Mike Ross

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of Judge George Howard Jr., a true treasure to the community of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and to the entire State of Arkansas. Judge Howard passed away April 21, 2007, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, at the age of 82. Judge Howard spent a lifetime breaking down barriers, and began his service to our nation at the age of 18 in the U.S. Navy during World War II. During his service, the Navy was segregated at the time. However, it was this personal experience that led him to become an attorney to ensure equal treatment for all under the law of the land. When he retuned from the war, Judge Howard completed his high school education in Pine Bluff and went on to graduate with honors from the pre-law program at Lincoln University in Missouri. Howard then became the first African American student to live on campus at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where he earned his doctor of jurisprudence degree. Throughout his life and career, Judge George Howard believed deeply in the fundamental idea of justice for all. Judge Howard's distinguished service on the Arkansas State Claims Commission, the Arkansas Supreme Court, the Arkansas Court of Appeals and as a U.S. Federal Judge paved the way for African Americans in Arkansas to pursue careers in public service and the judiciary. He was admired for his fairness and will be forever remembered as a dedicated public servant who cared deeply about his family, his work, his state and his country. Judge Howard will be missed by his family, his community and all those who knew him and called him a friend. I will continue to keep his family in my thoughts and prayers.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of my friend Mr. Murray Toler of Malvern, Arkansas, who passed away April 14, 2007. Murray Toler was a World War II veteran, devoted family man and a civic leader whose optimistic and determined outlook on life impacted all who knew him and called him a friend. Murray Toler was born and raised in Leola and Sheridan, Arkansas, and upon graduating high school, he joined the United States Navy, where he served through World War II. Murray Toler spent a lifetime in the forestry and lumber business as the longtime partner and active manger at the H.G. Toler and Sons Lumber Company in Leola. He was a devout member of the First United Methodist Church of Malvern, where he actively served on numerous committees and boards throughout the years. Murray Toler also served on the board of directors of the Malvern National Bank for more than 40 years, an accomplishment that demonstrated his dedication and commitment to his community. I send my deepest condolences to his wife, Ruby, of Malvern; his two daughters Nancy Toler Grigsby and Cindy Toler Hale; his son David Toler; and to his five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Murray Toler will be sorely missed by his family, his church and his community. I will continue to keep his family in my thoughts and prayers.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, this evening, as most Tuesday evenings, I rise on behalf of the 43 member strong, fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. We are a group of Democrats that believe in restoring common sense, fiscal discipline and accountability to our Nation's government. As you walk the Halls of Congress, Mr. Speaker, it is easy to know when you are walking by the office of a member of the fiscally conservative, Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, because you will see this poster in the hallway as not only a welcome mat to that Blue Dog member's office, but to remind Members of Congress and the American people on a daily basis that our country is in a fiscal mess. In fact, today, the U.S. national debt is $8,827,851,749,695, and I ran out of room, Mr. Speaker, but you could add a quarter on to that, 25 cents. You divide that enormous number by every man, woman and child in America, and every one of us, our share of the national debt is $29,262. It is what I commonly refer to as the debt tax, D-E-B-T tax, which is one tax that cannot go away until we get our Nation's fiscal house in order. The Federal deficit is something we don't have to have, Mr. Speaker. In fact, from 1998 through 2001 our Nation enjoyed a surplus. We had a balanced budget. We lived within our means. That was under President Clinton. He was the first Democrat or Republican to give us a balanced budget in some 30 or 40 years. And the economy was doing pretty good when there was no deficit and when we had a balanced budget. We all remember those days, how the stock market performed. People had good-paying jobs with good benefits. Many of those jobs today have been shifted to places like China and Mexico and India. It is true that most of the folks have gone on and found other work, but if you really research it and look at it, they have found lesser-paying jobs with lesser benefits or, in many cases, no benefits at all. In fact, this is Cover the Uninsured Week, Mr. Speaker. Forty-eight million people in America are without health insurance tonight. Who are they? It is not the people that can't work or don't want to work. They qualify for Medicaid, which is health insurance for the poor, disabled, and elderly. It is not our seniors. They are provided coverage through Medicare, which is the only health insurance plan most seniors have to stay healthy and get well. So who are these 48 million people? It is the folks in this country, working families, Mr. Speaker, that are trying to do the right thing and stay off welfare, but they are working the jobs with no benefits. Ten million of them are children. One in five children will go to bed tonight in America hungry. Ten million will go to bed tonight without health insurance. This is America, and I believe that we have a duty and an obligation to find a way to ensure that health care is affordable, available and accessible for all of God's children and for all of us here in America. As long as we have got this type of debt and this type of deficit, it is going to be difficult to meet that challenge, as well as others. The total national