Kendrick Meek

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. No. Mr. Ryan, I just want to make sure that the Members know that they can get all the charts and information that we shared today off of that Web site starting tomorrow, sir. Thank you.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. They will get over it.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Ryan, there were hundreds of hearings for far less under the Clinton administration. Hundreds.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. They are begging.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. With that, Mr. Speaker, we thank the Democratic leader for allowing us to be here.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. If you would give the Web site out.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Please go to the veterans.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. When she speaks because I think it is important for people to understand that this thing is bigger than the two of us and that it is bigger than the 30-somethings. And that you are addressing not only Americans in Ohio but Americans throughout the country. $27,500 that is owed by every Americans, not just Democrats, not just Republicans, not just Independents, not just Green Party, Mr. Speaker, that is every American. So we look forward to Ms. Wasserman Schultz coming back and sharing with the American people what they need to know. Mr. Ryan, I know that we are going to come in for a landing here in about 3 to 4 minutes, and you know that we have a meeting to talk about some of the information that we just received today that is going on in this House of Representatives, Mr. Speaker. There are not enough hours in the day. Literally, there are not enough hours in the day; and, thanks to the majority, we are having to spend these hours in a late night, Mr. Speaker, trying to turn the ship and save this country on a fiscal standpoint. Do not get me wrong. We are not talking about individual decisions. We know that people make bad decisions. Individuals make bad decisions, and we can survive an individual bad decision. But when we have an entire culture of corruption and the corruption tax that is going on here in the United States as I speak now, Mr. Speaker, we have got to burn the midnight oil. We have got to drink an extra cup of coffee in the morning. We have got to go to the gym and take a hot shower so we can make this thing happen. And we are going to continue to meet and caucus, do the things that we need to do. I want to commend our staff to do the same thing. I want to commend you, Mr. Ryan, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, and the rest of the 30-somethings for doing what we do. Because I am going to tell you something. It is extra-extraordinary. We have got to be here in the morning just like everyone else to get out and do what we need to do on behalf of our constituents. We have got to go to more meetings possibly, Mr. Speaker, than the majority has to go to because we are in the business of making sure that we represent not only our constituents but the American people in this time. There will be books written about this time right now, about the irresponsibility that took place in this country's history, the highest deficit in the history of the Republic, more corruption and investigations and people of interest right now in the history of this country. This is not, oh, well, in 10 years or more people of interest or investigations in 20 years. In the history of this country. So this calls for special attention. So I call upon the Members of this Congress to look in the mirror real quick. Do you want to talk about lobbying reform? Well, I can tell you this right now, and this just comes from the book of common sense: I am pretty sure the lobbyists did not call up Capitol Hill and say, hey, listen, we want you to start a K Street project because we want to be forced to hire ex-staffers from the Republican Party. That is just what we want. Or we want to make sure that we have to give X amount of campaign contributions to a particular party. They did not call that up. So what I am going to say right now, Mr. Speaker, is I think that we need to make sure that we do the right thing. Mr. Ryan, I just want to say, sir, that I appreciate your candor. I appreciate your courage. It would be something very, very wrong for us to do if we came to the floor and talked about fiction. This is fact. So I look forward to any Member that wants to talk about balancing the budget, Mr. Speaker. I am ready, set, go. My chin strap is buckled, and my mouthpiece is in. I want to talk about it. I am saying let's get down, low man wins. I am ready to do what we have to do. If you want to talk about it, I can tell you right now on this side of the aisle, we have done it. And until the Republican majority can say that we have done it, then there is really no discussion. Mr. Ryan held up the letter from Secretary Snow. I held it up an hour ago. The man is saying for the sixth time, Mr. Speaker, that we have to raise the debt limit. It does not sound like things are in order. It does not sound like there is fiscal responsibility. It does not sound like there are individuals that are being responsible with taxpayer dollars. And the bottom line, Mr. Ryan, is the Republican majority is in charge. Not Democrats. Republicans are in charge, for the sixth time in a row, raising the debt limit. For the sixth time in a row, irresponsibility. So I look forward, Mr. Ryan, to our meeting after we leave the floor. I look forward to hitting the alarm clock in the morning, taking my kids to school, and coming to the Capitol. I look forward to our cup of coffee in the morning in the cafeteria downstairs talking about what is the game plan for today. So thank you, sir, for your service to the country; and I want to thank Ms. Wasserman Schultz in her absence, too.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Ryan, we could do better. We could do better if we were in the majority. But we are not. I can tell you that I miss our friend, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who is usually here who puts it best. We are trying, but she knows how to hit the nail right on the head.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. That is right now.