Kendrick Meek

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Let me share something very quick, because I want to make sure that Members, staff, everyone understands what is going on, Mr. Speaker. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) is hitting the nail right on the head, hitting it with the hammer right on the head like a good carpenter. I can tell you what is happening now in Washington, D.C., is unprecedented in history of the United States of America. Let me say it again. What is happening now in the United States as it relates to its governance, I am not saying the everyday Americans, because folks are waking up and going to work every day. Small businesses are going to open their stores to be able to bring about the kind of commerce they need in their local communities. Kids are waking up, going to school to hopefully educate themselves. But as it relates to governance we are falling short. We are robbing, a couple of years ago we could say future generations, I would say we are robbing Americans in the present. So when these kinds of activities that we are talking about taking place under light and under camera, then I am very concerned about what is going on in the back halls of Congress. Now I am going to tell you right now, it is not the Meek report. It is not the Ryan report. It not the Wasserman Schultz report. This is what is happening in our country right now. We have fiscal responsibility used as some sort of whim word or some sort of punchline. It is not being used in a way that it should be used. It is not saying to billionaires, no, we cannot give you another tax break because we have a war going on, as a matter of fact, two. We have three natural disasters that have hit our country in an unprecedented way. We have Medicare that some here in this Congress on the majority side want to cut. So we have to say no to the special interests. Also, I am going to tell you, and I just want to make sure that folks understand what we are talking about. It is unprecedented as it relates to a lack of governance in the history of the country. Now I am just going to point out just a few things here, and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan), you can continue or we can move on to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz). But I can tell you this, USA Today, I did not print this. The gentleman did not print this. ``Outing of a CIA agent.''

Mr. MEEK of Florida. One of our third-party validators. ``Outing of CIA agent. Louisiana can't pay Katrina and Rita bills.'' But, meanwhile, folks are running around cutting the very programs that help folks in Louisiana and Mississippi and other affected areas, in South Florida as it relates to Wilma and others, cutting programs that will help the very people that State is trying to use. The Washington Times, let me take this little promo off here. Washington Times, a conservative paper here in Washington, D.C. It talks about issues that are coming before the Congress, and it talks about the other issues that are taking place in Capitol Hill, maybe not on the front page but within the paper talking about indictments and hearings. The Washington Post, a big front-page picture. Not about some sort of program or some sort of way that we are helping middle-class families, not talking about bringing the costs down of gas or heating oil or anything like that. No, it talks about the fact that the popularity, 58 percent in a poll questioned the integrity of the President of the United States. Now I am not one to question the integrity of the President of the United States, but I can tell you this: That it is interesting that individuals can out or in said indictment, out CIA agents and then forget about it. Oh, like I said last night, I was going to get a cup of coffee, and I walked over--I cannot remember when I outed the CIA agent. The bottom line is something is very wrong as it relates to what is going on in this country, as it relates to governance. The New York Times, the same. You can pick up a paper, the Members when they fly back to their districts, since we finished our business for this week, they can pick up the papers and find the same thing. We cannot explain ourselves or spin ourselves out of this situation. This Congress is rated below, 35, 31 percent. Who is counting at this particular time? But I can tell you something is very wrong. We have to rise up and provide the leadership. That is why we come to this floor. We challenge the majority side to stand up and govern. And the reason why we have this kind of atmosphere in Washington is because we have not called these individuals out on the carpet. Need it be executive branch, Federal agencies, those that are taking the American people's tax dollars and doing what they may. $14 billion yesterday in the Budget Committee and a hike in fees in students loans, in student assistance at a time when we are talking about providing jobs. So I am just going to say that we need to be alarmed by some of this. We need to be able to let folks know that we are about changing this kind of atmosphere here in Washington, D.C.