Sam Johnson

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained for rollcall vote No. 844 on December 7, 1995, Pearl Harbor day, and consequently missed the vote on the conference report for VA-HUD appropriations. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, this is not about peace and war; it is about war. That is what is going on over there, and they are not going to stop fighting just because we go in there. I wholeheartedly support withholding funds from President Clinton's Bosnia mission. Although it is a drastic step and ties the President's hands, I do not feel like we have any other choice. The President has tied our hands, gone against the wishes of the American people, and this is the last best way I know how to show my respect for our American servicemen and women. They are helpless, following orders. But we, we are in a position to stop this terrible mistake before it happens. I know how those soldiers are feeling. I was in the military for 29 years, and I recognize that we used to say ``Let's go to war. Let's go fight that war, it is the only one we have got.'' And that is what some of them are doing. However, I was told by Senator Hutchison that the guys down in Fort Hood did not say that. They said ``Why are we going there? Can't you stop us?'' She said she would try. Thirty years ago when I was sent to Vietnam in a similar situation, Vietnam started out as a peace type mission, no defined goal, no exit strategy, no idea whose side we were on, and a created incident to gain support of the Congress. A peacekeeping mission? Come on. Does this not sound just like a carbon copy? I think it is. What is going to happen when our guys get over there, and if the rules of engagement apply, and they get shot at, and we start shooting back, what are their people going to say when we start killing them, killing Bosnians, killing Croatians, killing Serbs? We will do it, and we will get chastised for it. Let me just ask one more thing for the guys over here voting against it: What are you going to do when one of our women soldiers get captured?

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the Dallas Cowboys are losing and the American people are also losing as long as our President puts his priority on spending. The simple truth remains: The President is against a balanced budget because he wants to spend more taxpayer dollars to expand the size and scope of the Government. The proof is in the details. The President's first and second budgets would leave huge deficits. The President's third budget spends an additional $400 billion, does not balance, and raises your taxes. Our President is still the same old tax and spend liberal. That's why House Republicans are standing firm for a balanced budget that ends deficit spending and preserves America's future. A budget that ensures prosperity, ensures stability, and ensures freedom for all Americans. Protect the future--support the Republican balanced budget.

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, last night the President vetoed the only balanced budget seen in 26 years. The President's veto is a blow to our children and the future of this country. To me a balanced budget means prosperity, it means growth, it means stability. It means that our children will live in a county that can give them more than it gave us. To me, it means freedom. The President vetoed all this. Republicans sent the President a balanced budget--not because it is good politics but because it is good for America. We see a future where there's workfare not welfare, where there's independence not dependence. Republicans believe that people, not the Government, drive the Nation and they--not us have made it the best and most prosperous country in the world. Support America--support a balanced budget now.

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the President now has 10 days left to decide if he really cares about America's future. That is why I am bringing this sign back to the floor today. I used it in 1993, and it is appropriate for him again today. ``It is the spending, Stupid.'' I hope all of America sees through Clinton's charade. He just wants to spend more of your money, and that is why he will not sign a balanced budget with honest CBO numbers. He does not care about seniors, he does not care about education, he does not care about the future of the country. If he did, he would sign the Balanced Budget Act, which saves Medicare and actually increases spending on Medicare and education and reduces the size and scope of the Federal Government. If the President does not sign a balanced budget plan with honest Congressional Budget Office numbers like he agreed to, we are ready to shut the Government down before we give him one more dime to spend. The President wants to spend more money. We want to save America's future. It is just that simple.

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding time. Mr. Speaker, the only thing that is more important than repealing the 16th amendment and getting rid of the IRS is fixing it so our citizens have the right to work and earn whatever they want to. This bill, believe it or not, allows anyone between 65 and 70, which is what we are talking about, to hit $14,000 as a salary limit this year, this next year, instead of having to wait until the year 2002, which is what current law does. You know what that does? That helps 20 percent of those involved in that category, which is 925,000 people. That means those guys are not going to have to pay any more tax. That means they can work at Wendy's and McDonald's or wherever they want to and earn money without being subject to the Federal Government of this Nation. Mr. Speaker, I think we have to pass it. It is a duty that we have.

