Jeb Hensarling

Mr. HENSARLING

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, the Congressional Budget Office has announced that Social Security will go broke in 2037. And my Democratic colleagues have announced this is not a problem. We're ready to implement the 22 percent benefit cut that's already in our statute. Survey after survey shows that our fellow citizens believe that their children will be worse off than they are, and yet my Democrat colleagues announced their plan to add $9.1 trillion to the national debt. Mr. Chairman, it's time to quit spending money we don't have. It's time to quit borrowing 42 cents on the dollar, much of it from the Chinese, and then send the bill to our children and grandchildren. The Republican budget will help us create jobs with fundamental tax reform in preventing these tax increases. It will save our social safety net programs. Programs that have been of a great comfort to my parents and grandparents before our eyes are morphing into cruel Ponzi schemes for my third-grade daughter and my first-grade son. And, Mr. Chairman, the Republican budget will put us on the path to pay off the national debt. Mr. Chairman, I heard from one of my constituents recently. He said, I never felt so embarrassed and ashamed of anything I have done in my life as I do about leaving this mess in the laps of Tyler and Caitlyn, my precious grandkids. I have written them both a heartfelt apology for them to read when they get old enough to understand what I allowed our country's governing authority to do to them. Mr. Chairman, I have got a message for Mr. Calhoun. Put that letter away. House Republicans are going to stand for Tyler and Caitlyn. We're going to put America back to work. We're going to save the social safety net and preserve the American Dream for ourselves and our posterity.

Mr. HENSARLING

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the 70th Anniversary of the Lend-Lease Act and the subsequent establishment in Terrell, Texas of the first British Flying Training School in the United States. On March 11, 1941, the Lend-Lease Act was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The President described the Lend-Lease Act as ``helping to put out the fire in your neighbor's house before your own house caught fire and burned down.'' During World War II, thousands of British pilots learned to fly at six civilian training schools in the United States. The first and largest of the schools was in Terrell, Texas, located in Kaufman County. After the United States entered the War, American Aviation Cadets also trained at the school. More than 2,000 Royal Air Force and American Army Air Force pilots earned their wings in the skies over North Texas between 1941 and 1945 to help our nation achieve victory. As the Congressman for the Fifth District of Texas, I am pleased today to recognize founding of the first British Flying Training School in the nation. Today, its legacy is commemorated by the No. 1 British Flying Training School Museum in Terrell, Texas. It is my honor to recognize the dedicated museum board of directors and patrons whose efforts afford future generations the opportunity to understand and appreciate America's history.

Mr. HENSARLING

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, today I recognize the outstanding service The National Exchange Club provides the citizens of Dallas County, Texas. The National Exchange Club, a service organization with 700 clubs and approximately 22,000 members throughout the United States and Puerto Rico will celebrate its 100th anniversary on March 27, 2011. For 100 years, its volunteer efforts have supported the needs of the country and of local communities, making it the country's oldest American service organization operating exclusively in this country. I would like to specifically recognize the clubs in the Fifth Congressional District of Texas--Garland Noon Exchange, Mesquite Noon Exchange, Rowlett Noon Exchange, and Lake Highlands Exchange. Members of these clubs give countless hours to the prevention of child abuse, youth projects, and other community service projects. Exchange Club members also promote the American spirit through their core values of family, community, and nation. This organization provides an invaluable service to those in the community who truly need assistance. Over the years, thousands of individuals and families have been blessed by the men and women of the Exchange Clubs. I am pleased today to recognize the Exchange Clubs for their contributions to Dallas County. To all the men and women who give of their time and efforts so generously, on behalf of all the constituents of the Fifth District, I would like to extend our most sincere gratitude.

