Virginia Foxx

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I just would like to say again to my colleague from Massachusetts that he keeps saying that the Republicans dug a deeper ditch than they expected to have. I just want to point out again that at the end of the Republicans' being in the majority in the Congress at the end of 2006, the economy was growing. We had 54 straight months of job growth. The Democrats took over in January of 2007, and that's when the economy started getting in trouble. They dug the ditch. We didn't dig the ditch. I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX. I yield myself such time as I may consume. As my colleague from California (Mr. Dreier) was saying, we are supposedly in the midst of an appropriations process, which is so time consuming and has to be so tightly controlled that we have not been allowed to offer amendments in an open process on the floor on the appropriations bills. Yet, here we are today, handling a bill that obviously is not an emergency, obviously doesn't need to be dealt with now, and is only being put forward because the majority didn't have an excuse to keep us in town today, when people could be at home in the real world, meeting with their constituents, hearing what they have to say, and being able to learn more about the problems that are out there. The Democrats in this House believe all the wisdom of the world is in Washington, D.C. We Republicans believe the wisdom of the world is out in our district, and that's where we ought to be spending more time, instead of here, creating problems for the American people. With that, I yield such time as he may consume to my very distinguished colleague and former attorney general, the gentleman from California (Mr. Daniel E. Lungren).

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. My friend is engaged in revisionist history again. We did have a good economy under President Bush. After he inherited a recession and after 9/11, things went south in our economy. The President asked the Congress to cut taxes. It was a Republican-controlled Congress. We had 54 straight months of job creation. Then the Democrats took over the Congress in January of 2007--and we have charts to show it--all of the sudden the economy really went south. Things started going downhill when Democrats took control of the Congress and have been going downhill ever since. Now, we have a Democrat-controlled Congress and a Democrat in the White House, and things are really going badly. I think that we can prove with historical facts, not revisionist history, that under the Republicans in the House and Senate and the Republican President that the economy was in pretty good shape. I yield to my friend from Utah, Mr. Chaffetz, 5 minutes.