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. As soon as possible. That is what the letter says.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. We don't want to hold the veterans off. But what I want to just say real quick, Mr. Ryan, $1 million a day would be able to solve many issues in the gulf coast right now of individuals who are homeless. We are evicting individuals out of temporary housing at this point and making them homeless. Not people overseas, not folks in Iraq, people that pay taxes every day here in the United States. They are in Mississippi. They are in Alabama. They are definitely in Louisiana. They are in Texas. They are in places that are a part of this country. We are telling them that we can't do it. We have individuals that come to the floor, Mr. Ryan, saying we have got to wean the American people off the Federal tax dollar. We need to wean the special interests and irresponsibility and the corruption tax that we are putting on the backs of Americans. We are putting a heavy corruption tax on the backs of Americans. I just want to say this out loud because I want to make sure, Mr. Speaker, that the Members know. I want them to see this ball coming and it is not a softball. It is a baseball. We are going to talk about this corruption tax and we are going to talk about it and we are going to talk about it and we are going to point out to the Members what it is costing the American people. We are going to point out to the Members what it is costing their constituents. And if we want to continue the kind of corruption tax and if we want to continue to have this air and environment of corruption, cronyism and incompetence here in Washington, D.C. and it is costing the very people that woke up one given Tuesday morning very early to vote for representation, then you go home and explain to them how you stood idly by and allowed this kind of activity to continue. So, Mr. Ryan, I just wanted to say that very quickly, because we are talking about spending the taxpayers' dollars in a responsible way. I think it is important for us to talk about the present. So I just want to put the Members on notice right now. I want to make sure the Republican majority can get in a huddle and start talking about how we are going to deflect this issue on the corruption tax, because I am going to tell you right now, this culture of corruption that is ongoing right now in Washington, D.C., and I am not talking about individuals, I am talking about the corruption tax based on the policies that have passed out of this institution. When it is okay, Mr. Ryan, for the President to sign a bill that is not identical, that deals with the budget of these United States and then someone says, excuse me, Mr. President, you know you just signed a bill that is unconstitutional? And the message comes back, well, it's okay, it's gone now, there's nothing we can do about it, there is something wrong. I think that is a crack in the face to democracy, Mr. Ryan.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I think that is important, Mr. Ryan.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Ryan knows he had me at hello on all of that. When he says Mr. Meek, he is really talking to the Republican majority. I will say to my colleagues, because I want to be sure that they have good and accurate information from third-party validators, they can go to www.HouseDemocrats.gov/30something and you can get the charts, get what Mr. Ryan is talking about. Most of these people that are third-party innovators as relates to innovation, they can care less who says that we brought innovation into the United States again, that we are investing in innovation. They just want it to happen. These individuals are Republicans, Independents and Democrats that are begging us to give them the workforce that they need. They want to hire the American worker. They want to make sure that local communities and States have the kind of economy that they need. I think it is important. Mr. Speaker, it goes a little deeper. This is not just about one or two people and the decisions they are making. I have a real problem, and I do not want to change the channel here, but I have a real problem with the fact that it is so easy for the Republican majority to abuse not only the spirit of the rules in the House of Representatives but also when we start dealing with the Constitution of the United States. We had a budget reconciliation vote that came up here, I do not know, maybe three or four times, not because the Members did not show up to vote, it is because the Members did not want to vote on budget reconciliation that cut student aid and that will bring about the kind of innovation that Mr. Ryan is talking about, that cut free and reduced lunch, that directed the Veterans Affairs Committee to make millions of dollars in cuts in veterans affairs over a period of years, that did a lot of other things, that gave giveaways to the oil industry. They did not want to vote on it. I remember we were on this floor on the eve of I believe it was veterans' weekend. They did not want to vote on it, leave here and march in a parade and someone may holler out, congressman, congresswoman, how can you march with the veterans here, waving a flag, talking about I am with you all the way; meanwhile, you voted with your colleagues on the Republican side that closed our clinic. They just could not do it. So now we are in a situation when we talk about respect for the way we do business, the President signed the budget reconciliation bill that was not identical. Let me go back to Government 101 here. They have to be identical pieces of legislation between the House and Senate for the President of the United States to sign. Mr. Ryan, you remember the old cartoon, I am just a bill, I am on Capitol Hill. It talked about going from committee to committee, and you pass the House and go to the Senate or you start in the Senate and go to the House, and then you go to the President of the United States. One bill, same language, identical, side by side. You cannot have language in one bill that says one thing and have a budget that says something else. Not one line, not one word can be different. The President and the administration that we know, and