Jim Nussle

Mr. NUSSLE

Mr. NUSSLE. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. NUSSLE. What?

Mr. NUSSLE. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, I can tell the gentleman why. It is a frustration of mine, and it is the reason why I put the budget out that I did this year. When we got to surplus, and we have seen the chart, when we got to balancing and began going into surplus, particularly into discretionary spending, all of us around here very cheerfully started getting into a bidding war. We could do a little better than you in education, you could do a little better than us in health care. We went on and on and on. Look at the charts in any of those categories. Once 1998 happened, as my friend knows, we could not say no to anything. It was very difficult to try to control that. That is just the discretionary side, which, as the gentleman knows, is only one-quarter of the budget. On the mandatory side, think of the last time in a partisan or bipartisan way that we tried to take on an entitlement and even tried to control spending. My friend has quite a bit of control or interest in agriculture, as do I. I sit on a committee that has jurisdiction over Medicare and welfare. We did it in welfare and had some real success. I just want us to start looking at that process again. That is the reason in this budget I challenge the committees. I do not do it myself. I do not try and tell my good friend on the Committee on Agriculture exactly where that ought to come from. But I do challenge him to look at the reports on food stamps and others and say, can we not do a better job?

Mr. NUSSLE. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, that is a good point. But that is just the first year. We believe that we need to continue to control that spending in the outyears as well. We also believe, and that is the reason why the budget was presented the way it was, that the President had some areas where we could control. This was true with President Clinton, President Reagan, President Bush, with all of them. Congress is responsible for controlling spending under Article I of the Constitution. We like to blame the fellow down the street, but, more often than not, it is the people that we look at every day in the mirror that can do the best job at controlling spending. As I say, I compliment the gentleman and my friends for putting together a budget. We respectfully disagree with that budget for the reasons that I state. Mr. Chairman, I would like to hear more from my friends in the coalition. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. NUSSLE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 2\1/2\ minutes just to show my colleague from Mississippi, who does care about this; I do not begrudge him that at all. I just want to let him know that I also share in the concern over debt. But since he was slightly partisan about the issue, let me show my colleagues my chart that shows the difference between what the Democratic Congresses did versus the Republican Congresses. We were the ones who paid down the national debt by almost half a trillion dollars until we hit this last crisis in 2001 involving the economy, involving the emergency spending, involving what happened with homeland security. Mr. Chairman, if my colleagues want to raise it to a partisan level of whose debt is whose, I can show my colleagues a chart that compares with the gentleman's partisan chart. What I would rather do is say, look, we are in this together now. I can show a chart that goes back to Reagan. I can show a chart that goes back to Clinton. We can have a history lesson here all day long. We can yell and scream and point fingers at who did what. Look, we are in a mess. My colleagues did not do it; I did not do it. I mean, there are three huge factors. We had emergency spending that no one, no one would have ever anticipated. What a huge economic sucker gut punch as a result of a recession that was made worse after 2001 and the terrorist attacks. Was there a component part of that of reducing taxes? Yes. We disagree. We deliberately reduced taxes at a time of huge surpluses because, yes, we were paying off the national debt, paid off over a half a trillion dollars of national debt. So if my colleagues want to come down and point fingers and talk about the past, I can show my colleagues Reagan charts and Clinton charts and things like that. I think we should talk about the future and what we are going to do about it. The Democrats have a plan. I compliment that plan, even though I disagree with it, because it does begin to address those issues. I have what we believe is a better plan. But let us talk about our plan and let us look forward. If my colleagues want to continue to point fingers on how we got here, my colleagues can take up the time for the substitute to do just that, but I believe we ought to focus on the future and what we are going to do about it.

