Paul Ryan

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. At this time, Madam Chair, I yield 2 minutes to a gentleman from the Budget Committee, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta).

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. At this time, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock).

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Madam Chair, I would like to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Conaway).

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. I yield the gentleman 30 additional seconds.

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. At this time, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Chaffetz).

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Madam Chair, at this time I would like to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas, the vice ranking member of the Budget Committee, Mr. Hensarling.

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Madam Chair, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. I yield myself 4 minutes. Madam Chair, let me read you a story about a project that is deemed shovel-ready that is getting funded in the stimulus package in Wisconsin. The town of Arena, it is a beautiful small town in Iowa County, the town of Arena will get $426,000 to replace the River Road bridge. It averages about 10 cars a day. A quote from the town chairman, ``I was surprised as anyone when I got a call that the bridge was going to be fixed. I can tell you that the bridge is a very low priority for us.'' Stimulus package, shovel-ready project. If you think this is the kind of way we ought to be spending our taxpayer dollars, then vote for this budget, because they are going to do a lot more of this stuff. If you think that is the key to prosperity, borrow that money, build the bridge that gets 10 cars a day that the people from this town say is a low priority, then we are going to do more of that. Vote for this budget. I want to speak not in numerical terms, not in statistics, but in history and morality. We are the greatest nation on Earth. We are an exceptional nation. And I want it to stay that way. History is replete with episode after episode of great civilizations and great nations not being defeated militarily, but being defeated by themselves, doing themselves in through atrophy and stagnation. That is what could happen here if we don't watch it. The kinds of borrowing that is being proposed in this is staggering. I want to ask you, how much money do you think I have in my wallet? I have $50,000,000,010 in my wallet. I've got 10 U.S. dollars and 50 billion Zimbabwe dollars. Ten U.S. dollars right now are more valuable than the Zimbabwe dollar. This is what happens when a country tries to inflate its way out of its debt. It's worthless. I'm not saying we're going to become Zimbabwe. Far from it. But I'm saying our greenback is under duress. People are wondering if this is going to retain its value. The question is, are we going to be able to keep finding people to buy all our bonds if we borrow and borrow and borrow? If, under this Presidency, as this budget proposes, we borrow more money than all prior presidencies combined, are we going to get all these people to give us that money? And then guess what? Guess who pays for it? The next generation. Our children. Our children already are on a glide path to pay twice the level of taxes we pay today; that's if you don't pass this budget. It gets much worse if you do pass this budget. We're going to debase our currency if we keep going down this path. Do you know what that means? I know that's wonky stuff. That means people lose their savings. That means senior citizens living on fixed incomes lose their savings. Their standard of living goes down. That means the middle class that's saving for retirement, saving for college, that gets wiped out. It is getting to that kind of a serious moment in this country where, if we keep thinking we can just borrow and borrow and borrow, tax and tax and tax, spend and spend and spend, we're going to do it in to our own country. I don't want that to happen. This is the greatest country on the planet. This is the land of opportunity. This is the country that has shown the world that we can reach unprecedented amounts of prosperity, where everybody can climb up that economic ladder. We want a society where we equalize opportunity for all people. We don't want to pass this budget that says we're going to equalize the results of everybody's lives. We are going to micromanage their affairs. We want America to succeed and to prosper, and that's why we want to defeat this budget. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Madam Chair, let me inquire about the time allotments. I realize we have 2 hours equally divided. It is my understanding the gentleman is going to do 10-minute blocks. Is that what the chairman is going to be doing? Okay. Let me ask, Madam Chair, how much time is remaining on their side.

