Paul Broun

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. The reason that the pro-abortion people don't want ultrasound is because moms look at that baby and they say, ``That's a baby. That's not just a little glob of tissue. It's not some amorphous goop that's there in my womb. It's a baby.'' And it is. And before she ever knows that she has missed a period, I mean by the time she has missed a period and goes a little bit further, that baby already is developing neurological function. It's already developing a heartbeat. It's a human being. And that's the thing about embryonic stem cell research goes back to the same thing that I mentioned and what you are talking about, and what we all talk about who are pro-life, that life begins when the sperm cell enters the cell wall of the oocyte, the egg. I call it spermatazoa, that's a medical term for the sperm cell, enters the cell wall of the egg, the oocyte. It forms a one-cell human being that's genetically different from the mom. It's a separate human being. It has everything it needs except for just a good place to live, to become a human being and be a Member of this House of Representatives, to grow up to become a President of the United States. And it's a human being, nonetheless. It's a zygote, which needs to have the right, under law, of personhood. And, in fact, in the Roe v. Wade decision, as you know, as all of us who are pro-life know, the Supreme Court justice who wrote the majority opinion, Justice Blackmun, said in his decision, that if we could ever define the beginning of life at conception--now I say ``fertilization'' because the word ``conception'' has become obscured, they want to obscure all this stuff. But if that could ever be determined that that would vacate Roe v. Wade, we have got to protect these people. A society is going to be judged by other societies about how it cares for the most vulnerable in its society, the poor people, the old people and the very most vulnerable of the young people. And these embryonic cells that have this big scientific name, like embryonic stem cell research, which sounds kind of lofty, but the bottom line is it kills human beings, separate human beings, and we must stop it and we will do everything we can. God cannot and will not continue to bless America while we are doing this. We look through history how human beings have been experimented on. We see all the time, we hear complaints, particularly from the other side, even the pro-abortion people on the other side, look aghast of how we treat prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and just putting women's underwear on those folks' heads. But, on the other hand, they are willing to kill a human being through abortion, through embryonic stem cell research, and it doesn't matter. The thing that really gets me, Congressman Smith, is they want to do it all the way up to the time that baby totally pops out of the birth canal. In fact, that's what the Freedom of Choice Act is all about. It should be called the Freedom to Kill Babies Act, not the Freedom of Choice Act. In fact, let me just mention that too as we see that partial-birth abortion, late-term abortions are being promoted by this administration by many in this House. The only medical reason that procedure was ever developed is to guarantee a dead baby by the abortionists. There is no other medical reason, no other medical reason than to guarantee a dead baby. The abortionists were faced with a problem. They were aborting babies and winding up with a live fetus. Now, ``fetus'' in Latin means ``baby.'' They were winding up with a live baby, and what are they going to do with this? They couldn't have that, so they had to develop those dilatation extraction procedures, partial-birth abortions to guarantee a dead baby. So I applaud your efforts to try to help bring forth the truth, and that's what you have been doing for years, and I applaud you. And that's why I had to come down here to put in my 2 cents as a medical doctor, to tell the American public that the truth, that there is very little, if any, potential of scientific breakthroughs to treat all these awful diseases, which I want to treat, but there is a light. There is a potential, and it's through other methods that don't kill these babies.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Speaker, El Salvador is a good friend and ally of the United States. After we suffered the attacks of 9-11, most Salvadorans kept us in their prayers . . . But one group felt differently. The Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), an extreme left-wing party, issued a communique that the U.S., for its policies, was itself to blame for being attacked. The U.S. Embassy publicly denounced the FMLN's declaration. Four days after 9/11, the FMLN had a march in their capital city to celebrate the attack by Al-Qaeda and to burn the American flag. The leader of that march was Salvador Sanchez Ceren, who today is the FMLN's candidate for Vice President. The FMLN political party in El Salvador supports designated terrorist organizations, such as the FARC and State Sponsors of Terror, such as Iran and Cuba. The FMLN has a long history of hostility towards us. If the FMLN should take power in El Salvador, it will be urgent for Congress to review our policies in order to assure the national security of the United States. Under current law, the election of a pro-terrorism party in El Salvador would have real consequences. Since the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. has enacted stronger tools to fight terrorism and those who funnel money to support it. I want to make clear that these actions would not be punitive; they are not meant to chastise Salvadorans, but the U.S. will not aid sponsors of terrorism. We have an obligation to protect the U.S. and our citizens against those seeking to do us harm.