Bill Delahunt

Mr. DELAHUNT

Mr. DELAHUNT. In 2 years. I guess that is productivity.

Mr. DELAHUNT. Okay.

Mr. DELAHUNT. And that company is?

Mr. DELAHUNT. And my memory is that Exxon-Mobil, for the year, had a profit of $39 billion, that one company.

Mr. DELAHUNT. Could I ask my friend from Florida just to repeat that. $34 billion, and that was all of the major oil companies? MS. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Yes.

Mr. DELAHUNT

Mr. DELAHUNT. 30 seconds. I will let you get back to it. But you know what? I am just looking at that, Japan at $680 billion. Japan is actually subsidizing partially that tax cut, or that tax refund for the extremely wealthy in this country. I mean, that is where that money is going. I wonder if that extremely wealthy taxpayer might consider taking that tax refund in yen?

Mr. DELAHUNT. Let me thank you for asking those questions. And as you explained it, I was thinking that you found something rare, and that is somebody in this administration who gave you a straight answer.

Mr. DELAHUNT. And an honest answer, by the way.

Mr. DELAHUNT. I think you are talking about Newt Gingrich, who was the father, if you will, of the Gingrich revolution back in 1994. And, in fact, my friend and classmate, because we came in together into the House of Representatives back in January of 1997, Steve Rothman, we were here when Newt Gingrich presided over this House. Both Steve and I can attest that this was a man who was partisan, very conservative, and when you hear him saying, and this is as recent as this past Friday, ``they,'' and by ``they,'' he is referring to the Republican majority in this House, ``they are seen by the country as being in charge of a government that can't function.''

Mr. DELAHUNT. Another honest, straight answer.

Mr. DELAHUNT. Sure.

Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Meek, if the gentleman would yield.

Mr. DELAHUNT. If the gentleman would just yield for a minute.

Mr. DELAHUNT. Because the way we are going, we are going to bankrupt this United States of America.

Mr. DELAHUNT. You know, if I can interject for a moment, your point is well made. And I think the American people have to realize that these statistics that they are hearing tonight are accurate. That New York Times piece that we were referring to earlier, it goes on to say that because of these recent tax cuts, even the merely rich, even those that are very rich, making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, and I am reading from that piece, are falling behind the very, very wealthiest. In other words, what we are doing, we are creating a super rich elite in this country. There was another New York Times story that came across my desk. And for those that are listening to our conversation this evening, I would refer them to an article that appeared in the New York Times on January 29 of this year. Corporate wealth share rises for top income Americans. In 2003, and this is the most recent data, the top 1 percent of households owned 57\1/2\ percent of corporate wealth in this country. That was up from 53.4 percent the year before. This top group, this 1 percent, in 1991 had 38.7 percent. In other words, this 1 percent is doing so well that they are leaving everybody behind. The top 1 percent is gaining so much money and corporate wealth in this Nation that the other 99 percent have experienced a decline in their share of the wealth of America.

Mr. DELAHUNT. How about restraining spending?

Mr. DELAHUNT. I just want to congratulate you all for a very thoughtful conversation. You have hammered home the truth. And I think what we are saying to the American people is that if you govern, you have to govern responsibly and that your rhetoric has to match your deeds. Otherwise, you fail the American people. And the truth is that today in America, this administration, this Bush White House, and this Bush Congress are failing the American people. Debbie was making a point about the job growth. I think what is more telling is that the jobs that are being produced today and the jobs that currently exist are paying less. A family of four in America today is making less than that same family income 10 years ago. This is not about criticism. This is about telling the truth and being responsible. We use terms like PAYGO. Well, I think we owe the American people an explanation of what PAYGO means. It means what they do most every day of their lives. They make decisions and choices based upon what they have in their pocket, and if they don't have the money in their pocket, they don't buy it. It is really that simple. That is what we are talking about this evening and on other occasions. Let's go back to those real conservative values, those genuine American, conservative values. I can't believe I am saying this. But the longer I serve in this body and listen to the neoconservatives, I find myself describing my own philosophy as fiscally conservative. Ironically, it is the Democratic Party today that stands for sanity and stands for responsibility and doing it the old-fashioned way. That is what we are. Maybe we are an old, traditional party. But, do you know what? We made America great. When America was in trouble because of the Depression, it was those great Democrats Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry Truman that brought the country back, because we know there is a social compact out there that doesn't say only the very, very wealthy get most of everything. In a society which is really a community, where there are mutual rights and responsibilities, everybody has a shot. Today what we are seeing is America becoming much like a banana republic, where it is the haves, the elites, and then there are the rest of us, and that is sad.

