David Dreier

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield the customary 30 minutes to my good friend from Worcester (Mr. McGovern). All time yielded will be for debate purposes only. Pending that, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, runaway Federal spending is one of the most significant issues that this Congress is facing. Our national debt has implications for nearly every major challenge that we must confront. It's tied to our economic recovery, it's tied to our national security, it's tied to our ability to deliver on our constitutional mandate for transparent, limited and responsive government. The time to exercise our power of the purse with discipline and restraint is long overdue. Let me say that again: the time for us to exercise our power-of-the-purse restraint is long, long overdue. We must return to pre-bailout, pre-binge spending levels for funding the Federal Government. We know that a great deal of hard work and tough decisions lie ahead for every single Member of this institution. We know that a great deal of hard work is there; and we're going to face some very difficult, tough, tough decisions. They are going to be difficult decisions; but, Mr. Speaker, they are decisions that we're going to have to make. First and foremost, we must get our economy growing and our workforce expanding again. Strong growth and job creation will increase tax revenues and provide greater resources that are needed; but, Mr. Speaker, that's only half of the equation. Economic growth is critically important. We need to do it so that we can enhance the flow of revenues to the Federal Treasury to deal with those essential items that are there, but it is half the equation. We can't get back onto firm ground with sound fiscal standing unless we have a leaner Federal budget. Some of this can be accomplished by eliminating waste, fraud and abuse. Everybody is always in favor of eliminating waste, fraud and abuse. And what is the best way to do that? Robust oversight. Robust oversight will allow us to streamline Federal spending and make better use of taxpayer dollars, but we have to acknowledge up front that hard work and painful cuts lie ahead. We all know that this is not going to be an easy task, but it is absolutely essential. Just as families and small businesses across this country have been forced to cut back during these difficult economic times, we here in this institution are going to have to do the same. That's the message that we got last November that brought people like my Rules Committee colleague, Mr. Scott, who is sitting next to me on the floor here, that's the message that has been carried here. Some Federal programs, Mr. Speaker, are wasteful and duplicative and deserve to be cut. There will be others that have merit, but which we simply cannot afford at the current levels. We have to be honest about that. We have to engage in a responsible debate about what our priorities must be. What we cannot do is allow this debate to degenerate into false accusations about the other side's intentions. And I'm going to repeat that, Mr. Speaker. We cannot let the kind of free-flowing, rigorous debate that we need to have degenerate into these accusations that we so often seem to hear around here. There is no one in this body who wants to gut funding for key essential programs, like veterans' programs, or like education, child nutrition. No one wants to gut these programs. So I think it's important for us to state that. And there is no evidence that any proposal out there would undermine things like support for our Nation's veterans. We are all entering into this debate with good faith, good intentions, and a commitment to responsibly address the need to implement fiscal discipline. We will have to make hard choices, but that process will not be served by unfair or disingenuous accusations. We also recognize that this will be a lengthy process. We are just beginning what is going to be a 2-year process focused on this. Today's underlying resolution, the measure that we're going to be considering through this rule and then on the floor tomorrow, is merely the first step in this ongoing effort to bring our Federal budget back into the black. Our committees will have to conduct extensive oversight, as I mentioned earlier, of Federal programs. We will have to dispense with fiscal year 2011 spending, which the last Congress failed to do, before we can even begin to deal with the coming fiscal year. The underlying resolution that we have before us today lays down a marker for reducing spending and puts the House on record for its commitment to tackle this issue in a serious way. The hard work will follow. As this process proceeds, rank and file Members of both political parties, Democrats and Republicans alike, will have the opportunity to participate in our effort to address these very tough decisions. Through constructive debate, we can finally begin to impose real accountability and discipline in our Federal budget. In concert with pro-growth policies--and I said to me the most essential thing is implementing pro-growth economic policies--but going hand-in-hand with these pro-growth policies, Mr. Speaker, this effort will put us back onto the path of economic recovery and job creation. Today's rule sets the stage for the start of that effort. I'm going to urge my colleagues to support this rule and demonstrate their resolve to tackle runaway Federal spending in a serious way. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds to say to my friend that I very much appreciate his recognizing the commitment that I have had to security through foreign assistance programs and to make it very clear that, again, we are just beginning a process today. We are beginning a process today that will allow this House to work its will. It is obvious that going to 2008 levels is not going to gut all of the very important national security aspects that we have of foreign assistance programs. My friend knows very well, Mr. Speaker, that it is essential that we get our fiscal house in order, and this is the first step on a road towards doing just that. With that, I have no further requests for time, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield my friend 1 additional minute.

