Steve Kagen

Mr. KAGEN

Mr. KAGEN. We can do that by helping to evolve our health care system back to community-based ratings so there is no discrimination against any citizen, not just because of the color of their skin but their skin chemistry, not just the content of their heart but the arterial content of their heart. So we have to get back to a place, again, where American traditional values are reinforced here in Congress. I think that's the hard work, the working ethic. That's the hard work we have been doing here during these past 15 months that we got here.

Mr. KAGEN. Absolutely.

Mr. KAGEN. But that requires judgment. It requires good judgment at every level of our government, not just a mayor or a county board member, but here in Congress and in the White House. And this is why this next election, I'm looking forward to having the opportunity to work with a President who has good judgment and a philosophy that believes in prevention, not just in health care, but by preventing going to war, you prevent human tragedy and you save tremendous amounts of money.

Mr. KAGEN. Let me make a comment about that if I may, and many people would like to say, well, why can't government run itself like a business. And in one sense, we can because in business there are three questions you have to ask yourself: Will it work? Will it be profitable? And the third most important question is, is it the right thing to do? These are the three questions we can ask ourselves as well here as we begin to fashion legislation. Will it really work? Is it going to have the outcomes that we hoped that it would, whether it's health care or a housing bill or a farm bill? Will it work? Secondly, is it going to be profitable? Will it be something for generations to come? Seven generations forward will feel that was a good investment of your time and your natural and national resources? And finally, is it the right thing to do? Is it the ethical thing to be doing? These are the three questions that apply to business. These are the three questions I think apply to our government, and I'm happy to say what we've been working on here in the 110th Congress, all three of these questions have been asked and answered, and we're doing the right thing for America. We're really moving it in a very positive direction.

Mr. KAGEN. Well, I would close by thanking you for the opportunity. It's been a long day, another 15-hour day for both of us. And I want to thank the American people for tuning in tonight. And you can guarantee one thing, that we're working hard for you. We're on your side. We're going to protect our country. We're going to grow our economy, expand the middle class, and defend our planet against global climate change. And on that positive note, I yield back my time.

Mr. KAGEN

Mr. KAGEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Foreclosure Prevention Act on which would address today's crisis in the housing market and help many American families work out their financing to avoid foreclosure, although it comes a little bit too late for the gentleman I talked to in Green Bay an hour ago who will be losing his home. As we are all aware, foreclosure rates have risen, Housing prices are declining, and too many families nationwide, including many veterans who served us with bravery, honor, and courage in Iraq and Afghanistan are overwhelmed with their monthly mortgage payments, many having fallen into the trap, the adjustable-rate mortgage trap. For these reasons, I commend Chairman Frank for graciously including a provision I offered that would provide funding in fiscal years 2008 and 2009 for grants to be administered to the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation for mortgage foreclosure and credit counseling for veterans recently returning from active duty. The mounting mortgage delinquencies and defaults pose a serious economic threat to our economy, to say nothing of what it does to affected families and their communities. Preventing foreclosures for our veterans will benefit all communities, and more importantly, by providing additional counseling, resources to veterans, it will enhance their ability to make sound financial decisions during these challenging times. Our soldiers need our help now, and toward that end, I'm pleased that the Foreclosure Prevention Act would also assist returning soldiers to avoid foreclosure by lengthening the time a lender must wait before starting the foreclosure process from 3 months to 1 year following a soldier's return from military service. This act is not a handout. It is a hand up. And I urge my colleagues to support passage of this very important legislation.

Mr. KAGEN

Mr. KAGEN. Madam Speaker, last week the Labor Department reported that for the fourth month in a row our jobs are going south. We are losing more jobs, even as the middle class is struggling just to keep their heads above water. We're in this mess because the Bush administration and its followers have failed to establish a fiscally responsible budget policy and are continuing to borrow and spend our Nation into the poor house. In response to this downturn, Democrats are taking action. Today, we're holding an economic summit to determine how best to restore our ailing economy. Also this week we're going to begin to put together a second economic recovery effort directed at rebuilding America's infrastructure, first by enacting a housing package to help establish the floor in the housing market, and then we intend to invest in higher wage construction jobs that will stimulate local economies nationwide. I hope my colleagues in both parties will join us in this effort to build a better Nation here at home and that, furthermore, the President will understand how important this is and sign the bill we intend to enact.