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. I yield 10 minutes to myself to control that block of time. Madam Chairman, this is a big debate. This is a very, very significant debate. This is a debate about the budget of our country, the fiscal future of our country. It is a debate that is probably the biggest fiscal debate we have had in this country in decades. It is 9 p.m. on a Wednesday night. This is a debate that is going to go on for 3 hours, into the late part of the night. I wonder why the majority decided: Let's have this debate when everybody is watching CSI. Let's have this debate when no one is watching C-SPAN. If we are so excited about this budget, why aren't we having this debate in the broad daylight? If we really think this is the way forward for America, why don't we talk about it when America is watching? It is almost like a pay raise debate. Now, let's talk about this budget. We need more than just 3 hours, I would say, to debate this budget. Let's look at just what this budget does. Now, you are going to hear three phrases: Spends too much, borrows too much, taxes too much. That underscores what this budget really does. Madam Chairman, the debt held by the public under this budget doubles in 5\1/2\ years, triples in a little over 10 years. Let's put it in a different way. The kind of red ink this budget proposes for our children and our grandchildren, for our country, is more under this presidency than the presidencies of George Washington to George W. Bush combined. We used to see these charts out in front of the offices of the Members who call themselves Blue Dogs, until the charts were banned out in front of offices, that said: Here is what the national debt is. Here is your share. It is shameful. It is terrible. We have got to get our debt. And yet, we are told that the Blue Dogs are marching in lockstep for this budget that doubles the national debt in 5\1/2\ years and triples it in 10\1/2\ years. And one thing would be interesting, one thing would be a decent argument if all the tax increases in this budget, $1.5 trillion in tax increases, the biggest tax increase we last had was $345 billion. So $1.5 trillion in tax increases, small businesses, the assets that make up our pension funds, our 401(k) funds, our college savings plans, energy. One estimate from MIT says the cap-and-trade scheme could raise taxes on households by as much as $4,500 a year. The Congressional Budget Office says, no, it is more like $1,600 a year. The point is, a lot of taxes. Are these tax increases being used to reduce the deficit? Are these tax increases being used to pay down debt like President Clinton proposed in 1993, the last time we had a really large tax increase? No. They are to fuel higher spending. But what is worse than all of that from a fiscal recklessness standpoint is all these new taxes, $1.5 trillion, is to finance even more spending. So we are putting our country on this vicious cycle of chasing ever higher spending with ever higher taxes that never quite catch up with that spending to give us a record amount of debt. The problem is, one day maybe people won't buy our debt. What happens when that happens? So we are going to hear from our colleagues over the next 1 hour, 45 minutes about all the great investments in education, the great investments in this and the investments on that, and spending money on this and spending money on that, and just how great and compassionate that is. I want to tell you one thing. I want to show you what the Congressional Budget Office just told us, and here is what they told us. My three children, who are 4, 5, and 7 years old, when they are my age, here is the tax bill that will be due them--this is the Congressional Budget Office--if we don't get this under control. These are the tax rates that will be necessary to tax the next generation. When my kids are my age raising their kids in Janesville, Wisconsin, just like I am doing with my wife and myself, the bottom tax bracket for that generation if we pass this budget and pass this bill on to them, the 10 percent bracket goes up to 26 percent. Middle-income taxpayers who now pay a 25 percent income tax bracket pay 66 percent. The upper bracket, which is the one that the small businesses pay, instead of paying 38 percent, or it is about to be 40, will pay 92 percent. This is not some mythical pie-in-the-sky estimate. This is the Congressional Budget Office saying if you are going to raise taxes to pay for all this borrowing, here's what the next generation is going to get. We are passing on to the next generation the most reckless budget, the most reckless deficit and borrowing spree, in generations. Here is my biggest concern, and I want to yield to some of my colleagues here. My concern is that at the beginning of this budget debate what we really ought to be talking about here is do we want the America we know and love, or do we want to take that system, put it aside and adopt another form of government, adopt a European-style system? Because that is, after all, what we are talking about here. Do we want to have our tax levels, our debt levels, the size of our government levels at these huge levels that we know very well from history's stories show us high unemployment, stagnant wages and lower standards of living? I just find it so interesting and so ironic that European capitals are lecturing us today on fiscal discipline. It is kind of embarrassing actually. I find it amazing that the Chinese are lecturing us about getting our borrowing under control because they are worried about the value of our currency in our bonds. It is embarrassing. And yet, in the middle of the night, we bring this budget up that proposes this enormous gusher of more spending, more borrowing and more taxing. And we think this is the road to prosperity? This is the road to serfdom. We will offer an alternative tomorrow. Yes, our friends on the left will disagree with that alternative. We want America back. We want the country we grew up in. We want the country that says we are going to have a safety net to help those people who cannot help themselves, help them when they are down on their luck. We don't want everybody laying in a hammock where they are dependent on the government. We want a country that rewards achievement, production, activity, working hard, improving your life, making life better for you and making sure in your generation you take on your responsibilities and fix the problems so your kids are better off. That is the America we grew up in. That is the America we want, and that is the America you are kissing away with this budget. We are going to talk numbers. We are going to talk statistics. But at the end of the day, we are passing an unconscionable amount of debt on to the next generation. And it is going to kill our current economy. I'm not one who is typically that passionate. I am not one who typically comes down here and says things like this. But I have never seen a budget like this in my life. I have never seen the numbers quite this awesome in how big they are. This is a budget that should be rejected. We want bipartisanship. But for the majority to have it, you have to collaborate with us. And we are asking the Blue Dogs, I know you're out there. I know you're thinking about this vote. I know you're listening. Help us. Do you want your fingerprints on this mountain of borrowing? Do you want to go home to your constituents whom you told you were going to be conservatives and say you signed up for this stuff? You have the votes to stop this. The people who call themselves Blue Dog Democrats can stop this bill. They have the votes to do that. Do it, and join us, and let's work together to fix this. I want to close my comments the way I opened them in the markup. The gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt) is a true gentleman. He brings real definition to this northerner as to what it means to be a southern gentleman. I would love nothing more than to sit across the table from that man and strike a real budget bargain that actually reduces our debt, that actually puts our fiscal house in order. Because that is the kind of man that could do that kind of a budget. He did it in 1997. I think he can do it again. Unfortunately, this administration, this House leadership, is leading us off the leftward cliff. They are leading us off a leftward cliff. And it is in the power of those Democrats who call themselves Blue Dogs to stop it from happening. And I am begging you, please, stop this crime on the next generation. Announcement by the Chair