we are going to get into this tomorrow night, and like I said, I challenge the majority side to try to go in the bathroom and look in the mirror and say, ``I can go out there and say this is right.'' We are 110 percent right on this, just like we were right on the K Street Project. We are talking fact here. The President signed a bill that many have said is unconstitutional. It is not an identical bill. All of us know it. The issue about secrecy and misleading the public is becoming an everyday occurrence here in Washington, DC. I think it is fundamentally wrong for us to salute one flag, believe in the bedrock of a Constitution and to allow individuals that are in control now to say a couple of words are different and there is more money here than there, what is the big deal. I signed it, it is done, we are in control, and who is going to question us, Mr. Speaker. They say, who is going to call us before the committee and say, excuse me, who is going to send subpoenas to the White House and say, did you know these bills were not identical? Who is going to call in the leadership of the House and Senate and say, how could you do something when you knew they were not identical bills? Well, it is not a big deal because they are in charge. Mr. Speaker, if the American people were to bring about the kind of paradigm shift that this country deserves in the next election, my goodness, it will take up a lot of time here in Congress to be able to fix what is broken. Maybe the Republican majority may say we need to start working on a bipartisan basis and start working with the Democrats on some of these issues. Maybe we can really look at Social Security and make sure that it is sound and solid for generations even beyond the 40 years it will be solvent, and maybe we need to look at health care and not this health savings plan because we already know that does not work. Let us look at some of the Democratic alternatives and let us have a conference report, let us have a bipartisan conference report that we actually invite Democrats to participate in. Mr. Speaker, we have legislation right now that the first time that the ranking members, and I want to break this down so we all understand, the ranking members who are the lead Democrats on the committee, see for the first time a bound bill, this wide, this thick, coming to the floor and it is their first time seeing it. That is not because they decided to sit in their office and eat pecans, but because they were not told where negotiations were taking place. There are a lot of rooms in this Capitol, and I think it is important that we spend a lot of time, not some time, but a lot of time letting the American people know that here on the Democratic side of the aisle we have history on our side in balancing the budget. We have history on our side in making sure that we have a very strong U.S. economy where everyone shares in it, everyone makes money. Small businesses are able to do what they have to do, and making sure that we have integrity in a government that people know when they pay their taxes that those dollars are going in the right place. We balanced the budget. I challenge the Republican majority to say the same thing. Not that we cut it in half or took a quarter of it. That is not what we did. We balanced the budget with surpluses as far as the eye could see. I challenge the Republican side to come with one proposal and say any time in the history of the Republic that they have done that, period dot. That is just the bottom line. History speaks to it, the Congressional Record speaks to it, and the Congressional Budget Office speaks to it. It is not the Kendrick Meek Report or the Tim Ryan Report. We are not here to entertain the Congress. We are here to make sure that these individuals that are in control on the majority side understand that we mean serious business about saving this country not on behalf of Republicans or Democrats or Independents but on behalf of the American people. Are we passionate? You are doggone right we are passionate. We are passionate for all of the right reasons. We are not here arguing on behalf of someone who said let us just talk about things are bad because we need to make up some kind of story because we want to be in control of the U.S. Congress. This is fact. This is fact. I do not care if you have a club of hard-core individuals saying that I want to support corruption, cronyism and incompetence. Only the recipients of corruption, cronyism and incompetence are the cheerleaders for that kind of activity. Mr. Ryan, they would not even come up to the 1 percent of Americans that have benefited from the bad policies that the majority side has put forward. I can tell you right, and the record reflects and it reflects in the President's budget of who is on the side and who they are standing up for in that budget. In that budget, they are cutting veterans affairs. In that budget, they are cutting student aid. In that budget, they are giving tax giveaways to the individuals that are on K Street, obviously that have access to this administration and to the majority. So I would say this. The record speaks to what we are sharing with the Members. The record speaks to the fact that we on this side, without one Republican vote, Mr. Speaker, not one. One would think maybe two might have said I am going to vote to balance the budget. A big fat zero. My 8-year-old and my 11-year-old can understand what a zero is. Not one. For anyone to come to the floor and say the Democrats want such and such, let me tell you, we cannot do anything but raise the question and put pressure on the majority side to do the right thing. We said there could be a 9/11 Commission. The Republicans did not want it. The American people joined in us. We said there should be a national strategy on homeland security and we should have a department addressing the issues of homeland security. Republicans did not want it. The American people joined with us, and we have a Department of Homeland Security. We said we need to come to Washington, DC, and deal with body armor on behalf of the troops in Iraq. The Republicans said they have their armor. Donald Rumsfeld came down from the Department of Defense and said we have a strategy, we have a plan. Oil is going to pay for the