Kendrick Meek

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. This is the reality of the situation. This is not fiction; it is fact. But if you can, I want you to get through that list because I know that Mr. Delahunt and Mr. Ryan are so fired up right now as it relates to sharing this information. Mr. Speaker, this is almost not fair. I mean this is just so unfair that we have this much information to share with the Members about what they have done and what they have not done and how we are so ready to get in the game, to lead this House in the direction that every American can appreciate. Every American does not work at McDonald's, but guess what. There are a lot of Americans there and family members of Americans that punch in and punch out every day and know what it means to make the minimum wage.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Do not die just yet because you have to share some information.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Will the gentleman suspend. Mr. Ryan, would you take that chart over to Mr. Delahunt. You all are going to share in this information sharing because Mr. Delahunt actually served when Mr. Gingrich was around and I think it is important that we share that factual information with the Members. And, Mr. Delahunt, if you would share that because I know we have a plethora of information to share tonight.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Delahunt, I notice Mr. Ryan and Ms. Wasserman Schultz and we are so glad to be joined by Ms. Jackson-Lee, who is one of my sheroes in this process. ``They.'' Mr. Speaker, this is the man who gave the Republican majority birth. ``Them.'' ``They.'' He is saying he is no longer a part of what is going on here. ``They.'' Not ``my colleagues,'' not ``my Republican brethren and sisters.'' It is ``they.'' This goes far beyond the 30-something working group. This goes far beyond Democrats and Republicans. Here is a man who was at the front of the line saying charge, that is now calling the Republican majority ``they.''

Mr. MEEK of Florida. The bottom line is this: We have a bobble head majority. We have a rubber stamp majority that is willing to do anything and everything the President has asked. Now, Mr. Delahunt, we talked about this last week, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Ryan, about the fact that like 90 percent of the American people understand what is going on here under the Capitol dome, and then the majority runs from the back of the class and runs up and says, We want to govern. We are going to stop the President from doing X, Y, and Z. Why does it take that, Mr. Delahunt? I mean the bottom line is it is about leadership, not how Republicans feel or how Democrats feel or how independents feel. It should be everyday business here in Washington, D.C. But they are so busy trying to cater to the President of the United States or trying to cater to the special interests, we forget about that individual who showed up on a Tuesday on election day in a given community early for representation. Not us on this side, but the majority does. And I think it is important that we share with the other Members that are watching us in their offices or whatever the case may be that they need to get back to the days of the morning when they woke up the next day, when they were newly elected as a Member of Congress, how they felt about representation, how they felt about being a part of the United States Congress, how they felt about representing their local community. And I think that kind of gets lost between the wine and cheese receptions that take place, Mr. Speaker, here in Washington, D.C. I am a Member of Congress. I am offended sometimes when I see Members taking votes against the will of their own constituency.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor once again to address the House of Representatives, and we would like to thank the Democratic leadership for allowing us to have this time, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, Mr. Steny Hoyer, and also our chair and vice chair of our caucus. I think it is important for us to come to the floor once again in this 30-something Working Group to talk about the issues that are facing America and how the Republican majority is falling short of its responsibility, Mr. Speaker, to fulfill not only the hopes, but aspirations of Americans as we come to Washington, D.C. to represent them in a way that we should, need it be education, health care, what have you. We have so much to share, Mr. Speaker, tonight, 50 minutes will not even give us justice for what we have to share. I must say that the 30- something Working Group is very, very, very excited and enthusiastic for being here tonight to hopefully drive home the point even better than we have done before of why it is important that we need a new Congress here in Washington, D.C. that is going to represent the American people. And we are not just talking about Democrats. We are not just talking about Independents. We are not just talking about Republicans. We are talking about the American people. We want to move in a comprehensive way, making sure that we can have true bipartisanship in this chamber. I think we have expressed that in the past. I think that we have shown that in the past when we were in the majority, and it is nothing like third-party validators that we have here tonight, Mr. Speaker, that even drives home the point even better. We have talked in the past about issues that are facing the American people and this Congress. We talked about the K Street Project back when no one really wanted to talk about the K Street Project, which is a project to encourage lobbyists here in Washington, D.C. to contribute to one side, to the Republican Party to help not only gain the majority, but to also be a part of supporting Republican candidates, to have access