Mr. HENSARLING

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Republican Conference, I offer a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. HENSARLING

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dallas legend Ebby Halliday on her 100th Birthday. On March 9, Dallas legend Ebby Halliday will celebrate a century of life. From her humble beginning on a farm in Kansas where she started selling tins of Clovertine Salve at age eight to her successful real estate company, which is now one of the largest privately owned real estate firms in the United States, Ebby has always reached for the stars and inspired others to do the same. From her first job after graduation selling hats, to the real estate mogul we all know and love today, Ebby Halliday truly personifies the American Dream. Not only has she revolutionized the real estate business with her savvy, her whit, and her charm--Ebby's dedication to serving her community has made her a household name and a true Dallas treasure. Known to many as ``The First Lady of Real Estate,'' I am privileged to call her friend. Happy Birthday Ebby, and thank you for the many contributions you have made to the State of Texas and our nation over the past 100 years.

Mr. HENSARLING

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to commemorate the 100th anniversary of White Rock Lake. As Dallas began to grow in population during the early 1900s, the availability of water became an increasing problem. In 1909, the City of Dallas awarded a contract to build a dam on White Rock Creek which, two years later, led to the creation of what is known today as White Rock Lake. Over the last century, White Rock Lake has not only provided essential water resources to one of the fastest growing areas of the country, it has also become an ideal place for outdoor activities for Dallas residents and visitors alike. Often referred to as ``the jewel of Dallas,'' White Rock Lake is home to the Dallas Arboretum and maintains numerous playgrounds and trails for hiking, running, and biking. Like many Dallas residents, I enjoy spending quality time at this lake with my family, and am proud to have White Rock Lake in my district.

Mr. HENSARLING

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 836.

Mr. HENSARLING

Mr. HENSARLING. Madam Chair, I reserve a point of order against this amendment.

Mr. HENSARLING. I yield to the distinguished chairman of the Financial Services Committee, the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus).

Mr. HENSARLING. Madam Chair, I make the point of order that the amendment violates clause 10 of rule XXI known as the cut-go rule. I have been advised by the chair of the Committee on the Budget that the amendment would cause a net increase in mandatory spending relative to the bill in the period specified in the rule. Accordingly, the point of order lies, and I ask for a ruling from the chair.

Mr. HENSARLING. I move to strike the last word.