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Madam Chair, how much time do I have left in my allotment?

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Madam Chair, at this time I would like to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton).

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Madam Chairman, I will yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio, a member of the Budget Committee, Mr. Austria.

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman.

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. At this time, Madam Chair, I would like to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California, a member of the Budget Committee and the Ways and Means Committee, Mr. Nunes.

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Let me ask the Chair how much time is remaining on each side.

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Madam Chair, I will yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Texas, the vice ranking member of the Budget Committee, Mr. Hensarling.

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. At this time, I'd like to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio, a member of the Budget Committee, Mr. Jordan.

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Madam Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Barrett).

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Madam Chairman, at this time, I would like to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey, a senior member of the Budget Committee, Mr. Garrett.

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Madam Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady from Wyoming (Mrs. Lummis).

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, the President said, ``We don't want any tired old ideas.'' I agree. One-time rebate checks, special interest pork and runaway spending, those tired old ideas didn't work in the past administration. They won't work now. This is just more of the same. Both parties have messed this thing up. So the question is, are we going to come together and fix this? The crown jewel of the American economy is the risk-taker, the entrepreneur, the small businessmen and women, the person who put it all on the line and created jobs. That is the way out. That is not what this bill does. This bill says, let's take money out of the economy and away from the private sector through higher borrowing and higher taxes, ultimately so that government bureaucrats can spend money and try and re-micromanage the economy back to prosperity. This bill, which will lead to higher costs and higher taxes, will be not a road to prosperity, but a road to stagnation. The priorities are just all wrong. There is more money in this legislation for the National Endowment for the Arts, for the National Endowment for the Arts, than there is to helping small businesses keep and create jobs. We can do better than this. Mr. Speaker, please, if you want bipartisanship, that means collaboration, working with us. You have all the rights. The majority can do whatever they want. But when you look at the minority's alternative, a plan to create jobs, to help families and small businesses keep and create jobs using the administration's own methodology, you will see that our plan creates twice the jobs for half the cost. This bill sends us on a worldwide borrowing binge. We're going to go out and borrow four times as much money this year than we ever have in the history of this country in a single year. This is not just a road to stagnation, it is a road to stagflation.

