Denny Rehberg

Mr. REHBERG

Mr. REHBERG. Madam Chair, I make a point of order against the amendment because it proposes to change existing law and constitutes legislation in an appropriation bill and therefore violates clause 2 of rule XXI. The rule states in pertinent part, ``An amendment to a general appropriation bill shall not be in order if changing existing law.'' And the amendment directly amends existing law.

Mr. REHBERG. Madam Chair, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. REHBERG. Mr. Chairman, we have no objection to the amendment, and I intend to vote for the amendment.

Mr. REHBERG. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. REHBERG. I yield to the gentleman from Alaska.

Mr. REHBERG. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. REHBERG. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. REHBERG. Mr. Chairman, the amendment adds a limitation to a general appropriations bill. Under clause 2 of rule XXI, such amendments are not in order during the reading of a general appropriations bill. The rule states in part: ``Except as provided in paragraph D, an amendment proposing a limitation not specifically contained or authorized in existing law for the period of the limitation shall not be in order during consideration of a general appropriations bill.'' Mr. Chairman, the amendment adds a limitation and is not specifically contained or authorized in existing law during the reading. The amendment, therefore, is in violation of clause 2(c) of rule XXI. I ask for a ruling from the Chair.

Mr. REHBERG. Mr. Chairman, I object.

Mr. REHBERG

Mr. REHBERG. Madam Chair, I reserve a point of order on the gentlewoman's amendment.

Mr. REHBERG. I continue to reserve my point of order.

Mr. REHBERG

Mr. REHBERG. Thank you, Mr. Rogers. Members of this body, I have an obligation as chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education to tell you the simple truth. We're bleeding cash, piling up liabilities, and trying to postpone the day of reckoning; and as a result, America is in a financial free-fall. In 4 quick years, Congress made what was a spending problem into a spending crisis. We on this side of the aisle wanted to create jobs; you wasted time on a health care reform bill that did not reform health care. While we wanted to build an economy, you wasted time building government. Unfortunately, many in Washington, D.C., especially on Capitol Hill, are in denial. My colleagues, it's time to stop pretending that the well of wealth in this country is bottomless. We must address spending now, or it will be worse next year. Two years ago, the Congress passed a stimulus bill totaling nearly $1 trillion. Unfortunately, now we know it did not stimulate. And we know a lot of money went for programs, not necessarily bad programs, but programs that couldn't stimulate the economy. But the biggest travesty of Washington's stimulus spending spree is not that it was a waste of money; it's that the money has been stolen in plain sight from our children and grandchildren. That is what taxation without representation looks like in the 21st century, and it means our Nation's fiscal mess is not just a math problem. It's a moral problem, and we owe it to our children to have much better leadership. That's why I stand before you with a savings of $23 billion in the three Departments I have responsibility for. No program is immune from waste. So there are no more sacred cows. No law, regulation, or program is perfect or timeless. If something is not working, we will fix it or eliminate it. In my subcommittee, we want to help people, to help train people, to help educate people; but we've learned repeatedly that simply throwing more and more money at well-intentioned programs does not necessarily work. Those who want to spend money have the burden of proof; and with the debt crisis we face, that burden is a heavy one. Those seeking funding have to prove that the programs are working. Show us the results. Show us that the benefits outweigh the costs. Show us that government can do a better job with this money than the private sector. This continuing resolution is a change in direction, away from looking to bigger government solutions to empowering individuals and small businesses to create jobs and grow this economy. Anyone who relies on Federal funding has a patriotic duty to look for ways to get by on less for the sake of our country's future today and tomorrow.

Mr. REHBERG

Mr. REHBERG. Mr. Speaker, earmarks represent the culture of spending that has led to record deficits and debts that are literally costing us our future. We've got to change that culture, and we've got to start right now. Today, we can save the American taxpayer as much as $16.5 billion. That money can go to pay down some of the debt we've accrued against our children's future. That's why I made the decision last year to forgo earmarks. It wasn't an easy decision, but it was the right one. That's why President Obama and Montana's Democrat Governor have also thrown their support behind eliminating earmarks. But earmarks are just the beginning. We also need to balance the budget and seriously cut spending across the board. If Congress doesn't have the courage to cut earmarks, how can we hope to tackle the bigger problems later?