war. All of these things that we now know are incorrect. We said it, and then the Republican majority started responding to it. I can tell you in this case, as it relates to fiscal responsibility, the record does not reflect a past history of this Republican majority doing the right thing and balancing the budget. We didn't say that we were going to cut the budget in half. We said, we'll balance the budget. And we did. We have an innovation agenda, if given the opportunity, and we invite our Republican friends that are over there, that a few of them think the way we think, move with us in moving this agenda together. We are talking about all of the good stuff that the American people are asking for, Mr. Ryan. They are asking for creating an educated, skilled workforce in the areas of science, math, engineering and information technology. They are asking for an investment as it relates to Federal research and development initiatives in promoting public-private partnerships. We are saying that we want every American to have access to affordable broadband. That is making sure that they have access to the Internet, making sure their children have access, seniors and every household can afford it. What is the deal about saying, some people can afford it, some people can't? We are a country. We are not a bunch of individuals. And we are saying that we will achieve energy independence in developing emerging technology and clean substantive alternatives to strengthen national security and protect our environment, not within 20 years, not within 50 years, not within 100 years. We are talking about 10 years, Mr. Speaker. It can happen. We know together, Mr. Ryan, in America, we can do better. We are willing to partner with the American people like we have done before. But I can tell you right now, Mr. Ryan, this Republican majority, they didn't get it 10 years ago, they are not getting it now, and they won't get it tomorrow.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. And they want to do it again.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Ryan, I know you want to move on and you have several other examples on that chart.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. This is good, third party validator outside of the political process. They do not carry a voting card here in the U.S. House. They are not a stakeholder. The only stake that they hold is having Americans to be able to fill jobs that they want to provide.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. With interest I must add, and I will tell you that it is very, very unfortunate when we tell children who want free and reduced lunch that we cannot do what they need us to do. I think also what is wrong is when we tell veterans that they have to pay higher copayments because we do not have the money to be able to assist them in their health care. I think another thing that is wrong, when we tell individuals that pay taxes every day, that we cannot assist them as it relates to innovation and finding other opportunities to be able to find alternative fuel to fuel their vehicles or home. I think it is also a travesty when we have no-bid contracts. Time after time again, reports are released here in Washington, D.C., on how we failed the American people domestically and how we failed the American people as it relates to their U.S. tax dollars overseas as its relates to the war. There are billions of dollars that are unaccounted for and that cannot be attached to what its purpose was supposed to be in Iraq. This is not fiction. This is fact, and tomorrow night and I want to say this to the staff and make sure that the rest of the 30 Somethings hear, we want to talk a little bit about what happened to the other $9 billion U.S. tax dollars in Iraq. We both serve on the Committee on Armed Services and I think it is important that the American people know. It is unacceptable, unacceptable for us to do or for the Republican majority to do what they have done as it relates to a lack of oversight. I think it is important that we talk a little bit more about innovation and our plans to move America forward, but I want to make sure that the American people and the Republican side know, the Members on the other side of the aisle know, here is our plan right here. This is a summary of our plan. It is on the Web site, housedemocrats.gov, very simple. It is not a secret. It has been there for a long time. The only reason why it is there in the Web site, and the only reason why we have it in legislative bills, Mr. Speaker, is the fact that we cannot move innovation. Let us talk about innovation for a minute because I want to make sure we do not fake anyone out and have folks confused. Innovation means we are committed to making sure this generation and future generations are ready to lead in the way that the past generation has done and this present generation are trying to do right now.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. $1 million a day. Mr. Speaker, we need to let that sink in. $1 million a day can be able to assist a small business in providing health care for their employees. $1 million on the back end of that can prevent individuals from paying high copays, because that is what is taking the American people under, this whole health care issue. $1 million a day will be able to resolve some of the issues of overcrowding and the underfunding of No Child Left Behind in my district. $1 million a day, goodness gracious, maybe we will be able to prevent many young Americans from making youthful indiscretions so that they don't have to be on the taxpayers' dole and being incarcerated.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. These will be the very Members that if the American people allow us to lead, that what you are talking about, would be a bad chapter in American history. Well, we can put this country on the right track that will partner with us in a bipartisan spirit, and all it takes, and you know and I know, is a majority vote to make anything happen in this House.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. This is reality. It is not something that you are making up. This is reality for individuals that may be hard core supporters of the majority; that is fine. I am a supporter of the American people. We are not here on behalf of party. We are here on behalf of the American people.