Mr. NUSSLE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I thank the gentleman, Mr. Chairman. I have enormous respect for the gentleman from Texas and for my friends for writing a budget, because writing a budget in Washington, D.C. for the Federal Government is not maybe the most challenging job in Washington, but it does have its moments of challenges. Probably one of the biggest challenges in writing a budget, as my friends know, is when we have to explain to politicians who get elected by saying yes that sometimes we have to say no, or sometimes we have to do things that are difficult. There is no question that when I wrote the original draft of this budget, I asked my colleagues to do something that was difficult. It maybe was more difficult than I had either the right to ask or the ability to ask; but I asked it, not because I thought it was easy, but because I thought it was important for us to at least begin the debate. Particularly in Medicare, that is a debate that I recognize probably as being difficult maybe more than most Members because I have spent the last 12 years being stung by attacks from opponents back home who, in years where we did nothing to Medicare, were able to come up with phantom votes here and there suggesting that somehow, again, as a Republican, I think maybe just because I registered to vote as a Republican, that somehow I was cutting Medicare. It must be something that is just automatic when you become a Republican, it seems, these days. But it could not be further from the truth. When it comes to our budgets in Medicare and so many of these programs, as my friends know, particularly since 1998, we have just been spending money around here like it is going out of style in every category. We almost cannot name a category that has gone down by any significant portion over the last 5 years, in particular, since we got the balance. So it was not so much that I was saying cut, but I was saying slow down. That is all I was trying to say was slow down. That is what I was trying to say in Medicare was slow down. We had put $400 billion in. I asked them to look for that waste within Medicare. We know it is there. I have three great examples that came out of those blue books we were talking about. The Medicare program pays as much as eight times, just think about this, I would say to my friends, eight times the cost of any other Federal agency when we pay for the same drugs and medical supplies. I do not know, maybe double would be a reasonable level; but eight times does not make much sense to me. Medicare provides overpayments of $12.1 billion in 1 year. All right? That is just another example. In 2002, it was estimated that improper, and that is in addition to overpayments, we are talking about just plain improper, fraudulent payments under Medicare were estimated at $13 billion. Let me quickly do the math: 13, 12, that is 25. We do not even know what the cost of the drugs are, but that is $25 billion in 1 year, as an example. I do not know about the other Members, but that pays for a lot of prescription drugs for seniors. Just in the first year of the drug benefit that almost all of us support, we are only talking about $7 billion as a drug benefit. That is just the first year of the phase-in. That is three times, almost four times, the amount of the initial drug benefit we waste in the Medicare program. That is before we even talk about reimbursements. My friend, the gentleman from Texas, and I have been laboring on the Rural Health Care Coalition since I think the day the gentleman walked in this place, and certainly the day I walked in. Medicare is not serving our seniors because of a crazy reimbursement system that has been out there. But we come down here to the well and we say, oh, gosh, do not touch that, it is Medicare. Heaven forbid we would try and do something around here in any of these programs in order to try to control them, because around here in Washington our level of compassion and concern has been equal to the amount of money we are willing to put into the program. So instead of saying to Medicare, the Defense Department, agriculture, I do not care what it is, instead of saying, where did that $13 billion go; we are not going to give it to you again next year until you find it, instead, what we say is, oh, quick, quick, let us pass a budget that puts in $400 billion more. Let us hurry up and do that because heaven forbid we would look at a senior citizen straight in the eye and say, Do you know what? The program is not working as well as it should. It is not doing the job we promised; it is wasting money. So that is what I was asking for. The gentleman is right, I did not get the votes for that. We will live to have that discussion another day because my guess is that in order for the actual bill to come to the floor, we are going to have to make some of those adjustments. I could go on. That is the most politically sensitive one in the bunch. I could go on and on through less politically sensitive issues. But what I am asking us to do, and it is article 1 of the Constitution that I believe gives us that responsibility. The gentleman showed a chart that defines it by President. I could show a chart, and I know we are talking about the partisan jabs, I could show a chart that showed the exact same figures but showed them under Republican and Democratic Congresses. It does not matter, as I said to my friend from Mississippi, it does not matter what happened in the past. It matters what we look to do in the future. My colleagues have got a plan. We disagree with it because it does not, we do not believe, do the one thing that we believe can help us here the most, and that is stimulate the growth in the economy that brings in so much of the revenue that we need. The second thing it really does not do, and we disagree with the President on this, mostly not because we disagree with the President, but because it is our job to control spending. If we do not do it by the time the bill gets to his desk, it is not going to get done, and so that is why we asked for the waste, fraud and abuse within these reconciliation instructions. Last but not least, and I think my friend wants us to yield, the balanced budget amendment, and I am a cosponsor and have been and voted for it. The one problem with a balanced budget amendment, of course, is it takes about 8 years to get it into place, and what we said in 1995 and what we are both saying here today in a bipartisan way, regardless of our plan, let us just do it. Forget about the amendment for a second. Let us do it. Let us actually go in and balance it as opposed to just saying that we ought to have a constitutional amendment to do it. The one thing the balanced budget amendment does provide is an exception. Two things actually. One is national emergency, and certainly I think September 11, obviously we in a bipartisan way agree that that is a national emergency; and the second is war, and clearly, we are in a war. So while I support that, I think we ought to just do it. We put ourselves on a path under both of our plans, but we believe ours is a better path, and that is the reason.