debt from 1789 to 2000 was $5.67 trillion; but by 2010, under this administration, the total national debt will have increased to $10.88 trillion. Mr. Speaker, that is a doubling of the 211-year debt in just 10 years. In just one decade. Interest payments on this debt are one of the fastest growing parts of the Federal budget. In fact, Mr. Speaker, we will spend more of your tax money this year paying interest on the national debt than we will spend on educating our children, providing health care and other benefits to our veterans, and, yes, we will spend more money paying interest on the national debt this year than we will spend protecting our homeland through the Department of Homeland Security. So many of America's priorities are going unmet. Why? Because this town and this Congress and this administration for the past 6 years have given us record deficit after record deficit, record debt after record debt, to the extent that today, today our Nation is borrowing about $1 billion a day. But what is even more alarming than that is before we borrow $1 billion today, we will spend half a billion dollars paying interest on the debt we already have. I represent a very rural district in south Arkansas, in the western half of Arkansas. Half of the 29 counties I represent, nearly half of them, are located in what is referred to as the Delta region of this country, one of the poorest regions of America. We have hope in that area by investing in alternative renewable fuels like ethanol by biodiesel, creating new jobs for our working families and new markets for our farm families and our landowners through cellulosic ethanol, taking the slash, the treetops and the limbs, what is left down in the woods and giving it a value and finding a use for that. Another way for us to accomplish those things, our government must invest in research and development for cellulosic ethanol. Our government must invest more in research and development for alternative and renewable fuels. The real tragedy is that we will send the Iraqis more money in the next 8 hours than we will spend on research and development for alternative renewable fuels in the next 365 days. That is one example of why the deficit and the debt do matter. A half a billion dollars a day going to pay interest on the national debt. We could build 200 brand-new elementary schools every single day in America just on the interest that we are paying on the national debt. In southeast Arkansas, we have great hope in Interstate 69, an interstate under construction, sort of. It was announced in Indianapolis 5 years before I was born, that was 50 years ago, and with the exception of 40 miles in Kentucky and a stretch just south of Memphis, none of it has been built south of Indianapolis in 50 years, and yet we have great hope that this road can create jobs and economic opportunities for the people in the Delta region. We need $1.5 billion to finish it. For a country boy from Prescott and Emmet and Hope, Arkansas, I can tell you that is a staggering amount. But when you look at it this way, we will spend more money paying interest on the national debt in the next 3 days than what it would take to build Interstate 69. On the western side of my district, there is great hope for Interstate 49. We need about $2 billion to finish it, again a staggering number until you look at it this way: We will spend more money in the next 4 days paying interest on the national debt than what it would take to complete Interstate 49, which would provide the first and only interstate quarter through the middle of the United States of America. So until this Congress starts standing up to this administration and saying ``no'' to these irresponsible budgets, America's priorities will continue to go unmet. I am proud to tell you that under this new Democratic majority, they are listening to the 43 of us in the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dogs. For the last 6 years, we reached out to the Republicans on the other side of the aisle and asked to work with them on a budget that made sense for the American people. We were told that they didn't need us. Mr. Speaker, I believe the American people are sick and tired of all of the partisan bickering that goes on in our Nation's Capital. For members of the Blue Dog Coalition, we don't care if it is a Republican or Democrat idea, we want to know if it is a commonsense idea, and does it make sense for the people back home who sent us here to be their voice. So the Republican leadership turned a deaf ear to us for the past 6 years while they were in power. The American people decided to give the Democrats a chance at being in the majority this past November. I am proud to tell you that we didn't have to offer up a Blue Dog budget this year. Why? Because the new Democratic majority listened to the Blue Dogs and included our key provisions that can restore commonsense fiscal discipline and accountability to our government. So we are beginning through the budget that passed on the floor of this House just a few weeks ago, we are beginning to develop a path that over time, in fact by 2012, Mr. Speaker, can get us back to the days we had under President Clinton of a balanced budget in this country. Why do deficits matter? They matter because they reduce economic growth, they burden our children and grandchildren with liabilities. Again, the debt tax, D-E-B-T, is $29,262 for every man, woman and child in America, and they increase our reliance on foreign lenders who now own 40 percent of our debt. This President, this administration and, for the past 6 years, this Republican-led Congress up until January borrowed more money from foreign central banks and foreign investors than the previous 42 Presidents combined. You want to talk about a risk to a national security, there is one for you. We have got a lot of active Members within the Blue Dogs who come to Washington and stand up and proudly proclaim that they are conservative Democrats with a commonsense vision for the United States. I am absolutely delighted to be joined this evening by several of them. At this time I would yield to an active Member within the Blue Dog Coalition, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Salazar).

Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman, Mr. Salazar, a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition for joining us this evening. The gentleman is absolutely correct. Every one of us, Democrat and Republican, we support our troops. All of the troops in harm's way tonight are in our prayers. Just this week I visited Walter Reed Army Hospital and visited a 19- year-old corporal, John Slatton, from Delight, Arkansas. Most folks have never heard of Delight, Arkansas. It is a town of about 400 people. If you are my age or older, you might remember it as the hometown of Glen Campbell, who was a country singer and had a comedy show on Saturday nights back in the 1960s. But this young man got to Iraq in October, had to have staples put in his head from a bullet that grazed his head in December. And on Easter, his family received a call that he had been shot by enemy fire and the bullet had entered near his left ear and exited the right side. The good Lord was working overtime that day. It missed his brain and he is going to survive. He is going to have some challenges, and I ask that everybody join me in keeping him and his family in our hearts and our prayers. We have all been touched by this. My brother-in-law is in the Air Force. He is serving in the Middle East tonight, and I am so very proud of his service and all of those who serve us in uniform. They do everything that we as a government ask them to do. But it is very important that we not only support them but that we provide them a direction that can ensure victory in Iraq and allow them to return home in the not-too-distant future to their families and loved ones. I thank the gentleman for standing here with me tonight to demand accountability because we owe it to these brave men and women in uniform who serve our country and who we are so very proud of. This is not a Democrat or a Republican thing. This is an American thing, and as Americans, we all stand in support of our men and women in uniform, not only while they are serving us overseas, but we have a commitment to them to provide them a new generation of veterans coming home with the very best in medicine and health care and opportunities so that they can be reintegrated into our society as productive citizens, as important citizens who have done so much for this country and for whom we owe so much. I am very pleased to be also joined this evening by a fellow Blue Dog from the State of Tennessee, Mr. Lincoln Davis. At this time, I would yield to the gentleman from Tennessee.

Mr. ROSS. The gentleman from Tennessee makes a very important point, and that is, look, I was here on 9/11 and shortly after the plane hit the Pentagon we were evacuated. A few hours later, I would learn a young Navy petty officer named Nehamin Lyons from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, would be among those killed on that tragic day that we now all refer to as 9/11. And all of us, Democrats and Republicans, for the most part voted to go to Afghanistan to put an end to terrorism. I will never forget later being invited to the White House September 26, 2002, sitting in a cabinet room: Andy Card, Condoleezza Rice, about 18 Members of Congress and the President. I have still got the notes I took that day, and the President told us that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction, trains terrorists on weapons of mass destruction, and if military force is used, it will be, in the President's words, swift. September 26, 2002. And then a few months later, we saw the banner ``Mission Accomplished,'' and we thought, wow, it was swift. But now we know, and I am not one of these conspiracy theorists that believes the President misled us. I think he received bad intelligence and shared it with us; and until proven otherwise, that is what I will believe because anything other than that would be a very unfair and strong attempt at trying to say something that we do not know whether it is true or not. I have to assume he just received bad intelligence. But I will tell you this: there is not a more difficult decision that Members of Congress have to make than whether or not to send our men and women in uniform into harm's way; and when we are asked and called upon to make those kind of decisions, we have got to know, we must know that our intelligence is correct. So for the most part, we all voted to go there. We are now there. What do we do about it? You want to talk about supporting the troops, one of the ways that you support the troops is to stop moving the goal post, to stop moving the victory line. We say we went there because of weapons of mass destruction. They no longer have them. We won. Then they said, well, we have got to stay until we overthrow Saddam. We won. They said we have to stay till we capture him. We pulled him out of that spider hole. We won. Then the administration said we have to stay till we assassinate him. We assassinate him until he is executed, put to death, and he was. So, based on that, we won. Then they said, well, we have got to stay until the Iraqi people can have elections. They did. We won. Yet, now they are saying that, you know, we have got to stay there, and it's, you know, the line they use now is it's better to fight the terrorists there than here. There weren't terrorists in Iraq. Saddam wouldn't put up with them. He chopped their heads off. Obviously, there are terrorists there now, and there are those from other neighboring countries wanting to create havoc. But for the most part what we have today, as the gentleman from Tennessee indicated, is civil war. Nobody fought our civil war for us, and it's pretty apparent the Iraqis don't want us fighting their civil war for them. Now, understand, we had 3,200 U.S. soldiers die there, 25,000 injured, over 10,000 in ways that will forever change their lives. We are sending the Iraqis $12 million an hour. What do they think about us? Seventy-one percent don't want us there and 60 percent of them think it's okay to kill a U.S. soldier. Contrast that with Afghanistan, where the Taliban is back on the rise. They are back training. We will spend more money in Iraq this month than we will spend in Afghanistan in the next 2\1/2\ years. We have 225,000 troops in the Iraqi region today, and the President wants to add 21,000 more. Yet we only have 25,000 in Afghanistan. The Taliban is back, organizing and getting trained, and the mountains of Afghanistan are nothing more than a breeding ground for terrorists. This administration is so focused on Iraq that they are losing sight of what is going on in Afghanistan, where 84 percent of the people in Afghanistan do want us there. I just wanted to throw that out there for any comment you might have, because I thought you made an excellent point about how we fought our Civil War, and it's time they accept responsibility and fight their own. We cannot continue to put our men and women in uniform on their front lines and have them standing behind us. It is time for them to step up, accept responsibilities, train their men and women, and put them in uniform. They need to fight this war, if they really want a taste of freedom. No one can give you that. You have got to get it country by country.

