Paul Broun

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Thank you, Mr. Scalise. You're absolutely right. The budget resolution simply sets forth an annual framework of priorities, sets forth the framework for taxes and spending. It's one of the few pieces of legislation that Congress must pass annually. We're not seeing that happen. Since 1974 when Congress passed the Congressional Budget Act, which created the modern budget process, Congress has failed to enact a budget resolution only four times since 1974. This year will be the fifth. But it's the first time in history, the first time in history that the House does not make any attempt whatsoever, no attempt, to pass a first version of a budget bill--never since 1974 when the Congressional Budget Act was passed. That's just unconscionable.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I agree with you it's not only unfortunate, but it's irresponsible. We're seeing Congress spend money, tons and tons of money that we don't have, trillions of dollars that we don't have, for programs that America doesn't want. It's not in the best interest of America. It's killing jobs. Killing jobs. And it's just not responsible governing. We've been joined also tonight by my good friend from New Orleans, Louisiana, Steve Scalise, who's also been a great fighter for us here on the floor on many issues--on health care and other issues. And I want to welcome Mr. Scalise, and I'd like to hear you impart some knowledge in this.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Above what they're spending now.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. That's a Nancy Pelosi line right here.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. We will turn it upside down. And then we will be coming from the right to the left.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. We can turn it upside down.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Let me reclaim my time and just explain this chart.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Thank you, Mr. Jordan. I agree with Steny Hoyer, the majority leader for the Democratic Party here in the House. When he was talking about passing a final budget and a spending blueprint, he said this, quote: ``It is the most basic responsibility of governing.'' The Democratic leader, Steny Hoyer, said passing a final budget and a spending blueprint is the most basic responsibility of governing. They are not governing. They are not doing what they should. It is also real interesting to me, in 2006 the House Budget Committee chairman, John Spratt, said, quote, ``If you can't budget, you cannot govern.'' ``If you can't budget, you cannot govern.'' Quote and unquote. John Spratt, the Democratic chairman of the House Budget Committee. They are not governing. They are being irresponsible. The American public deserve better. We have been joined tonight also by my good friend from Texas who has been an individual that has spent many hours, as I have, here on the floor talking about the ObamaCare bill and about ethics in governing. We are very honored to have Judge John Carter from Texas. I yield to you.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Speaker, during the 5-minute speeches just a few minutes ago, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) was showing all of us this poster that he graciously made up: Where's the budget? That is what we will be talking about tonight because we have seen in this Congress this year that the leadership of the Congress is failing its responsibility, failing its duty, failing to bring us a budget. Now, we saw the President put together a budget that he presented to Congress several months ago. We will talk about that a little bit. But under the Constitution of the United States--and I carry a copy in my pocket because I believe in this document as it was intended by the Founders, the people who wrote this document. One of the prime responsibilities of Congress is to pass a budget. From the original intent of our Constitution and what it says in the Constitution, the Congress should be making the budget, not the President. Article I lays out all of the premises of the Congress of the United States. Section 1 says all legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consistent of a Senate and House of Representatives. Section 2 goes on and talks about how the House is made up. Section 3 is about the Senate. Section 4 talks about the times and places and manner of holding elections for the same. Section 7 starts off: All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills. That is the first sentence of article I, section 7. So all bills for raising revenue should start in the House. All budgets should be started in the House. And that's what our Founding Fathers meant to happen. Section 8 lists the 18 things that Congress can pass laws about. There are only 18, folks. Obviously, we are passing laws about many more things than 18. In fact, in this little booklet, the Constitution of the United States, article I, section 8, starts right here and it goes to right here. It is one and three-quarter pages. That's all Congress has the constitutional authority to pass laws about. And the 10th Amendment of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, says, and I want to read it to get it very clear so the American people can understand. It is basically one sentence. It says: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. In other words, Congress is only supposed to be doing the 18 things in article I, section 8. We specifically have enumerated powers. That is what limited government is supposed to be all about. It