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, hardworking Americans are the economic engine that drives this great Nation. And America's economic engine doesn't run on pork. Even though we are in a recession, Congress continues to take hard- earned tax dollars and send them toward pork projects like tattoo removal, Mormon crickets, and studying pig manure. In fact, the omnibus bill sent to the White House last night contains nearly 8,000 earmarks, costing taxpayers more than $11 billion. Monday night I had a telephone town hall with my constituents back home in Georgia. One caller, Mr. John Ahern from Athens, hit the nail on the head with his question on spending: ``Why aren't politicians held accountable like families and taxpayers?'' Why indeed? There are Members on both sides of the aisle that are so used to the spending of yesterday that they cannot bear the thought of tightening their belts today. How are we going to justify picking the pockets of taxpayers to literally pay for pig poop? This bill spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much. I urge a veto of the ominous omnibus bill and its 8,000 earmarks. There are John Aherns all over this country who demand accountability in government. A veto would give it to them.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 224. Improving math and science curriculum in our schools is great and admirable, as well as an absolute necessity, for our undertaking as Nation, and it is one that is long overdue. While our students have continued to improve in these fields over the course of the past few years, America is still being outperformed by students in many other countries. This is not a problem that can be simply fixed by this resolution. Nonetheless, every step must be taken with an aim to addressing this shortcoming in our school systems, and this resolution is undoubtedly a part of that. So I appreciate and thank Chairman Gordon and Ranking Member Hall for bringing this important piece of legislation to the floor in the hopes of drawing even more attention to an area of critical need in our Nation's education system. For our children and grandchildren to be able to compete in a global world, we must refocus on math and science and inspire our children in these fields at an early age, and House Resolution 224 helps us to do just that. Therefore, I support this resolution and the goals and ideals that it means to attain, and I urge my colleagues to do the same. I want to congratulate my dear friend from Tennessee (Mr. Davis) on his remarkable opening remarks, and I want to associate myself with those remarks. Math and science are absolutely critical for us to be able to compete in a global economy, to be able to compete against nations all over this world. We are lacking in math and science; we are lacking in the subjects that are so critically important to this Nation for us to have our children be able to compete in that global economy. As a physician, I believe in science, of course. But it is much more than that. We have seen a degradation of the quality of education of our children. No Child Left Behind has been an absolute disaster. In fact, I have talked to educator after educator for the last several years since I have been here in Congress or running for Congress, and I have not found one who likes No Child Left Behind, because teachers are having to teach to the test, having to teach to these national standards, which have led the teachers away from actually teaching kids how to think, how to calculate, how to utilize the scientific method to investigate new things. This resolution helps to place a focus upon that, to help us to bring forth science as being a critical issue for our Nation. And it is a critical issue. I would like to see No Child Left Behind go away. I would like to see us stop teaching in schools things that are not as important and things that should be taught at home in intact families. So we need to rebuild families and encourage families to do that, instead of continuing this huge leap to a welfare state, a huge leap towards bigger government, a huge leap towards removing responsibility for the individuals and building a bigger government, a bigger socialistic society. We need to empower teachers, we need to empower educators at all levels to teach math and science, English and history. We need to have English as the official language of America. We need to have the basic tenets of education, reading, writing, arithmetic, science, history, English, be absolutely the important focus of education in America today. This bill focuses on one part of that that we need to bring forth, and I gladly support this House resolution. I thank my colleague from Tennessee for his remarks, and I do associate myself with those remarks. They were great. With that, I encourage every Member of this body to support this resolution. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Speaker, As a medical doctor, I can tell you without any doubt that music and the arts have routinely proven to have a positive psychological affect on those with low spirits. All through history we have seen the use of music and dance lift hearts and minds. During the American Revolution and Civil War, music was a way of forgetting the horrors of war. During enslavement, African Americans sang spirituals to give each other hope. And during the Great Depression, there were always music and dance shows to lift the spirits of the ``Forgotten Man.'' Now, in the great city of Augusta, Georgia, the Divine Performing Arts will be displaying their ``amazing'', ``magnificent'', and ``spectacular'' abilities on stage. This group of world-class performers will be presenting the beauty of traditional Chinese art as their way of fighting ``against the negative impacts of the current economic situation and its consequences in the Augusta area.'' As many cities across the world have already witnessed, these performers bring a message of kindness, compassion, and courage, while rousing viewers to help the downtrodden in their community. Certainly, these themes are inspirational and benefit all of the communities that they have visited. Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in both welcoming and applauding the Divine Performing Arts group to ``The Garden City''. They have shown past success in breaking down cultural barriers, and I hope my constituents in Augusta take the time to appreciate this special performance.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to share with my colleagues a great accomplishment that occurred in my district in the town of Hoschton, Georgia. Hoschton, Georgia is a classic American town in Jackson County that cherishes a model American history. In 1865, the Hosch brothers founded this town on entrepreneurship and the American dream when they built the town's first store. This small town grew on these American ideals and, among other things, built two banks, a cotton gin, a cotton oil mill, and a train depot. In May 2008, the town decided to strive for yet another milestone--to set the world record for ``the Most Scarecrows in One Location.'' Mayor Bill Copenhaver and life-long resident Robbie Bettis co-chaired the Hoschton Fall Festival Committee that conceived of this challenge. The goal was clear. They needed four thousand scarecrows within the city limits by September 1, 2008. But these great community leaders pulled Hoschton's citizens together and surpassed their goal by 1,441 scarecrows. In less than four months, more than five thousand scarecrows were placed within the city limits. That's more than forty per day. The Hoschton Fall Festival was then held last year on September 26 and 27 and drew more than 25,000 people who traveled far and wide to view a new World Record. It must also be noted that the other outstanding members of the Hoschton Fall Festival Committee were: Chuck Cope, Chris Hoffman, Theresa Kenerly, Leah Nelson, Nancy Rhodes, John Schulte, Richard Shepherd, Kristen Smith, Lisa Stovall, Ray Vaughn, Tom Walden, and Mark Williams. Furthermore, this great feat received state, national, and international media attention. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring this great American town. Its accomplishments show all of America what can be done when a dedicated community works together to meet, and in this case surpass, a stated goal.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Madam Speaker, America is on a road that I believe is going to lead to financial destruction and doom. We are being driven down that road by the administration and the leadership of Congress. In fact, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are driving a steamroller of socialism that is being shoved down the throats of the American public and it is going to strangle the American economy. It is going to kill the American public economically. Republicans have offered alternatives to these huge spending bills that don't create jobs. They create a bigger socialistic central government. We have plans that will create jobs at half the cost and actually create twice the amount of jobs. We have plans to have a comprehensive energy policy. We have plans that will put America back on the right track to financial security and on a track of energy independence and on a track of the free market system. We need to get off this road of socialism and get on a road of freedom. I call upon my colleagues in this House to help us to get off the road to socialism and on one towards freedom.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I want to congratulate you, Ms. Foxx, for bringing up something that is extremely important. When you opened this evening's special orders, you talked about national defense being the major function of the Federal Government under the Constitution. I carry a copy in my pocket all the time, and I believe in this document as it was intended by James Madison and company. If you look at this document, if the American people will look at this document, read what our founding fathers wrote, not only in the Constitution of the United States, but read what they wrote in the Federalist Papers, which were a group of essays to explain exactly what this document means. They will see that they've been handed a lie; that this document was never meant to be expanded beyond the 18 things that article I, Section 8 says that we, as a Congress, we, as a government, can do. And the 10th amendment puts a exclamation point upon that, because the 10th amendment says if a power is not specifically given to the Federal Government by the Constitution, in other words, those 18 things in Article I, Section 8, if it's not prohibited from the States, things such as having their own army, things like having interstate tariffs and those types of things, that those rights are reserved for the States and the people. And national defense is exactly the major function under the original intent of this Constitution. And when we see people stand on this floor and cut down our defense-- I'm a Marine, and I believe in a strong national defense, just like I believe in this document according to its original intent. I congratulate you for bringing that issue up as you started this discussion tonight because the American people need to understand