David Dreier

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to respond to my friend. Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is we sent to the President the appropriations bill that deals with every single one of those items, and what did the President do? He vetoed it. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California [Mr. Bono] who has become most prominent as the mayor of Palm Springs. (Mr. BONO asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would say to my friend that the way to run the government is to balance the Federal budget. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Huntington Beach, California [Mr. Rohrabacher], my dear friend and our surfer.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to say that it is a sad commentary that my friends in the party of government view the average American as being dependent on government. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Scottsdale, AZ [Mr. Hayworth].

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. Rogers], my friend and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, State, Justice and Judiciary.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to my friend, the gentleman from Wilmette, IL [Mr. Porter], the chairman of the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. (Mr. PORTER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, it is a sad commentary that our colleagues who represent the party of government cannot realize that some programs of the Federal Government are essential and many are nonessential, and we are moving ahead with the essential ones. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the shy and retiring gentleman from Metairie, LA [Mr. Livingston], the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations. (Mr. LIVINGSTON asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, this rule makes in order the adoption by the House of an amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 1358, a bill relating to the transfer to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts of a National Marine Fisheries Service laboratory in Gloucester, MA. Mr. Speaker, if there is one thing clear from the events of the past weeks it is that this battle to balance the Federal budget is not, I repeat is not, Washington business as usual. Never before have portions of the Federal Government been shut down for weeks at a time. This is uncharted territory. Why are we at this point? For the first time since the creation of the Federal welfare state in the late 1960's and early 1970's there is a majority in the House of Representatives that wants a smaller, not a bigger Federal Government. For the first time in a generation there is a majority in Congress that is just not willing to accept budget deficits that mortgage the future of our children. This is new. This change has not worked its way down to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. The President ran for office promising a balanced budget. To this day, he has failed to deliver. The President ran for office promising a tax cut for middle-income Americans. Instead, he raised taxes and vetoed the balanced budget passed by Congress that cut taxes on middle-income families with children. Mr. Speaker, I must admit that we are surprised by the commitment of the President to avoid balancing the budget. We probably should not have been surprised. He is clearly the leader of the Party of Government. The liberal Democrats built the government that today eats up nearly 40 percent of the economic production of our Nation. Even more, they extended the reach of Federal Government regulators into every corner of our society and our economy. They created the regulatory net that is now revealed, during this moment of confrontation, to block Ford Motor Co. from releasing a new pick-up truck model without the approval of a government agency. It means that Disney and Capital Cities ABC cannot conduct a merger in the private sector without the Government's OK. Mr. Speaker, the Federal Government is not just too expensive. The Federal Government is not just mortgaging the future of our children with massive deficits. The Federal Government is too big and too intrusive. The Party of Government is no longer in control of Congress. Now, the Party of the People is in control. Therefore, faced with an unprecedented budget battle, we are not just going to roll over and fund every corner of the Federal behemoth. Instead, we are going to go agency by agency, function by function, to try to get the most important aspects of the Federal Government working. We do not oppose government, but we have a problem with government that is just too big and too expensive. This rule will move some of the Government programs that enjoy broad bipartisan support out of the House and to the Senate. Yes, it is an expedited process. However, we have never been in this kind of situation before. We have never had a Congress that just said ``no'' to the deficit drug. We have also never had a President so committed to not balancing the budget. In this situation, we are going to move forward with essential items quickly. Mr. Speaker, the Party of Government may be mad at this process because they do not want to admit that some functions of the Federal Government are essential, while some are the product of liberal over- reaching. However, most Americans know that this is exactly the case. I urge my colleagues to support this rule. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Dallas, TX [Mr. Frost], pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all times yielded is for the purpose of debate only. (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks and include extraneous material.)

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 338 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Regular order.