Mr. ROSS. As you can see from the chart here, let me just work through it with you. With the enactment of fiscal year 2007 appropriations, Congress has approved a total of about $378.5 billion for military operations initiated since the 9/11 attacks. According to the Congressional Research Service, this number will continue to escalate over the next several years. The cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom alone cost American taxpayers $2.5 billion in 2001 and 2002, $51 billion in 2003, $77.3 billion in 2004, $87.3 billion in 2005, and $104.2 billion in 2006. You see a trend here. The cost of the war continues to go up.

Mr. ROSS. It's my understanding the cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom is $378.5 billion. That is to date. Now, you have to understand what that means is, at this time we are spending about $2 billion a week, about $9.5 billion to $10 billion a month, or, again, put it another way, if you do the math, that is about $12 million an hour. The Congress has appropriated $29.9 billion in aid to the Iraqi people. Of this amount, only $16.9 billion of that has been disbursed to the Iraqis, and yet the President is now asking for more. On February 5, 2007, the Defense Department submitted a $94.4 billion fiscal 2007 supplemental request. If enacted, the DOD's total emergency funding for fiscal year 2007, and, again, for 2006, was $104 billion, this is to date, today, this is $60 billion. But if they get what they asked for, then the spending for $2007 will be $163.4 billion. I will repeat that. In 2006 it was $104 billion. In 2007 it will be $163.4 billion; or, put it another way, 40 percent more from the previous year and 50 percent more than the Office of Management and Budget estimated last summer. Now, the administration also requested about $3 billion for Iraq, and $1 billion for Afghanistan in emergency foreign and diplomatic operations funds, if that is where you are going with that. If the fiscal year 2007 supplemental request is approved, total war-related funding would reach about $607 billion, including about $448 billion for Iraq, $126 billion for Afghanistan, $28 billion for enhanced security, and $5 billion that is unallocated. For fiscal year 2008, the Department of Defense has already requested $481.4 billion for its regular budget, and $141.7 billion for war costs. If Congress approves both, the fiscal year 2007 emergency supplemental request and the fiscal year 2008 war request for the fiscal year beginning in October, then total funding for Iraq and the global war on terror would reach about $752 billion, including $564 billion for Iraq, $155 billion for Afghanistan, and $28 billion for enhanced security. Put another way, it almost doubles the number that was prepared January 24 of this year. In fiscal year 2007 alone, spending on the thousands of government contractors involved in reconstruction has risen to $10 billion per month, including $8.6 billion for Iraq and $1.4 billion for Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Since the war is essentially financed through deficit spending, interest payments over time could amount to another $100 billion or more. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that additional war costs for the next 10 years could total $919 billion by 2013. If these estimates are added to already appropriated amounts, total funding for Iraq and the war on terror could reach about $980 billion to $1.4 trillion by 2017. Adding another 21,500 troops alone will cost the American taxpayers another $5.6 billion per year. Believe me, we have got 225,000 troops in the Iraqi region today. If adding another 21,500, which the President is already doing, would win this thing, we would all be for it. But, again, we have had numerous victories over there. Again, the President and this administration continues to move the goal post, the victory line. And that is not fair to our men and women in uniform who have performed bravely and admirably for our Nation. We don't need a troop surge in Iraq. We need a diplomatic surge, and we need to demand responsibility from the Iraqi people. I yield to the gentleman from Colorado.

Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Colorado for joining me this evening here on the floor to talk about restoring accountability to our government and demanding responsibility from the Iraqi people. The American people spoke loud and clear on election day: they are ready for a new direction in Iraq. They don't want more of the same; they want a new direction. And that is what will be voted on on the floor of the House tomorrow. There will be a lot of mischaracterizations of what we are voting on. Here is the bottom line: we are giving the President every penny he asked for for Iraq. Above and beyond that, we are going to provide funding for Walter Reed Army Hospital and for other VA hospital facilities to ensure that this new generation of veterans coming home, not only from Iraq, but also from Afghanistan, receive the very best in health care available to them, because we owe it to them. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our brave men and women in uniform who have done everything that has been asked of them. What this bill also does, I think it is important, Mr. Speaker, that people understand this, the other thing this bill says is that we will have troops in Iraq for another year. And even after the year is up, we will continue to have troops there; but instead of having our men and women in uniform from America on the front lines getting shot at and wounded and killed, we will be there in an advisory role to train Iraqis and demand, a year from now, demand that they step up, that they step up and provide the police and military force for their country. I think it is very important that the American people understand we are going to send our brave men and women in uniform every dime the President has asked for them, but we are also going to demand accountability and responsibility by the Iraqi people and tell them a year from now it is their turn.

Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Colorado, a fellow Blue Dog member, a member of the 43-member strong fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, for joining me here on the floor this evening. Mr. Speaker, if you have any comments, questions, or concerns, I would invite you to e-mail us at BlueDog@mail.house.gov. Again, Mr. Speaker, if you have any comments, questions, or concerns, I would encourage you to e-mail us at BlueDog@mail.house.gov. In the final 3 minutes that we have in the Special Order this evening, I want to point out that one of the things that has been endorsed by the Blue Dog Coalition that we are 100 percent united on is what is called House Resolution 97, Providing for Operation Iraqi Freedom Cost Accountability. The Blue Dogs have endorsed and introduced House Resolution 97. It was offered by Jane Harman, former ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee and Congressman Patrick Murphy who was a captain in our Army and served in Iraq. And it provides for Operation Iraqi Freedom cost accountability to address the lack of oversight and accountability with regard to the Federal Government's funding of the war in Iraq. House Resolution 97, which currently has 61 cosponsors, puts forward tangible commonsense proposals that ensure future transparency and accountability in the funding of Operation Iraqi Freedom. If we are going to send $12 million an hour of your tax money to Iraq, we expect accountability and responsibility for how that money is being spent. We want to know without a shadow of a doubt that it is being spent to protect and equip our brave men and women in uniform. It is an important first step toward making sure that more resources get to our troops in the field. There is a big debate right now of whether the body armor provided them in 2003, is that the best body armor in 2007. If we are going to send our troops over there, we must provide them with the very best, most advanced equipment that is available. House Resolution 97 focuses on four crucial points for demanding fiscal responsibility in Iraq: Number one, a call for transparency on how Iraq war funds are spent; Number two, the creation of a Truman Commission to investigate the awarding of contracts; Number three, a need to fund the Iraq war through the normal appropriations process, and not through the so-called emergency supplementals; And, number four, using American resources to improve Iraqi assumption of internal policing operations, demand more from this new Iraqi Government. In addition, House Resolution 97 calls for the Iraqi Government and its people to progress toward full responsibility for internally policing their country. Members of the Blue Dog Coalition also believe strongly that funding requests for the Iraq war should come through the normal appropriations process rather than through multiple emergency supplemental requests. Since 2003, the Republican-held Congress has been funding the war through emergency supplemental requests, $166 billion in 2003, $25 billion in 2004, $76 billion in 2005, $50 billion in 2006, and another $70 billion after that and $99 billion for 2007 and $142 for 2008. And the list goes on and on. If we are going to be there and if we know we are going to be there, let's put it in the budget and quit hiding it in the so-called emergency supplementals. The American people deserve to know that some $12 million an hour of their tax money is going to Iraq. And what the Blue Dogs are asking for in House Resolution 97, we are demanding from this administration and from the Pentagon accountability to ensure that every dime that goes over there is spent protecting and equipping and serving our honorable men and women in uniform who do everything that this country asks of them. In closing, Mr. Speaker, I ask that you join me in keeping our brave men and women in uniform serving us tonight in Iraq and Afghanistan and other parts of the world in our hearts and in our prayers. With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of my dear friend Colonel Austin Capps Sr. of Gurdon, Arkansas, who passed away April 14, 2007. Colonel Capps was a leader and an inspiration to many throughout his years of service to his community and to the state of Arkansas. His dedicated commitment to making his beloved town of Gurdon and his state a better place to live was evident in everything he did. Colonel Capps was a lifelong resident of Clark County and graduate of Ouachita Baptist University. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army where he served during World War II in North Africa, Italy, and France. After the war, he returned to Gurdon where he continued serving his country by enlisting with the U.S. Army Reserves. Colonel Capps' diligence to duty and service to those around him carried over into his business, Austin's Appliance and Furniture, which he operated in Gurdon for over 70 years. Due to his decades of hard work and commitment to improving the lives of Gurdon residents, I often thought of him as ``Mr. Gurdon.'' Colonel Capps was a devoted, lifelong member of the First Presbyterian Church of Gurdon where he served as an elder, Sunday School teacher, and member of the choir. He was a man of strong faith that was evident in all he did. He also served as member of the Board of Trustees of Baptist Hospital in Arkadelphia and as a faithful Gideon. I send my deepest condolences to his two sons Colonel James Capps, Jr. of Hot Springs, AR, and William Roy Capps, of Gurdon, AR, to his two sisters Louise Mann of Houston, TX, and Alyene Fowler of Ft. Scott, KS; and to his seven grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren who affectionately called him ``Big Daddy.'' Colonel Capps will be missed by his family, his church, his community, and all those who knew him and called him a friend. I will continue to keep his family in my thoughts and prayers.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of Johnny Rapert of Hope, Arkansas, who passed away March 31, 2007. Throughout his years of service to his community, to his students at the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope, and to the state of Arkansas, Johnny was a leader and an inspiration to many. His dedicated commitment to making his beloved state of Arkansas a better place to live was evident in everything he did. Johnny was a former Chancellor of the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope and a former Arkansas State Representative. He was a devoted family man and a model civic leader. He was recognized as the 1996 Hope-Hempstead County Citizen of the Year and was a member of the Unity Baptist Church of Hope, the Lions Club and was a Gideon-- all of which embodied his steadfast service and his dedication to giving back. I send my deepest condolences to his wife, Pat; his sons Daniel Rapert of San Antonio, TX, Rick Dollins of Pocahontas, AR, Robert ``Bobby'' Dollins of Pocahontas, AR, and Michael Dollins of Granite City, IL; his daughters Debbie Yen of Memphis, TN, Patty Harrod of Strong, AR, Connie Zimmer of Hope, AR, and Donna Ragan of Pocahontas, AR; his sister Rita Jackson of St. Louis, MO, and his 16 grandchildren. Johnny will be missed by his family, his church, his community and all those who knew him and called him a friend. I will continue to keep his family in my thoughts and prayers.