David Dreier

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds. I would say to my friend that frankly we're in a position where 75 times since 1962 we've increased the debt ceiling without focusing on the challenge of the debt itself.

Mr. DREIER. I am happy to yield to my friend from New York.

Mr. DREIER. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Speaker, I totally associate myself with the remarks of my very good friend from New York and say that jobs, jobs, jobs continue to be our top priority. And I believe that this legislation before us is going to go a long way towards doing just that. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute. I would say to my friend, Mr. Speaker, that if we look back on the juxtaposition of that projected $500 billion in deficit reduction and the $1.6 trillion that we attained, we know why it is that that came about. It was gross domestic product growth. And my friend and I have been working together for many years focused on how it is that we can get our economy growing. In so doing, I believe as we continue to focus on that, that we will be able to see benefits beyond those anticipated today when it comes to deficit reduction if we're able to generate--unfortunately, we have had 1.3 percent GDP growth reported from the last quarter. If we can get to 3, 4, 5 percent GDP growth, my friend knows very well that we're going to be in a position where we will be able to see an even greater reduction of the deficits in years to come.

Mr. DREIER. I am happy to yield to the gentleman from New Jersey.

Mr. DREIER. I thank my friend for his very thoughtful remarks. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Collinsville, Illinois (Mr. Shimkus). (Mr. SHIMKUS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds to say that it is very interesting that as we have come together in a bipartisan way to address the crisis of increasing our debt ceiling, tackling the challenge of reducing the $14.3 trillion national debt that we have, we had this disruption in the gallery. Now I turned around, Mr. Speaker, and looked up there, and I will tell you--I don't know if you saw the placard that they were carrying-- it had in great big letters across it, Create Jobs. Create Jobs is the message that they had. And, Mr. Speaker, that's exactly what we are doing, again working very diligently in a bipartisan way to ensure that we do just that. With that, I would like to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to a hardworking member of the Committee on Rules, my good friend from Grandfather Community, North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 10 seconds to say to my fellow Angeleno that, while I've associated myself with the remarks of most of my other colleagues, I'm hard-pressed to associate myself with her remarks. With that, I am happy to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to another hardworking member of the Committee on Rules, the gentleman from Lawrenceville, Georgia (Mr. Woodall).

Mr. DREIER. Will the gentlewoman yield?

Mr. DREIER. I thank my friend for yielding. Mr. Speaker, let me say that there is a great big difference between the commissions that have been established in the past and the fact that this is a congressional committee, for the first time made up of our colleagues from the House and the Senate. The gentlewoman is absolutely right. These outside commissions that have been there have made recommendations and they have gone virtually nowhere.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I first yield myself 30 seconds. I was engaging in a colloquy with my good friend from Rochester, the distinguished ranking minority member, and I would be happy to yield to her in just a moment, Mr. Speaker. But back to this issue of this joint select committee that is going to be charged with coming up with $1.5 trillion in proposed cuts, and their recommendations will be sent to both Houses of Congress for an up or down vote. Mr. Speaker, this is unprecedented, because unlike the commissions that have been put together, the Bowles-Simpson Commission, unlike this little caucus of Senators that my friend just mentioned, this Gang of Six, there is no legislative authority or power.

Mr. DREIER. I yield myself an additional 15 seconds. There is no legislative authority or power. This time this demonstrates that Members of the House and Senate will, in fact, come together and work in a bipartisan way to ensure that we bring about meaningful spending cuts to the tune of $1.5 trillion. That's the difference that exists with this proposal that is before us. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 2 minutes to my very good friend from Moore, Oklahoma (Mr. Cole).

Mr. DREIER. I yield myself an additional 15 seconds. I would say that we are trying to work this out with a spirit of bipartisanship. My friend began his statement by saying that this was a crisis developed by Republican policies. Since we are working in a bipartisan way, I think the notion that recognizing that an 82 percent increase in non-defense discretionary spending over the past 4 years clearly played a role in getting us exactly where we are. I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to another one of our hardworking new Members of Congress, the gentleman from Little Rock, Arkansas (Mr. Griffin).