to this House. We talked about that. We got some dirty looks from some Members of the majority side about exposing that. And then later, after Abramoff pleading guilty without a trial, without a jury selection or anything, the Republican majority said we will no longer carry out that project because it was wrong. It was the 30-something Working Group that moved boldly in that direction to expose that practice here in Washington, D.C. Even when it comes down to our troops as it relates to equipment and supplies that they needed, even though you have some folks on the majority side that said we did it in a way that the American people should be proud of, it was on this side of the aisle that we did so. So it is not all about who made it to the front of the classroom first, Mr. Speaker. It is about those of us that understand the responsibility of governance, those of us that understand the responsibility of leadership and those of us that cherish the opportunity to be here as part of this elected House of Representatives. Like I said, Mr. Speaker, it is so much to share tonight, there is not enough time to share it. But I would like to yield to some of my colleagues at this time so that we can start the kind of discourse that is going to head us in the right direction here in Washington, and hopefully the American people will start looking through some of the 30-second ads, looking through some of the targeted media campaigns that are out there. When I say marketing campaigns, Mr. Delahunt, and Ms. Wasserman Schultz, that sometimes mislead the American people and having them believe one thing when the reality is so evident. Like I said before in the past, this is an unprecedented time, Mr. Speaker, of the fiscal situation here in this country, unprecedented as it relates to unusual things happening here in this House and in this Congress that are unexplainable. But every day, we need to be picking up the Washington Post or local papers. We are finding that the reason why strange things are taking place here in this country is the fact that strange things are taking place here in this House and in the Senate and in the White House. And I think that it is important that we bring this not only to the attention of the American people, but we call the American people to action on behalf of their country, not on behalf of party, not on behalf of age or gender, but on behalf of holding our country together. With that I would like to yield to Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. And I would just like to say congratulations to your Florida Gators.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. No, ma'am.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. The Republican majority.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Ms. Wasserman Schultz, we are with you 110 percent because this is information that needs to be shared and third- party validators can validate this.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. You can hold it.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Really quick, because we are going to rapid fire here because we only have a few minutes left. I just want to quickly again, you have seen this, this will be in the National Archives one day because we talk about this time and time again. Let me, Mr. Speaker, move this education plan that Democrats have and this prescription drug plan so the Members can see this chart here. I think it is important. This $1.05 trillion that the President has accumulated with the Republican Congress in just 4 years versus the 42 presidents before this president and this Congress was only able to accumulate $1.01 trillion, and that is World War I, World War II, the Great Depression, you name it. You talk about the Democratic plan, Mr. Delahunt, Ms. Jackson-Lee, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, and Mr. Ryan, the bottom line is that we have countries that are owning America right now, not because Americans went out and made bad decisions; because this administration has made bad decisions, and this Congress, the rubber stamp Congress has allowed it to happen and has been doing this all along. All they have to do is be invited to a breakfast at the White House and it is like, ``Yes, sir, Mr. President. We will do exactly what we have to do. Not only will we do it, we will defend your wrong actions.''

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, with that, we would not only like to say thanks to Mr. Delahunt but Ms. Jackson-Lee who joined us tonight from the great State of Texas, also Mr. Ryan and Ms. Wasserman Schultz for being here tonight. We would also in the 30 Something Working Group recognize the great contribution of Dr. Martin Luther King who was assassinated on this date and Mr. Ron Brown who was our Secretary of Commerce that went down in a plane crash yesterday, the day before, on Monday. We want to let both families know we appreciate the contributions of these two great Americans to our country. We will be forever better because of their contributions. At the same time, Mr. Speaker, the evidence that was just overwhelming tonight from the Members of not only what we are saying, because we are concerned as Americans, not just as Democrats, we are saying that we are willing to lead. We are also saying, Mr. Speaker, that when you have the past Speaker of this House, the first Republican Speaker in 40-something years coming before this body and make the statements that he believes the majority will lose the majority this time around because of what he identified this time of the evidence of why it will happen is just powerful and hard to defend on the majority side. We are not asking for the majority side to defend what the past Speaker has said, but I think it is important to take note and that the American people take note of what is happening right now. So I think the American spirit will rise up over partisan politics and allow us to lead. With that, I want to thank our vice chair, Mr. Larson, of the Democratic Caucus; Mr. Clyburn, our chairman; Steny Hoyer, our Democratic whip; and Ms. Pelosi, who is the Democratic leader, for allowing us to have this time. We look forward to coming back to the floor to address not only the Members but the American people.