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

Ms. FOXX

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

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Thank you, Dr. Fleming. I appreciate you organizing this Special Order tonight and the comments of my colleagues from Pennsylvania. My colleague from Iowa and you have both been very eloquent tonight. I won't try to add a lot to the really terrific comments that you all have made, but I did want to come and lend my support to this Special Order tonight and say that I certainly share with you the horror of the fact that this bill is going to be the largest expansion of taxpayer-funded abortion in history. We spoke out against it in the Rules Committee. We've been speaking out against it for days but to no avail. And I was thinking also about what you were saying a few minutes ago about dehumanizing. I think that one of the big concerns that I have and that many people are having in the debate that we've been having with health care funding and with the attempt by the Obama administration and Speaker Pelosi to turn our health care in this country upside down, the greatest health care system in the world, to turn it upside down and have it be given over to government control is the great fear that many of us have about rationing care and the fact that we are concerned that the attitude toward abortion, which has permeated our colleagues on the other side, is going to be extended to other people in our culture, particularly to the elderly. And I agree with you. It doesn't take much to go from not recognizing the humanity of an unborn child to not recognizing the humanity of someone with a handicap or a challenge, a physical challenge, to not recognizing the worth of an older human being. I think that is a great fear that many of us have in our country. I was thinking about the rules process. Being the newest member of the Rules Committee and going through the appropriations process for the first time, we have been protesting for the last 3 weeks the way the majority has handled rules and the way it's handled amendments. We have been closed out from being able to offer amendments that would put folks on the record for how they feel, not just about this issue, which I think is by far one of the most important issues we're dealing with in this Congress, but on lots of them. Today we had 11 amendments from our colleague Jeff Flake. I voted for every single one of those amendments because it cut pork-barrel spending and earmarks. However, the argument from our colleagues on the other side is that there isn't enough time to have an open rules process because they want to get through appropriations right away; and yet if we had an open rules process, we could have put some of the amendments that have been put together by you, Congressman Pitts and others--one dealing with access to abortion, for example. Again, we know that this bill that you have been talking about is going to require abortion clinics in communities that don't want abortion clinics. We know that 85 percent of communities in this country do not have them, yet this bill is going to mean that there are going to have to be abortion clinics or abortion providers made available in those communities; and the reason we were told that we couldn't offer these amendments to try to stop these things was because there wasn't enough time. The other point I would like to make is, this afternoon the Rules Committee met; and we are going to deal with a bill that is not at all needed right now. But it's going to deal with opening up more Federal lands to wild horses and donkeys. Yet we are passing legislation that is going to result in the deaths of millions of unborn children. People are saying to me, What has happened to our country? I am frightened to death for our country and the direction in which it is going. And I think there are very few things that will point out the inconsistencies in the way people around here talk about things and what they actually do than to say, We took up the time in the Rules Committee today; and we're going to have on the floor tomorrow a rule which is going to deal with that issue about wild horses and wild donkeys; and yet we don't have the time to debate whether or not we want to take money from people who are strongly morally opposed to abortion and allow abortions to be done with our taxpayer money. So I believe the American people are waking up. I just hope they come out with a strong voice and say, This is not what I want my country to be doing.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Five months ago, President Obama warned that if Congress failed to pass the stimulus plan, unemployment could reach 9 percent. But the President promised if we took action and accepted his stimulus plan, unemployment would halt around 8 percent. Despite borrowing $787 billion for wasteful government spending under the guise of stimulus, the national unemployment rate now stands at 9.5 percent--a rate not seen in 26 years. Even though unemployment is rising at an alarming rate, the President continues to sell the American people on his failed stimulus plan. Just recently, the President said the stimulus plan had ``done its job.'' The American people know better. The American people know you can't spend and borrow your way back to a growing economy. It's time for a real economic recovery plan, one that puts money back in the hands of families and small businesses. It's time for Congress to pass the House Republican's economic recovery plan--a plan for fiscal discipline and tax relief.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Chair, the vote that I took this afternoon on H.R. 3081 was one of the toughest votes that I have had to take in this House since I have been here in my 4\1/2\ years. The problem with the bill and with the decision that had to be made is because the bill contained funding for aid to Israel, our best friend in the world. I have always been and will continue to be an extremely strong supporter of Israel. Israel has always been a good friend to the United States, the people of this country and the people of Israel share the same values. However, the bill had so many flaws that it made it very difficult for a pro-life, fiscal conservative such as I to vote for the bill despite my very strong support for Israel. Israel is a vital American ally in the Middle East and deserves our full support as it serves as the preeminent democracy in the region. Throughout the history of our relations with Israel, the U.S. has stood by this nation and supported her even when she seemed hemmed in by insurmountable forces. Today the very existence of Israel is a testament to the power of freedom and democracy, particularly in a region known more for despotic regimes than for its beacons of liberty. That is why I am proud to stand with our ally Israel and support policies that help maintain our strong ties with this critical nation in the Middle East. My strong support for Israel is what makes me so disappointed about this appropriations bill. This bill, when emergency supplemental funds were not taken into account, was still 32 percent more than