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, once again it is an honor to come before the House. As you know, we come to the floor nightly to talk about the issues that are facing Americans and also what Members of Congress are trying to do about them. Even in cases when we are not trying to do anything about it, we think we need to bring those issues up. Mr. Speaker, we want to take the opportunity tonight to honor some great soldiers and warriors, the Tuskegee Airmen, for their contributions to our country. Mr. Speaker, when I traveled to Iraq, I had an opportunity to see the Tuskegee Airmen Wing there in Iraq, still running strong, still flying sorties, and still defending this country in many ways. Even in some other theaters, they have done an outstanding job. I am so glad to be here tonight with my good friend, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan), who has some comments that he would like to make; and so I yield to him.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, if the gentlewoman will yield, I cannot help but see that picture behind you and see a lady there with silver hair. So if the majority has its way, not only did she get hit by a category 3 storm, Wilma, but she is going to be hit by a Republican majority Congress at the same time.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Yes, why do we not do that? We are going to get staff to put this on the Web site, because this stuff just does not fall out of the sky. This does not just fall out of the sky. The President cannot do it by himself. Take it from me, he cannot. He has to have his Republican majority, he has to have a majority, obviously, over in the Senate to do it; and he cannot do it by himself. So folks start talking about what is going on here. Why are these foreign countries owning our debt? Why are they owning our debt? Why are we taxing our students? This budget that was passed through the Budget Committee on a partisan vote, with the exception of one Republican, and I am going to write him a thank-you note tomorrow, the bottom line is $14 billion and a tax on students. Not just students, but parents who have to take up the cause because the kids can no longer try to pay for their own college or the majority of college. If parents have a college fund going now, they need to go back and talk to their financial adviser and put some more money into it, because if this Republican majority continues to go out of control, there will not be any assistance for your child. That is not just me presenting a budget. You can go online and see this for yourselves.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Let me tell my good friend, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz), it starts right here. We talk about third-party validators, and we believe in that in our working group we have here. I hold in my hand here from the Republican Study Committee, which it seems like the majority is following the lead of this group, and they have said originally in this report that they wanted $35 billion in cuts. Let us talk about those cuts. Let us talk about those cuts: $35 billion in cuts, and all of this is on the table and a majority of it is in this budget, Mr. Speaker, that was passed by the Republican majority out of committee today. Cuts to Medicare, cuts to Medicaid, student loan cuts, we talked about that; food stamps, school lunches. But not a mumbling word, not a mumbling word about taking back tax cuts from billionaires. Not a mumbling word. Not one, Hey, you know something, we are at war. Maybe we need to ask these folks who have never given anything. As a matter of fact, I do not blame them. I go back to not blaming the billionaires. We never asked them, we never told them that they need to do something. Let us just keep it going. This is the document. I want to make sure that the Members who did not see this document, they can go online to www.john.shadegg.house.gov/rsc/, that is www.john.shadegg.house.gov/ rsc/. Do not take it from me. Go find it for yourself. So how do we get to the point where we are?

Mr. MEEK of Florida. They cannot get out of the hospital, and they already owe the Federal Government, and we owe foreign countries all kinds of money. Mr. RYAN of OHIO. Is that an ownership society?