Mr. KAGEN

Mr. KAGEN. Madam Speaker, before I begin my remarks, let me extend my heartfelt gratitude to Chairwoman Slaughter for her years of struggle to bring about this day and let everyone know that on this day, May 1 of 2008, we're beginning to apply our constitutional rights to protect us against discrimination to health care so that one day very soon, equal protection may mean equal treatment. I rise today in strong support of the rule for H.R. 493, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, and the underlying legislation. As a physician and a geneticist, I fully understand the critical need to prohibit discrimination based on an individual's genetic profile. Specifically, this bipartisan, Republican-supported and Democrat- supported bill would prohibit employers from using genetic screening results in hiring, in assigning, and promoting people at work. It would also bar insurers from making coverage choices or setting premiums based on results of such genetic testing. By establishing these protections, H.R. 493 will allow every citizen and their physicians to benefit and participate in the progress that gene therapies provide for all of us in early treatment and prevention of countless afflictions, while maintaining their essential insurance coverage. And perhaps in the near future, I will be able to rise here on the House floor and ask that we support legislation to bring an end to all forms of discrimination in health care. And after all, our constitutional rights to protect us against discrimination should be applied to the area of health care throughout the industry, not just to genetic information, not just to one's skin color or one's skin chemistry or the content and structure of one's bones, but to everything in the human condition and every preexisting condition. Let's begin to put discrimination where it belongs: in the past. We are moving very quickly out of this information age into a time when physicians will be able to diagnose and even treat your condition before you feel it. In closing, I urge my colleagues to support the rule and vote in favor of this important and tremendously progressive bill.

Mr. KAGEN

Mr. KAGEN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2830, the Coast Guard Authorization Act. While this critical legislation is replete with numerous provisions that would make a variety of necessary changes to the Coast Guard's operations, I would like to focus on the portion of the bill that would regulate ballast water, which is of particular importance to northeast Wisconsin. As my constituents know, ballast water is an easy way for invasive species to enter the Great Lakes. These species quickly take root and displace native species to the detriment of local environments. There are also serious economic consequences associated with attempting to manage and control these aquatic invaders. In the Great Lakes, it is estimated that roughly $5 billion in damages has been caused by the zebra mussel; while the cost of lost native species may never be known. Additionally, there is an enormous recreational cost associated with the loss of fish and wildlife in the Great Lakes, which account for nearly 22 percent of the world's fresh surface water. They are a tremendous and extraordinary natural resource that we cannot afford to harm. I would like to commend Mr. Oberstar for his leadership on this issue, and for including in his manager's amendment the requirement that each vessel provide monthly reports on ballast operations. This prerequisite will allow for greater transparency in ballast management, and will sanction early detection of invasive species. I am also encouraged that H.R. 2830 permits alternative ballast management measures for recreational vessels. In establishing rules for recreational vessels, I hope the Secretary recognizes that local boaters and fishermen should not be subjected to unreasonable overregulation. In closing, I would urge all my colleagues to support passage of this legislation.

Mr. KAGEN

Mr. KAGEN. Mr. Speaker, it's time for the President to act. Record high prices for gasoline and diesel fuels are crippling our economy and taking our hard-earned money and putting it into the bank accounts of Big Oil and market speculators. The President must take action today to provide relief for small businesses and ordinary people who are fighting just to keep their heads above water. With the price of diesel fuel hitting $4 per gallon and the strategic petroleum reserve at 95 percent full, it's time for action. The petroleum reserve has 695 million gallons within it, approximately the same in August of 2005 when the President released, due to Katrina and due to Hurricane Rita, the oil supplies. According to independent analysts, if we suspend purchasing additional oil into the reserve, it will lower gas prices by 25 cents per gallon. Whose side is this administration on? Times are tough, and the two things the President can do right now is to cut the cost of fuel at the pump and also to reduce health care costs. Today, I ask the President, again, to join me in working together to put more money in the pockets of ordinary taxpayers instead of Big Oil.