Mr. NUSSLE. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. NUSSLE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Texas for his comments. As I say, I respectfully oppose the gentleman's and the Blue Dogs' substitute. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. NUSSLE. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the time in opposition be divided evenly between the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt) and myself.

Mr. NUSSLE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis), chairman of the Committee on Government Reform.

Mr. NUSSLE. If the gentleman will yield, the gentleman is correct.

Mr. NUSSLE. The gentleman is correct.

Mr. NUSSLE. That is correct.

Mr. NUSSLE. I believe that is correct.

Mr. NUSSLE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne).

Mr. NUSSLE. If the gentleman will yield, I would be happy to respond.

Mr. NUSSLE. That is my understanding. The budget is intended to protect farm programs and the crop insurance program. Our committee will work with the chairman and other members of the Committee on Agriculture such as yourself to ensure that we protect critical farm programs and the crop insurance program. This includes an adequate funding level for programs authorized under last year's farm bill.

Mr. NUSSLE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 3 minutes for the purposes of entering into a brief colloquy with the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and I yield to him for that purpose.

Mr. NUSSLE. Mr. Chairman, first of all, I thank the very distinguished chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure for his work in getting us to this point in time. Obviously there are a number of challenges. I will continue to work with him and members of his committee as we go to conference. We have a huge issue this year, as the gentleman knows. It is going to fall on his committee. We have challenges we need to meet in all of the transportation needs of our country. So, yes, I would be happy to work with the chairman as we move to conference on this issue, and I appreciate his support of our resolution.

Mr. NUSSLE. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the remaining 9 minutes be yielded to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt) as long as he does not give me another zinger here.

Mr. NUSSLE

Mr. NUSSLE. Mr. Chairman, I will close our side of the debate, and I only have one speaker. I believe I have that opportunity to do so; so I allow the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt) to go first.

Mr. NUSSLE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Chairman, we always hear a lot about history whenever the Democrats come to the floor to talk about the budget, and it is in part because they do not want to talk about the future. They really just want to talk about history. They want to redefine it, they want to recapture it, they want to put it in new context constantly. How did we get here? Because of a war, because of a national emergency, and because of an economy that has been in recession, and we have to address all of those needs today. We have to have a plan for the future. Just like we commended our troops tonight, it is time to do our job. Yes, it is late. Yes, there are people who are asked to do much harder work than we are asked to do. But it is time to do our part in all of this. This budget is just the first step. I have heard people tonight on both sides of the aisle talk about all sorts of devastating things that might happen, devastating things that will happen, all sorts of policies that will flow from this budget that has not even passed yet, that has not even been conferenced with the Senate yet. We do not know where this process will end up, but I will guarantee you one thing: At the end of the day, no one will like it. No one will think it is a perfect budget. I can attest to that, because even though when I started this process I kind of liked what I wrote, by the end of it, I am not even sure I will recognize all of the details that are in this budget. Why is that? Because 435 people in this body and 100 in the other body write the budget. This is not the Nussle budget, it is not the President's budget, it is not the Blue Dogs' or the Republican Study Committee's or the moderates' or the conservatives'. It is nobody's budget unless we get it done. Why is it important for us to get it done? Because just last year we did not get it done. We passed one in the House, the other body did not pass a budget, and what happened? Gridlock, breakdown, 7 months of wrangling on the floor over 13 appropriations bills that only attributed one-third of all of the spending that Congress does and the Federal Government participates in. Seven months we spent over just one-third of the budget because of total budget breakdown. So we need to pass a budget. We need a conference report. We need to have a plan. And what should that plan say? Well, we believe it needs three things: Number one, it is not negotiable. We must protect America. That means strong national defense and homeland security that gives us the kind of security we need to have to ensure that we can protect freedom at home and freedom around the world. Number two, we must strengthen the economy and create jobs. A person without a job is not paying any taxes, and a person who is not paying any taxes, more than anything else, knows that they are not able to make ends meet. A person with a job, that is the most important thing we can do is to get people back to work. So, yes, we reduce taxes. Yes, we take on taxes, because they are too complicated, they are too high, they are too onerous, and it has gone on too long. We have got to do something about taxes. The President has put a plan on the table. Yes, we incorporate that plan in our budget, but it is a first step to getting us back to work as a country. The third area is fiscal responsibility. Now, I have heard the gentleman from South Carolina, whom I greatly respect, say that we will not achieve these cuts. He is right. We are not going to achieve these cuts, because they are not cuts. How can you cut when you are only decreasing anticipated increases on the one hand, and, on the other hand, when it is waste? Why is it in America, for some reason in Washington, that whenever an agency or department or program wastes money, we rush in and give it more? GAO, our General Accounting Office, if you want to talk about waste, we hire great people who put together reams and volumes and all sorts of reports; defense acquisitions, financial management, FAA, Medicaid, Medicare, U.S. Postal Service, food stamp program, tax administration. It goes on and on and on in waste. We are paying dead people benefits under the Veterans Administration. We are sending dead people checks under Social Security. There are folks in the Lorton prison that are getting benefits under welfare still. And this is under a reformed welfare system. People will come up to me and say, ``Gosh, do you know what is really tough? We cannot find that waste. We are having a real tough time.'' And our friends on the other side are saying, ``You are cutting, throwing children in the street. People will be kicked out of nursing homes.'' We are after this. This is what we are after. We want to find the waste, fraud and abuse within our system. Is it going to be hard? You bet, because for 5 years we have not been doing it. Five years ago we reached a balanced budget. Why? Because the Republicans took the majority. We put in a 7-year plan to balance the budget. We got there 4 years earlier than we said because the economy was growing, and we controlled spending. But when we got to balance, we stopped working on spending. We have got to get back to working on the spending side of the budget. So, this is where I end here tonight with a quote. It is kind of an interesting quote, apropos for tonight, I believe. The quote is, ``We shall, therefore, neither postpone our tax cut plans nor cut into essential national security programs. This administration is determined to protect America's security and survival, and we are also determined to step up its economic growth. I think we must do both.'' President Kennedy said that in 1962. Let us do that job again tonight. Let us vote on the budget.