that this document was never meant to be expanded the way government has-- the way the court has expanded it, the way the administration has expanded it and the way that Congress has expanded it--particularly beginning with FDR, with the New Deal. That brings us to today. The New Deal did not work. I was taught in school, in high school, that it did work, but that's just a bald-faced falsehood; it's not factual. The New Deal didn't work. The only thing that got us out of that recession, that depression in the '30s and into the early '40s, was gearing up the manufacturing base to supply World War II. So it was small business and manufacturing that got us out of that depression, and we're heading in that direction today in this country, with these bills, one after another, after another, after another. When the President came and talked to our Republican conference, I'm sure you'll remember he said that the stimulus bill was just the first of many big spending bills, of many socialistic bills, of many big government spending bills that he was going to bring to the floor and promote very quickly. The thing is socialism never worked, never will work, and it's not going to work today, and the American people need to understand what the Constitution says and what we're headed toward. We're headed toward the financial collapse of America if we don't stop spending our grandchildren's future. So I commend you, Congresswoman Foxx, for bringing up the Constitution, because I think the American people need to understand clearly that this is not a living document. It's a document of which we need to go back to the original intent. God asked a question in psalm 11. He asked: If the foundation is being destroyed, what are the righteous to do? What we need to do in America is to start rebuilding the foundations that this America was founded upon, those foundational principles that made America so safe, so secure, so rich, so powerful, and the only great power in the world today. If we leave those principles, then it's going to destroy America, and we're headed toward a depression in America if we don't stop spending our grandchildren's future. So I thank the gentlelady for yielding me a few more moments, because I am very fearful of the direction we're heading in this Nation today. We're heading in a direction that's going to be disastrous. We're going to lose what our founding fathers fought and died and sacrificed so much for, and it's up to the American people to demand better. It's up to the American people to demand from their elected Representatives a constitutional government, a limited government, a government that isn't intrusive in their lives. So I thank the gentlelady for yielding me a few more minutes. I am just so passionate about this. We have got to stop this steamrolling socialism that's being shoved down the throats of the American public. It's going to kill the American economy if we don't do it. So thank you.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because Americans have bought a product that is not living up to its guarantee. Promises made are not being kept, and the American taxpayer is paying the price for the defective product that they bought. This body has let the American people down. And I'm not just pointing my finger at the other side of the aisle. Both sides have hoodwinked the American taxpayer for not being fiscally responsible. If I sound alarmist, it's because I'm concerned that it's only getting worse. I'm frightened about the path that America's heading down with this administration and this Congress in the driver's seat. Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are driving this steamroller of socialism and, unfortunately, President Obama isn't putting up any roadblocks, and not even a slow down sign. And it's hardworking Americans who are getting run over. Right now, in addition to a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, a $1 trillion non stimulus bill, and a $275 billion housing fix, the middle class is also carrying on their backs the auto industry, Bear Stearns, AIG, Citi, Freddie, Fannie and countless others. For too long, lawmakers in Washington have ignored the pleas from hardworking families and small business owners in their districts. For too long, lawmakers in Washington have depended upon hardworking middle class to pay for their expensive programs, of which they rarely see a dime. But there is an alternative. The middle class can demand that lawmakers stop using them to pay for policies that benefit only two ends of the spectrum. That's why I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to offer a vision for those hardworking middle class families who pay for the Wall Street fat cat speculators, who pay for welfare recipients, and who pay for all this. My vision includes providing tax relief to small businesses and families. It includes offering incentive-based relief for job creators. We must skip the pork wish list and, instead, directly stimulate the middle class and small businesses, since they are America's economic engines. In doing so, jobs are created, faith is restored in the markets, and America's entrepreneurial spirit is once again unleashed. Contrary to what is being said, those of us who oppose the recent actions of this ``Credit Card Congress'' are not just saying ``no.'' Unfortunately, our alternatives to help our economy are not being considered. I want to give a 5 percent, across the board, income tax cut. I want to increase the child tax credit to $5,000. I want to lower capital gains, dividend and corporation taxes to bring investors back to America that have been taxed out of the country. I want to create jobs by producing American energy with