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. So, in closing, you want to know the Democratic plan? The Democratic plan is paying as we go. Paying as we go. Because when you are in debt, you do not continue to use a credit card. So if Americans want to do away with the $882.8 billion that Japan owns, we will pull this off the chart. China, if you want to do away with the $249.8 billion that China owns right now of our debt, and pay as we go, and we have evidence and third-party validators that will be explained to the American people and the Members, have a Democratic Congress. The U.K., you want to get rid of the $223.2 billion in foreign debt that they own of our country? I am destroying this chart here. But get a Democratic Congress, because we have shown, we balanced the budget, and we are committed to doing this because we believe in the way we believe when we were elected that we are here to represent the people. Caribbean nations, many of our folks are going and traveling to the Caribbean and saying, oh, how great America is. Well, when you land there, they are owning a piece of the American pie, so you need to respect them. We will be able to do away with that $115.3 billion that we owe them. Taiwan, $71.3 billion they own of our debt, thanks to the Republican Congress and to the President of the United States. Also, Canada, $53.8 billion. Korea, $66.5 billion. Germany, $65.7 billion. OPEC nations and, you know, Mr. Delahunt, I know that is your specialty, I do not really want to talk about that, but those are nations that we are very concerned about at this time that they own $67.8 billion. So if you want to get the reverse factor of what the Republicans have done in putting us in unprecedented debt, no other time, Mr. Speaker, in the history of the republic, no other time. You cannot say, well, the Democratic Congress was once at this level. That was not ever the case. In 4 years, this has happened, the mismanagement.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to the Miami Norland Vikings, the 2006 6-A High School Boys Basketball Champions of Florida. On March 4, 2006 this team proved its mettle, resilience and fighting spirit by upending the state's NO.1-Ranked team, Winter Park High School, in a thrilling 55-48 championship game. Several lead changes marked the game, which may well be remembered as one of the most exciting contests ever in a 6-A high school basketball competition. Winning a State Championship in a state as large as Florida is a tremendous achievement, and I commend Miami Norland's great Principal, Ms. Gale Cunningham, Assistant Principal for Athletics Stephon Cone, Athletic Director Ira Fluitt, Athletic Trainer Pete Martz and Business Manager Carlos Ochoa for the fine work they've done. Miami Norland is a special school; this first-ever state basketball championship has made it even more so. I also want to congratulate the school's basketball coach, Mr. Lawton Williams III. His work ethic, discipline and dedication to hard work and fair play paved the way for accomplishment both in the classroom and on the court. Known for his no-nonsense approach and forthright guidance and counseling, Coach Williams has surrounded himself with an excellent staff composed of assistant coaches Cleveland Roberts III, Victor Vassell, Charles Harris III, Chris Jarrett and scorer Gail Thomas. Their knowledge, experience and sensitivity to the many and varied nuances of sporting activities befitting the school ambiance superbly complement and supplement the learning needs of the school's champion student-athletes: Albert Abrahams, Anthony Berkley, Darius Bodden, Amir Celestine, Timothy Cornelius, Johnny Fernandez, Andre Jackson, Jerry Jones, Calvin Joy, Zachery Peacock, Denzel Rankin, Robert Rowe, Nicholas Taylor and Andre Woods. The coaching staff's approach to educating and motivating the members of Florida's 6-A Championship Team emphasized utmost personal responsibility toward the achievement of a common goal. Their dedication to teamwork and group achievement above individual glory or personal records has gained the respect and admiration of the parents and guardians of Miami Norland's student population. Miami Norland's achievement this year demonstrates once again that athletic achievement and academic excellence are always within reach of those willing to dare the impossible through hard work and discipline. I join our entire community in congratulating the Vikings for their achievement, as well as honoring the hard work and sacrifices of the parents, teachers, administrators, students and supporters that comprise the soul and spirit of the school family.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. If a family had this kind of situation where they had debt and they were trying to catch up on that debt, the first thing when you get out of that or you get a second mortgage or you get some sort of loan to consolidate your debt, the first thing that lending officer says is, to do what? Cut your credit cards up.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Thank you. With that we want to thank the Democratic leader. We want to also encourage everyone to go to our Web site, housedemocrats.gov. We want the majority to go on our Web site, housedemocrats.gov. These are our plans. As it stands right now, in the state of homeland security is the majority's plan. It is already there, already being carried out. We have a plan to make things better, more secure here in the United States of America, not only here in the House but also in the Senate. With that, Mr. Speaker, it was an honor addressing the House once again. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. This is President Bush's Congress.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. And the bottom line is, it is like having, Mr. Speaker, a board of directors of a bunch of people like bobble heads going up and down like this: What do you want, Mr. President? You want to make tax cuts permanent for millionaires and billionaires? We are with you. You want to give subsidies to oil companies that are making record profits while the American people are paying through the nose for oil and for gas prices? We are with you all the way. All the way, Mr. President, you can count on this Republican Congress because we are going to do it. Hey, guess what, we are going to put it on the credit card. And folks used to say future generations. This is dealing with right now, and so just because you see a majority stands up there and they have this big chart behind them saying fiscal responsibility, we want to cut the budget in half, the deficit in half; that is not true. So that is the reason why we are here on this floor today. That is the reason why we are sharing with the American people, and I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, I would be concerned if I was a Republican Member of Congress because I can tell you right now, as a Democrat who represents Republicans, Democrats, Independents, I represent Americans. They are all coming to me. They are not coming up to me and saying, hey, I am a Republican and I have got to stick with Republicans because I am Republican. No, they are saying I am an American and I am concerned about what is happening in Washington, D.C.; I am concerned about the fact that I am going to have to pay more for my grandchild's education because we have not done what we are supposed to do in the fiscal way to make sure that we are there; we do not cut student opportunities so they can train themselves for the next generation. I am concerned, Congressman, that the Congress is not investing in innovation so that we can have engineers, we can have scientists, so that we do not have to raise the visa rate to be able to bring folks in from another country to take U.S. jobs because we have CEOs that are begging us for the opportunity to have an educated and ready-to-go workforce, and we cannot provide it because these kids cannot get into schools, but meanwhile, we are standing up for the billionaires in this country, and we are standing up for bad policy in this country. No one is questioning the whole issue as it relates to Iraq. You heard one of our Members just got back, said this is what we need on the ground in Iraq. We go to Iraq. We fought for our troops to get them what they need. The bottom line is we have to govern, and the reason why you see all of these scandals and all of the wasted money, Mr. Speaker, is that the Congress is over here doing this.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it is once again an honor to come before the House. As you know, those of us that are in the 30-something Working Group, we come to the floor to share not only with the Members but the American people about what is happening under the Capitol dome here, or what is not happening. We want to thank the Democratic leadership for allowing us to come to the floor again: Leader Pelosi and Mr. Steny Hoyer, our whip, and also the chairman, Mr. Jim Clyburn, and our vice chairman in assisting us in moving towards a stronger message to the American people. I am so glad to be here with my good friend and colleague in the struggle for the truth and to make sure that we move America forward in many areas, even though we are serving in the minority here in the Congress. I think our constituents and also the American people, Mr. Speaker, look for us to use every avenue possible to be able to make their lives more secure, to be able to make sure we stand up on behalf of their health care, that we make sure that future generations have a better environment than what they have right now. So with that, Mr. Ryan, it is so good to come back to the floor with you again, sir. We usually come to the floor and it is dark outside. It happens the sun is out; and as you know, the Congress is recessed for the week, but we are still here working, sir.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Bobble heads on the other side of the aisle saying, we are with you all the way. So when they say we stand up to the President every now and then, that is not what the Constitution says, Mr. Speaker. The Constitution says that we are the House that represents the people of the United States of America. If they are in a wheelchair, walking upright, if they are white, they are black, Hispanic, whatever the case may be, we are charged to represent them, and when we are making history in all the wrong areas, borrowing from foreign nations in 4 years more than in the 224 years of 42 Presidents, and folks are not alarmed? We are far beyond politics right now, Mr. Speaker. We are in a situation to where either we have some folks on this floor that are willing to lead on behalf of the American people, no longer sell our debt off to foreign nations that we have issues with, or we are just going to continue to go down this fiscal track, slippery slope, until we get to a situation to where we are not going to be the superpower that we have been in the past of the work that these the other Presidents and other Congresses have done. I will be doggone if I am a Member of a Congress where we are not trying to bring about the paradigm shift to get us back on the fiscal track and make sure that we do the things the way the American people elected us to do it when we come up here.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Thank you, Mr. Ryan. Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, many Members of the House had an opportunity to witness a strong message again of commitment towards security; and those of us that are in the minority party have been working very, very hard to increase security here in the United States, especially homeland security. We are going to talk a little bit about that today. And I think when we were here, I know when we were here the night before last, we talked about the fact that just because the majority side says that we have security does not really mean we have security. The majority side has said that we are going to make sure that we are fiscally responsible, but we found out later and we know now that the Republican majority has put us into record-breaking deficits. If I can, just to start this off, Mr. Speaker, because I like to use visual aids and I know we are going to talk about security, but I think it is important because folks just feel we may come to the floor, the 30-Something Working Group comes to the floor, we go in the back room, we just dream up things to say, and this is not the case because, Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, there is so much bad news overwhelming the good news as it relates to future generations and this generation on how we are going to function as Americans and as a country. No other time, I must add, before I bring this chart up, has the country been in the fiscal situation that it is in right now as it relates to foreign countries owning our debt. Now I want to put this up, and I think it is important. You have seen this chart before. We have said that this chart may very well be in the National Archives one day because it will document that there were Members on the floor identifying to other Members on the majority side because they voted for this to happen. No other time in the history of the country have we borrowed $1.05 trillion from foreign Nations in just 4 years. Matter of fact, we were not able to do it in 224 years, Mr. Speaker. We were not able to do it in 224 years; $1.05 trillion just for President Bush and the Republican Congress, it says right here below this picture because we cannot leave the Congress out because he could not do it all by himself. You have 42 Presidents here going back to the First Continental Congress, 224 years, and there they were only able to borrow $1.01 trillion. Well, folks may say, well, Congressman, we are at war; Congress, 9/ 11. Guess what, these 42 other Presidents had the Great Depression, World War I, World War II, a number of other wars in between. They had all of these issues that were challenging America, but they never sold America off to foreign nations. Let us talk about who those foreign nations are, and I think it is important again. This chart here has nothing to do with the weather. It is a silhouette, Mr. Speaker, as you can see of the United States of America. Who are we selling our debt off to? Who are we indebted to now? Because before this President and this Republican majority took over, we were talking about surpluses. I am speaking here as a Democrat from the party that, guess what, we balanced the budget. We told folks that we would balance the budget and that we would cut down on spending, and guess what, we did it. But, you know, once again you have the other side, the Republican majority, saying: Trust us, we are fiscally responsible. Some folks may say the folks on the Democratic side, they like to spend money. Well, who is spending now? China, Red China, many people in your district in Ohio are training people to go to China to do their jobs. Meanwhile, they are trying to make ends meet, and they are a part of the millions of Americans without health care, and Red China, we owe them $249.8 billion. They bought our debt to that point, and we owe them. Japan, the little small island of Japan. They own $680.8 billion of our debt. Those are the big numbers. UK, they own $223.2 billion of our debt. This is not by the Democrats now I must add, and I challenge any Republican that wants to come down here right here, right now. This is not the WWF cage match. I want them to come here right now and explain to us, how is this positive for Americans in the future and right now? Korea, $66.5 billion that they own of the American apple pie. Canada, $53.8 billion of the American apple pie. Germany, some of our veterans, $65.7 trillion. Taiwan, the small island of Taiwan, $71.3 billion. And OPEC nations, now Mr. Speaker, this is very interesting because OPEC nations, we are talking about Saudi Arabia, we are talking about Iraq, we are talking about Iran, who we have real issues with, OPEC Nations, they are a part of the American apple pie; $67.8 billion of our debt we owe them. Now, anyone, Mr. Speaker, who has been in a financial situation before and has made youthful indiscretions on spending knows when a creditor calls you and they call in the tab for this payment, they disrespect you from the beginning. They do not call up and say, Mr. Ryan, I am calling from whoever the lender may be, when do you think that you can return payment? No, they call you Tim, because they disrespect you from the beginning. I am concerned, Mr. Speaker, that we are going to find ourselves in a situation where these countries are going to start disrespecting the United States of America, not because of something they did. It is because we have had a Republican Congress that has been the rubber stamp Congress for the President of the United States and not doing what they should be doing in Article I, section 1 of the Constitution, and that is a fact. They have been rubber stamping everything that the President has wanted.