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the President must have inhaled, because last night he asked the American taxpayers to give him an additional $874 billion of their money for more Government, more taxes, and more spending. This proves that once again the President has no intention of balancing the Federal budget. He would rather add billions of dollars to our debt. What the President is doing is reckless. He has replaced leadership, responsibility, and the wishes of the American people with big Government and political games. If the President is truly for a balanced budget, then he will sign the continuing resolution and join Republicans by embracing a 7-year balanced budget bill that will ensure a strong and secure future for our country. Americans, once again tell the President to support America by supporting the Balanced Budget Act.

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the President's intentions are now crystal clear. This President is willing to sacrifice our children's future to satisfy his thirst for more spending, more taxes, and more bureaucracy. For weeks he has been talking and just talking about wanting to balance the budget. But, Mr. Speaker, talk is cheap and does nothing to solve this Nation's problems. The President should end his little charade about caring for this country's future because it does nothing but undermine the credibility of the Office of the President. It is time that he accept and embrace the Republican's effort to balance the budget. All America wants, needs, and deserves a balanced budget and a secure future. We must end the President's pattern of all talk and no action by balancing the budget, saving Medicare, reforming welfare, and cutting people's taxes. Support the future--tell the President to get behind the Republican Balanced Budget Act.

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, you have probably heard the President using senior citizens over the past few days as his excuse to veto the debt limit bill. Well don't for a minute think that he wants to protect America's seniors. He has his own interests in mind. You see--the debt limit bill included a provision that prevented the Treasury Secretary from stealing from the Social Security Trust Fund in order to spend more money. We knew that this provision was the only way to protect the seniors' trust fund from President Clinton's careless spending habits. And he proved that he has no self discipline when he vetoed the bill. We owe it to our seniors to protect the money they have paid into Social Security. And the President owes seniors more than a game of scare tactics and misinformation. So once again today we are going to pass this bill to protect our Federal trust funds. I urge everyone to take a real and meaningful stand for our Nation's seniors--and send a message to the administration--you cannot steal from Social Security to keep supporting big Government. Support this bill.

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentleman's remarks. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment.

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I would like to conduct a colloquy with the chairman of the committee, the gentleman from Pennsylvania. Mr. Chairman, in September of last year we passed by voice vote an expansive deregulation bill that had wide bipartisan support. The sponsor believed, as I do, that deregulating the trucking industry would be valuable, not only to the trucking industry, but to consumers. That has proven true. By deregulating trucking, we created a balanced playing field. I believe that the gentleman from California [Mr. Mineta], who was a prime sponsor of that bill summed up the intent by saying we will have accomplished not just agency reduction, but also regulatory reduction. Today, Mr. Chairman, this amendment wants to try to expand on the positive steps that were taken just one year ago by expanding the process and exempting small movers, those under 26,000 pounds, from burdensome regulation. They provide a unique service, I think, which the large carriers are unable to provide. They cater to families and individuals that do not require a large van line. They typically make moves within the same city and take only several hours to complete a move. I think the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Shuster], the chairman, would agree with me that deregulation is really important, and that while this does deregulate the States, it contains consumer protection rules related to transportation of household goods. I think he has indicated he would support those consumer protection rules. What I would like to do is ask that you would consider this in any conference that might come up with the Senate.

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Madam Speaker, yesterday the President decided he had two reasons why he vetoed the debt limit bill. Let us look at what he said. He said the bill tied the hands of the Treasury Secretary to avoid a default. Madam Speaker, do we know what that means? We were trying to stop the Secretary from stealing from the Social Security trust fund and now, because the President did not sign that, he can do that. Second, he stated the bill obligates the President and the Congress to pass a plan which cuts Medicare and education and increases taxes. Well, let me just say to my colleagues, we are trying to save Medicare, increase Medicare spending, reform welfare, and reduce America's tax burden and shrink the size and scope of the Federal Government. It is obvious what the President really is against is balancing the budget. He wants to spend more money, create more bureaucracies and pile more debt on our kids. It is unfortunate that shutting down the Government is the only way to stop him.