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, as a native of Wisconsin, it may be strange that I am here to honor Miami University. However, this proud Wisconsinite is also a proud graduate of Miami University. I graduated from Miami University in 1992. One of the reasons why I am here, standing and talking in the well of the House of Representatives, is because of the lessons that I learned at Miami University. I studied both economics and political science at Miami, and the excellent professors I had there--including Dr. Richard Hart--created an environment where intellectual curiosity was rewarded. It also was where I first became involved with politics. In fact, one of my early involvements in politics was working as a college Republican, working door-to-door for a new person running for Congress by the name of John Boehner, our now esteemed minority leader, for whom I knocked on doors in Trenton, Ohio. But, more to the point, Mr. Speaker, this is the bicentennial of Miami University. Two-hundred years of proud history. Founded in 1809, it is a school with such a rich history and proud tradition of top academic and athletic achievement. It is known as the ``Cradle of Coaches'' due to the high caliber of coaches it has produced, which includes such notables as Ara Parseghian, Paul Brown, and Woody Hayes. Miami has also gained national recognition as one of the best Universities in the country. Referred to as one of the ``Public Ivies,'' due to its outstanding academic reputation, Miami ranks as a top school for all academic programs, including its business program, its arts and sciences programs and its architecture program. Importantly, in a time of increasing globalization, it consistently ranks as one of the top schools for study abroad programs, including the outstanding Transatlantic Seminar program. One of the great things about Miami is its beauty, its aesthetics. It's one of the most beautiful campuses in America. The poet Robert Frost called Miami ``the prettiest campus that ever was.'' Miami University has such a rich tradition. It has produced so many great, faithful servants here in the Capitol, in public, in private institutions. It's a real honor and privilege for me to be able to be here to be a part of this resolution, to be a cosponsor of it, and to honor this tradition, I know that Miami's best days are yet ahead.

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin

Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. I appreciate the gentleman for yielding, and you're wondering why a guy from Wisconsin is here to talk about Miami of Ohio--because this guy from Wisconsin is a graduate of Miami of Ohio. I graduated from Miami of Ohio in 1992. I'd say one of the reasons why I am here, standing and talking in the well of the House of Representatives, is because of the lessons that I learned at Miami of Ohio. The things that shaped me there, the economics degree, the political science degree. In fact, one of my early involvements in politics was working as a college Republican, working door-to-door for a new person running for Congress by the name of John Boehner. I have learned how to since pronounce that name Boehner. Back then, we didn't know how to pronounce it. But I did doors in Trenton, Ohio, on behalf of our now esteemed minority leader. But, more to the point, Mr. Speaker, this is the bicentennial of Miami of Ohio. Two-hundred years of history. Founded in 1809. It's a school with such a rich history and proud tradition of top academic and athletic achievement. The ``Cradle of Coaches.'' It's consistently ranked as one of the best schools in the country. It's a public university, referred to as one of the ``public Ivys,'' ranking in the tops in business schools, arts and sciences, and architecture, and all other rounds of academic nature. One of the great things about Miami is its beauty, its aesthetics. It's one of the most beautiful campuses in America. I think the poet Robert Frost called Miami of Ohio the most pleasant-looking campus there is. Miami of Ohio has such a rich tradition. It has produced so many great, faithful servants here in the Capitol, in public, in private institutions. It's a real honor and privilege for me to be able to be here to be a part of this resolution, to be a cosponsor of it, and to honor this fantastic tradition. And I know that Miami's best days are yet ahead.