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Ryan, I just want to also share the fact that we both serve on the Armed Services Committee, and we feel very passionate about what our men and women are doing. And we know that in Iraq, Mr. Speaker, you watch the Secretary of Defense and you watch the press conference with the President and you would think that it is another beautiful day in Iraq, and it is not. First question: Is there a civil war in Iraq? That answer usually comes back ``no.'' There is a civil war going on right now. As sure as today is Thursday, there is a civil war going on in Iraq right now. Will it get worse? It probably will get worse. Is the coalition getting bigger or smaller? Well, you know, we are talking to people, and the indicators of the indicators are saying. And they are not making any sense whatsoever. And the reason they get away with this, Mr. Speaker, is we are not nailing them down as a Congress on the tough questions so they can answer in a truthful way and guide them in the right direction. It is not the Congress's responsibility for the day-to-day operations of war. The President would say it is not his responsibility either, that it is the commanders on the ground. Well, we found from past commanders and some present that have slipped and said a few things every now and then that we did not have all that we needed to go into Iraq; that we did not have the body armor and equipment and a mission and a plan; we did not have a real coalition when we went into Iraq. We had a number of main countries, but when you look at it, you had the U.S., you had contractors, and then the Brits. And that was a huge deficit as it relates to numbers. The Brits have said they are leaving this year, and a number of the other countries that were sending 50 to 100 troops there, or technical advisers that were part of our so-called coalition are leaving. Because they are willing to take the training wheels off the Iraqi Government. They are willing not to get into a situation, Mr. Speaker, of a continued borrowing from other countries. You know why they are doing it? Because they know they cannot weaken their country. The U.K., I am going to snatch them off this map here, $223.2 billion of our debt. I mean, they have it so good they can buy our debt and still operate their country and continue to do what they are doing. But they have better sense to know they have to take care of home first. The President can boldly say, because he has the bobble-head Republican majority here that says whatever you say, Mr. President, we are with you. For a minute there, I was concerned that maybe we could move in a bipartisan way. But, of course, when it came down to the whole Dubai Ports World issue, we had folks that said we stopped that from happening. But the environment was set up for it to happen, that the under secretaries in each department could make a unilateral decision that we will sell our ports off to a foreign nation. Somebody objected, and all of a sudden it became a situation where we had to do something about this after the whole country was in an uproar over the issue. The Democrats, we were the first ones on the floor saying, what do we need 45 days for? What is there to think about, that we are going to outsource our ports to a foreign nation that there is a question mark concerning where the financing for the 9/11 attack came from. We are going to give them six of our ports on the east coast? What is to think about? 45 days for what? What does the President of the United States say? ``We gave them a handshake. We have to move on with this. You can have your 45 days, I am still going to do what I want to do.'' The Republican Congress was pushed with their back against the wall. But does the Republican Congress have to be pushed to the wall before they stand up and say, excuse me, Mr. President, we don't agree with you, and we are not going to do it. The same thing happened, Mr. Ryan, when we came to this floor night after night, in some instances 2 hours a day on this floor, talking about the President's Social Security plan. He was going to privatize Social Security. Many of the Members on the majority side were with him. Ho-hum, private accounts, big press conference. It took the American people to rise up in over 1,000 town hall meetings on this side of the aisle to bring to the attention of the American people that they were going to lose under private accounts, and then the President finally said okay. He flew all over the country and burned all kinds of jet fuel at taxpayers' expense and kind of did the Potomac two-step kind of thing. Why can't we, as a bipartisan body, because people want leadership, and we are here sharing with the American people that we are ready to lead. We have plans to lead. We have led before in the past, be it war, be it making sure, and I want you to talk about Bosnia a little bit, be it planning to move into an area. I think it is important because yesterday we not only unveiled but said for a second time in many cases our security plan, our real security plan that people can get. They can read it online. They can get it on HouseDemocrats.gov. They can get a copy of this plan.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Thank you, Mr. Ryan. I just want to let you know that it was a pleasure coming down to the floor with you again. We got out a lot of good information.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Prevention. When you talk about prevention, you are talking about before. When you are talking about reactionary, we are talking about after. So dealing with this container thing, I don't want the Members to take it lightly, Mr. Speaker. You may say, well, you know, I am in the middle of America. I live in Sioux City, Iowa, and we don't have ports so I don't need to worry; that is not my issue. Well, it is your issue because those containers that are coming in from overseas and from countries that are in question, some may say suspect as it relates to their commitment to the United States of America, they get on those little trucks and trains that I was talking about a little earlier, and they go right down into your community. And if there is a dirty bomb or some sort of substance that will hurt your community and your family, now it is your problem. And I think it is important that we point that out, because I don't want folks to get confused and say, well, I am not from a coastal area; Members who say, you know, well that is not my issue.