Mr. KAGEN

Mr. KAGEN. Madam Speaker, several days ago, Marine Lance Corporal Dean Opicka was killed in action while serving our Nation in Iraq. Dean was 29 years of age and is the third Luxemburg-Casco High School alumnus killed in Iraq. David and Donna Opicka of Casco, Wisconsin, are the proud parents of Dean, who graduated from Luxemburg-Casco High School in 1997. Dean joined the Marines in August of 2005 and graduated from boot camp at Camp Pendleton, California, in November. He was a brave member of the Milwaukee-based 2/24 Fox Company. William Shakespeare, in his play, ``Julius Caesar,'' wrote, ``Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.'' On behalf of every citizen in these United States I wish to express our sincerest gratitude to Marine Lance Corporal Dean Opicka. To his parents and family, this House of Representatives expresses our deepest regrets on his passing and thanks for his service. Moment of Silence In honor of Dean Opicka, I respectfully request a moment of silence.

Mr. KAGEN

Mr. KAGEN. Madam Speaker, today is Tax Day and everyone in America is asking the question: Whose side are you on? Well, I am on the side of Wisconsin taxpayers, and my record proves it. I have kept my word. In September of 2006, I stated we should do two things: First, balance our Federal budget here in Washington like people do back home; and, second, to reduce taxes for middle class families. We have kept our word. And like other Democrats, I voted to cut taxes and balance our Federal budget. We saved 62,000 households in the Eighth District of Wisconsin from paying the AMT tax; for tax deductions for health care expenses and property taxes; we voted to cut taxes for small businesses and S corporations; and we are trying to make mortgage payments deductible for everyone, whether you itemize or do not. We also voted to close tax loopholes that encourage our jobs to be shipped overseas. We are on the side of the taxpayers. My record proves it. Today is Tax Day. Whose side is your representative on?

Mr. KAGEN

Mr. KAGEN. Thank you to Madam Johnson and subcommittee Chair Frank Pallone for putting together a tremendous bill. Madam Chairman, as a Member who has the honor of representing one of the largest States in the country that has shoreline beyond measure in its value, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2537, the Beach Protection Act. This critical piece of legislation will increase grant funding overseen by the EPA for water quality surveys and for pollution source tracking programs, and it will also set a new standard for public notification. H.R. 2537 will take important steps to address the serious threat to public health and the economic vitality of coastal vitality of coastal economies in northeast Wisconsin posed by beach water pollution and human pathogens. I would be remiss, however, if I did not also recognize the exemplary job performed by the State of Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources, who has been monitoring 34 of the 35 beaches in Door County, Brown County and Kewaunee County. While I am also proud to applaud the beach monitoring standards employed by the State of Wisconsin, this act will also improve upon the quality of these observations and heighten public safety. After all, clean water gets good health. Moreover, it will require the EPA to commence a study, identify potential revisions in the beach-funding distribution formula, which currently weighs the beach season conservatively, more importantly, than other factors such as Wisconsin's winter season not being adequately measured. Additionally, the bill will call upon the EPA to publish a list of pathogens affecting human health. In closing, I urge all of our colleagues to support H.R. 2537.

Mr. KAGEN

Mr. KAGEN. Mr. Speaker, what kind of Nation would we be if we did not stand up and speak out in favor of liberty everywhere in the world? On January 6, 1941, right here in this Congress, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt enunciated a voice for all the world, our four essential human freedoms, freedom from fear, freedom from want, freedom of speech and freedom to worship God in one's own way. These are the freedoms we fought two world wars for and won. These are the freedoms we must endorse everywhere in the world. I encourage the current leaders of Communist China to support these four essential human freedoms everywhere in the world. Soon, very soon, the Olympic games will be held in China, and wouldn't it be grand if China would compete fairly and openly on a level playing field, not just in the Olympic games but in marketing their products as well. We must ship our values overseas, not our jobs. That is the goal of our presence here on this floor. We must represent people here in these United States, not in China.

Mr. KAGEN

Mr. KAGEN. Madam Speaker, what kind of nation would we be if we wouldn't stand up to speak out in favor of liberty everywhere in the world? It was on January 6, 1941, right here in this chamber that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt enunciated and outlined for us the four essential human freedoms, freedoms that this Nation fought several world wars for and won. Freedom of speech everywhere in the world, freedom from fear, freedom from want, and freedom to worship God everywhere in the world. The people of Tibet tonight must hear that we, the people of these United States, are on their side. And we encourage the current leadership of China to support these four essential human freedoms everywhere in the world. Madam Speaker, very shortly, there will be some Olympic games held in China, Olympic games and Olympic spirit, based upon fair competition, fair and open competition on a level playing field. Isn't it time, we might also ask, that China begins to compete with us on a fair and level playing field, and in particular with regard to Paper Valley in which I live in Wisconsin, isn't it time that they stopped dumping illegal paper into our domestic marketplaces? Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution because we must support these four essential human freedoms everywhere in the world.

