Virginia Foxx

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I am going to urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question so that I can amend the rule to allow all Members of Congress the opportunity to vote to cut spending. Republican Whip Eric Cantor recently launched the YouCut initiative which gives people an opportunity to vote for Federal spending they would like to see Congress cut. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have cast their votes, and this week they've directed their Representatives in Congress to consider H.R. 5570. According to the Republican whip's YouCut Web site, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that ``over the next 10 years, the IRS will require between $5 billion and $10 billion in funding to implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as the new health care law. These funds will be used to hire thousands of additional IRS agents and employees. Reforming our health care system shouldn't require expanding the IRS. By prohibiting funding for the expansion of the IRS for this purpose, we can protect taxpayers while we work to repeal and replace the law.'' H.R. 5570 would prohibit taxpayer funds from being appropriated to the Internal Revenue Service for the purpose of hiring new agents to enforce the Democrats' health care law. Under the new law, additional agents would be specifically hired to enforce the Democrats' unconstitutional individual health care mandate. By preventing their hire, this week's YouCut vote could save the taxpayers between $5 billion and $10 billion. In order to provide for consideration of this commonsense legislation, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question and ``no'' on the rule. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. We have to constantly remind our colleagues across the aisle that Republicans were in charge of the Congress when President Clinton was in office his last 6 years and that Democrats were in charge of Congress the last 2 years of Mr. Bush's administration. We know that Democrats created the economic crisis. And we are not apologizing to BP. We know that BP should pay for all of the problems that have been caused in the gulf. However, we'd like to see this administration do something to respond to the disaster down there and stop blaming others as they do on everything. In a little over a week, on July 4th, we will be celebrating our Nation's independence. John Adams wrote in a letter to his wife, Abigail, that it ``ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance.'' Today, we're not liberating the American people, as our Founding Fathers did. Instead, our colleagues are attempting just the opposite. They're attempting to erode our right to free speech when there's so many other pressing issues that our Nation faces today. For one, we could be addressing the 21 percent cut in Medicare reimbursement payments to doctors that went into effect on June 18. The Senate, after some debate, was able to pass, by unanimous consent, a 6- month extension on the 21 percent cuts last Friday. This legislation would provide a 6-month extension, fully paid for. However, the Speaker has said she sees ``no reason to pass this inadequate bill until we see jobs legislation coming out of the Senate.'' But the Democrats in charge have seen these disastrous pay cuts to physicians coming for some time but have only offered bills full of budget gimmicks or 1-month extensions. I've heard from physicians in my district who are fearful of these cuts and the negative impact they have on their patients when they will no longer be able to afford to see Medicare patients. This is a real crisis we should be dealing with instead of a bill riddled with assaults on our constitutional rights. Even some Democrat Members have some concerns with this bill. To quote one Democrat Member who spoke during the Rules Committee yesterday, with this bill ``we are auctioning off parts of the First Amendment. Don't make this bill unconstitutional on purpose.'' H.R. 5175 contracts our freedoms when we should be expanding them. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the amendment and extraneous material be placed in the Record prior to the vote on the previous question.

Ms. FOXX. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I will now yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller).

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, every citizen in this country, in fact, every school child above the fifth grade ought to know what the First Amendment of the Constitution says. But we know that our education is lacking these days, so I am going to read the amendment. And I am hoping that as our speakers speak, we keep it on the floor so people can read it, because I think folks need to be reminded of what it says. ``Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.'' It's very simple, but it's very important. I now yield 5 minutes to my distinguished colleague from California (Mr. Daniel E. Lungren).

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Massachusetts for yielding me this time. I rise today in defense of the First Amendment to the Constitution and to urge my colleagues to oppose this rule for H.R. 5175, the so- called DISCLOSE Act, and the underlying bill. I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cantor), the Republican whip.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, the ability to speak on the floor of this House is a great honor and a very powerful thing. However, simply saying something on the floor does not make it true. I would like to now yield 2 minutes to my colleague, the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole).

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Daniel E. Lungren).