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Ryan and I were both in Iraq. We were in Iraq together. We were in these meetings with the commanders and the troops. You ask a question, sometimes folks lose eye contact with you because they are trying to do what the commander in chief said that we need to do. And there are a lot of stump speeches going on, and the President is flying and folks are standing behind him and clapping and all. And we are all supportive of the commander in chief, but when you are riding down the railroad tracks and you are saying, is that the light at the end of the tunnel or is that the train? Is that a train or is that the sun? When you start getting indicators, when you hear a horn and the rails start shaking on the train track, I think you start saying, I think that is a train. Tough talk: The President throws out statements, talking about folks, we are going to get them and track them down and all this kind of stuff, it makes things even worse. So when we talk to these commanders, and some of them lose eye contact because they know we do not have what we need. And as long as this Republican majority is here bobble heading with the President saying, Mr. President, we are with you. And they have special breakfasts over at the White House. And, of course, Mr. Ryan, we are not invited because we may say something to the President he does not want to hear. We all know that the President does not take good to those who disagree with him, and I guess that rule applies to some of our Republican friends on the other side of the aisle because, obviously, we do not have the kind of uprising we need in the majority to be able to say, Mr. President, we are really going to have to start talking about this Iraq thing. We have to do something about it. The Iraqi government, you go over there and you have some of the Members of their government, be it elected or appointed, they are sitting up there like they have 10 years to do whatever they have to do, they have 20 years to do whatever they have to do. And guess what, it is at the U.S. taxpayers' expense. Meanwhile, Mr. Ryan, we have schools that do not have what they need. Meanwhile, we are here on this floor talking about cutting lunches for poor children just because they so happened to be born into a poor family. I have mayors coming to me saying, Congressman, these unfunded mandates for homeland security, I am having to spend all of this money. I have to take money out of parks and rec and decrease the quality of life in my city. The Federal Government just cut the COPS program, but meanwhile, we are building schools and roads and water treatment plants and the President said we were not going to be into nation-building over in Iraq. Mr. Speaker, we want to be able to mold the clay and to be able to let the American people know if you are walking down a tunnel, which they know, it is just commonsense, if you are walking down a tunnel and you are walking on some train tracks and you are stepping on those wood slates and you are saying, is that the sunlight or a train, and then you hear a horn and the tracks are shaking, I do not think that is the sun, I know it is a train. What this majority has to do, and if the American people want us to be able to bring this President into accountability and bring the Department of Defense back into accountability and oversight, you are going to have to have a Congress, in this case a Democratic Congress, that asks the tough questions. When you sit down for a job interview, you have to have a good resume. You cannot say, in my last job, I agreed with everything that the other guy who was sitting next to me said because I was told to say yes. No. People elected us to lead. People elected us to have plans. People elected us to have plans in all areas to make sure we have accountability for our government. People do not care if it is a ``D'' or ``R'' behind the name; they want leadership. We talk about real security. Real security is making sure that we protect America before something happens. I do not want a 9/11 or an 8/11 or a 7/11, I do not want those dates to come up and say, oh well, now an event has happened and let's legislate to make sure that we move from 5 percent container checks at ports to 100 percent. Why do we need an event for that to happen? The reason it is not happening, to be brutally honest, is we have the bobble-head Republican majority Congress that is saying ``yes'' to the President at every turn. Not all Republicans because I do not want to generalize, but enough to allow the President to continue doing what he is doing. And the only way we switch and have the change that you are talking about, Mr. Ryan, is if we have a Congress that is dedicated and bonded, ready to work in a bipartisan way, unlike what we have today, and bringing in the very few Republicans on the other side of the aisle that think the way we do, and say we are willing to represent. We do not care what your party affiliation is, we are willing to represent on behalf of the American people. We are willing to tell the special interests that we notice you have issues, but we have something at hand. We have other issues such as innovation, such as homeland security, such as making sure that our troops have a clear plan in Iraq. The tough questions need to be asked, and we need to act on them. Some of them are being asked in some places, but they are not being acted upon.