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Columbus, OH, for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, when I was managing the last rule that we brought up, I closed by referring to an editorial that was written by Charles Krauthammer. I went upstairs and I actually got a copy of that editorial. Mr. Speaker, it was on New Year's Day, and Mr. Krauthammer wrote that: The grossest misperception about the great budget deadlock is the widespread notion, fed by the media, that this is just business as usual. In fact, it is the opposite. If this were business as usual, the Republicans would have found a nice, cozy compromise using phony numbers and meaningless projections, claimed victory and gone home happy. Not only is this not business as usual, we left business as usual behind months ago. We are well into uncharted territory in this budget confrontation. In the past, when there were budget disagreements, it would take a weekend of keeping tourists out of the Washington Monument to convince Congress and the President that they should find a way to get the Government going again. Unfortunately, this business-as-usual get-it- done-tomorrow attitude has left this country crippled by a massive $5 trillion Federal debt. This debt is an anchor around our economy, stifling living standards, reducing our economic competitiveness, and making interest payments the second largest budget item for the Federal Government. Congress is now run by a breed of elected officials that are committed, above all, to do what they said they would do when they ran for office. I must admit, this is a very new concept, especially in Washington. I can understand how many Americans could be confused by a Congress run by people who insist on meeting the commitments they made to the voters. Americans, unfortunately, have come to expect politicans that promise a balanced budget when they run for office, and offer more debt once in office. They have seen Presidential candidates promise a middle-class tax cut while running for office, only to offer a tax increase once in office. It is understandable that people want to see Congress deliver on promises. They want ``promises made, promises kept.'' This Congress, Mr. Speaker, will do just that. Balancing the budget in 7 years is our promise. We will not settle for the business as usual of phony balanced budgets which have been offered by the President, he is 4-for-4, the most recent one has an $87 billion deficit in the last, the 7th year, 2002. We will use every tool that we possibly can to achieve a balanced budget. We must do this for our Nation's children. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this rule and move ahead so that we will, in fact, be able to bring about the kind of resolution that can keep the Government going and at the same time keep our eye on the ball, and, that is, balancing the Federal budget.

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, the Chair has already ruled.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that House Resolution 310, a resolution expediting the commencement of committee hearings during the remainder of the first session of the 104th Congress, be laid on the table.

Mr. DREIER

Mr. DREIER. Now that he has completed, I object.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I object.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I object.

Mr. DREIER. I heard the unanimous-consent request, and I objected.

Mr. DREIER. I object.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the columnist Charles Krauthammer wrote an interesting piece the other day in which he made it clear that if this were business as usual, we would see a package agreed to with phony numbers, phony assumptions, and all; but, quite frankly, this is not business as usual. Unfortunately, we are in a position where many of my colleagues on the other side are, unfortunately, representing the party of government. We, on the other hand, epitomize the party of the people. We are the party that is trying to do what it is that the American people sent us here to do, and that is balance the Federal budget. We are all concerned about the fact that the Federal Government is shut down. That is the reason we have come up with this package, which does ensure that Federal employees are not caught in the crossfire. We hope that business as usual will come to an end. We found, unfortunately, that this problem has created a clear understanding of the fact that the Federal Government's reach is way too far. A truck cannot be certified by the EPA, a private sector business merger cannot go through, because the Federal Government is closed down. We need to reduce the size and scope of Government. We need to balance the budget for our children and their children. Let us move ahead, pass this responsible package which will pay those Federal workers. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would remind my friend that, of course, the legislation we are moving ahead will in fact take Federal workers out of the crossfire and provide them with payment. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to my friend, the gentleman from Del Mar, CA [Mr. Cunningham].

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from East Petersburg, PA [Mr. Walker], the chairman of the Committee on Science.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Albuquerque, NM, Mr. Schiff, to respond to the statement of the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Gene Green.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to my friend, the gentleman from Albuquerque, NM [Mr. Schiff].

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Columbus, OH [Ms. Pryce], my very able Committee on Rules colleague.

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire of the Chair how much time remains on both sides?