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I rise today in tribute to Don Moss of Pilot Mountain, North Carolina, who is a dedicated volunteer at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Why is Mr. Moss so special? Because, over the past three decades, he has racked up 47,000 volunteer hours at the hospital--a Guinness World Record. Mr. Moss currently donates 48 hours of his time each week to the hospital--working 12 hours a day and serving up a healthy dose of good cheer and plain old helpfulness. He has a well-deserved reputation for looking out for patients and for his humor and humility. North Carolina is, indeed, blessed to be the home of people like Mr. Moss. His service to the community and his staggering number of volunteer hours illustrate a true spirit of selfless generosity to those in need. I congratulate Mr. Moss on his record-breaking time of service, and I hope that others will be inspired by his example to invest their time and abilities in their communities.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close. I'm going to urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question so that I can amend the rule to allow all Members of Congress the opportunity to vote to cut spending. Republican Whip Eric Cantor really launched the YouCut initiative which gives people an opportunity to vote for Federal spending they would like to see Congress cut. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have cast their votes, and this week they have directed their Representatives in Congress to consider H.R. 5535. According to the Republican whip YouCut Web site: ``The Office of Management and Budget estimated in 2007 that the Federal Government is holding $18 billion in real property it does not need. Rather than selling this property, however, Federal law usually requires that it first be offered, often at no cost, to other government agencies, to State and local governments, to nonprofits, and others. The Federal Government has conveyed at no cost: a building in Las Vegas that is intended to house the mob museum; land in Massachusetts for a private high school where tuition is over $29,000 a year; and a building in Florida that the Federal Government now leases back at a cost of over $100,000 a year. This proposal would amend Federal law to require an expedited process for selling unneeded Federal property with 80 percent of the proceeds used to reduce the deficit.'' In order to provide for consideration of this commonsense legislation, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question and ``no'' on the rule. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, every time my colleague wants to blame the economy on the former President, I'm going to remind him that the Democrats were in control of this Congress the last 2 years that President Bush was in office. You can talk all you want to about what the job numbers were in the last month of the Bush administration. The Democrats were in control of Congress, and they caused the problem. I now yield 4 minutes to my distinguished colleague, my eloquent colleague, from Texas (Mr. Gohmert).

Ms. FOXX. We have at least two more speakers, Mr. Speaker.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I think perhaps my colleague across the aisle needs to be reminded we're actually here to debate because of two amendments that violate their vaunted PAYGO, which means we are talking about the deficit and we are talking about the sorry economy that the Democrats have brought to this country. Now I yield 4 minutes to my colleague from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan).

Ms. FOXX. I yield the gentleman 30 additional seconds.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, you know, the gentleman from Colorado reminds us to stay on the topic, but then he yields to someone who spends most of his time blaming a person who is not even any longer in office. That is the theme of our colleagues across the aisle. No sense of responsibility or accountability on their part. They passed the disastrous stimulus, which all it did was put us deeper into debt. It hasn't done anything to help the economy. They talk about more government control. Well, what about the MMS department? They were the ones who were supposed to be checking out whether what BP was doing was okay. They signed off on all the permits and let them drill. That's what growing the government does for us. Now, Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to my colleague from Kansas (Ms. Jenkins).