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, if the Government shuts down tonight, the responsibility is going to rest squarely on President Clinton's shoulders. We have sent him a debt limit increase and will send him a continuing resolution to keep the Government operating, but he says he will veto these bills. Why is the President choosing to shut down the Government? It is because when it comes to push to shove, he flat does not want to balance the budget. That is what it amounts to. The bills the President will veto today just require him really to put his money where his mouth is, do something he has never had to do, and that is practice what he preaches. After all his talk about balancing the budget and reining in the Federal spending and downsizing Government, today the President is going to demonstrate in no uncertain terms that he just does not have the courage. We cannot let our President's unwillingness to govern jeopardize our country's future.

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California for yielding to me. They call the gentleman from California [Mr. Dornan] B-2 Bob. I think that he has been an armed services advocate for this Nation and has kept our forces strong, especially the Air Force's. I think that this is one case where we are not supposed to be going to Bosnia, and I would like to get on that subject again, if I can, for just a second, because that is a place where the President has offered 25,000 of our troops as a bargaining chip before there is ever any agreement, before the United States has ever been involved. Mr. Speaker, it has been pointed out earlier that NATO, as an organization for protection of NATO nations, which we are a part of, but I do not believe Bosnia is a NATO nation. I think that is right, is it not, Mr. Hunter?

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it has been a revolution for the military.

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman would yield, he was there, yes.

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. I just want to thank the gentleman from California [Mr. Hunter].

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Therefore, why are we there? I have asked the question, is this Nation really taking a good look at itself. Who are we, why are we there? Whose side are we on, and what are we going to do once we get there without a plan to get out. I think this President ought to start listening to this Congress and to the American people, and I know Bob Dornan feels the same way.

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Did he not go see some of them?

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I will enter into a colloquy with the gentleman from California [Mr. Hunter]. I want to talk about a friend of mine, Bob Dornan from California, and the reason I want to talk about him is because he was a great fighter pilot. At one time, he flew F-100's out there, and you know, I always said fighter pilots do it better than anybody. And Bob came up here and proved it, and in fact, the gentleman from California, Mr. Hunter, and I and the gentleman from California, Mr. Cunningham, and Dornan consider that name that he stuck on us as Tiger Flight as a real honor to be a part of a group like that. Let me just tell you what he did, because we are talking about Bosnia now and the possibility of sending troops in. Every time you turn around, Dornan is in there at the hot spot trying to find out what really went on, and let me just refresh your memory about Somalia, which was a disaster for the United States. He flew in there in a chopper over the site where our chopper was shot down and those troops were killed, and found out that they could have very easily gotten those guys out, very easily blocked the troops, brought pictures back which I saw, and with two or three tanks they could have locked them up and rescued our forces. They did not do that. Do you know why? Because they were under U.N. control, and the U.N. faulted in their chain of command, which we face here in Bosnia, the same sort of thing, even though it is NATO. There were Italian tanks there, but they were unable to do the coordination to get them there in time. Bob Dornan brought the evidence back. Guess what, we pulled out of Somalia with those losses and just wrote those guys off. I do not think that we want to write off any more Americans anywhere in this world. It was kind of a quagmire over there, and Bob went over there, ``Bullet Bob'' as they called him, because he is fast on the trigger and he shoots at liberals without an instant's hesitation. I yield to the gentleman form California [Mr. Hunter].