American workers in the form of solar, clean coal and nuclear energy. I want to increase student loan deductions so that you can send yourself or your child to school at any age, with minimal financial burden. I want a health care system that is affordable for all people, one that is patient-focused, not government-focused, one where patients own their own insurance policies, one where the doctor/patient relationship is where health care decisions are made, not by some government bureaucrat. The economic recovery plan that I support includes no bailouts and no pork-laden projects. It creates twice the jobs at half the cost through permanent tax relief for families and for small business here in America. This plan creates 73,000 more jobs in my home State of Georgia alone. I also offered an amendment to the stimulus to give every American who files a tax return approximately $9,000, their share of the stimulus bill. Clearly, not spending a trillion dollars would have been a much better option, but since Congress was bound and determined to spend the money, wouldn't it have been better to place that money back in the pockets of taxpayers? If a two-parent family, middle income, middle class family had received $18,000 in the mail, they could have bought a new car, gone on vacation, or even make a down payment on a home. David McCullough correctly states that, and I quote him, ``History is a guide to navigation in perilous times.'' Let us not forget that in these tough times, that more government has never been a solution. Historically, socialism never has worked, never will work, and it will not work today. In fact, government actions were actually the stimulus that contributed to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's distension, easy money made available following relaxed interest rates, and ultimately, the push on American lenders to make loans, regardless of the borrowers' ability to pay. As Margaret Thatcher said, ``The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.'' Mr. Speaker, I rise in that spirit to remind you that America was founded by pioneers with dreams who worked, and in some cases, died to protect freedom and make a more prosperous life for their children. We must not forget this. God promises us in Psalm 30:5 that ``Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.'' Now, I call upon all Americans, young and old, liberal and conservative, to demand a more efficient government, beat back the reach of big government, wipe away the tears of yesterday and demand a joyful morning in America, a future of freedom. America is depending upon it.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Would the gentlelady yield for a moment, please?

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I thank the gentlelady for yielding. This rule and this bill are both blatantly unfair. They are unfair to the working poor. They are unfair to the middle class. They are unfair to the community banks that have no blame in this housing crisis, for the most part. What it's going to do is it's going to hurt the people who have been responsible, and it's going to help those who have been irresponsible. We have solutions. We, on our side, have offered many solutions that would stop this steamroll of socialism. This is another turn of the wheel of that steamroll of socialism that's being forced down the throats of the American people. We have got to stop this. We have got to stop messing in people's business and hurting the people that this bill is intended to help. It's going to reward those who have been irresponsible. It's going to reward those who have been involved in greed, and it's going to hurt those people who are trying their best to have a home, to have a good value in their home. We need to vote down this rule, we need to stop this bill. We need to stop this gross infringement on people's rights and privacy and lives that this Federal Government is doing. We have to stop this steamroll of socialism, and I call upon my colleagues to vote down this rule and to vote down this bill.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. On the Internet.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. As a physician, let me tell you, it's not going to. Government regulation is what's driven up the cost of health care markedly. When I was practicing medicine down in rural south Georgia, as a good example, Congress passed CLIA, the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act. I had a lab with quality control because I, as a physician, wanted to make sure that any lab test I did was accurate. We spent a lot of time, energy, and money making sure that those tests were accurate. Well, CLIA shut down my lab. If somebody came in to see me with a red sore throat, had white patches on the throat, running a fever, aching all over, I would do a CBC, a complete blood count, to see if they had a bacterial infection and thus needed antibiotics, like penicillin, or if they had a viral infection. Both clinical pictures could be exactly the same. Even allergies will present with the same clinical picture, even the fever. So I would do this simple blood test. I charged $12 for the test. CLIA shut my lab down. I had to send my patients over to the local hospital, and they charged $75. I could do the test in 5 minutes. It would take 2 to 3 hours to get the results from the local hospital. Now, what did that do across the whole of the spectrum of health care? It markedly drove the cost of--insurance and all health care markedly were elevated because of that. And Congress, not long ago, passed HIPAA. I call all of these things ``critters,'' and if you see a critter coming down the pike, you better hold on to your wallet