Mr. REHBERG

Mr. REHBERG. Everyone has heard the story about the three little pigs and the wolf that huffs and puffs his way through a house made of straw and a house made of wood. Montanans face a similar situation with the status of the Rocky Mountain gray wolf as an endangered species. The science says that the gray wolf is no longer endangered in Montana and Idaho. The targets set by the Endangered Species Act were surpassed years ago. But powerful out-of-State interests have huffed and puffed and used all sorts of dirty tricks and gotten the gray wolf relisted for the second time over the recommendation of the Obama and Bush administrations. In the story, the three little pigs find shelter in a house made of stone. If that's what it takes, a legislative solution, that's what we'll do. I've heard from more than 1,000 people in the last few days who've weighed in on a legislative solution, and it's time to start building that stone house.

Mr. REHBERG

Mr. REHBERG. Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 519 and 520, I was unavoidably detained due to travel complications. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. REHBERG

Mr. REHBERG. Thank you, Mr. Petri. Mr. Speaker, I want to voice my support for House Resolution 1473, supporting recreational aviation and backcountry airstrips on America's public lands. This resolution is the fruit of a bipartisan effort. I could not have drafted this legislation without the support of my colleagues from Idaho, Mr. Simpson and Mr. Minnick, and the co-chairs of the House General Aviation Caucus, Mr. Ehlers and Mr. Boyd. One hundred years ago, this resolution might have been about supporting horses. Aviation has become as important to the modern West as horses were to the early explorers, trappers and prospectors. That is because the vast majority of Montana's 147,000 square miles aren't easily reached by roads--we've got a lot of dirt between light bulbs. And like the horse opened new lands in 1910, aviation is critical to access today. That is why backcountry airstrips are such an important part of our way of life. There are too many benefits to list them all. They enable search and rescue, fire management, research, disaster relief and wildlife management. In the event of mechanical problems or inclement weather, they serve as emergency landing sites when larger airports are out of reach. They allow public access to some of the most beautiful, remote Federal lands in America, regardless of one's physical ability, and they serve as efficient access points for tourists, who in turn contribute to local economies and small businesses. That means jobs. Too often, however, these airstrips are targeted for closure by the Federal Government or well-funded special interest groups, or simply ignored by bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. Please join the bipartisan support for this measure and vote for House Resolution 1473.

Mr. REHBERG

Mr. REHBERG. In the last month alone, I've hosted 11 listening sessions around Montana, promising to bring their message back to Washington with me. The message is Montanans are fed up with the reckless spending that every man, woman, and child is on the hook for more than $40,000 in Federal debt. I heard them, which is why I joined the House Republicans in their earmark moratorium, but not everyone is listening. In three appropriations subcommittee meetings, I have offered amendments to freeze spending at fiscal year 2010 levels. My amendments would have saved the taxpayers more than $18 billion. But each time, they were rejected on a party-line vote. See, the President has even promised a spending freeze next year. So this year they're increasing spending to compensate. It's a sneaky shell game that only ensures that the taxpayers lose. But Montanans told me loud and clear they want spending reform, and that's what I'm going to do, and I'm going to keep fighting for it every day I'm here.

Mr. REHBERG

Mr. REHBERG. Madam Speaker, had I been present I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 434, ``nay'' on rollcall No. 435 and ``yea'' on rollcall No. 436.

Mr. REHBERG

Mr. REHBERG. Thousands of Montanans are joining millions of Americans speaking out. I have heard from them at seven listening sessions across Montana just last week. And thanks to an innovative House Republican initiative called America Speaking Out, they can join people around the country online at americaspeakingout.com. Unfortunately, this majority has not been listening. When emails and phone systems were overwhelmed by the opposition to the stimulus, they turned off their phones. When town hall meetings were overrun by angry constituents, they stopped holding public meetings. When the opposition to their health care takeover got too hot, they held closed-door meetings and capped it off with a 1 a.m. vote. Americans deserve better. We deserve a government that listens first and then acts. We deserve a government that remembers who it works for. That's what I'm doing in Montana, and that's what House Republicans are doing online. Please join me today by logging on at americaspeakingout.com. Together, we will make a difference.