Mr. KAGEN

Mr. KAGEN. Mr. Speaker, all across America and Wisconsin, people are demanding lower gas prices and affordable health care, not more debt. In recent weeks, our Nation has experienced a dramatic decline in home values. And when our home values decline and disappear, so does the tax revenue in every town, in every county, in every State of the Union. Our very way of life is now at risk due to this administration's continued economic policy of borrow and spend, and last weekend the administration forced us to swallow a minnow with worms by nationalizing the debt of financial institutions, guaranteeing their debts will be paid by American taxpayers. Whose side are they on? Taxpayers invested in their own homes, not in insider Wall Street deals. This administration is in bed with big banks, big insurance, and Big Oil, and businesses who are shipping our jobs overseas. If this administration was on the side of taxpayers, what would they do? They would cut the price of gasoline. Wisconsin wants lower gas prices, not more debt.

Mr. KAGEN

Mr. KAGEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to express in the strongest terms possible my opposition to President Bush's proposed budget for 2009, a budget that simply does not reflect our traditional American values. The Republican budget would sink us deeper into debt and will destroy Medicare and Medicaid as we know them. Everything, everything the President says he is, he is not. And with the help of his party, the President is doing what Germany and Japan could not do in World War II, destroying our Nation. The question America voters must ask is: Whose side are we on? Does anyone in this Chamber seriously intend to cut Community Service Block Grants, Community Oriented Policing, the Centers for Disease Control, NIH, the FAA, and Social Service Block Grants? These are essential people-oriented programs that serve as our Nation's social safety net, and we must invest in them. Join me in supporting the Democratic budget. Let's invest our hard- earned tax dollars right here at home in America based upon our traditional American values.

Mr. KAGEN

Mr. KAGEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Yarmuth from the great State of Kentucky. And I thought what I would do is I'd share with you some of my feelings about how things are going here in Washington. We were presented with Bush's proposal, which, medically speaking, is dead on arrival. It just doesn't face up to and it doesn't really reflect our traditional American values of putting people before things. People ought to come first. I am very much opposed to the President's budget which seeks to really destroy Medicare and take away Medicaid, which is the health care access for those of us who are in the greatest need. And so I think we have to take a look at the numbers. When the President suggested $497 billion cut from Medicare, nearly $100 billion cut from Medicaid, how are these people going to get the essential medical care that they need? I look at it, in the big picture, as this way: We've been elected to change the direction of the country and to do four essential things: First, defend America. We have to enact, as we did, the 9/11 recommendations. We have to begin to move our troops away from Iraq and back after our real enemies, Osama bin Laden and his followers. And they weren't in Iraq when we went there; they were in Afghanistan. But we cannot remain in a hundred-year war and continue to borrow money from China and spend it in the sands of Iraq. Everywhere I go in Wisconsin, my good friend, people are telling me, Look, you have got our hard-earned tax dollars. Spend it here at home. Build our roads. Build our bridges. Rebuild America. Let's not rebuild another country. Let's rebuild our own lands. This budget does not reflect our values. It doesn't protect anyone except corporate greed and those at the very top of the ladder. It doesn't do what we should be doing: educating our children, caring for our veterans. The Democratic budget seeks to put in over $3 billion above what we did last year because we have 330,000-plus soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. And they need help now more than ever, not just before and during their service in harm's way, but when they come home with PTSD and other injuries that you may not see that are mental, and also those physical injuries. We have to have a budget that makes sense not just for us here, but also for people at home. I have here a chart that shows you the change in real median, which is like your average household income, by Presidential term. If you look over here right by the right, this is something people in Wisconsin understand straight away. We are not better off today than we were before President Bush took office. And this Republican policy of borrow and spend and borrow and spend has put us in the drink. There is a difference between Republicans and Democrats. Right now, the difference is about $33 trillion of debt on an accrual basis. When President Bush took office, we had a debt of about $20 trillion on an accrual basis. We are now up to $53 trillion of debt. We have obligations we have to meet to those people that we serve and represent. During the Clinton Presidency, there was an increase of $6,100 of median household income; with Bush I, a decline of $1,000. So we have to return and get back to the basics of balancing our budget, and most importantly, balancing our trade as well. We cannot continue to have a negative trade deficit with our partners overseas and have any kind of economy left at all. This budget does not make sense. I thought I would go through with you, since you are from Kentucky, some of the things that might be happening if we followed President Bush's and the Republicans' budget. Homeland security grants. In the State of Kentucky, well, you would lose $7 million. In Wisconsin, $9 million. Homeland security grants are important sources of revenue for small governments and cities and towns to help defend America on the local level. Assistance to firefighter grants, the AFG grants, puts valuable equipment into volunteer fire departments across the country, giving them communication gear so we can communicate during an emergency. Well, in Kentucky, oh, my poor friend, you're not even on the list. Let's go to Wisconsin. We're losing $13 million. And Kentucky, $12.5 million with the President's budget. What about the Clean Water State Revolving Fund? This is an essential source of revenue for guaranteeing that we have infrastructure that makes sense, that functions as it should, wastewater treatment plants and the like. In Wisconsin, under President Bush's budget, we would lose $4 million. In Kentucky, you would lose almost $2 million. It goes on and on. Community Development Block Grants, Dislocated Worker programs. These are people-oriented programs that need to have financing to make sure that people have a safety net that they can count on. If you want it in general terms, you used the analogy about a sale, you know, 2 days only, or should we say, ``to the rich only.'' That sale, that tax break, that has to end because otherwise we're passing the buck. We're passing our debt on not to our generation, but to our children and our grandchildren because sooner or later these debts must be paid. We're seeing it now with the decline of the dollar. The decline of the dollar has caused what? The oil hasn't changed for 1 million years, but its value has gone up because our purchasing power for the dollar has gone down. The gold hasn't changed, but it now might take $1,000 someday soon, real soon, to get 1 ounce of gold. So your purchasing power of the dollar has declined. Interest rates are going down, making your investments, if you saved any money at all and you're on fixed income, it's much harder for you now to make it through the week. As we look at the budgeting process here in Washington, the essential difference is there are debt lovers and debt haters. We want to pay our bills. We want to be fiscally responsible and socially progressive to guarantee that people are more important than things and people are more important than corporations. And I yield back.