Mr. DREIER. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DREIER. Reclaiming my time, I will say, Mr. Speaker, that across- the- board cuts is not something that is being considered here. We are pursuing 2008 levels, and I believe that that's what this resolution says. We hope very much that we can get to lower levels of spending, and I suspect that some Members on the other side of the aisle will want to join us in working together in that effort so we can get our fiscal house in order. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on this rule that we are considering.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 43 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. DREIER. I thank my friend for yielding. Obviously, and it has been indicated early on, we are not going to see across-the-board spending cuts. The goal, I would say to my friend, is to get to '08 levels, and I believe that we can preserve the FBI.

Mr. DREIER. Out of respect for my friend, I yield myself 15 seconds and I am happy to yield to my friend.

Mr. DREIER. If I might complete my statement. I think I control the time here. It is very important to note that we did have an amendment that was considered in the Rules Committee by Mr. Scott which actually brought us to lower levels. It said 2008 levels or less. I am happy to further yield to my friend.

Mr. DREIER. I will yield in just a second. So I would say to my friend that we do very much want, Mr. Speaker, to have a chance for this institution--and I hope Democrats will join in support of H. Res. 38 when it's voted on tomorrow--to go on record, demonstrating the institution's commitment to having heard the message from the American people.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself a minute and-a-half to respond to my friend with a couple of comments. First, this is about job creation and economic growth. Today we live with an economy where there is a tremendous degree of uncertainty, and we know right now that there are job creators, investors, who have resources on the sidelines. I don't believe that there is anything that we could do--well, there are a number of things that we could do that may be as important, I mean, reducing the tax burden on job creators, opening up new markets around the world. But one of the things that I think is critically important for us to do is to begin getting our fiscal house in order so that that will provide an incentive for job creation and economic growth. The next point I would like to make is that while I congratulated my friends, Mr. McGovern and Mr. Van Hollen, for not engaging in the sky- is-falling threats about what might happen down the road, or actually determining what would happen, I have to say that I was a little concerned and I have come to the conclusion that if one can't prioritize, Mr. Speaker, they resort to demonizing. The fact of the matter is that we are beginning a process that will see us for the first time in 2 years have a free-flowing debate on appropriations. When my friend mentioned both the National Institutes of Health and the FBI, I believe those are important priorities that Democrats and Republicans alike want to fund.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. DREIER. Of course. I have yielded three times to my friend, and I know that Mr. McGovern has lots of time. The gentleman from San Diego has asked to be recognized. I have had an exchange with him. And now I would like to yield 2 minutes to my friend from San Diego (Mr. Bilbray), and then if Mr. McGovern chooses to yield time to my friend, I am happy to engage in a discussion with him again.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DREIER. May I inquire of the Chair how much time is remaining.

Mr. DREIER. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DREIER. I yield myself an additional 15 seconds, Mr. Speaker. We can do that without in any way jeopardizing the important priorities that we have. With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume to say to my friend that again this is just the first step in a long process which will allow the kind of free-flowing debate that we are talking about. Now my friend will recall that never before have we gone through the appropriations process the way we did the last 2 years, that being, when my friend and I arrived here in 1981, and when it came to the issue of spending, Members had the opportunity to stand up on the House floor and offer an amendment to the appropriations bill. And I will tell you that it's our intention to once again have that kind of debate that we had all the way up until the last 2 years. So I can assure my friend that our goal of having a freer flowing debate is important. The second point I would like to make, and then I will yield to my friend, is that while my friend has continually said that we didn't make amendments in order to this measure, there were no amendments submitted to the Rules Committee that would have given us the opportunity to do that. We did make an amendment in order that modifies this, that came from Mr. Scott in the Rules Committee, that actually said that we should get to '08 levels or less, and it is true. My friend from Worcester did ask to make in order an amendment by Mr. Van Hollen, but, as I said, there were no amendments that had been actually submitted to the Rules Committee. So that vote was taken by the Rules Committee. That decision was made.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, at this time I am very happy to yield 2 minutes to one of our new Members whom I mentioned in my opening remarks, the gentleman from North Charleston, South Carolina, my Rules Committee colleague, Mr. Scott.

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.