the regular fiscal year 2009 appropriations. I am taking the liberty of using some of the figures from my colleague, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Price), which were also presented today on the floor in terms of explaining the bill that we voted on this afternoon. We are facing a fiscal crisis in this country. This administration and this Congress, led by Speaker Pelosi, are spending this country into a terrible, terrible situation. We are mortgaging our children and grandchildren's future with excess spending; and it has to stop somewhere. Had this bill merely contained the funding for Israel, it would have been very easy for me to have supported it, although I was quite concerned that the bill reduced the funding for Israel by 7.2 percent below last year's funding level and 23.3 percent below the request. But, as I said earlier, the total bill had an increase of 33.8 percent compared to last year. What kind of message does it send when we increase overall spending levels in this bill by a third and yet cut funding to a critical ally and democratic partner in the Middle East? One of the most troubling increases in this bill was a 20 percent increase to the United Nations Population Fund and a 19 percent increase to International Family Planning. The United Nations Population Fund aids China's one-child policy, coercive abortion, and sterilization. International Family Planning goes to organizations that promote and provide abortion services through International Planned Parenthood Federation and Marie Stokes International. In addition, the Democrats had rejected four cost-cutting Republican amendments that had been presented which could have made this bill a lot more palatable to the 97 Republicans who voted against it. Another problem with the bill is that there was a false assumption that the Obama administration will live up to its promise of no more war supplementals for Iraq and Afghanistan. The President has gone back on every promise that he made during the campaign. He has already asked for a supplemental this year, says it was a carryover from last year, but that won't happen again. However, before the ink was dry on the amended full committee report of this bill, the chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Congressman Murtha, publicly stated that another supplemental is necessary to fund the troops because of the low fiscal year 2010 Defense allocation. So the promise was that all of the money for the war was going to be here and we wouldn't have to do more supplementals. That isn't going to happen. This bill also avoids making hard fiscal choices about spending abroad while we face a financial crisis here. This is not the way we should be going. We should be funding our friends and our allies. We should be helping Israel which is the only true democracy in the Middle East and who stands by us year after year, day after day. But funding things like abortion and international family planning is not the way to go.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, the American people are hurting, and Republicans want to help. President Obama and Democrats in Congress promised that their stimulus plan would bring immediate relief. Republicans knew better. Unfortunately for the American people, the results are rolling in: 2 million American jobs have been lost since the stimulus was signed into law. More than 400,000 jobs were lost in the month of June alone. Just when you thought it was clear that we can't spend, borrow and tax our way to a growing economy, Democrats propose a government takeover of health care that will lead to higher taxes, more government spending and even further job losses. The American people deserve a real plan for real recovery, not yet another excuse to increase spending, raise taxes, and grow government. The Republican economic plan brings fiscal discipline back to Washington and lets money stay in the hands of the American people.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. My colleague from Virginia promises jobs from the cap-and- tax bill. If you believe that, then you probably believe the Democrats when they promised that the stimulus bill would provide jobs. The Obama administration and congressional Democrats promised that their trillion-dollar stimulus would create jobs immediately and unemployment would not rise above 8 percent. But since the stimulus bill passed, 1.96 million Americans have lost their jobs. I suspect that we'll do a lot worse than that under their cap-and-tax bill. Let me fill you in on some of the economic statistics that we have right now. At the beginning of July, our national debt clocked in at $11.5 trillion. If you don't have a calculator in hand, that's $37,609.23 for every man, woman, and child in America. But the real news is not simply that the national debt is more than $11.5 trillion. The real news is the Treasury Department announced yesterday that for the first time the Federal budget deficit has topped $1 trillion. The first time in our history. To clarify, the deficit is different than the debt in the sense that the deficit generally refers to the amount of overspending in a given year. That means so far in fiscal year 2009, the Federal Government has spent $1 trillion more than it has collected in taxes. Rather than trim our budget and make do with less, like the rest of America, Congress has decided to up the ante and will not just maintain current government spending levels, but will significantly increase spending in the coming year. This kind of runaway spending is part of why we're hearing reports that our $1 trillion deficit is just the beginning of the story. In fact, some experts are predicting that the deficit could reach $2 trillion this fall. What do these record deficits mean for Americans? Massive deficits can only continue for so long. I think we've all heard stories of how crushing debt has forced some businesses or families into bankruptcy. At some point, the pile of cards is coming down, either as the interest rates on the debt spirals up higher, or as those who lend to America run out of cash to loan or simply out of patience for Uncle Sam's spendthrift ways. The American people are hurting. Millions are out of work, and hundreds of thousands lose their jobs each month. The government spent $18 billion in June just to pay the interest on the national debt, which works out to $600 million a day in interest payments. Eventually, American families are going to have to foot this bill. American people know we cannot borrow and spend our way back to a growing economy. As a record-breaking $1 trillion deficit causes the national debt to increase at an historic pace, Congress will either have to slash spending in unprecedented ways or raise taxes. And judging by how the current Democrat majority in Congress has proceeded thus far, I'm very skeptical about any meaningful spending cuts. You can probably guess what that means. Let's just say that the tax hike forecast doesn't look good for the American people. Democrats are on the side of more government and more taxes. Republicans are on the side of the American people.