Mr. KAGEN. I couldn't agree with you more, and I appreciate your yielding. Think about it. I'll ask it rhetorically: Can you name one thing that President Bush has done to help us become an energy independent Nation? Just one thing. I can't think of a thing that he has done. There is so much that we could be doing to become energy independent. But let's look at taxes just for a minute. I can lower your taxes by investing in people, by having healthier children who will have healthier lives. They will get a better education if we educate them and invest in education. I can lower your taxes. I can lower the taxes of every city, every county and every State in this country if we would invest in a health care system that makes sense, that's affordable, and guarantees access to affordable care for everyone, especially our children on whose future we all depend. We can lower our taxes by having healthy senior citizens who walk straight, who don't need canes, who actually have access to the essential services that they require. We have to invest in people, their education, their health care, and especially our veterans. And it's going to cost more and more and more the longer we remain in a religious civil war in Iraq. We're spending $12 billion of our tax money that we have to pay back sometime. Now 80 cents on the dollar that we're borrowing from foreign countries, 80 cents on the dollar we're taking from foreign countries right now. So who owns America? Who are we? And in which direction are we going to turn? We have become a debtor country. Let's take a look at some of the numbers that are a bit frightening. I'm going to scare you for a reason. This is the way it is: 2.8 million homes are going to go through foreclosure in a short time through the subprime mortgage crisis. But the number at the end of the day, when this recession is done in 2011 or 2012, may be 20 million homes. Now if you have three people per home, that's 60 million American citizens. Sixty million people might have to lose their home. If I came up to you and said, hey, you know, 20 percent of the population in Cuba is homeless, you would say, well, yeah, it's a Third World country. We're already getting there. Now 10 years ago, in conversations with my physician colleagues, we would have an agreement that we were doing fine in America so long as the value of the dollar was upheld and so long as Arabians took our dollar in payment for their oil. Well, last year, the Japanese started buying their oil and paying in the yen. Germany is now paying in the euro because they get more for their money. So our dollar has been devalued because of these failed and losing economic policies that we're now underneath because of President Bush. We must turn a page. We must come back to the basics of being fiscally responsible and paying as we go as we've done in this House in the 110th Congress. Now if we don't invest in our children's education, where are we going to get? We're getting nowhere. If we don't invest in our children's health care early on, we'll never be able to afford their expensive care later on. Remember the old tire commercial, ``You can pay me now or you can pay me later''? That's true in the health care field as well. I feel very strongly that we have to take on all of these issues. We have to have a fiscally responsible budget. And the very first thing we have to address is our skyrocketing, impossible costs for health care, which are a drag on every small business I get to meet with. I don't care if you're in farming or if you're a shoe salesman or if you're a small manufacturer, the number one cost you have of running your overhead is your health expense for your employees, if you're fortunate enough to have the money to pay for it. Today, the average cost for a family of four is $14,000 for health insurance, on average. If you're making $50,000 annually, how can you afford to give $14,000 to the insurance industry? You can't afford it. That's why we have 47 million United States citizens with no health care coverage at all. I think we have to become fiscally responsible. This Congress will do it. I yield back.

