Mike Pompeo

Mr. POMPEO

Mr. POMPEO. Madam Chairman, let me begin by thanking Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Dicks for the hard work that they did on the Defense appropriations bill. It was yeoman's work in difficult and challenging fiscal times to present a defense budget that makes sense for America. And there is no one who's come to Congress as a Member of this new freshman class who believes more strongly in making sure we have a strong national defense. It's for that reason that I move to reduce spending in that budget by $502 million with the amendment that I am proposing. This $502 million is spread among various procurement and research and innovation programs, and it is money that was not requested by the Department of Defense. This $502 million could certainly go to some program that they had asked for, but it's in a place that used to be reserved for earmarks. There is no particular program to which this $502 million is attributed. It goes assertedly for innovation. But we all know that innovation occurs in the private sector. And that's what this new majority is about. It's wrong to add $500 million to our deficit for a series of programs with no particular purpose except for the needs of businesses that once survived on those very earmarks. And so, while I am very pleased with the fact that this piece of legislation has removed earmarks and has moved us towards a great deal more transparency, I would urge my fellow Members to vote for this amendment so that we can continue to get rid of the very vestiges of earmarks that voters asked us to get rid of. I yield back.

Mr. POMPEO. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. POMPEO. Mr. Chairman, I rise to amend the Defense appropriations bill by cutting $115 million of additional funding. This $115 million is aimed at alternative energy inside the Defense Department appropriations budget. I will assure you that with the President having advocated in his budget for billions of dollars of alternative energy research, development, and other types of research, that we don't need $115 million of that in our Department of Defense budget. This funding is wasteful, it's duplicative, and won't help our soldiers. It's in five different parts of the appropriations legislation in small amounts, and this is new money. It's above and beyond that which the President had requested. We are not underfunding alternative energy research. Just this week, the Rand Corporation came out with a study talking about alternative energy research in the defense budget and they concluded it was not helping our soldiers, our sailors, our airmen, and our fighters. So I would urge support of this amendment reducing by $115 million the deficit that our Nation faces.

Mr. POMPEO

Mr. POMPEO. Madam Speaker, last week, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt filed to join a Federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of ObamaCare, and I want to applaud Attorney General Schmidt, Governor Sam Brownback, and the 25 other States that have taken on the duty of correcting what this Congress did unconstitutionally last cycle. Our Nation was founded on liberty, and that liberty was enshrined in our Constitution. They gave to us, as Members of Congress, certain powers, enumerated and very limited. The ObamaCare law strikes at the heart of that constitutional principle and for the first time requires every citizen of America and Kansas to buy a health care product or face a stiff penalty. Never before has Congress required anyone to buy a private product in this way. It can't be right. If that power were to exist in Congress, our power would be unlimited, and that's not how our Founders intended it. I urge every one of my fellow colleagues to take aim at this law which threatens our liberty, our health care system, and jobs in America and Kansas.

Mr. POMPEO

Mr. POMPEO. ``No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspections laws; and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports shall be for the use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress.''