Mr. HENSARLING. We heard throughout the debate there needs to be a consistency, a consistency of debate. So let me get this right. A payday lender is guilty of predatory lending if they loan money to somebody who is underwater, to somebody who may be struggling, but if the Federal Government does it, it's something else. It's noble. I don't see the consistency in the debate there, Madam Chair. But again, most importantly, when does the day arrive that we quit spending money we do not have? I say today is that day.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, the American people woke up several days ago to the very sad reality that this Nation has just incurred its single largest monthly deficit in the history of the Nation, $226 billion, which, by a back-of-the-envelope calculation, that is roughly $2,500 for every household in just 1 month. And, Mr. Chairman, February is the shortest month of the year. This is on top of our Nation's first trillion-dollar deficit, our Nation's second trillion-dollar deficit. And now, according to the budget presented by the President of the United States, the third-largest, the largest deficit, in America's history and the third trillion-dollar-plus deficit. Mr. Chairman, the Nation is drowning in a sea of red ink. If we want to help job creators create jobs today, we have got to start taking away the uncertainty of this huge national debt. If we want to save our children from bankruptcy tomorrow, we have to start doing something about the national debt. But everybody says essentially: well, not in my backyard. Not with my programs. Not today. Let's do it some other day. Let's kick the can down the road. But, Mr. Chairman, this is a Nation that is borrowing 40 cents on the dollar, much of it from the Chinese, and we are sending the bill to our children and grandchildren. This is a form of intergenerational theft. The Democratic whip, the gentleman from Maryland, when Republicans were in control and the deficit was a fraction, a fraction of what it is today, he termed it ``fiscal child abuse.'' The gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) said that when the annual deficit was $200 billion. Now the monthly deficit is $200 billion. If we want to help create jobs today, if we want to spare our children bankruptcy, we have got to quit spending money we don't have. And so this week, Mr. Chairman, House Republicans have brought a couple of bills to the floor to do something that is rarely ever done in this institution, and that is to save American families and save small businesses money: terminate a program. You know, as we are coming off the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birthday, I am reminded, and perhaps I don't have the quote exact, but he said something along the lines of the closest thing to eternal life on Earth is a Federal program. So the bill we have before us today is a program that was originally authorized in 1975 and was never funded in its 35-year history. Now, a billion dollars has been allocated for this program. It is not out the door. Nobody has used that money. It is in a series of so-called foreclosure mitigation programs that the administration has put forth, almost all of which have been abject failures even by their own yardstick, by their own measurement. Number one, the best foreclosure mitigation program in America is a job. It's a paycheck. It's not a government check, it's a paycheck. Job creators are hampered by the uncertainty of the national debt. Historic levels of debt will lead to historic levels of taxation, which leads to historic levels of unemployment. The equation could not be more true. The equation could not be more elementary. But don't take my word for it, Mr. Chairman. Let's hear from some of the job creators in America. Let's hear from the CEO of Caterpillar, which employs tens of thousands of people across our Nation: Unfunded entitlement programs, coupled with the coming wave of retiring baby boomers, will push the deficit to untenable levels. It is a train wreck. Mike Jackson, the CEO of AutoNation, with 19,000 employees: The best thing that this town could do to help the economic recovery become sustainable is to deal with the deficit. Bernie Marcus, the former chairman and CEO of Home Depot, with over 200,000 employees in the U.S.: If we continue this kind of policy, we are dead in the water. Businesspeople, they don't know what's coming-- the debt, the budget. This debt we have is in the trillions. I'm going to have to pay for this somehow. Mr. Chairman, these are just a few of the voices of job creators. I am heartened to see that the unemployment rate ticked down last month. Frankly, it is attributable mostly to the fact that we now have a divided government. Job creators now know there is at least some check on the excesses of the Obama administration. It is a testament to the fact that, at the end of the last Congress, Republicans were successful in blocking, at least for 2 years, the single largest tax increase in America's history, and I don't know any American who believes that if you increase taxes on one's company that that's going to lead to a raise, to a bonus, or to employing more workers. Finally, we have what Warren Buffett calls the regenerative nature of the free enterprise system. This is an economy that wants to recover; but since the Great Depression, we've never had a longer recession or a more tepid recovery, which is due to the policies of the President and of the previous Democratic Congresses. So, if we want to help create jobs today, we're going to have to show that we can put the Nation on a fiscally sustainable path. Now, this is a $1 billion program where not $1 has left the door yet. I'm sitting here thinking, Mr. Chairman: If this body, after having 75, 76 some odd different government housing programs that add up to, roughly, 56 some odd billion dollars that, frankly, have grown at an exponential over the family budget--the family budget has to pay for the HUD budget--if we can't terminate, in order to save our children from bankruptcy, in order to help create jobs, one program at $1 billion where not one penny has left the door, how are we ever going to make the tough decisions that are necessary to save the country from bankruptcy? Mr. Chairman, at some point, you've got to quit spending money you don't have. At some point, when do you ever say enough is enough? When do you say we are tired of borrowing money from the Chinese? Is it the future of our children? Is it their destiny to shine the shoes of the Chinese? Is it our children's destiny that one day they'll wait tables for the Chinese? It's not the dream I have for my 7-year-old son. It's not the dream I have for my 9-year-old daughter. It's not the American dream. The American Dream is to leave your children with greater freedoms, greater opportunity, and a higher standard of living. That's what I believe the American Dream is. If we can't terminate one program from which the Obama administration itself says we're going to lose 98 cents on the dollar--I didn't say it; it was the Obama administration that said it, losing 98 cents on the dollar. If we can't do this, Mr. Chairman, I have great fear and great trepidation for the future. So I urge my colleagues to take one small, tiny baby step towards the path of fiscal sustainability. Take one measured baby step, and tell job creators in America we are going to put the Nation's fiscal house in order. Go ahead. It's safe to invest in America again. It's safe to create jobs. We're going to get this done. Take one tiny step today to help create those jobs and save our children from a pathway to bankruptcy. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, at this time I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished majority leader, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cantor).