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, today our Nation is suffering with tremendous economic problems, with unemployment reaching a 26-year high at 9.5 percent. Last month alone, our economy shed 467,000 jobs. In December 2006, the U.S. had had 54 straight months of job growth, the longest in the history of this country. Democrats took over the Congress in January 2007, and our economy has been going downhill since then. Since January 2009 when President Obama became President and the Democrats continued to control Congress, things have really gone downhill. Americans of all walks of life are hurting and cutting back as consumer spending slumps and more families find themselves with a breadwinner without work. What we need to get us out of this slump are policies aimed at helping employers create jobs. When employers create jobs and start hiring, the unemployed can get back to work and rejoin the ranks of the workers that make our Nation great. And what kind of policies encourage employers to create jobs? Policies that reduce the burden of government mandates and keep the tax man from dipping too deep into the pockets of those who create jobs: small business owners. What we are talking about is cutting back the jungle of red tape and keeping taxes low for the entrepreneurs who always lead the way to economic recovery. In 1802, Thomas Jefferson put it this way: ``If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy.'' He was voicing a common insight into the tendency of government to quickly put burdensome mandates on entrepreneurs and job-creating small businesses under the guise of lending a helping hand. Today we know this syndrome as big government. Unfortunately for the real engines of job creation in America, the Ways and Means Committee Democrats floated a massive tax hike in the past few days that will fall squarely on small business owners and entrepreneurs. Sure, they will market their $540 billion tax increase as ``a surtax'' on ``the wealthy.'' And you can bet your last dollar that anyone who dares to question this tax will be called a defender of the wealthy. How about defending the small businesses that will help pull us out of the recession? How about looking out for innovators and risk takers whose ideas and products create jobs and grow our economy. These are the people who will be shelling out for this new $540 billion tax. And they are the very same people who could be hiring the unemployed and creating jobs if we just give them the breathing room they need instead of hiking their taxes one more time.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, at some point every American will see a doctor or require some form of emergency care. Whether it is the birth of a child or an aging parent sick with cancer, families are praying for the best health care possible for their loved ones. But right now, Democrats are pushing for a government takeover of health care that would severely limit many patients' access to life-saving treatment. House Republicans know that health care run by government bureaucrats doesn't work, because it has been tried and failed in other countries. Tragedies result when government controls health care and makes decisions best left to doctors and their patients. Republicans will offer a better plan for health care reform, one that provides patients and their families with the peace of mind that comes with having the care they need when they need it.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, the vote that I took this afternoon on H.R. 3081 was one of the toughest votes that I have had to take in this House since I have been here in my 4\1/2\ years. The problem with the bill and with the decision that had to be made is because the bill contained funding for aid to Israel, our best friend in the world. I have always been and will continue to be an extremely strong supporter of Israel. Israel has always been a good friend to the United States, and the people of this country and the people of Israel share the same values. However, the bill had so many flaws that it made it very difficult for a pro-life fiscal conservative such as myself to vote for the bill despite my very strong support for Israel. The bill, when emergency supplemental funds were not taken into account, was still 32 percent more than the regular fiscal year 2009 appropriations. I am taking the liberty of using some of the figures from my colleague, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Price), which were also presented today on the floor in terms of explaining the bill that we voted on this afternoon. We are facing a fiscal crisis in this country. This administration and this Congress, led by Speaker Pelosi, are spending this country into a terrible, terrible situation. We are mortgaging our children and grandchildren's future with excess spending; and it has to stop somewhere. Had this bill merely contained the funding for Israel, it would have been very easy for me to have supported it, although I was quite concerned that the bill reduced the funding for Israel by 7.2 percent below last year's funding level and 23.3 percent below the request. But, as I said earlier, the total bill had an increase of 33.8 percent compared to last year. One of the most troubling increases in this bill was a 20 percent increase to the United Nations Population Fund and a 19 percent increase to International Family Planning. The United Nations Population Fund aids China's one-child policy, coercive abortion, and sterilization. International Family Planning goes to organizations that promote and provide abortion services through International Planned Parenthood Federation and Marie Stokes International. In addition, the Democrats had rejected four cost-cutting Republican amendments that had been presented which could have made this bill a lot more palatable to the 97 Republicans who voted against it. Another problem with the bill is that there was a false assumption that the Obama administration will live up to its promise of no more war supplementals for Iraq and Afghanistan. The President has gone back on every promise that he made during the campaign. He has already asked for a supplemental this year, says it was a carryover from last year, but that won't happen again. However, before the ink was dry on the amended full committee report of this bill, the chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Congressman Murtha, publicly stated that another supplemental is necessary to fund the troops because of the low fiscal year 2010 Defense allocation. So the promise was that all of the money for the war was going to be here and we wouldn't have to do more supplementals. That isn't going to happen. This bill also avoids making hard fiscal choices about spending abroad while we face a financial crisis here. This is not the way we should be going. We should be funding our friends and our allies. We should be helping Israel which is the only true democracy in the Middle East and who stands by us year after year, day after day. But funding things like abortion and international family planning is not the way to go.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman from Illinois 1 additional minute.