because it's going to take a big bite out of it. But HIPAA has cost the health care industry billions of dollars and hasn't paid for the first Aspirin to treat the headaches that it's created. So if we get the regulatory burden off of health care and we let the doctor-patient relationship be how health care decisions are made, we can literally lower the costs. But this ``porkulous'' bill is a giant push towards socialist medical care here in America, too. So it gives me great concern for me and for my physician colleagues, but it even gives me more concern for my patients. It's been said around here, if you think medicine is expensive now, wait until it's free and provided for by the government. We're going to have terrible quality or degradation of quality of health care. We're not going to have the innovation. We're not going to be developing the new drugs and procedures that we're doing today on the free enterprise system, and it's going to be disastrous.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Well, no, they wouldn't let it. Now, the thing is we heard from the leadership on the Democratic side that we were going to have a new era of openness and fairness, but we weren't allowed any amendments. The Rules Committee ruled that this was going to be a closed rule, that they wouldn't accept my amendment or any others. The Republican party had another amendment to just freeze spending across the board, not increase it, just not bring this bill to the floor, just continue to have another continuing resolution to continue current spending for the rest of this budget year. That wouldn't be considered. We've brought plan after plan, project after project. We've brought forth to the Democratic majority many ideas that would stimulate the economy, that would create jobs, that would leave money in the hands of the people as well as small business, that wouldn't borrow from our grandchildren, but the Democratic majority won't even consider those things, and they've totally shut us out.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. You don't know what he's going to say. We heard last night that that porkulous bill as you and I call it--I call it a steamroll of socialism being shoved down the throats of the American public. He said last night in his State of the Nation Address that there were no earmarks in that bill. The whole non-stimulus bill was earmarks. It was payback to all of the liberal folks who supported him and who supported our Democratic majority. But the point I wanted to make is that we hear from our friends on the left that Republicans don't have any ideas or that they're old ideas. The thing is that that's absolutely false in itself. Just on today's bill, I offered an amendment that the Democrats would not take that actually cut the discretionary spending out of this bill by 10 percent. American families are cutting their budgets. They're hurting.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Well, whatever.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Well, thank you, Mr. Akin. I just want to point out something here, too. As Dr. Gingrey has come on the floor, he and I have the mutual thought that President Obama has promised the American people that he would veto any bill that had earmarks in it. I call upon the President to veto this bill that we passed today. It has over 9,000 earmarks in it.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Well, you're exactly right, Mr. Akin. And I think we're going to see a marked reversal in job creation as the capital gains tax goes higher. In fact, I'd like to remind my colleague, back when, in the last Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike had an alternative plan to the, what I call the Wall Street bailout bill, the TARP fund bill, the Troubled Assets Relief Program, where we were promoting not only not allowing the capital gains tax-- keeping it from expiring, but we were promoting lowering that, change the accounting principles that froze all the economic markets. And I fault Hank Paulson, Secretary Paulson, frankly, for not even letting our bill touch his lips or come across his throat. And nobody on the majority side would consider our bill. We had a plan that would not borrow from our grandchildren, like the TARP funds, Wall Street bailout bill did. Republicans have had a plan, actually, for a stimulus that would have actually stimulated the economy when we passed the stimulus bill a couple of weeks ago. And then now, just today, we voted on a bill that I think is going to exacerbate--that's a medical word that means ``make it worse.'' But it's going to make the problem worse for the American family. In fact, I hope that President Obama will fulfill his promise he made to the American people. He said that he did not want to--he would not sign a bill that had earmarks in it. This bill today had over 9,000 earmarks in it. Last night he said that the stimulus bill didn't have any earmarks in it, and that's not factual either. That's totally false.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. You've got a great chart here. I know you're going to explain it to our viewers tonight and show pre-tax relief and post-tax relief. And the great thing--I'll stop here in a second, but the great thing about this chart that you're just fixing to explain is it shows that tax relief will stimulate the economy. By getting the regulatory burden and the tax burden off of small business, we'll create jobs. We'll have a strong economy. People will have good-paying jobs so that they can buy a car, can buy a house, can pay for their college education for their children or technical education, they can do the things that they need, buy clothes, and all the things that come together to create a strong economy. So if you would explain that chart for us, I'd appreciate it.