Mr. NUSSLE

Mr. NUSSLE. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Texas for yielding me time. Madam Speaker, this is a great pleasure for me. This is my resolution, and I cannot think of a prouder resolution and a more meaningful one to me to bring forward than this resolution here today. A person's work here in Congress speaks much louder than rooms that are named after them or statues that may collect dust in the hallways. It is right and fitting and appropriate that we name this room after Dick Armey, but I can tell you that the Dick Armey I know cares very little about what room is named after him. He cares much more about the legacy he has left for his children and grandchildren and this great country we call America. Some would say that the beauty of our democracy is that when somebody leaves the United States Congress they are quickly forgotten. In some respects that is sad, because we have some great Members who come through our body on both sides of the aisle, Members who go on to bigger and better things, some might say in the United States Senate or the other body as we refer to it, maybe down in the administration, maybe they go home and raise their family, open a business, teach school, whatever it might be. But the beauty of our system and our democracy really does lie in the fact that it is we the people, and that while one great Member passes, a new great Member can hopefully fill those shoes as we move forward. Dick Armey speaks often about something very simple that I happen to believe is very profound. ``Freedom works'' is a slogan that he has coined, to some extent. It is a long way of saying we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It took a long sentence to get that out back in 1776, but today we can say it very simply as freedom works; freedom works in America, freedom works in our economy, freedom works in our workplace. Freedom may even work in Iraq. Freedom works in a lot of places, in a lot of places that we call America, and Dick Armey has helped bring freedom to our country. It is an unusual procedure to bring a resolution to the floor to name anything in the United States Capitol. We do so only under very unusual circumstances. If you walk through the halls, you will find many great leaders with their name on the door. I believe it is appropriate that we take a pause today and name a room. But the name that I think that Dick Armey would find most appropriate on any room in this Capitol would be freedom. The nice thing about this is that while I introduced this resolution, I did so with the full support of the Speaker of the House. I talked to him first, because you do not name rooms in the Capitol without talking to the Speaker. I also know I have the support of my entire conference. But what is even more enjoyable is to know we have the support of both sides of the aisle. Democrats who may have disagreed with Dick Armey during his term had an enormous amount of respect for him, even though there was disagreement oftentimes, and that is true, I think, for many leaders that Republicans look to on the Democratic side as well. This is a bipartisan resolution. Former leader Armey is here in the Chamber today. I just want to say to my friend that this is as meaningful a public gesture as we can make, and we mean it with as much heartfelt wishes for you and your wife Susan, and the recognition that what you have done here has not been forgotten. Even though freedom works, our country continues, our democracy will flourish, and the Congress will continue to hopefully do good things that you will find enjoyable to watch from your new chair and your new seat. Thank you very much for your service. We look forward to the opportunity when we can unveil this room some time in the near future.

