exemption to all those businesses and individuals that have been harmed. And it's absolutely critical because these people have been out of work, many of them for 2 months now. They're struggling just to make ends meet. And it's absolutely critical. And I hope that the Internal Revenue Service and this administration will immediately give a special exemption to all those people who are harmed--those businesses and those individuals that are harmed. And I hope that the American people will just have a tremendous outcry and have a heart for those that are harmed and say to this Federal Government, to the Internal Revenue Service, Don't tax these folks. And I've made an appeal to the Internal Revenue Service and hope you all will join me in trying to get the Internal Revenue Service to not tax these people who are already damaged and already hurt, and it's only fair to those people. I just wanted to tell my good friend from Louisiana that we're fighting for folks--not only those in Louisiana, but those in Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, and all over the gulf coast. It may even affect people on the east coast. It may even affect my own home State of Georgia. So we're fighting for those folks, and hopefully the administration will come forward to say, Don't tax these benefits because they're not benefits. They're actually moneys to just try to help them get their lives back on track.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Saul Alinsky in his book ``Rules for Radicals''--and I am reading the book to try to garner some information about the battle plan of the progressives. There's another word for progressives in my opinion; it's socialists, Marxists. You can use other terms.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. And he did.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. He was.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Army Signal Corps and join them in the celebration of their 150th anniversary. Major Albert James Myer, who saw the need to create a separate military signal service, created the Signal Corps on June 21, 1860. The Signal Corps has a long and storied history of providing our Army with the most advanced technology to ensure victory on the battlefield. The list of technological achievements are unmatched by any other military in the world. The Signal Corps first aided our efforts in the Spanish-American war where they ensured our victory by providing vital signaling, telephone and telegraph communications, combat photography, and balloons for intelligence gathering. Innovations by the Signal Corps early in the twentieth century lead to the creation of the Washington-Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System, the first wireless communications system in the Western Hemisphere, the first Army radar system, and the tactical FM radio. Their dedication to stay on the forefront of communications technology by unceasingly developing advanced systems provided the U.S. with an unparalleled advantage during World War II. The Signal Corps also assisted the Air Force in launching the first communications satellite, paving the way for world-wide communications, and they continued to play a pertinent role to U.S. efforts during Vietnam where they deployed a troposphereic-scatter radio as well as the SYNCOM satellite communications service. This drastically improved the speed and viability of communications in combat zones. Today we honor the Army Signal Corps by recognizing their irreplaceable contributions to the United States Army. The results of their innovative developments are evident in the premier fighting force that protects us and our freedoms. In fact, it is the innovations by the Signal Corps that provided a foundation for subsequent communication technologies have been built. The importance of this transcends the military into the private sector by reducing both the time and cost of global communications. The Army Signal Corps, who are headquartered in my district at Fort Gordon, trains more military service members than any other training center in the U.S. Army. I am honored to recognize their service to the American people. They have not only improved the lives of service members, but also the citizens our servicemen and women are sworn to protect. I urge my colleagues to join me in honoring the Army Signal Corps for their irreplaceable role to the United States Army over the last 150 years.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, Congress received a surprise Saturday night. Late in the evening, President Obama sent a letter to Republicans and Democrats requesting an additional $50 billion in emergency stimulus funds. After justifying his new spending request, President Obama expressed a newfound interest in fiscal responsibility. He urged Washington to ``establish a fiscally responsible budget path, discipline the budget process, and ensure a sustainable and responsible long-term budget.'' I have just one question: What budget? For the first time since 1974, Democrats in the House have failed to even outline a budget. Similar to the family budget, a Federal budget provides guidance and transparency for how the government spends the American people's hard-earned money. With the U.S. national debt at $13 trillion--and rising--I agree that Congress needs to discipline the budget process. Unfortunately, President Obama's spending request does not reflect his rhetoric.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, in Genesis, chapter 12, verses 1 through 3, God tells Abraham that he will bless the nation that blesses his people, and curse the nation who curses his people. God says in that verse, starting at verse 1, The Lord had said to Abraham, ``Leave your country, your people, and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you. I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse. And all people's on Earth will be blessed through you.'' Mr. Speaker, God gave the land in Israel to the Israelites, to the Jewish people. They're a sovereign nation. They have a sovereign right to protect their borders, to protect their lives, to protect their country, to protect their valid claim to the land that God gave them. Mr. Speaker, our Nation has supported Israel since it was reestablished in 1947 by an act of the United Nations. This country has supported Israel ever since then. We've been blessed as a Nation since then. But I'm very fearful that this administration is turning its back upon Israel. I'm very fearful that God's blessing that has been on this land, as promised in Genesis, chapter 12, verses 1 through 3, will cease if we cease supporting the nation of Israel. Israel is a sovereign nation that's protecting itself. It has an absolute right to do so. Mr. Speaker, if we turn our back upon Israel, as I'm fearful that we're doing as a Nation through this administration, not only will we cease to have God's blessings, but we will also start receiving the curses from God that he promised in Genesis, chapter 12. Mr. Speaker, if we don't support Israel, and just by being silent, just by turning our back upon Israel, then we're supporting Hamas. We're supporting Hezbollah. We're supporting Iran. President Ahmadinejad has stressed over and over again that he wants to annihilate Israel from the face of the Earth. We have to support Israel, Mr. Speaker. The consequences for our Nation are too dire not to. God has put his blessings upon this country. And I think a big part of that is because this country was founded on the Judeo-Christian principles that have made this country so powerful, so rich, and so successful as a political experiment. But that blessing will cease if we ever turn our back upon Israel. We must not. We cannot. America must support Israel. Our administration must support Israel. And I call upon our country to continue to do so.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Akin, I am a pilot, and I want to say that you are exactly right about getting out of a death spiral. So we do push the yoke forward to stop the spin, to stop the stall, to get the airplane flying again. And that's exactly what needs to happen to our economy, by pushing the stick forward, by reducing taxes, particularly on small businesses. I introduced my JOBS Act. My JOBS Act is an acronym for ``jump start our business sector.'' It would cut the taxes for business for 2 years. It would suspend capital gains taxes and dividend taxes. It would cut the two lowest income tax brackets down to 10 percent and 5 percent. So if you think about it, that would leave dollars in the hands of business, leave dollars in the hands of consumers so that they would have the money to stimulate the economy. So it's something that would stimulate the economy and start creating jobs. And that is something that needs to happen. And it is by cutting taxes instead of raising taxes. What we see here is our leadership here in the House, the Democratic leadership, wants to raise taxes. Our President wants to raise taxes. One thing that I want to go back to is something that you talked about when the President said he was going to raise taxes on people who made $250,000 or more, that these are rich people. The vast majority of those folks are small business men and women who are filing their sub S corporations as personal income taxes. And those are really not their individual income, but that's how much money comes into their business. So they're not just wealthy people who are living lavish lives. They are men and women who are trying to make a living and create jobs and just take care of their families. So when we hear let's tax the rich, they need to pay more, actually what you're taxing people is out of jobs. You're killing the economy. You're taxing jobs. We need to lower taxes, and that's what you're fighting for.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Thank you. We have 1 minute left I think, and I just want to say that helping poverty is a very simple formula. It's a good-paying job and the education to fill that job. That's another thing that we know as Republicans. We've got to create those good-paying jobs, and the way we do that is in the private sector by reducing taxes on small business men and women so that they can create new jobs. We will continue to fight for freedom. There's a wide gulf, just like you were saying, between the philosophies of the leadership of the Democrat Party here and our leadership on our side. It is socialism on their hand. On our hand, it's freedom, personal responsibility, and accountability, and we're fighting for freedom and continue to do so.