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Miller, the real issue here is that Mr. Holt talks about the good old American spirit and being able to say that we want to conquer, we want to move forward with innovation. You talk about the support, your support of No Child Left Behind; and, as you know, many States, Republican governors and Democratic governors have sued the U.S. government on the underfunding of No Child Left Behind. I just want to make sure and our good friend, Mr. Jay Inslee is here, and I am willing to give up the podium because he has been working on this issue. But for a very long time, Mr. Holt, Mr. Miller and others, you have been a part of putting together this innovation agenda that we have, printed well before the President's State of the Union as he comes up to say words of quote/unquote wisdom and encouragement, but at the same time put action behind it. We have put action behind it. We as House Democrats have asked the majority to be a part of this experience of innovation. You are challenging the majority. But I am telling you, Mr. Holt, I kind of know these folks right now. I kind of know they say one thing and they do another. And the issues that Mr. Ryan pointed out is the fact that it is not attractive to them for them to go out of their way to do what they need to do on behalf of their constituents and also on behalf of the American people. And I urge the majority, I challenge the majority to go on the HouseDemocrats.gov, get a copy of our innovation agenda that talks about how we can put this country on the right track, not in a matter of 20 or 40 or something years but right now. We can start right now with that investment. So I want to thank Mr. Miller and yourself and others who spent a lot of time to put this together, not to just keep the printer in business but to make sure that we can do the things that we need to do on behalf of the American people.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Congressman Holt, I just want to tell you real quick, you said that you hope the majority highjacks this issue which the President tried to do during his State of the Union, but his budget does not speak to that, Mr. Miller. His budget does not speak to innovation. He is saying one thing, and he is going in another direction. Because for him to cut student aid to students to even start the whole innovation moment, education is the way Americans have bettered themselves. Individuals have gone to college for the first time. Communities are better because of it. Now this President wants to come and he says the word ``innovation'' that means that we are heading in that direction. It does not necessarily mean that. So I believe, unlike what they have done in other areas, we have talk about homeland security and international strategy. They highjacked it and said it was theirs. The President was against it for many weeks and months. He finally saw it our way because our way was the American people's way. The same thing happened with the whole issue when it came down to the 9/11 Commission. We said there should be a comprehensive review on what happened during 9/11. They tried to put together these little partisan committees. The American people said they wanted it. Thank God for the survivors of 9/11 and the families that lost loved ones in 9/11. The President was against it. The majority side was against it. The Republicans, finally, they said, oh, we should have a 9/11 Commission. What a great idea. But this issue as it relates to innovation and investing in America, I do not think they are going to come with us.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the late Shepard King, a remarkable man with tremendous talent, energy and generosity whose many contributions to our entire South Florida community comprise an enduring and lasting legacy that will be with us for many years to come. Shepard King was a doer and an achiever. He was co-chair of the National Tax, Trusts & Estates Practice at the law firm of Greenberg Traurig, LLP, one of Florida's most successful and influential firms. He served as a President of the Miami Chapter of the American Jewish Committee, AJC, and strongly believed in its mission. Additionally, Shep served as a Director of the Miami-Dade County Bar Association; an Adjunct Faculty Member in the Masters in Taxation Program of the UM School of Law; a Member of the American College of Tax Counsel; the Executive Council, Tax Section of The Florida Bar; the Law Revision Council of Florida; the Board of Directors, the Greater Miami Jewish Federation; co-founder, the Family Business Institute at Florida International University and Hands Across the Campus; and Chairman, South Florida Conference on Soviet Jewry. Through the work of Ms. Bernita M. King, Mr. Russell L. King and the American Jewish Committee, however, Shephard King's legacy will is alive and well because of the Shep King Endowment Fund, which was established in 2004, one year after Shep King passed away. Throughout his life, he had a profound appreciation for the insights and opportunities that his education had provided him, and he always encouraged his own children and others to get as much education as possible. Because he believed so strongly in the power of education, the Shep King Endowment Fund is dedicated to providing scholarships to underprivileged children in South Florida. The Endowment aims to identify recipients while they are still in elementary school and to provide hands-on guidance, as well as financial support, to aid children and offset private school educational expenses during junior high school, high school and college. Although the scholarship is established through the United Jewish Philanthropies, the recipients are students of any race, religion, or ethnicity. Currently, the first Shep King Scholar is studying at a private junior high school in Miami, and an additional student is anticipated to be added this fall. My hope is that over the years, the Shep King Endowment Fund can bring the opportunities that come through education to many others and that Shep's legacy will continue to live on through their accomplishments.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.