is supposed to be enumerated powers that we are given by the people. The Constitution starts off with very three powerful words: we the people. ``We the people'' is the most powerful political force in this country under our Constitution. But ``we the people'' is not acting as strongly as it should have been. And one of the things that Congress is supposed to be doing is passing a budget. In fact, families all over this country, State and local governments all over this country, pass a budget. If we don't have a budget, how do we know how to set out bills proposing revenue? How do we know how to spend the money, the taxpayers' money that we take from them through taxes? Madam Speaker, we are doing a lot of things here in Congress that we shouldn't be doing. But one thing that we should be doing is passing a budget. It is critical. Mr. Goodlatte said during his 5-minute speech that he has introduced a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. I have done the same. Mine is a little different. There are three balanced budget amendments that Republicans have introduced. But how can we balance the budget if we don't have a budget? I believe very firmly that the Federal Government should not be spending any more money than it takes in year to year. We should be balancing our budget. My State of Georgia has to live under a balanced budget. In fact, the general assembly just dismissed a couple of weeks ago because they were desperately trying to balance their budget, which they eventually did, in this economic downturn. They were having tremendous struggles about how to cut the size of State government in the State of Georgia. But the Federal Government should be doing the same, and the American people need to demand a balanced budget. Republicans are going to be offering a balanced budget. We have done it over and over again. In 1995, a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution passed the U.S. House of Representatives. It lacked one Republican vote in the U.S. Senate from being law today. Unfortunately, we could not get one Republican more to vote for a balanced budget amendment. We wouldn't be spending our grandchildren's future, as we are doing today. The outrageous spending that Congress is doing has to stop. The American people need to demand a balanced budget, but we need to demand from our elected representatives a budget. It puzzles me why almost at the end of May, Congress still has not enacted a budget resolution and has totally disregarded the April 15 deadline. The deadline. We have missed that deadline, as we miss a lot of things around here. But we have seen over and over again big bills, big spending bills, a stimulus bill that has been an abject failure. It has stimulated government; it has not stimulated jobs in the private sector but very minimally. Most of those are temporary jobs. We see unemployment recently was reported at 9.9 percent; but that doesn't tell the whole story. Over 50 million people, workers in America, are out of work today. We have had a rise in the unemployment rate, but the 9.9 percent does not tell the true story. I was talking to one of the county commission chairmen in my district just a few weeks ago. And he said: Paul, in our county the unemployment rate today is 10.7 percent; and 1 year ago it was 14.3 percent. I said: Man, that is great. Where did the jobs come from? Where did you create all of the jobs in this county? He said: Paul, sadly, there are no jobs. We have not created new jobs here. People have just fallen off the rolls. They have gotten discouraged and are not on the unemployment rolls any more. In Georgia, we have furloughed teachers. At the University of Georgia that I represent in Athens, Georgia, we have furloughed a lot of the employees of the university. Teachers all across the State of Georgia are going to be put out of work because the State of Georgia just does not have the money in this economic downturn to continue to hire and continue to employ the teachers that we so desperately need. We just had a resolution that we all voted on, almost unanimously, to honor teachers. Teachers hold the future of our Nation, because what they teach our children is critical for the safety and prosperity of America. Teachers are being put out of work in Georgia, but they're being put out of work all over this country. We have too many people in the administration in the school system. Unfortunately, teachers are losing their jobs and administrators are keeping their jobs. But we absolutely have to have a budget. We absolutely must have something, a framework of how Congress is going to spend the taxpayers' hard-earned money. And Congress is ignoring the immediate budget picture. But we've also punted the long-term budgeting decisions to a deficit commission that is structured to avoid transparency and accountability. And it looks like we're not going to pass a budget resolution here in the House nor in the Senate. We may not even pass any appropriations bill. But tonight we're asking, Where is the budget? It's nowhere to be found. I've been just joined by my good friend, Congressman Jim Jordan, who is very much part of the Budget Committee and has been a stalwart in fighting for a budget that makes sense and informing Members, on our side at least, about the budget and what's going on. And he's here joining us, and hopefully we'll have some other Members. I see Marsha Blackburn, a stalwart conservative Congresswoman from Tennessee, from Nashville, a good friend, has joined us, and I appreciate you all joining us here tonight. And so I want to yield time to Mr. Jordan. And tell us about the budget. Where is the budget?