Mr. MEEK of Florida. He is not even walking yet. Mr. RYAN of OHIO. He is still sleeping 23 hours a day.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, the gentleman is hitting it right on the head. We talked about the carpenter hitting the nail right on the head the other night. I can tell you that, even now as we speak, in committee today a budget passed out of the committee on partisan lines with one Republican, one Republican, voting with the Democrats to stop this madness. One day, if this continues, if this continues, let me just say, in all fairness to President Bush, he did not do it alone. The majority had to be along with him on this. The majority Senate had to endorse this, that it is okay for you to knock on the door of the Bank of China and say, and when I say China, I knew the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) was going to get excited, but knock on the door and say we need more money. If this continues, one day one of these countries is going to rise up and say ``we own you'' on behalf of the majority. Mr. RYAN of OHIO. If the gentleman will yield, the Republican Party has been in charge of this Chamber since 1994. They have had control of the Senate for a number of years. They have had the Presidency since 2000. They cannot govern. They are incapable of governing this country. We have poverty rates up, we are cutting programs that are investments into the United States of America, and we have borrowed over $1 trillion in just 4 years from foreign countries, and the national debt is above $8 trillion. That is not governing. That is not providing a bright future for the country. Talk about reducing the tax burden. The burden on average people is higher now, and these kids that we are also cutting their student loans and health care for are the same kids that are going to have to pay the interest on the money we are borrowing, which never seems to be recognized by our friends.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I yield to the gentlewoman from Nevada.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, here is another one just today from the Budget Committee. This is not something from yesterday. It will probably come out in the hometown paper tomorrow, but the Members here in this Congress, Mr. Speaker, will get what happened in the Budget Committee today because that is where they put the cookie on the bottom shelf. I mean, that is when it happens. The same thing, a motion to link the tax cuts to spending cuts. This is what is going to happen, Mr. Speaker, and we might as well call it so that everyone knows exactly what is going to happen and illuminate what the majority is doing right now. We are going through all of this process with all of these cuts, a real big number as it relates to the cuts; and then a couple of weeks from now when folks are doing something else, the majority is going to come up with the tax cuts for billionaires. They may give everyday Americans a little tax cut, just a little one. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we have Katrina, which was a catastrophic storm that took out the gulf coast. We had Rita that also hit the gulf coast, and we have Wilma that we are going to talk about in a minute that also hit south Florida. And we have this thing we call a war in Iraq and Afghanistan that we need money for. I am saying this to make this point and then we are going to go to the next level here: the President of the United States and this Congress, Mr. Speaker, have borrowed more from foreign governments than 42 Presidents combined. Since the Republic started, this President has outborrowed from foreign nations. In the 224 years, from 1776 to the year 2000, the U.S. Presidents borrowed a combined $1 trillion from foreign governments and financial institutions, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In the past 4 years alone, President Bush and the majority of this Congress have been authorized and borrowed a staggering $1.05 trillion, just in 4 years. Folks come to the floor and they are dazzled on the other side. Why are they talking about all of these things? And we come to this floor night after night and say, you know something. Something is really wrong going on here, and we need to bring this to the attention of the American people. I have a little chart here that I just want to get out of the way right now. We will pull it up. Forty-two Presidents, Republican and Democrat, 42, not 10, not 20, not 25, not even 30, but 42 Presidents. One President, one President outborrowed 42 Presidents from foreign countries. What has happened here, Mr. Speaker, is that the country is now depending on foreign governments to run our government. Some folks may ask why are we talking about the billionaire tax cuts? We are talking about those tax cuts because it is weakening a country, bottom line. That is all that is happening here.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, that was a party-line vote. A 27-percent increase, which I call a tax increase, on students that want to go to school, 27 percent, a party-line vote. Democrats voted not to increase those fees on them. Republicans voted in the majority.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I just want to say to both of my colleagues from Ohio that it is so important that we recognize not only veterans, but we recognize celebrations that hold our veterans up. The Tuskegee Airmen had a very hard time in their day to even climb into an aircraft, let alone go into a theater of battle. But it is good for our country to be able to recognize past sacrifice and commitment. I know all veterans shoulder to shoulder today know that every American fights for the freedom of this country and countries that are in our coalition in the civilized world. I can share with my colleagues that I have many Tuskegee Airmen living in my district in Florida. They come out with their red coats on, and it is so good to see them standing strong with their chests out. As you know, the NFL has built a very strong relationship with the Tuskegee Airmen. They appear at a number of the NFL, National Football League, half-time shows. So we need to see our heroes and our sheroes while they are here, and not just look in a book and say, it was once, not only with the Tuskegee Airmen but veterans in general who come out. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank both of my colleagues for bringing this to the floor tonight and putting it in the Congressional Record, because I think every time we have an opportunity to celebrate those who have allowed us to salute one flag, we need to take that opportunity at the highest levels. Mr. Speaker, with that, I might mention that my colleague, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz), has just joined us; and we now have another of our special guests with us, and I will leave it up to my colleague to recognize him.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Well, without her, I do not know where we would be as relates to being able to deliver a clear and crisp message that people can understand. She is our translator. She translates from Washington talk to everyday talk so that even some Members can understand and the American people. With that, since we are talking about those who are underprivileged, and those that are trying to, hopefully, be a part of our workforce in the future, there is an awful lot to talk about, a lot of ground to cover tonight, so we are going to try to cover it real quickly. A lot of action here under the dome today. The Budget Committee met. We are talking about those that play fiscal conservatives on television and those that are actually looking out for the financial well-being of our country. I might just say that as the 30-Something Working Group looks at issues that are facing young people and parents that have children that they want to be able to go to college, Mr. Speaker, and receive a higher education, there are a number of things that we have to cover. Not only the budget. We have Hurricane Wilma. We have the Hurricane Katrina investigative panel. We have issues as they relate to Iraq and misspending there. And at the same time, we have a culture of corruption and cronyism and coverups going on here, right here in the capital city. I just want to bring a quick point just to start us off tonight. Some folks run around and say, what is the Democratic position? Well, the Democratic position is making sure that the everyday American does not end up paying the bill for billionaires, billionaires, not everyday Americans, but billionaires, to run away with the U.S. Treasury and special interests to have free rein on the U.S. Treasury. Now, I do not blame the billionaires for getting what they get. I do not blame the special interests in this town for getting what they want. I blame those that give them what they want when they want it. And it is up to us, as the representatives of the people, to make sure that that does not happen and that we work on behalf of the American people. Representatives Kind, Capps, Edwards, Moore, and Schwartz moved in the Budget Committee today to direct the chairman, on behalf of the committee, to consider an amendment in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. The amendment eliminated all new student-paid fees to increase the cost to receive a student loan. What they have done here, Mr. Speaker, and when I say ``they,'' I mean the majority side, is they are saying there are not any offsets or cuts in this bill; but what they are doing is they are putting 27 percent additional fees on students that are receiving student loans. Now, that is 27 percent more that they have to pay. Some folks call it a tax. So one would think we are just talking about students. We are also talking about parents. When the students cannot pay for their education, who kicks in? Mom and Dad, family, Granddad, Grandmother. She is digging into the retirement fund to help pay to make sure that her grandson will be able to go to school. They continue to carry the message on down of adding these new taxes on to students and families on the State government.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Record breaking.

Mr. MEEK of Florida

Mr. MEEK of Florida. You cannot violate national security when you have a security clearance, hello, that the four of us have. I said the other night, if I wanted to, you know, for political gain, talk about the things that I know as a Member of the Armed Services Committee, talk about the things that I know as a Member of the Homeland Security Committee for political gain, that would be horrible and a crime. And it took place. You know, if it was just politics, I mean, people can understand. But someone could have lost their life. We do not know yet. And now her cover has been blown. A whole front that the CIA has has been blown. And those individuals that she has relationships with have been blown, all because some folks thought it would be good for political gain to be reelected to the White House. Now I am going to tell you something right now, ladies and gentlemen, that we cannot allow this activity to continue. As we started talking, I was handed a piece of paper here, because I was incorrect. The Congress approval rating is at 31. At 31. So anyone that wants to come to the floor chest-beating and patting yourself on the back, talking about I am doing a great job, let me tell you something on both sides of the aisle, we have to step it up on own our leadership. We have to step it up on our leadership, and we have to do it together on behalf of Americans. We have to do it together on behalf of Americans, not Democrats, not Republicans, not independents, not the special interests, not the folks that showed up at the fund-raiser last night. We have got to make sure that we represent the United States of America and the people that pay taxes. We were Federalized when we were elected. So if folks feel, oh, well, I am here or here, and I do not need to worry about that, you are a Member of the United States Congress. You are a Member of the 109th Congress, and you have a responsibility to lead. If you do not want to lead, I am going to tell you something, as sure my name is Congressman Meek, I feel that the American people, Democrat, Republican, Independent alike, and even going back to what the gentleman was talking about, 224 years of individuals that were fiscally responsible, the Whig Party, okay, these individuals will rise up to make sure that we protect our country.