Mr. REHBERG

Mr. REHBERG. Secret documents, clandestine meetings, code words, and secret identities. Despite all of these elements of a dime store spy novel, this isn't fiction. It's the United States Department of the Interior. Almost 4 months ago a secret memo was discovered. Across the top, where you might see ``top secret,'' it said ``not for release'' instead. It contained secret plans to designate millions of acres across the West as national monuments. My colleagues and I demanded the missing pages, and after nearly 4 months, mum is the word. Meanwhile, new emails hint at a conspiracy that would be at home in an Ian Fleming novel: meetings with United States Senators to discuss projects, treasured landscapes, contingency plans, complete with maps, fit for a Pentagon war room. Americans like spy novels, but there's no place for covert policymaking in America. The Department of the Interior should stop playing spy games with Western lands.

Mr. REHBERG

Mr. REHBERG. Mr. Speaker, too many people in Washington, D.C. are under the dangerous impression that the Second Amendment is obsolete and unnecessary. If they had their way, only criminals and agents of the State would be armed, while law-abiding Americans would be at their mercy. While we can stop gun control in Congress, progressives and Washington, D.C. bureaucrats will use every tactic at their disposal to disarm the American public, including banning firearms on public lands. That is why I have sponsored the Firearms Freedom on Federal Lands Act with Representatives Rob Bishop and Paul Broun. This legislation creates a statutory protection of gun rights, preventing land management agencies from restricting firearms on public lands, as they have done in the past. The NRA has endorsed this measure, and I hope my colleagues will follow their lead and cosponsor this legislation.

Mr. REHBERG

Mr. REHBERG. Mr. Speaker, the American people vividly remember the contortions this Chamber went through to find the votes needed to pass cap-and-tax. We remember the arm twisting and backroom deals that secured the votes for the government takeover of health care. When it comes to the policies the American people oppose, this House has always found the votes. Yet, apparently, when it comes to passing a budget, something every family and small business must do, the majority just can't find enough votes to get it done. With almost $13 trillion in debt, and record deficits adding more every minute, is this majority so desperate to avoid facing the tough decisions that they are going to scrap the budget all together? Talk about burying your head in the sand. We are here to do a job, and passing a budget is a big part of that job. Let's get to work.

Mr. REHBERG

Mr. REHBERG. For thousands of Montana small businesses, Earth Day was just one more example of how out of touch Washington bureaucrats can be. The EPA chose Earth Day as the deadline for its new rule, the lead rule. Every contractor in Montana needed to take a training course from an EPA-certified instructor in order to work on any older building that contained lead. The trouble is Montana only has one teacher for all of our 147,000 square miles, and the EPA gave us less than 1 year to do it. Everyone wants to make sure that lead is handled safely. But at a time when contractors are hurting from an economic downturn, we don't need to add Federal bungling to the list of challenges. I introduced H.R. 5177 to extend the EPA deadline and give these small businesses room to breathe. Please join me in cosponsoring this bill. Our contractors are already suffering without the EPA coming after them.

Mr. REHBERG

Mr. REHBERG. Today, as million of Americans around the country fill out their brackets, March Madness is in the air. Unfortunately, the madness isn't restricted to the basketball court. As Congress rushes to pass a health care bill that is so bad even the majority party can't stomach it, we've got our own case of March Madness right here in Congress, but ours is worse. With March Madness, every game is played on TV in full view of the American public; in House Madness, the legislation is written in secret behind closed doors. In March Madness, you play for bragging rights; in the House bill in House Madness, it's matters of life and death, one- sixth of the national economy, and more than $1 trillion in tax dollars. In March Madness, the team with the most points wins. In House Madness, you rewrite the rules with procedural tricks so that the team with fewer votes can win. It's time to blow the whistle, call a foul, and stop this Madness.

Mr. REHBERG

Mr. REHBERG. Madam Speaker, on rollcall Nos. 75, 76, and 77, I was unavoidably detained from voting due to flight complications from Montana to Washington, DC. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall 75, ``nay'' on rollcall 76, and ``yea'' on rollcall 77.