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Thank you, and I appreciate that. Absolutely. I frequently say at home, as I am going around the 10th Congressional District in Georgia, that socialism has never worked; it won't work today, it has never worked in the past, and that is exactly what we are doing. I described the stimulus bill that we passed here in this House a couple of weeks ago as a steamroller of socialism being shoved down the throats of the American public, and that will strangle our economy and kill the American people economically. I believe, likewise, that we are seeing bill after bill; in fact, just tomorrow we are going to have a housing bill here on the floor that is going to create bigger government and spend more money. Certainly people need to be able to buy houses. People need to be able to buy cars. The Big Three auto makers are having problems. I have my own dealers at home that talk to me about the car sales. In fact, I visited one and talked to the service people, I talked to the used car people, I talked to the new car people, I talked to the folks across the board, and in a large dealership in the 10th Congressional District back during this last break, a week ago, and they're suffering. People are hurting around this country. And we need to do something. And there is absolutely something that can be done. Republicans have proposed things that go along with what you're talking about tonight, the supply side, which means that we need to get dollars back in people's hands. We need to have small business be able to have the capital, money, to be able to create a new job, to be able to go out and buy inventory, to be able to do the things that they need to be successful as a small business. And that's the economic engine of America. I was just watching ``Fox and Friends,'' I guess two mornings ago, and the people there were talking about that the banks are the economic engines of America. They are totally misled. Small business is the economic engine of America.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Thank you, my friend. I appreciate your yielding. I want to just make a couple of comments. One thing, we have a recent experiment in this kind of economic theory. I think if we look historically, not only did the idea of spending more and more money not work during the Great Depression, in fact the only thing that got us out of the Depression was cranking up the manufacturing sector, the private manufacturing sector, to supply the needs for World War II. That is the only thing that got us out of the Depression. But I just want to remind you, I know my dear friend from Missouri, Mr. Akin, remembers just recently the Japanese tried the same kind of philosophy. I don't think it worked there either, did it?

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Well, in Georgia, in my part of the woods, we say, ``That's hogwash,'' the claims that we hear. We've heard rhetoric, both from the President as well as the leadership in this House, about fairness. Well, they're not being fair to Republicans with the closed rule so we can't present our ideas and all. But the thing is, it's not only not fair to Republicans, it's not fair to the men and women of America. It's not fair to the working families of America. It's not fair to the small business of America. Because we're being overrun with this socialistic idea that's going to destroy jobs, it's going to create more economic problems, just as we saw during the Great Depression. All the great spending, all the big growth of Federal Government that we're seeing just markedly grow with these ``porkulous'' bills--the Wall Street bail-out bill, the non-stimulus stimulus bill we had 2 weeks ago, the bill we have today, and we're going to get another one tomorrow, and we're going to see more and more and more. And the thing is, it's not fair to the American people because what we're doing is we're killing our economy.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I thank the gentleman for yielding. This rule is totally unfair, and it is a slap in the face to the American family. We are struggling all across America to try to make ends meet, but what are we doing here in Congress? We're growing the size of the Federal Government. The things that are included in this grows every one of these appropriations in whole by almost 8.5 percent, but the American public's budget isn't growing that much. I presented an amendment to this huge abomination here that would have cut discretionary spending--not military spending, not veteran spending, but discretionary spending--by 10 percent. My amendment was not held in order. I was trying to help the American people, but we're having this forced down our throats. This is just another continued rolling of a steam roll of socialism down the throats of the American people and it's going to destroy our economy. Just as an example of how grossly growing the Federal Government is, Labor HHS, with what is in this bill as well as what was in the nonstimulus bill just a couple of weeks ago, is growing by 91 percent just for that one department. Labor HHS approps is growing 91 percent. This is totally intolerable. Just last night, the President stood right there and said he wanted to cut the deficit in half by the end of his 4-year term. We're not cutting the deficit, we're growing government, and it's going to increase the Federal debt. This is intolerable, and this rule should be rejected.

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. BROUN of Georgia

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