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. If I may, I mean, it is just not an indictment that someone ran out and took a plane and took a plane to go see a basketball game and flew back on some private company or something. It is not that. It is not something that reflects on personal judgment. No, this is outing, Mr. Speaker, a clandestine CIA agent. That individual that goes in, and guess what? Guess what the agent's job was? To help us in finding out those countries that have weapons of mass destruction. To harm who? The United States of America. And because she was out, and now, you know, I am hearing that in the White House they are saying that the defense is going to be, well, you know, I have a lot of conversations in a day. I did not quite remember talking to a reporter about a CIA agent. I am concerned, Mr. Speaker, because if that is something that you can forget, the time that you outed a CIA agent, and you forget it. You are like, oh, well, you know, I got coffee. Then I walked over here. You know, you do not just out a CIA agent.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. I just wanted to tell you, they are not a Democratic club or an independent voters club or a Republican club. They are our religious leaders that are calling upon this Congress to recognize their responsibility. I can tell you right now, you know, I am a Baptist. But I do not have a lot of time, you know, Christian, Baptist. But here is the issue. I just wanted to make sure that we know exactly what we are doing. We know what we are doing. We know what they are doing. We want to make sure that we illuminate what they are doing because, when it comes down to it, if the Republican majority in this House was doing such a great job, then why do only 35 percent of the American people feel that we are doing a good job? Now if it is only 35 percent of the American people, just do the math. A super majority of Americans feel that we are not doing our job. Why do they feel that the President, why is the President at his lowest approval rating of his entire administration at 35? Why is Dick Cheney's approval rating at 19? So when folks start coming to the floor swelling all up and carrying on and saying, you know, we salute one flag, and anyone else that has anything to ask or say about it, they are with the other folks, with the terrorists, with the enemy, why are they coming here? Why are not they doing certain things? But I just want to make this point on this issue. I just wanted to make sure that we understand that we live in a democracy, and that we have the very people that the majority side is cutting the programs that help them the most, Medicaid, Medicare, being able to protect our environment in a way that it should be protected. Democrats, what we did we made sure that we put forth amendments that will help everyday Americans, that we will be able to achieve the goals that we are supposed to achieve as Members of Congress. We also pushed a philosophy of making sure that we bring the budget back in balance. We made sure that for every time that someone puts forth a program that we have a way to pay for it, not just saying we are going to run over to China and say we are going to get the money, or not to say that we are going to pay for it on the backs of everyday Americans as it relates to including a budget enforcement measure to protect Social Security. That is another pot that the majority cannot help themselves of going into and raiding all the time. It was this working group, amongst many others, that fought off the majority on this side of the aisle. We had 500 plus town hall meetings, a number of editorials, a number of editorial board meetings to make sure that we let America know what they were trying to do. When I say they, I am talking about a Republican majority. So, once again, I will close by saying this, that the Republicans are in control of this House by the majority, and in the Senate they have a majority, and the White House, they definitely have control of that. And the reason why I continue to say that is that I want to make sure that folks know that we are fighting a good fight here, but we need to make sure that the Republicans, Democrats, independents, those that are thinking about voting, registering to vote, get involved in this process. Because I can tell you right now, I have some good friends that are Republicans, and they are very upset about what is going on right now. I have good friends that are Independents, and they make comments as it relates to what is happening here in this House. But folks are saying, fiscal responsibility? Okay, you know I am a fiscal conservative because I say I am, not because of our acts. This is a President that has not vetoed one spending bill. Not one. Not one.