Ms. FOXX. I now yield 4 minutes to my colleague, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake).

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I want to thank my colleague from Colorado for yielding time. However, I must rise in opposition to this closed rule for H.R. 2965, Enhancing Small Business Research and Innovation Act. While there may be many merits to the underlying bill, this would have been a perfect opportunity for the majority to have opened up this process and allow the House to work its will. This is a relatively noncontroversial bill which might not even have needed to be considered under a rule except for the opportunity for some of our Democratic colleagues to get some amendments passed. We are in a very busy time with the appropriations process and the schedule very, very full this week, and had we done this, again, under an open rule, I think the process could have gone very, very quickly. However, the majority has continued its process of shutting out not only the minority, but many of their colleagues by not allowing their amendments to be made in order. So we will oppose this rule on that basis. With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, as the American people struggle to make ends meet, too many also live with the challenge of affording basic health care for themselves and their families. Republicans want to make high-quality health care coverage affordable and accessible for every American and let those who like their current health care coverage keep it. Republicans support health care reform that puts patients and their health first and protects the important doctor-patient relationship. Democrats are pushing for a government takeover of health care that would have devastating consequences for families and small businesses. A government takeover of health care will raise taxes, ration care, and let government bureaucrats make decisions that should be made by families and their doctors. Republicans want to empower doctors and patients by making health care more affordable, more accessible, and more accountable. The American people deserve the peace of mind that comes with knowing they have the health care their families need when they need it. We cannot allow politicians and special interests to stand between patients and the care they need. The American people deserve the freedom to choose the health care that is best for them and their families.

Ms. FOXX

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary sacrifice, patriotism, and heroism of Captain Mark Garner from Elkin, North Carolina. Captain Garner, an officer in the 82nd Airborne Division, fell in the line of duty in Afghanistan Monday when a roadside bomb exploded under the vehicle in which he and three others were riding. Captain Garner was assigned to B Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, Hohenfels, Germany. Dedicated to unyielding service to others, he was among seven U.S. troops killed in what was described as one of the deadliest days for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since 2001. Captain Garner was an outstanding leader throughout high school, college, and in the United States military. He graduated from Elkin High School in 1997, where he excelled in sports and won several football, basketball, and baseball awards. In 2002, Captain Garner graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point as a second lieutenant. He was then assigned to an infantry unit at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Captain Garner leaves behind his loving parents and his wife, Nickayla. His absence leaves a hole in the hearts of the Garner and Myers families, the tight-knit community of Elkin, North Carolina, and the 82nd Airborne community. Captain Garner was described by his friends and family as having lived to serve and sacrifice for others. From a young age, he aspired to be a soldier. He will long be remembered as a man who knew the meaning of service, sacrifice, and the call of duty to his family and his country. Madam Speaker, my thoughts and prayers are with Captain Garner's wife, parents, and extended family. May they feel God's comforting presence during this difficult time. We pause to honor his memory and express our gratitude to his great bravery and profound sacrifice. Our Nation is a better place for his having been among us and is blessed to call him an honored son. We mourn his passing, and we pledge our dedication to the family he left behind.

Ms. FOXX

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

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

Ms. FOXX. Again, 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, the American people know that in these tough economic times, they should save, not spend money. However, the Federal Government does not reflect the common sense I see throughout my district. Instead, the Democrats in charge continue to borrow more and spend more, increasing our Federal deficit on the backs of our children and grandchildren. The bill facing us after this rule is a 12 percent overall increase in funding from last year's bill. The U.S. national deficit is currently $11.5 trillion. With over 300 million people in the U.S. today, each citizen's share of this debt right now is $37,500. This bill will increase the deficit even more by borrowing and spending money we do not have. The majority can no longer blame the deficit and economic difficulties today on the previous administration. The Democrats in charge have shown they do not care about the deficit by continuing to dig America into a bigger and bigger hole with more reckless spending. This borrowed money is all being spent by Speaker Pelosi, the Obama administration; and as a result, the unemployment rate continues to rise, and the deficit continues to skyrocket. There are 322 earmarks tucked into this bill, totaling $220 million in borrowed money for pet projects. The bill contains $1.3 billion in grant funding, awarded solely at the discretion of the administration. Mr. Speaker, there is an article today in Politico that says that we have a train wreck in this country because of out-of-control Federal budget deficits. I would like to include that in the Record today. I'm going to urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question so I can amend the rule to allow all Members of Congress the opportunity to offer his or her amendment to the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies appropriations bill under an open rule. 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. Mr. Speaker, I would now like to yield 2 minutes to my colleague from Florida (Mr. Mica).

Ms. FOXX

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

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.