Mr. HENSARLING. Madam Chair, again, we cannot lose sight of the fact that our Nation is drowning in a sea of red ink. It is a sea of red ink that continues to hamper job creation. Job creators today are uncertain of our future. They know, though, they know that historic levels of debt lead to historic levels of taxation, which can only lead to historic levels of unemployment. They are looking for some signal from this body that we get it, that we get it, that we are going to stop borrowing 40 cents on the dollar, much of it from the Chinese, and sending the bill to our children and our grandchildren. Again, when the annual deficit, the annual deficit was $200 billion and dropping, as opposed to the monthly deficit, which is now over 200 billion, but when the annual deficit was 200 billion, the gentleman from Maryland, the Democratic whip, said that was fiscal child abuse. Now, my friends on the other side of the aisle are introducing the term ``mean spirited.'' I don't know. Is fiscal child abuse mean spirited? It's their term, Madam Chair. I will let them reflect upon that. Now I hear the ranking member talk about fiscal responsibility, and he points to one item: cotton. We have heard cotton throughout this debate. But I would note that the ranking member apparently voted for the conference report on the farm bill which includes cotton subsidies that he comes to this floor to decry. He speaks about a WTO decision, but it's the Obama administration that says that countervailing measures would have cost this country more than 800 million. I suppose we could have that debate, but I would recommend that the ranking member have the debate with the Obama administration, because that's where many of us got the information.

Mr. HENSARLING. I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts.

Mr. HENSARLING. Madam Chair, I would note that the gentlelady from California's economic program known as the stimulus has helped another 3 million of our fellow citizens lose their jobs. Point of Order

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. HENSARLING. Reclaiming my time, I would just point out to the ranking member that was not the vote before us. And if there was a chance to get out the cotton subsidies--and I must admit people on both sides of the aisle vote for them, but the opportunity was at the point of the conference report on the farm bill which the gentleman from Massachusetts voted for. But to put this again in a larger context, we on this side of the aisle fervently believe that you will not have job creation until you put the Nation on a fiscally sustainable path. We are talking about $1 billion here. If we can't do it on this program, what program can we do it on? And I must admit, I also find it ironic how many of my friends on the other side of the aisle will come to the floor and say, You know what? There are people in this Nation trying to force loans onto people who are unemployed, people who can't afford to pay it back, people who are in debt. That's predatory lending, and now they want the government to do the same thing.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, the distinguished chairman of the Financial Services Committee brought to our attention something that, I believe, every veteran now knows, which is that the biggest threat to our national security is our national debt. I am not a veteran. My brother was. He fought during the Cold War. My father was. He fought during Korea. My grandfather was. He fought during World War II. So I know veterans, Mr. Speaker, and there are no citizens in our country who are more passionate about the preservation of our national security than our veterans. There is no veteran I know of who would not put country before self. There is no veteran I know of who wants to mortgage our Nation's future to China. There is no veteran I know of who wouldn't be ashamed and embarrassed to have China foreclose on our Nation because of the national debt that has been run up by our friends on the other side of the aisle. If we want to have a secure Nation, if we want jobs, if we want to save America from bankruptcy for our children, we've got to quit spending money we don't have. Veterans put country before self. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield to the distinguished chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Miller).

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion to recommit.

Mr. HENSARLING. Madam Chair, we can do better than trillions of dollars of debt that is borrowed from the Chinese and the bills are sent to our children and grandchildren. When the annual deficit was $200 billion and falling, another gentleman from Maryland, the distinguished Democratic whip, said it was fiscal child abuse. Now we have a monthly deficit equaling that annual deficit. So I listened carefully to this gentleman from Maryland. And when I go to church on Sunday, I'm going to be very glad in my heart, in my head, that I did not commit an act of fiscal child abuse on my children or anybody else's children or grandchildren. We have got to stop spending money we don't have. I yield back the balance of my time. Amendment No. 4 Offered by Ms. Waters

Mr. HENSARLING

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that in the engrossment of H.R. 836, the Clerk be authorized to correct section numbers, punctuation, and cross-references, and to make such other technical and conforming changes as may be necessary to accurately reflect the actions of the House.

Mr. HENSARLING

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. HENSARLING

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the proceedings had during the recess be printed in the Record.