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. That is the reason why the Democrats fought hard in the Budget Committee to make sure that the Medicare cuts did not take place or put an extra burden on seniors, to make sure that we replaced the burden that the majority side here in this House, the Republicans, have put on students as it relates to student aid and student loans. $14 billion in fees for students. That means $14 billion in fees and taxes for parents in America, for grandparents in America. We can do better. I am so glad that we sleep with our fists balled up here ready to fight on behalf of Americans every day. That is the reason why I feel excited every time we get the opportunity to come to this floor to offer an amendment, to come to this floor here in this special order, to be able to let not only the majority side know, the Republican majority because, I must say, and I want to remind everyone, the Republicans are in control of this House, the Senate, and the White House. So anyone that has anything to say, and that includes Members, about how the Democrats said this and the Democrats said that and they are doing this, we are not doing anything as it relates to pulling this country in reverse. I am going to tell my colleagues right now, what went down in the Budget Committee today is shameful; it is really shameful. I just want to, as we work here as a working group, I just want to say, I want to make sure that the majority side, when that budget comes to this floor, that they abide by the rules of the House of Representatives. If there is a 15-minute vote, then let it be a 15-minute vote. If there is a grace period, 17, 20 minutes, okay. But we do not want to be here on this floor watching the majority side, the Republican side, twist arms to get the votes to pass an unjust budget. Now, we held up a report earlier that the Republicans called for $35 billion in cuts for the very people they are trying to help, or they say they are trying to help; and then in the end game, it is $50 billion in cuts. Not a mumbling word, not a mumbling word about billionaires and moving that tax cut away from billionaires, just some of it for the offset. Not a mumbling word, not a mumbling word to the oil industry that is dancing in the street and people around here are putting in $5 and $10 in their tank because they cannot afford to fill their tank up. It is not because they like going to gas stations; it is the fact that they cannot afford to fill their tank up. So it does not matter what you are driving. You can be driving a small, compact car. $5 is $5, $10 is $10, $20 is $20. They cannot afford to fill up their gas tank because it costs so much, leave alone the fact that it is getting cold.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. A culture of corruption and cronyism.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. This is the person that we still have on the payroll to teach us what to do.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. So it is a condemned apartment. She cannot live in it. Not only are there only 300 FEMA inspectors of over 100,000 and counting condemned residences in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Even in Broward County, well over the number. We are going to send 300 people down there to inspect before we are able to assist them. That is the reason why we need an independent Katrina commission, to make sure we are able to respond to Americans in need. So when folks come to the floor and start talking about, well, you know, I do not know why they are complaining, because everything seems to be okay and the lights are on here in the Chamber and democracy is strong, we have Americans out there that are suffering and we have to give them voice.

Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) for yielding to me, and I can tell her right now that I shudder when I think about not only the devastation that took place in Hurricane Wilma but what took place in Rita and took place in Katrina and what happened today in the Budget Committee. I want to make sure that the Members, Mr. Speaker, are fully aware about an act that I did not take part in, an act that not one Democrat on that committee took part in, an act that at least one Republican did not take part in, that is, delivering another catastrophic event to the victims of these three natural disasters. The cuts that were made today in the Budget Committee, that I must add without one Democratic vote, but with Democratic amendments, to make sure that those victims do not become victims again, were devastating to these individuals; cutting Medicare, cutting programs that will help everyday working Americans, delivering another blow to the gut of the individuals who need us the most. Let me tell you what the majority side is saying. ``Oh, we have to make these offsets to help the Katrina victims.'' Hello. No. We have to slap them in the back of the head and push them to the floor because they cannot fight us like the special interests that got what they wanted in this budget, that we are going to make them victims again. That is what that means. So, I am so glad that we are bringing to light not only Katrina, not only Rita, but also Wilma; that many seniors in our district, and we talked about this a couple of nights ago, or even over the past weeks, we have been fighting for the independent commission so we can review not only the Federal response, but the State response and the local response. Now, I just want to take two more minutes. Down in Florida with Wilma, when the response was not what it should have been, Governor Bush of Florida jumped out in front of the train and said, ``If you want to blame someone, blame me.'' Well, you know something, I have a message, not only for the Governor, but for anyone willing to step in front of an unorganized response to people in need, because I would say to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Delahunt) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan), it could be your communities next. It could be a terrorist attack. So I guess the Governor could not do it in Mississippi, he could not do it in Louisiana, he could not do it in Alabama, he could not run over to Texas and jump in front of FEMA and say ``blame me.'' This is bigger than an individual. This is making sure we can respond to Americans. I would say to the gentlewoman from Florida, I would make this point to what the gentlewoman is pointing out here, that what can you say to this senior that you are in his bedroom there, I believe that is his bedroom where the ceiling came down, or another person's bedroom fell down into their home.