Mr. KAGEN. Thank you for yielding. You bring up an interesting point about paying taxes. Do you really believe that people who are going down can pay more? It doesn't make any sense at all. Let's take a look at some of the numbers. Twenty-five percent of all workers in the United States earn less than $8.70 per hour. One half of all women working earn less than $8.70 an hour. That's about $18,000 in a year. One-fifth of all children in America are living in poverty, which is the highest among the 17 industrialized nations, and we are the only industrialized nation that doesn't have guaranteed access to health care for everyone. So who is going to end up paying? Well, we had dinner tonight. Somebody has to pay the bill; right? So we can't just get up and turn it over to somebody else. Our kids aren't there. Our grandchildren aren't there. We had to come up with the money to pay for our bills. But if you don't have any money, and I'm not accusing you, but if you don't have the money, I'm going to have to cover you. Now, who has benefited from all these tax cuts? It's the people at the top of the income scale. It should be no surprise who is going to have to pay the bills when they come due. It's not going to be people that don't have any money. They're going to the banks now looking for money. I was in a diner in Oconto, Wisconsin, Northeast Wisconsin, having a bite to eat on my way to an event. And I asked the guys who were working there that are city workers how I could help them with an economic stimulus package. And they said, Doc, look out the window. It's right there. There's the price of gas. If you want to put more money in my pocket, cut the cost of gasoline. Well, we haven't done it yet because we have got an oil Vice President and an oil President. We can't do it while they're in office. The second thing he said was, look, the other thing you can do is knock down the cost when I go to the pharmacy to get my medication. I think I'm paying too much. And let me share with you some reality. In the State of Wisconsin, we have a program for senior citizens who are in need of assistance in paying for their prescription drugs. So if you can't afford your prescription drugs and you're in need and you're lower income status, you will qualify for senior care, and by buying into it with $30 a year, you get this kind of a benefit. Virginia, for her medications, pays over $330 per month at the pharmacy for her medications. On senior care it's $89. The same pharmacy, the same prescription drugs, the same drug makers. The only difference is the State of Wisconsin formed a purchasing pool. I will give you a second example. The Veterans Administration has negotiated steep discounts for a vast number of very effective and therapeutic prescription drugs. And, on average, if you're a veteran getting your prescription drugs from the VA, you're paying 46 percent less than a Medicare part D patient. But, my friend, the veterans who fought for this country, for our freedom, for the right not just for themselves to get a discount, they fought for everybody. Don't you think it's only right but that everybody be able to get those same medications at that same steep discount? They didn't fight a war--they didn't defend America--for themselves. They did it for every citizen across this land. If the VA can use its resources to leverage down and purchase prescription drugs at a steep discount, shouldn't everyone benefit from that steep discount? So we have to begin to think differently in America, about us. Not me, about all of us. We have to begin to return to the days when health insurance was sold to an entire community. You know those letters u-n- i-t-y, unity? We have got to put ``unity'' back into ``community.'' We have to return to community-based ratings so we can insure everyone in the community without any discrimination. And when we do that, we can leverage down the cost of prescription drugs and insurance coverage for everyone. So I think this is our time when we can begin to have a discussion with the American people about what's important to them. In Wisconsin paying your bills is just the way of life. So is working. Two feet of snow, three feet of snow, we're still there on time. So from our Wisconsin point of view, and I am certain it's true in Kentucky as well, people want to pay their bills. But what's happening today in households across my district is people are running faster to stand still. They are working harder to make a little bit more. But their energy costs for their gasoline, for the diesel; for the farmers, for their fertilizers, their feed, for their cows, the energy cost is escalating. That's called inflation. And on top of that, they can't buy as much with their hard-earned dollar. So what good does it do if you're milking cows and you're getting $20 per hundred weight and your overhead is eating it up? The margin, your profit, is almost the same as when it was $12 per hundred. So we have to begin to change our Federal policies, and our budget must reflect not just our Nation's values but our true American traditional family values of pay-as-you-go. Now, when I was just 12 years old, my grandmother from Poland taught me, Steve, if you see something you like and you've got the money, go ahead and buy it. If you see something you like and you don't have the money, don't buy it. And that's all you need to know about money. We have to take that idea here in Washington as well and say, look, there are things we must do. We must defend our country. We must grow our economy, expand the middle class. At the same time, we have to protect our planet from global climate change and global warming. All of these are very complex issues, but it begins with money. Now, my friend, I look at money as a problem solver. If you've got money in your pocket, you can solve some problems. And this government has built up such debts that we are now getting handcuffs on us, monetary handcuffs. Our debt load is so heavy, we are having more and more restrictions on what problems we can solve. So I think we have to get our financial House of Representatives in order, not just our congressional House but our financial house.