Mr. NUSSLE

Mr. NUSSLE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on S. 141.

Mr. NUSSLE

Mr. NUSSLE. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Rule XI, Clause 2 of the Rules of the House of Representatives, I respectfully submit the rules of the Committee on the Budget for the 108th Congress for publication in the Congressional Record. Rules of the Committee on the Budget United States House of Representatives, 108th Congress--Adopted February 4, 2003 General Applicability Rule 1--Applicability of House Rules Except as otherwise specified herein, the Rules of the House are the rules of the committee so far as applicable, except that a motion to recess from day to day is a motion of high privilege. Meetings Rule 2--Regular meetings (a) The regular meeting day of the committee shall be the second Wednesday of each month at 11 a.m., while the House is in session. (b) The Chairman is authorized to dispense with a regular meeting when the Chairman determines there is no business to be considered by the committee. The Chairman shall give written notice to that effect to each member of the committee as far in advance of the regular meeting day as the circumstances permit. (c) Regular meetings shall be canceled when they conflict with meetings of either party's caucus or conference. Rule 3--Additional and special meetings (a) The Chairman may call and convene additional meetings of the committee as the Chairman considers necessary, or special meetings at the request of a majority of the members of the committee in accordance with House Rule XI, clause 2(c). (b) In the absence of exceptional circumstances, the Chairman shall provide written notice of additional meetings to the office of each member at least 24 hours in advance while Congress is in session, and at least three days in advance when Congress is not in session. Rule 4--Open business meetings (a) Each meeting for the transaction of committee business, including the markup of measures, shall be open to the public except when the committee, in open session and with a quorum present, determines by roll call vote that all or part of the remainder of the meeting on that day shall be closed to the public in accordance with House Rule XI, clause 2(g)(1). (b) No person other than members of the committee and such congressional staff and departmental representatives as the committee may authorize shall be present at any business or markup session which has been closed to the public. Rule 5--Quorums A majority of the committee shall constitute a quorum. No business shall be transacted and no measure or recommendation shall be reported unless a quorum is actually present. Rule 6--Recognition Any member, when recognized by the Chairman, may address the committee on any bill, motion, or other matter under consideration before the committee. The time of such member shall be limited to five minutes until all members present have been afforded an opportunity to comment. Rule 7--Consideration of business Measures or matters may be placed before the committee, for its consideration, by the Chairman or by a majority vote of the members of the committee, a quorum being present. Rule 8--Availability of legislation The committee shall consider no bill, joint resolution, or concurrent resolution unless copies of the measure have been made available to all committee members at least four hours prior to the time at which such measure is to be considered. When considering concurrent resolutions on the budget, this requirement shall be satisfied by making available copies of the complete Chairman's mark (or such material as will provide the basis for committee consideration). The provision of this rule may be suspended with the concurrence of the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member. 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(f) Transcripts of hearings and meetings may be printed if the Chairman decides it is appropriate, or if a majority of the members so request. Rule 22--Access to committee records (a)(1) The Chairman shall promulgate regulations to provide for public inspection of roll call votes and to provide access by members to committee records (in accordance with House Rule XI, clause 2(e)). (2) Access to classified testimony and information shall be limited to Members of Congress and to House Budget Committee staff and staff of the Office of Official Reporters who have appropriate security clearance. (3) Notice of the receipt of such information shall be sent to the committee members. Such information shall be kept in the committee safe, and shall be available to members in the committee office. (b) The records of the committee at the National Archives and Records Administration shall be made available for public use in accordance with Rule VII of the rules of the House of Representatives. The Chairman shall notify the Ranking Minority Member of any decision, pursuant to clause 3(b)(3) or clause 4(b) of the rule, to withhold a record otherwise available, and the matter shall be presented to the committee for a determination on the written request of any member of the committee. oversight Rule 23--General oversight (a) The committee shall review and study, on a continuing basis, the application, administration, execution, and effectiveness of those laws, or parts of laws, the subject of which is within its jurisdiction. (b) The committee is authorized at any time to conduct such investigations and studies as it may consider necessary or appropriate in the exercise of its responsibilities under clause (1)(d) of Rule X of the Rules of the House, and, subject to the adoption of expense resolutions as required by clause 6 of Rule X, to incur expenses (including travel expenses) in connection therewith. (c) Not later than February 15 of the first session of a Congress, the committee shall meet in open session, with a quorum present, to adopt its oversight plans for that Congress for submission to the Committee on House Administration and the Committee on Government Reform in accordance with the provisions of clause (2)(d) of House Rule