Mr. DELAHUNT

Mr. DELAHUNT. But it is a tragic comedy because the lives of young men and women in Iraq are constantly at risk. We all know what we have lost in terms of our youth, and we all know what the cost has been in terms of the taxpayers' dollars. What I find extraordinary is, and Sheila Jackson-Lee alluded to it earlier, every Democrat on the International Relations Committee recently, in fact yesterday, signed a letter requesting an oversight hearing in terms of what is going on in Iraq, why the rampant fraud, abuse and corruption. We have been requesting that for 2 years, and you know what, we have never received an answer, not a single hearing. If I were a Republican Member of this House, Mr. Speaker, and I read the op-ed piece by Retired Army Major General Paul Eaton, who was responsible for the training of Iraqi security forces, and received hardly anything in terms of support from the civilian leadership of this Defense Department, if I read what he said, I would insist that we listen to this individual, someone who served his country well, and you know what, they just want to ignore it. But I have to read what General Paul Eaton had to say because I think it is remarkable. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is not competent to lead our Armed Forces. In sum, he has shown himself incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically, and is far more than anyone else responsible for what has happened to our important mission in Iraq. Mr. Rumsfeld must step down. That is from an individual who has served this country in Iraq with valor and distinction and his recommendation to this Congress is this: ``Congress must assert itself. Too much power has shifted to the executive branch, not just in terms of waging war but also in planning the military of the future. Congress should remember it still has the power of the purse; it should call our generals, colonels, captains and sergeants to testify frequently, so that their opinions and needs are known to the men they lead. ``Our most important, and sometimes most severe, judges are our subordinates. That is a fact I discovered early on in my military career. It is, unfortunately, a lesson Donald Rumsfeld seems incapable of learning.'' What a damning indictment, and yet not a sound from the majority in Congress. If I had read that, I would have asked him to come and testify before the committee of jurisdiction the next day.

Mr. DELAHUNT. It is a lot easier to raise that debt limit, Mr. Ryan.

Mr. DELAHUNT. But they raised the debt limit. Didn't they?

Mr. DELAHUNT. Amen.

Mr. DELAHUNT. You are saying we have an ownership society, Mr. Meek.

Mr. DELAHUNT. I yield.

Mr. DELAHUNT. If my colleague would yield. I don't want to skip past that, because I think it is important to analyze what kind of jobs are being created. And I think we all concur that the number of jobs are insufficient to move American society ahead to realize the American dream, if you will. But the reality is it is not the kind of jobs that carry with them the ability to have a living standard that most Americans enjoyed 5 years ago, 10 years ago and 15 years ago. These aren't good jobs at good wages. These are menial jobs, in many cases, at low wages. There is a difference. The truth is that the median income for an American family has declined. It hasn't grown. So that while there may be jobs out there, Americans are falling behind. They are losing their health care. They are losing their pension. And what is really tragic is that they are losing the hope that all Americans have for their children and grandchildren. That is what I am experiencing.

Mr. DELAHUNT. Again, let me repeat it. This is a quote of Mr. Gingrich that appeared in the Knight Ridder newspaper this past Friday. And this is his observation about what is occurring in this body over which he presided: ``They are seen by the country as being in charge of a government that cannot function.'' That cannot function.