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. That's the way this majority is acting. They still have the checks in the checkbook. They still have a credit card that is being held by the Chinese. But where does the money come from? With all this deficit spending, this outrageous spending that Congress has been doing, it is going to come from our children and great-grandchildren. They are going to live at a lower standard than we live today, be the first generation that has lived at a lower standard than the previous generation, and it is because of this ``gimme now'' attitude that this Congress, under the leadership of Nancy Pelosi, has been doing. So passing a budget will at least help stop this outrageous spending and will put some caps, maybe, on the discretionary spending for this year. Also, not passing a budget means that Congress will not muster the leadership to set any kind of framework for paring back the entitlement spending. We have got to control entitlement spending. Our colleague who is the ranking member on the Budget Committee, Paul Ryan, introduced a bill in the last Congress, in the 110th where you and I both were here, that would set forth some parameters for controlling entitlement spending. We have got to do that. There is no question. In fact, about two-thirds of the Federal budget is on autopilot, and it just continues to grow exponentially. We have got to change the whole budgetary process, and that is what I hope to see us do. And I think Republicans have that as part of what we want to do once we get control back of the House, is to change the budgetary process so that we balance our budget and we control entitlement spending. It is absolutely critical. But thirdly, most importantly, not passing a budget means not carving out priorities for the spending and giving us an extension of the tax cuts that were put in in 2001 and 2002, even for low-income families. So we are going to see tremendous increases in taxes for everybody in this country, even the people who can afford it the least, those on limited incomes, fixed incomes, and the poorest people in this country. In fact, we hear over and over again that our Democratic colleagues are interested in the middle class; but, actually, the middle class and the lower economic rungs of the ladder are going to be hit hardest by the health care bill that was passed, ObamaCare, by the nonstimulus bill that's been an abject failure, and all the outrageous spending that our Democratic colleagues have been doing here in the Congress. Beyond all these things, not passing a budget signals to the American people that we are not going to be held accountable. We are not going to deal with the Nation's spending addiction that Congress has, the deficit challenges that this government has. We have got to stop it. Families all over this country are balancing their budgets. My State of Georgia and many States have to live under a balanced budget. I believe the Federal Government should live under a balanced budget. But we are not even having a budget. Mr. Carter, what do you think we are going to do? Are we going to continue spending? I yield.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I appreciate it. I just wanted to put in my two cents about the question you just asked about why the Budget Committee hasn't passed out a budget, why the House hasn't passed a budget. We have an April 15 deadline by law. A budget is supposed to be passed. The Senate hasn't passed a budget. We've been very busy this whole year, you know, Mr. Carter, since this year started under this administration. We've passed all of these big spending bills, and it is my belief that we don't have a Federal budget because they can't balance the budget. They can't show to the American people how awful the spending is up here, how outrageous, how egregious the irresponsibility is, and they do not want anybody to hold them responsible. My 19-year-old son, Collins Broun, comes to me when he needs some money. And he's been in school. He's a freshman in college. And he's had some little jobs, but he doesn't have a budget because he depends on me to provide his needs. Well, this government is relying on taxpayers, and the PAYGO, Mr. Carter, that you were talking about that we keep hearing touted by the Blue Dogs on their side about how great it is. We've suspended PAYGO over and over again on a health care bill the American public still doesn't want. They want it repealed. We, as Republicans, want to repeal and replace it. There's been a nonstimulus bill that's been an abject failure that's going to be over a trillion dollars. This has created some government jobs and some temporary jobs, but hasn't stimulated the private sector. Most jobs that were created in the private sector were small business. Businesses are scared to death. They are not creating any new jobs because they look at these budget deficits and see spending bills that this Democratic Congress has been passing over and over again-- most times without any or sometimes with only very minimal Republican votes for them. But we've seen just over and over again these huge bills. They haven't taken the time. And I don't think they want to be held responsible, frankly. So I think that's a big part of the reason. So to answer your question, I think that this Congress won't pass a budget in the House, probably not in the Senate because they don't want to be held responsible. They want to continue to do what even the majority leader said. It's the most basic responsibility of government. They are not doing it. John Spratt said if you cannot budget, you cannot govern. Well, they're not governing. All they're doing is spending.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Well, thank you for yielding back. What are the consequence of not passing a budget? Well, first thing if we don't pass the budget, then there's no cap on discretionary spending for this fiscal year. So they can spend whatever they want to because they have no constraints within a budget. I've got a friend whose wife said, Well, we have got plenty of money in the bank. I still have checks in my checkbook.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I'll yield back to Mr. Carter.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Say that again so the people who are listening can understand that, if you would, please, won't you.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Thank you, Ms. Blackburn. You are exactly right. Not only did we have the health care bill that was passed by this House, passed by the Senate first and then came over here, not one Republican voted for that bill. We just heard from CBO just this last week I think it was when they said, Oops, we made a mistake. It's going to cost at least $115 billion more than we first estimated. One hundred fifteen billion dollars more. That's not a paltry sum. And actually, it's going to still continue to climb. I think that the government takeover of health care is going to be an even bigger bill. We saw Congress pass a nonstimulus bill, which is what I called it at the time. That's been an abject failure. That's another trillion dollars that we don't have the money. We have seen bill after bill come to the floor of the House passed by the Democratic leadership, forced down the throats of the American people, with just outrageous spending of money that we just do not have. That's the bottom line. We have got to stop the spending, this outrageous spending. We need to have a budget. The Federal Government needs to live within its budget, period. Mr. Jordan, I yield to you.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. According to this chart, you are close; it is $2.567 trillion in revenues, and then $3.834 trillion in outlays. I yield back.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Thank you, Mr. Carter. Just in closing, in the last minute that we have, Americans know that you can't manage what you can't measure. If you don't have a budget, you can't measure anything. You can't set out spending priorities. Failing to enact a budget blueprint just doesn't allow Congress to measure any spending priorities that we see coming forth, and just see big spending after big spending bills. Democrats are purposefully deciding to not pass a budget bill blueprint to hide the fact that our country's financial picture is in terrible shape and we are going down the same road that Greece is going down. American families know that this is irresponsible. Congress needs to get its house in order and lead. It can start by passing a responsible budget resolution. American people need to ask: Where is the budget?