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, over the past 5 years our airlines have posted losses of over $13 billion. This has caused almost one-half of those to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy with three of them closing their doors completely. Because of these financial setbacks and heavy Government mandates, over 120,000 U.S. jobs have been lost. Therefore, I believe that budget reconciliation conferees should support the House-passed measure that extends for 2 years the exemption of the aviation jet fuel tax. This new tax was supported by the Democrats and the Clinton administration and passed as part of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. I believe that this new tax will further burden the airline industry by imposing an additional $500 million in new taxes in addition to the $6.5 billion in excise taxes they already pay. To deny this extension could prove detrimental to the future of our airline industry when for the first time in 5 years they are showing slight improvements. That is why it is so important that our budget conferees support the House-passed jet fuel extension that would give the airlines 2 years, not 17 months, to get back on the road to prosperity. The airlines are already facing a huge tax burden that affects their ability to operate and increases, by a substantial amount, the cost of traveling for all passengers. By delaying this tax, and eventually its repeal, we will help the airlines recover from a disastrous 5 years of losses, create more jobs, and decrease the travel cost for their passengers. I hope that my colleagues and the budget conferees will support the House position and eventually push for full repeal of this devastating tax.

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, this morning I saw a bumper sticker that was very appropriate for today. It read, ``Hey, Congress, do your job, balance the budget.'' I think today America is closely watching this debate to see if Congress is finally going to live up to its promise of balancing our Nation's budget, and that includes agriculture too, I say to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. de la Garza]. America has heard the Democrats' scare tactics, the rhetoric, and the empty promises before, and they are fed up with it. Mr. Chairman, it is the Democrats' tax and spend policy of the last 40 years that has driven this country into the financial crisis that we are facing today. I am proud to say that the Republicans are ready to act now and do what Americans elected us to do, and that is, balance the budget. We are going to send the President a plan that cuts spending by $894 billion, and for the first time in 26 years, balances America's checkbook. This bill eliminates hundreds of wasteful government programs, ends welfare as we know it, protects, preserves, and strengthens Medicare, returns power to the States, and provides much-needed tax relief to hard-working Americans. Mr. Chairman, the President says he will veto this historic document. If he does not have the leadership or the courage to balance the budget, lower taxes, and secure a safe future for our children, just remember, that for each day after a veto he will be personally responsible for adding millions of dollars to the national debt. So if you are for less taxes, less government, and a balanced budget, your vote for this budget will create more jobs, more opportunity, and more prosperity for our Nation. A vote for this plan is a vote for the future of America. Mr. de la GARZA. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, for 40 years the Democrats have tried to tax this Nation out of debt. Everyone knows you can't tax and spend your way out of debt, it's a failed policy, and it's time for change. Today, Republicans have a plan not only to balance the budget, but to return to our families, our workers, our seniors, and our businesses their hard-earned money by enacting much-needed tax relief. Democrats must learn that taxes do nothing for our economy except slow its growth and stifle job creation. Just last week, in my home State of Texas, the President finally admitted that the Democrat policies of the past have failed, by admitting that his $258 billion tax increase was a mistake. He was right. We must end the Government thirst for taking America's tax dollars and spending it on more Government programs, more Government bureaucrats, and more Government waste. We must remember that it's the people and businesses of this country that produce the capital, the goods, and the jobs that make this country the most powerful economic Nation in the world. If we keep the Democrat plan of higher taxes and higher Government spending we will finally collapse under the weight of a tremendous debt. Our children will pay over $187,000 in taxes just to pay the interest on that debt. That is why it is so important for the Senate and the House to pass this balanced budget plan. And the President should sign it in the best interest of the American people. Unlike the President's unbalanced budget, this bill will balance the Nation's budget by the year 2002. We must remember history. Every time this body has cut taxes in the past, we have experienced more growth, created more jobs, and brought more revenue into the Federal Government. Each time we let the American people keep more of their money for investment and savings--we have induced a healthier, more robust economy. That's a fact. Mr. Chairman, Republicans believe in the American people, not the Federal Government. A vote against this budget is a vote for more debt, more Government, and more taxes. A vote for this balanced budget is a vote for a better, a freer Nation, vote for America's future. Put your faith in this Nation and vote for this bill.