David Dreier

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I am happy to yield 1 minute to our good friend, a hardworking new Member of this institution, the gentlewoman from Camas, Washington (Ms. Herrera Beutler).

Mr. DREIER. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I will say that I was prepared to engage in a colloquy with my good friend from Maryland and explain to him that if Senator Reid believes that this is a great compromise, why will he not respond to Senator McConnell's repeated requests to bring it up in the United States Senate? With that, Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 1 minute to our Presidential candidate, our good friend from Stillwater, Minnesota (Mrs. Bachmann).

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I did ask a few minutes ago and expended time by asking anyone to yield. We have a lot of Members here who want to be heard. Mr. McGovern has time if he would like to yield it. I yield 15 seconds to my friend from Maryland, and maybe Mr. McGovern will yield him 15 seconds. Then we can hear what Mr. Van Hollen has to say.

Mr. DREIER. I thank my friend for yielding. Let me say that the action that we are about to take here today is going to help with the process of seeing Senator McConnell and Senator Reid work together.

Mr. DREIER. I would like to yield my friend an additional 15 seconds.

Mr. DREIER. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished former chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, my friend from Redlands, California (Mr. Lewis).

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I will not only address you, I won't point my finger at you as I address you. Let me say, Madam Speaker, that Senator McConnell has just minutes ago asked Senator Reid to bring the Reid proposal to the floor of the United States Senate. And a decision has been made by Senator Reid not to bring the measure up. On at least two occasions, Senator McConnell has asked, since Senator Reid has said that his proposal is the only one that can pass both Houses of Congress, Senator McConnell has asked us to show what we all know, and that is that there is not going to be a majority of support in the House of Representatives for his proposal. And then when that happens, we look forward to the discussions that will take place with Speaker Boehner, Senator Reid, Leader McConnell, and Leader Pelosi. With that, Madam Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Young), a hardworking new Member of Congress.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, may I yield time to my friend from Michigan? Am I allowed to yield time to my friend from Michigan?

Mr. DREIER. Will the gentlelady yield?

Mr. DREIER. I yield myself the balance of the time. Madam Speaker, I believe in civil discourse, and I want to say that on several occasions in the past 45 minutes, members of my staff have urged me to have the words taken down that have been offered by Members on the other side of the aisle, and I chose not to. In the name of civility, I chose not to because we have a very serious issue that needs to be addressed, and it's before us, and we need to make sure that in the next several hours, we effectively address it. Since 1962, on 75 different occasions, we have seen the United States Congress increase the debt ceiling. We keep hearing about the urgency that exists today. Well, I'll tell you what's urgent: If we don't change the course that we've been on the last 4 years, with an 82 percent increase in non-defense discretionary spending, we are not going to have resources for any of the things that my colleagues have talked about. What we need to do and the message that has been sent is that for the first time ever, we are going to change business as usual. Now I'm going to say something that I probably shouldn't at the very end here. There are some good things in Senator Reid's proposal. I believe that the idea of establishing a joint select committee of our colleagues who will come together and make recommendations and force an up-or-down vote in both Houses of Congress is a positive thing. But I will say this: I don't believe that continuing down the road towards increasing the debt ceiling without the kinds of checks that are necessary is the right thing for us to do. Last night's agreement that we voted on here was, in fact. It stemmed from the bipartisan talks that took place right down this hall.

Mr. DREIER. Vote ``no'' on the Reid proposal.

Mr. DREIER. Then I will reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, at this time I am happy to yield 1 minute to my good friend from Wantage, New Jersey (Mr. Garrett).

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I am happy to yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Tupelo, Mississippi (Mr. Nunnelee).

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I am happy to yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Newburgh, Indiana (Mr. Bucshon).

Mr. DREIER. At this time I'm happy to yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Ashland, Wisconsin (Mr. Duffy).

Mr. DREIER. I yield myself 5 seconds to say that I thank the gentleman for, once again, pointing out the fact that there is nothing in the Boehner proposal that does anything to cut Social Security or Medicare. Madam Speaker, with that, I am happy to yield 15 seconds to a new Member from Zeeland, Michigan (Mr. Huizenga).

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, at this time I am happy to yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Biloxi, Mississippi (Mr. Palazzo).

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 10 seconds to remind my friend from Texas that the measure that we voted on last night stemmed from the bipartisan agreement that was put together one week ago this afternoon right down the hall. With that, I am happy to yield 1 minute to my good friend, the gentleman from Jefferson, Louisiana (Mr. Scalise).

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I would like to compliment him on his very thoughtful remarks, Madam Speaker, and say that as I listen to this newly elected Member of the House, it is very difficult to imagine that he would consciously engage in an effort to bring our Nation to the verge of collapse, because we want to solve this problem and ensure that we can have a strong and vibrant United States of America, creating jobs and getting our economy growing. I thank my friend for his thoughtful comments.

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds. I would say to my good friend that I would like to totally associate myself with her remarks at the end in which she said it is absolutely essential for us to work together in a bipartisan way to resolve this issue. But I know this will come as a surprise. When she began her remarks and said that we on our side are working overtime making a conscious decision to bring our Nation to the verge of collapse, that is a slight mischaracterization of exactly where we are. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to my good friend from Spring Hill, a hardworking and not-too-well-rested member of the Rules Committee, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Nugent).