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Jordan, you're exactly right. And I'd like for you to talk about the Republican balanced budget that we introduced last year and again you're working on it this year. But you brought up the President's budget. Todd Akin, our colleague from Missouri, was very generous to loan me this chart. This is about the President's proposed budget that he gave us. We don't have a House budget. We may not get a Senate budget. This pie chart, I just want to pay attention to two figures. Total receipts proposed, $2.56 trillion. Total outlays, $3.834 trillion. Now, $1 trillion is a lot. People can't get their arms around or mind around what's $1 trillion. But if you subtract 2.5, in receipts, plus change from 3.8 plus change, you see we have a big budget deficit that's been proposed by this administration. This is actually unsustainable. I've heard our colleagues on the other side talk over and over again about the deficit that was created by George Bush. And, in fact, all I hear from our colleagues over and over again is about the deficit, and they're still blaming the Bush administration. Well, I've not been a great fan of the budget deficits that the Bush administration put forward, but if we look at this chart, these are the deficits under the Democratic budgets. This is in billions of dollars. We see in blue the deficits, 2004, 5, 6, 7, that were under the Bush administration. We did have budget deficits, and that was wrong, absolutely wrong. The Federal Government should live within the means that it has. But look at this paltry amount compared to the budgets that have been proposed by this administration and others. And you hear over and over again the Obama budget--of course, this goes out from 2011 to 2020. These are the proposed budget deficits that the Obama administration has proposed in his budget. Huge, compared to the budget deficits that were actual under the Bush administration. We shouldn't even have had those. We should have been living under a balanced budget since 1995. And I blame the Bush administration and the Republican Congress for--control of Congress for these budgets. But this graph right here was when Nancy Pelosi took over as Speaker of the House. We've got to stop this outrageous spending. I want to yield to my good friend Marsha Blackburn from Nashville, Tennessee, who represents a huge swath through the middle of Tennessee, and she's a great warrior on this issue. And I want to welcome you, Mrs. Blackburn.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5099 designating the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 15 South Main Street in Sharon, Massachusetts, as the Michael C. Rothberg Post Office. A native of Sharon, Massachusetts, Michael graduated from Sharon High School and went on to receive his bachelor's and master's degrees from McGill University. His family and friends described him as kind, generous and selfless. It was Michael who encouraged and financed his sister, Rhonda, to start her own business. Michael was known to work hard, excelling in his position on Wall Street, rising to the 104th floor of the World Trade Center, where he worked for Cantor Fitzgerald. He made friends with many of the clients and associates he worked with, helping them both in and out of the office. His mother Iris tells of a time a friend found out she had cancer, and Michael immediately went to his staff and raised money for the Jimmy Fund. She also tells of a time a client needed surgery, and Michael sent a car for her and waited during the procedure to take her home. On September 11, 2001, the United States was attacked by radical Islamic jihadists, those against what America considers good and just. Behind the devastating number of deaths were the individuals, each having family and friends they left behind. One of these victims was Michael C. Rothberg. He was 39 years old. To honor Michael's dedication to his community, The Michael C. Rothberg September 11th Memorial Scholarship was organized by former classmates, friends, and family. The scholarship is awarded to students at Sharon High School who show qualities of academic integrity, ethical commitment, and service to the community. Today we honor Michael, whose short life was dedicated selflessly to his friends and family. To celebrate and preserve his legacy, I ask all Members to join in supporting H.R. 5099. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 792, honoring Robert Kelly Slater for his outstanding and unprecedented achievements in the world of surfing. A native of Cocoa Beach, Florida, Kelly Slater has been a dominant surfer since first learning how to surf during his childhood. As an amateur surfer, he quickly entered the spotlight, winning six Eastern Surfing Association and four national titles. In the 1990s, he was already a household name. In 1992, he won his first Association of Surfing Professionals World Championship when he was only 20 years of age, making him the youngest person ever to win the title. From 1994 to 1998, Slater continued to rack up world titles. He won the world championship title five times in a row, for a combined nine championships. He has won more championships than any other surfer. In 2002, he became a member of the Surfers Hall of Fame. In addition to his success in surfing competitions, Slater has appeared in commercials and television shows, as well as having a wide variety of surfing sponsorships. Throughout his entire career, Kelly Slater has continued to make surfing more popular as more people across the globe become aware of his expertise in the sport. He also created the Kelly Slater Foundation to raise money for major charities, such as the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the World Skin Cancer Foundation. Madam Speaker, Kelly Slater has continued to excite surfers across the entire country and the world. I ask my colleagues to support this resolution to honor Kelly Slater's work. Madam Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to my distinguished colleague from Florida (Mr. Posey), the sponsor of this resolution.