Gary Miller

Mr. GARY MILLER of California

Mr. GARY MILLER of California. We have heard much debate today about saving Social Security and spending 62 percent of the surplus to do it. I agree with that 100 percent. Our Medicare has to be ensured to be there for our generation and the generation to come. The same is true for defense. How can we expect those defending our Nation to feed their family using food stamps? It is deplorable and we need to change that. But if we listened to the President's State of the Union, it is obvious big government just came roaring back. When do we start trusting the American people? What do we do with the remaining 38 percent of the surplus if we are going to spend 62 percent for Social Security? Let us give the people their money back. We talk about making sure we are going to better education for the future. When will we start trusting parents? When will we start trusting school boards? When will we start trusting teachers to provide education? The Federal Government has 790 various programs associated with education. The mandates associated with those programs generally cost more to implement than they receive from the Federal Government. That has to be changed. Let us start trusting parents; let us start trusting taxpayers; let us start trusting individuals with their rights.

Mr. GARY MILLER of California

Mr. GARY MILLER of California. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 98, the War Risk Insurance Program Extension; I wish to express my appreciation for the hard work of Chairman Shuster, Ranking Member Oberstar, Subcommittee Chairman Duncan, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Lipinski in crafting this legislation and getting it to the floor in an expeditious manner; This bill is highly important, especially when U.S. troops are still being deployed to various parts of the world; Commercial insurance companies usually do not insure commercial airline flights to high risk areas; To ensure that flights to high risk areas can operate when needed, Chapter 443 of Title 49 of the U.S. Code authorized the Secretary of Transportation to provide insurance and reinsurance to commercial airlines against any risks; The program has been reauthorized 12 times and is now scheduled to rexpire on March 31, 1999; This bill is a simple, non-controversial reauthorization for the program through December 2003; Many members of the U.S. military, both active and reserve, live in California's 41st Congressional District; When called upon to go overseas, they usually use March Air Reserve Base, located near my district, as a staging point for deployment; Commercial carriers are sometimes called upon to provide Boeing 747s and other wide bodied jets for such operations; We saw this clearly happen during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm; Passing the War Risk Insurance Program will allow these high risk flights to operate as needed; I urge my colleagues to pass H.R. 98 by unanimous consent.

Mr. GARY MILLER of California

Mr. GARY MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, it is a great honor for me to be here as an elected representative of California's 41st Congressional District. Here, in the greatest representative body in the world, Members of the 106th Congress have a great deal of responsibility to the American people. It is my intention to work in a bipartisan manner on some of the key issues facing us today. I will work to reduce government waste, bureaucracy, and red tape. I will work towards reducing the tax burden on the American people. For the senior citizens of my district, I promise to focus on saving Social Security. I will work to reform managed health care. As a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, I will work with members of the California delegation to maintain Ontario International Airport and reduce traffic congestion on our region's interstate highways. As a member of the House Committee on Science, I pledge to work towards maintaining our space program as well as ensuring that our country leads the world in technological innovation. Finally, I wish to thank my family, friends, and the people of the 41st Congressional District for their guidance and their support. To the people of my district, I pledge to you that I will work for your interest and will continue to earn your support.