Mr. KAGEN. I appreciate your comments. And I have learned a great deal just working with you here in Congress. And I appreciate your sacrifice of leaving your business and your life in Kentucky to work here in Washington even as you live back in Kentucky, as I work here in Washington and live in Wisconsin. I will just remind you what we both agree on. We need to have not just a budget policy, but a tax policy that rewards work more so than wealth. Because what you see with this graph is that the people that are being rewarded are the wealthy who are not necessarily working as hard as people. Now whose side are we on? We do not sit in a boardroom. We are standing on the workplace floor. We understand the pain and feel the stress that ordinary Americans are going through and families are making it just a tough time every single day. The policies that we are putting forward have to be people first, and our budget must not only be balanced, but we have to balance the other deficits that we face. We have a budget deficit, and we have a savings deficit. We have to become, once again, a Nation that saves money and not just spends money. We have to lead the way here in Congress. And I look forward to working with you in the years to come and certainly in the next several weeks as we pass a budget here.

Mr. KAGEN

Mr. KAGEN. Mr. Speaker, ladies and gentlemen, the American public needs to know about misrepresentation. This morning we have heard a misrepresentation of reality about the FISA bill. We passed a FISA bill that guarantees that we protect not only our Nation but our constitutional rights. Every single Member of Congress has sworn to uphold our United States Constitution, and that means we have judicial oversight, oversight of our administration and the executive branch that may reach far too deep into our personal lives. No administration has the constitutional right to listen in on U.S. citizens. And at no time has FISA gone dark. Our intelligence community has at all times been listening in on conversations of those who seek to destroy our freedom and our rights. Fellow Americans, understand this: The FISA conversation you're hearing here on the floor is all about a smokescreen. We have been protecting America each and every minute of the day.

Mr. KAGEN

Mr. KAGEN. Thank you, Congressman Yarmuth. I really appreciate your words of wisdom and your counsel. And I would like to engage you in some conversation this evening. Earlier this evening we heard our colleagues on the Republican side raise some interesting issues, and one of the questions that someone raised was, almost facetiously, I hope, ``Where's Waldo?'' If security, if international security depends upon finding anybody, it's not Waldo. We took our eye off the ball. Where is Osama bin Laden, and what are we doing about him and his violent extremists and the people that follow his way of thinking? So, may I ask you a question? Congressman Yarmuth, is it really true that our intelligence community went dark? Are we no longer listening in on conversations? Is some of this fear mongering actually real? Is there any truth in there at all? Are we going dark? Are we not listening to people who want to do us harm?

Mr. KAGEN. But, sir, there have been telephone calls going out. There have been radio conversations. There have been television commercials in districts around America trying to indicate that, in fact, we have gone dark, that we've suddenly stopped listening. Are you telling me here tonight that that just isn't true?

Mr. KAGEN. Well, then the question has to be asked, what's really going on here? What is it that our Republican colleagues disagree with us about with regard to protecting not only America, using FISA, but also protecting our constitutional rights? Can we not protect America and our Constitution at the same time?