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of House Resolution 1256, which congratulates Phil Mickelson on winning the 2010 Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. His strong performance in the tournament and his exemplary community involvement throughout his career is an example not only for millions of golf fans, but for all Americans. Mickelson's victory was his third Masters title and his fourth major championship of his stellar career. Despite the loud buzz surrounding this year's tournament, Mickelson quietly and consistently played each hole very well. He did not shoot above par on a single hole in the final round and won the tournament by three strokes. ESPN wrote that ``the signature moment came on the 13th, a hole Mickelson has dominated like no other at Augusta. With a 2-shot lead, he was stuck between two Georgia pines and had just over 200 yards to the hole. He never considered anything but a shot at the green.'' Mickelson took the risky shot, and as he said, ``it came off perfect.'' Mickelson ended the day by hitting a birdie on the 18th hole to increase his lead to 3. Even though Mickelson has 40 other tournament wins, this Masters victory may have meant the most to him because of all he has been through in the last year. Both his wife and mother were diagnosed with cancer in the past year. The Masters was the first tournament that Amy, his wife, was able to attend in months since she was diagnosed with breast cancer almost a year ago. Amy had been unable to attend the tournament during the first few rounds and was so tired she did not think that she could attend on Sunday to watch the final round. However, she found the strength to go to the 18th hole and watch her husband win. All of the fans at the tournament and golf fans around the world cheered as Mickelson embraced his wife. It was a very touching moment. Afterwards Mickelson said, ``In the last year, we've been through a lot, and it's been tough. And to be on the other end and feel this kind of jubilation is incredible.'' What a gentleman, what a role model is Phil Mickelson. Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this resolution that recognizes Phil Mickelson's performance and great character during this Masters Tournament and also Augusta National for hosting another outstanding tournament. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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. I just want to associate myself with the gentleman's remarks. He's absolutely right. We need to focus on teachers, not administrators and a lot of the auxiliary people who are in the educational system today. Teachers should be the primary focus. In my State of Georgia, we're laying off teachers, and it's a crying shame. Teachers don't get the recognition that they deserve. They don't get the pay that they deserve. They're hamstrung by red tape and paperwork. They're struggling very hard to impart an education to the youth of our Nation. Many of these teachers have to come out of their own pocket to pay for supplies for kids in their own room, and that's a crying shame. It should not be that way. This is just a simple token, but I hope a tremendous token, to honor the teachers that affect all of us and affect the Nation's future. And so I wanted to associate myself with Mr. Davis' words because he's very, very correct in what he said. These people need the much deserved recognition that this resolution gives them. And I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Would the gentleman yield?

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1297, recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of American Craft Beer Week. The small and independent American craft brewing industry is making an increasingly valuable and substantial contribution to the American economy. Currently, the industry provides an estimated 100,000 jobs, and craft breweries are located in every State of the Union. Not only are craft brewers responsible for providing a variety of quality, local jobs, they are responsible for the increased enjoyment and pleasure of craft beers, while customers discover the intricacies of aroma, color, body, and other variables in the beverage that makes it pleasurable to drink. These craft breweries also support American agriculture through purchases of barley, malt, and hops grown, processed, and distributed in the United States. In addition, craft brewers are in the forefront of educating people about responsible drinking and the prevention of alcohol abuse, as well as supporting programs created to prevent underage drinking. If Benjamin Franklin were with us today, perhaps he would revise his famous statement where he said, ``Beer is living proof that God loved us and wants us to be happy.'' He might preface it with the words, ``American craft.'' I ask my colleagues to support this fine example of American entrepreneurship, and I yield back the balance of my time.