Jerry Lewis

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady), a member of the committee.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, as I prepare to call upon my last speaker, I want to remind my colleagues that according to the Congressional Budget Office, only 11 percent of the appropriations in this bill will be spent by the end of 2009; 47 percent would be spent by fiscal year 2010; 53 percent would not be spent until after October of 2011. It is my pleasure to call upon, for 1 minute, the Republican leader of the House, John Boehner.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Simpson).

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the Republican whip, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cantor).

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to yield 2 minutes to the partner of our chairman, Mr. Obey, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan).

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, could I inquire as to the time remaining.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the newest Member of the House, Aaron Schock of Illinois.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Calvert).

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Latham).

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield $8.8 billion to the gentleman from Tennessee for 1 minute. That's the cost of the minute I'm yielding him on this bill, to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp).

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton), the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee. (Mr. BARTON of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Camp), the ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee. (Mr. CAMP asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to Hal Rogers, the gentleman from Kentucky, and the ranking member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee. (Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston).

Mr. LEWIS of California. I yield 3 minutes to the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Appropriations that gets the vast percentage of increase in spending in this bill, the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Tiahrt).

Mr. LEWIS of California. I very much appreciate the Speaker for his time.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Frelinghuysen).

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, in just a short while, the House will be voting on the President's $790 billion economic stimulus package. It is by far the most expensive piece of legislation ever considered by this legislative body in its more than 200 years. I will be voting ``no'' on this legislation. Over the next few minutes, I would like to share my concerns about this bill as it is currently written. The President, whom I respect a great deal, is a fine salesman. But as I have said on more than one occasion, facts are stubborn things. The fact is that this stimulus package does more to promote the growth of the Federal Government than it does to create jobs or to stimulate our economy. The fact is there are 104 government programs in this legislation that are being permanently expanded. This includes 31 new government programs and permanent expansions to 73 existing programs. Taxpayers will pay for these programs well into the future. Of the total funding in this package, $190 billion--or 61 percent--is devoted to increasing the size of government. Only $122 billion--or 39 percent--is for a temporary one-time infusion of money into 98 Federal programs to stimulate the economy. Again, these are the facts. The interest on this new spending alone will cost no less than $350 billion. And, if all of the new spending in this bill is carried forward in the future years, Federal nondefense budgets will have to increase by at least 42 percent each year. One more time, these are the facts. My colleagues, is there anyone in Congress who really believes that this spending can be sustained? Let's not kid ourselves. When it comes to Washington spending taxpayers' money, a trillion has become the new million. So how did we get to this point today? Two nights ago, the President's chief of staff came to Capitol Hill under the cover of darkness and presented the framework of a final deal to Senator Reid and Speaker Pelosi. The only negotiation that took place occurred in the middle of the night in several back rooms of the U.S. Capitol between the White House and these two leaders. There are hundreds of billions of dollars of spending in this legislation, and yet not one member of the House Appropriations Committee--not even Chairman Obey--was in sight when the final deal was cut. There are hundreds of billions of dollars of tax provisions in this legislation, and yet not one member of the House Ways and Means committee--not even Chairman Rangel--was in sight when the final deal was cut. The purpose of a conference committee is to negotiate differences between competing versions of the House and Senate bills. Amendments are usually offered, debated, and considered. But there were no negotiations between Republicans and Democrats at Wednesday's conference. The negotiations had taken place the night before. Outside of the Speaker and Senate Majority Leader Reid, no one in the Congress has any idea what is really in this legislation. It was filed in the House as it was negotiated--in the darkness of night. And it became available to Members and the public on a Web site at 12:30 a.m. this morning, less than 12 hours ago. This is precisely why every single Member present on Tuesday, more than 400 Members of the House, voted to have the conference report available 48 hours before House consideration. But the Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader are clearly afraid that the more Members and taxpayers learn about this bill, the more Members will walk away from it. The House should not vote on the largest spending bill in the history of the United States when no one on either side of the aisle has any real idea of what's in it. There is no doubt that urgent action is needed to stimulate the economy and create jobs. Had the President and congressional leaders focused and put their attention on the real need for job creation, with an emphasis on infrastructure jobs, this package would be sailing through the House and Senate with broad bipartisan support. There are Members on both sides of the aisle who would support reasonable transportation and infrastructure projects as well as reasonable tax reform, but that is not what is before us today. In the end, funding for roads, highways, flood control measures, and other job creating infrastructure projects were downsized in order to increase the size and scope of government programs. Mr. Speaker, that's not stimulus. That's not job creation, and it certainly isn't what the country needs or deserves. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LEWIS of California. You are forcing me to do that which we really should not have to do.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Could I inquire as to how much time is remaining?

Mr. LEWIS of California. I hope the gentleman from Wisconsin will respond, but I would ask unanimous consent that we extend debate time by 1 hour.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to reestablish 30 seconds of my time to speak out of order.

Mr. LEWIS of California

Mr. LEWIS of California. Madam Speaker, it is my honor to yield 1 minute to the whip on the Republican side of the aisle, Mr. Cantor.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Madam Speaker, I am proud to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton), the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee. (Mr. BARTON of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LEWIS of California. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).