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to one of our diligent new members of the freshman class, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Dold).

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds. I would say to my very good friend that I agree with some of the remarks that he made on doing things like eliminating agricultural subsidies. I would say to my friend from Oregon, who is still in the Chamber here and now walking off the floor, I would say to my friend that I agree with his remarks about the need for us to focus on agriculture subsidies and bringing about a reduction there.

Mr. DREIER. I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.

Mr. DREIER. At this point I'm very happy to yield 1 minute to the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, my good friend from St. Joseph, Michigan (Mr. Upton).

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 2 minutes to another one of our thoughtful new Members, the gentleman from Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania (Mr. Meehan).

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, let me say that your superb presiding over this House is only exceeded by the gentlewoman from Hinsdale, Illinois (Mrs. Biggert), and I would like to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, at this time I'm very happy to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to my good friend from Clinton Township, New Jersey (Mr. Lance).

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, 224 years ago this summer, the framers of our Constitution were in Philadelphia at Constitution Hall, and they were working very hard to put together what ended up being this inspired document authored by James Madison. On July 16, 1787, they actually completed a compromise. It was known as the Connecticut Compromise. The Connecticut Compromise is what established a bicameral legislature--two Houses of Congress. That Connecticut Compromise was also called the Great Compromise. I know that the word ``compromise'' is seen as a pejorative in the eyes of many, but what we have before us is a compromise. It hasn't been easy getting here. When James Madison was asked often about the first branch of government, putting together the process of lawmaking, he said that the process of lawmaking is an ugly, messy, difficult process. Over the last several months, we've seen, as we have been pursuing this day, we've seen an ugly, messy, difficult process. I am reminded that a couple of summers ago, I was talking with this amazing woman, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. She is the first woman to ever be President of any country on the continent of Africa. She is the President of Liberia. And we were talking about the development of the parliament in Liberia through this great commission called the House Democracy Partnership that Mr. Price and I are privileged to lead. When we talked about the ugly, messy, difficult process of lawmaking, the President looked to me and she said: Ah, David, you've forgotten one thing. Yes, it is an ugly, messy, difficult process, but it works. So while we have so much time and energy and effort expended on partisan bickering, at the end of the day, this for me is a much, much more enjoyable time, when we are able to come together, tackling the serious problems that we as a Nation face and for the first time ever taking this issue of increasing the debt ceiling and actually dealing with the root cause of it. I like to say that we don't have a debt ceiling problem; we have a debt problem. We have a $14.3 trillion national debt. We all know that, fingers pointed from both sides of the aisle at the other on a regular basis. Yet today, today is a time for us to recognize that we have come together to deal with it. And, for the first time in that 75 times since 1962 that the debt ceiling has increased, we're actually going to, with the establishment of this joint select committee, see our colleagues, in a bipartisan way, from the House and Senate come together and recommend $1.5 trillion in proposed cuts. And there are mechanisms put into place, sequestration, which will actually force across-the-board cuts if they don't come up with recommendations. So we are looking at a very, very good proposal that will help us do that. We are increasing the debt ceiling to pay our past obligations. I don't like the fact that we went through an 82 percent increase in non- defense discretionary spending over the past 4 years. Even though I voted against almost all of it, I have to say, those bills have to be paid. And that's why it is we're increasing our debt ceiling. I want to join in extending congratulations to all those who have been involved in this process in a bipartisan way. So I will say again, it has, over the past several months, been an ugly, messy, difficult process. But with the vote that we are about to have on this rule--and I look forward to working on the underlying legislation itself, and I'm convinced we will have a strong bipartisan vote for it--we will prove, as President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf reminded me, even though it is an ugly, messy, difficult process, it works. With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

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

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on the measure before us.