Ms. FOXX. I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I thank my colleague for yielding time. Mr. Speaker, just 2 days ago, I came before this body in opposition to a rule providing for the consideration of H.R. 5297, a bill affectionately known as ``TARP III.'' At that time, I expressed concern over the cost of this bill and over the ruling Democrats' lack of ability to run this House in an orderly fashion. My presence here today is testament to these concerns. If the process for considering this legislation and accompanying amendments had been more thoroughly vetted, we could have avoided meeting today altogether, but apparently, in their zeal to add to the budget-busting TARP III legislation, some flawed amendments were found to violate the Democrats' cherished PAYGO rules. Yesterday, it was discovered that two amendments--Miller No. 46 and Schrader No. 14--were not PAYGO-compliant. H.R. 5297 is being paid for with the savings in H.R. 5486, but due to the timetables used for those savings, the amendments failed to meet the first 5-year window of PAYGO. The rule did not contain any PAYGO waivers. Therefore, the amendments now need to either be redrafted or they need to have the PAYGO rules waived. Despite the pledge made in a document entitled, ``A New Direction for America,'' when then-Minority Leader Pelosi promised ``bills should generally come to the floor under a procedure that allows open, full and fair debate, consisting of a full amendment process that grants the minority the right to offer its alternatives,'' it's worth mentioning that there were 57 amendments submitted to the Rules Committee for H.R. 5297. Of those, 37 were Democrat; 17 were Republican, and three were bipartisan. Of those 57 submitted, there were 17 amendments made in order, only one of which was Republican. Therefore, I recommend voting against this rule, not only in opposition to the underlying legislation, but also in protest of the partisan process for which it is being considered. Mr. Speaker, while the ruling Democrats claim the underlying TARP III bill is about helping small businesses, it is really just another bank bailout. The bill is intended to give the appearance that they're doing something. It appears the ruling liberal Democrat regime has completely given up on even trying to pretend they are capable of budgeting or of even governing this country. Certainly, the ruling Democrats would be better served on focusing on passing a budget than on considering the bill before us today. So what is the next step for the Democrats? In an apparent effort to help shield their vulnerable Members from having to endure their unconscionable approach to budgeting during an election year, the ruling Democrats are now planning to forgo the annual congressional budget process altogether, this during a time when voters are looking for real solutions and accountability. How is that for leadership? Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the Republican whip, the distinguished gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cantor).

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, all of my colleagues from across the aisle always fail to mention that, in the last 2 years of the Bush administration, Democrats were in charge of Congress. The President can't spend any money. Only the Congress can spend money. So they conveniently leave out the fact that, when they took over Congress, our economy was doing great, absolutely great. From the moment they took over Congress in January of 2007, things started going downhill. The $1.3 trillion deficit came about as a result of the spending, spending, spending by our colleagues from across the aisle. They've lost touch with the real world. The other thing my colleague points out is 400,000 jobs were created last month. He fails to mention that almost all of those jobs were created by the census hiring temporary people who will no longer be employed after the end of this year. So they're government jobs. The American people are seeing through these tales they're being told by our colleagues across the aisle of how wonderful they have made the economy. They know that we have a 9.7 percent unemployment rate. They know that the deficit for the Republican-led Congress from 1996 to 2007 was only $1.2 trillion in 12 years. This Democrat Congress racked up in 2 years a $3.2 trillion deficit. My goodness. The American people, again, can see through this, Mr. Speaker. They're not going to be fooled by this rhetoric. With that, I yield 3 minutes to my colleague from Utah (Mr. Chaffetz).

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 3 minutes to my distinguished colleague from Utah (Mr. Bishop).

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 2 minutes to our distinguished colleague from Georgia, Dr. Price.

Ms. FOXX. I yield the gentleman an additional minute.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, over the past weekend, President Obama sent a letter to Congress. He said we need to spend $50 billion ``as quickly as possible'' in order to ``jump-start private sector job creation.'' I'm not sure if the President has read the unemployment reports lately, but 16 months since his trillion dollar stimulus bill became law, the private sector is still struggling under the tax and regulatory burden of an ever expanding Federal Government. Unemployment is at 9.7 percent, and frankly, the last thing the private sector needs is the fear of higher taxes to pay for more wasteful government spending. What this country needs as ``quickly as possible'' is for House Democrats to put forth an annual budget and for Congress and the President to have the courage to make real spending cuts. We can't keep spending billions of dollars and calling it ``emergency'' spending so that it doesn't have to be paid for, because eventually it will have to be paid for, and the American taxpayers know that day of reckoning is coming. It is time for Democrats in this Chamber to stop talking about fiscal discipline and actually do something about it. As your majority whip said over the weekend, this economy is your baby. So take responsibility, put a budget on the table, and let's debate it and give the American people a chance to hear which party is listening to them.