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Madame Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of my friend Loran Johnson of Warren, Arkansas, who passed away April 6, 2007. Mr. Johnson was committed to making the state of Arkansas a better place to live through his hard work and dedication to his community. He is noted as the founder of the Bradley County Pink Tomato Festival because of its start in 1956 while he was manager of the Warren Chamber of Commerce. He also spent his time promoting Southeast Arkansas with the Southeast Arkansas Economic Development District and the Bradley County Industrial Development Commission. Mr. Johnson served in the Navy during World War II and received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Arkansas at Monticello (UAM) upon returning. He then taught in Swifton and Warren where he also sponsored the Future Farmers of America (FFA). Because of his work with the FFA students there is now a Loran Johnson Endowed Scholarship Fund at UAM for early childhood education majors. Mr. Johnson was a devoted family man and a model civic leader. He was a member of the Arkansas Cattleman's Association, the Bradley County Retired Teacher's Association, the American Legion and he served as a delegate to the Arkansas Silver-Haired Legislature. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Warren where he served as the program chairman for the Brotherhood Men's Group. I send my deepest condolences to his wife, Madge Bryant Johnson; his children Wayne Johnson of Warren, LoraNelle Humphrey of Stuttgart and Camille Johnson Lide of Little Rock; and his grandsons, nieces and nephews. Mr. Johnson will be missed by his family, his church, his community and all those who knew him and called him a friend. I will continue to keep his family in my thoughts and prayers.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, tonight I rise on behalf of the 43 Member strong fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. We are a group of fiscally conservative Democrats that are committed to restoring common sense and fiscal discipline to our Nation's government. As you walk the Halls of Congress, Mr. Speaker, it is easy to know when you are walking by the office of a fellow Blue Dog Member because you will see this poster that says ``The Blue Dog Coalition.'' It says, ``Today, the U.S. national debt is, 8,887,793,986,597.86.'' And for every man, woman and child in America, their share of the national debt is $29,465. It is what we refer to as the ``debt tax.'' And that is one tax that cannot be cut, that cannot go away until this Nation gets its fiscal house in order. The Federal deficit continues to climb. Mr. Speaker, it is hard now to think back and realize, but from 1998 through 2001, this country had a balanced budget; and yet under the Republican leadership for the previous 6 years, we have seen them rubber-stamp the President's budget year after year after year, giving us the largest deficit after the largest deficit after the largest deficit, record deficits. And as a result of that, we have seen the national debt grow to where it is today, approaching $9 trillion. Why does this matter? It matters because the total national debt from 1789 to 2000 was $5.67 trillion, but by 2010, the total national debt will have increased to $10.88 trillion. This is a doubling of the 211- year debt in just 10 years. Interest payments on this debt are one of the fastest growing parts of the Federal budget. And the debt tax is one that cannot be repealed. Deficits reduce economic growth. They burden our children and grandchildren with liabilities. They increase our reliance on foreign lenders who own some 40 percent of our debt. This chart here, Mr. Speaker, graphically depicts why the American people should be concerned about the fact that our country is nearly $9 trillion in debt. You see, our Nation spends a half a billion dollars a day, give or take a few dollars, simply paying interest on the debt, and that is money that could be going for education, health care, veterans benefits, to properly equip our men and women in uniform and ensure that they've got the best body armor possible. And this really graphically depicts it, as you can see. The red bar is the amount of money our Federal Government spends simply paying interest on the national debt. The light blue bar demonstrates how much money we spend educating our children. The green box indicates how much we spend on our veterans. And the purple box indicates how much we spend on homeland security. Again, you can see overwhelmingly our tax money is going to pay interest on the national debt. It is time to get our fiscal house in order. It is time to restore common sense to our Federal Government. And once we do, we can begin to spend less of your hard earned tax money, Mr. Speaker, on paying interest on the national debt, and we can spend a lot more on educating our children, taking care of America's veterans, keeping our homeland secure, and the list of America's priorities goes on and on. One of the co-chairs for the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition is Allen Boyd from Florida. He is our administrative co- chair. I am delighted that he has joined me this evening for this lively discussion about restoring common sense and fiscal discipline to our national government. And part of the way we do that, we believe, is through accountability. Throughout the evening we are going to be talking about the budget, we are going to be talking about the debt and the deficit, we are going to be talking about accountability, not only at home, but also in Iraq, and making sure that the hardworking people of this country are getting the most for their tax dollar. I don't think that is asking too much. And I think it is very appropriate that on tax day we rise on the floor of the House to demand accountability for how the American taxpayer's money is being spent. With that, I yield to the gentleman from Florida, Mr. Boyd, the co- chair for administration for the Blue Dog Coalition.

Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Florida for his insight and discussing fiscal discipline and the budget and demanding that this Congress reflects the values and the priorities of the American people. The U.S. is becoming increasingly dependent on foreign lenders. Foreign lenders currently hold a total of $2.199 trillion of our public debt. Compare this to only $623 billion in foreign holdings back in 1993. There is a chart here that pretty much shows us where we have been and where we are going. The amount of foreign-held debt more than doubled under the Bush administration. Starting in 2001, you can see how many billions of dollars we were borrowing from foreign central banks and foreign investors, and you can see how it has gradually increased all of the way through 2006. Putting it another way, this President has borrowed more money in the past 6 years from foreign central banks and foreign investors than the previous 42 Presidents combined. You want to talk about a national security risk, I believe that alone is a national security risk. We are already 60 percent dependent on foreign oil. We know that. We see it every time we fill up at the pumps. And, Mr. Speaker, if we are not careful, we are also going to become too dependent on foreign countries to fund our government. I always enjoy David Letterman's top 10 list. I have a top 10 list. My top 10 list tonight lists the foreign countries that we have borrowed money from to help fund tax cuts in this country for people earning over $400,000 a year. That's right, year after year, for the past 6 years, we have continued to pass tax cuts, not for working families, but for folks earning over $400,000 a year. We didn't have a surplus, so where did the money come from? It came from our Nation borrowing to the tune of about a billion dollars a day. And before we borrow a billion a day, we spend half a billion every day paying interest on the debt we have already got, money that could go to our veterans, to homeland security, to education, to health care. Some 10 million children in this country today are without health care. Instead, it is going to pay interest on our national debt. Where did the money come from? A lot comes from the Social Security trust fund. The first bill I filed as a Member of Congress was a bill to tell the politicians in Washington to keep their hands off the Social Security trust fund. Republican leadership for 6 years refused to give me a hearing or a vote on that bill. Now we know why: Because they were borrowing money from the Social Security trust fund with absolutely no provision made on how the money is going to be paid back or when it is going to be paid back or where the revenues are going to come from to pay it back. When you go to the bank to get a loan, the banker wants to know how you are going to pay it back, when you are going to pay it back, and how much you are going to pay back on a monthly schedule, and so forth and so on. But the top 10 list, these are the countries that the United States of America has borrowed money from to fund our government in these days of reckless deficit spending: Japan, $637.4 billion. China, $346.5 billion. The United Kingdom, $223.5 billion. OPEC, yes, OPEC, our Nation, the United States of America, has borrowed $97.1 billion from OPEC. Korea, $67.7 billion. Taiwan, $63.2 billion. The Caribbean banking centers, $63.6 billion. Hong Kong, $51 billion. Germany, $52.1 billion. And rounding out the top 10 countries that the United States of America has borrowed money from to fund our government, Mexico, $38.2 billion. It is time to restore fiscal discipline and accountability to our government. And a new member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition who is helping us do that in this new Democratic majority, we are demanding answers to tough questions, we are demanding commonsense be restored in our government. We are demanding that this new leadership governs from the middle, which is where we are as Blue Dogs and where we believe the majority of Americans are, and the new Blue Dog member who is helping us do that is the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Wilson), and I yield to him at this time.

Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Ohio for his work within the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition in trying to restore commonsense and fiscal discipline to our national government, trying to give us a budget that will return us to the days of record surpluses instead of record deficits. Hopefully, as a result of the budget passed on this floor just in the last week, we will see this number start back down once again, because it is important; it is important that we put an end to deficit spending. One of the ways we do that is through accountability. Let me just say that if we are going to ask the American people to get up and go to work and pay taxes, we as a Congress should be held accountable and the various Federal agencies should be held accountable to ensure they are getting the most value for their tax dollars, that we truly are doing things that will honor their work and ensure that we leave this country just a little bit better than we found it for our children and our grandchildren. One of the leaders in the Blue Dog Coalition, in fact, one of the founders of the Blue Dog Coalition that has done a lot in the area of accountability is the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Tanner), and at this time, I will yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Tanner). Thank you for joining me this evening.

Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Tennessee for his insight and his leadership on the accountability bill to restore accountability to our national government. Did the gentleman, I just want to make sure I understood the gentleman correctly, did the gentleman indicate that 18 of 24 major Federal agencies can't produce a clean audit of its books?

Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman for his work on accountability within our government, Mr. Tanner from Tennessee, one of the founders of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. Thank you for your leadership. Thank you for joining us on the floor this evening to talk about restoring common sense, accountability, and fiscal discipline to our national government. Madam Speaker, as you walk the Halls of Congress, again, it's easy to know when you are walking by the office of a fellow Blue Dog member, because you will see this poster reminding the American people, reminding the Members of the Congress that today the U.S. national debt is $8,887,793,986,597 and some change. For every man, woman and child in America, their share, your share, of the national debt is $29,465. Also, if you have any questions, comments on our Special Order this evening, I would encourage you to e-mail us at BlueDog@mail.house.gov. That is BlueDog@mail.house.gov. This is a Special Order being hosted by the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition talking about issues that we believe are important to the future of this country. I am delighted to be joined this evening by a new member of the Blue Dog Coalition from the State of Indiana (Mr. Ellsworth).

Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Indiana, a new member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition for joining me this evening and being a part of this discussion on how we restore common sense, fiscal discipline, and accountability to our government. Mr. Tanner said it very well earlier in the evening when he said the American people are sick and tired of all the partisan bickering that goes on at our Nation's Capitol. I can tell you those of us in the Blue Dog Coalition, we don't care if it is our idea or the Republican idea. We are looking for commonsense ideas, ideas that promote accountability, ideas that make sense for the people back home. Now, there are others that will come to this floor and talk about the Democrats being bad on this or so forth and so on, and there are Democrats that will talk about the Republicans being bad on this or so forth and so on, but the American people are sick of that. The American people get it. They recognize that we are all Americans first and we are in this together. Talking about accountability, this is a bipartisan issue that I would like to raise in the closing minutes of this Special Order. The United States is spending about $9 billion a month in Iraq, which translates to about $275 million a day or $12 million an hour. However, even with all of this spending, many believe that the U.S. Army is not providing our troops with the most technologically advanced and effective body armor available. If you ask 100 different people what they think about this post-war Iraq policy, you get about 100 different answers. But I can tell you that there is one thing that all of us, Democrat and Republican, should remain united on, and that is funding and supporting and properly equipping our men and women in uniform. This war has affected all of us. My brother-in-law is in the United States Air Force. He is in the Middle East region this evening. Let me tell you that 2 weeks ago, one of my constituents, Mr. John Grant of Hot Springs, Arkansas, brought this issue to my attention. Mr. Grant has become an expert on the types of body armor that are currently available in the market due to the fact that his youngest son serves in the Army National Guard's 39th Infantry Brigade. Arkansas' 39th was recently informed that they could be deployed to Iraq by the end of the year. It will be their second deployment. I was there in Baghdad visiting them August 11, 2004, on their previous deployment, soldiers from my hometown, soldiers from throughout my district, people that I used to teach in Sunday school and people that, well, I have duck hunted with. And they will be returning again, perhaps by the end of the year, and I believe that we owe it to this soldier, his family, and all soldiers and their families, to ensure that our troops are given the finest armor and equipment available. This issue specifically involves the U.S. Army's recent testing and comparison of Pinnacle Armor's so-called Dragon Skin body armor and the Interceptor Body Armor, often referred to as IBA, currently in use by the Armed Forces. Because of equipment shortages in 2005, some troops purchased equipment at their own expense, including body armor, and Congress enacted legislation to reimburse these soldiers. However, months later, the Army issued a ``safety of use message,'' which instructed all commanders to ensure that only IBA brand is used by soldiers, prohibiting the use of any other body armor. The Army's ``safety of use message'' also dispelled recent reports that Dragon Skin was superior to the IBA, citing that Dragon Skin has failed various tests and therefore does not meet the Army's requirements for soldier body armor protection. Military support organizations, such as Soldiers for the Truth, of which Mr. Grant is a member, along with Dragon Skin manufacturer Pinnacle Armor, argue that Dragon Skin did not fail any test. They have stated that the testing was biased, and they continue to stand behind their assertions that Dragon Skin is superior to the IBA. They point out that Dragon Skin has also been approved and is used by the U.S. Air Force, the CIA, the NSA, the U.S. Department of Energy officials in Iraq, the U.S. Secret Service Presidential Protection detail, some Special Forces units, and various police departments and SWAT teams around the Nation. However, our troops cannot purchase or use this body armor. I have even been informed that, as a result of this message, if a soldier purchases and uses any armor other than the IBA, this action will be construed as though the soldier has disobeyed a direct order and could, could, jeopardize his or her family receiving service group life insurance if killed in combat. It is not certain whether this is true, but if it is, I completely disagree with this policy and believe that our combat soldiers should not be denied the use of the latest and most effective body armor if it will result in the preservation of their lives. Therefore, for the protection of our troops, I am calling for a full investigation into whether the U.S. Army is using the most effective body armor for our troops' protection. We need an unbiased external investigation to determine whether the IBA is the most effective armor available. And if additional testing reveals that Dragon Skin body armor or any other brand is the superior product, then it should be provided to our troops. I am extremely grateful to Mr. Grant for bringing this issue to my attention, as there is no greater obligation we have to our troops, who risk their lives on a daily basis, than to supply them with the most advanced technology and resources available. I believe that we must demand that the most stringent test possible be conducted to resolve whether our troops are being given access to the absolute best body armor available. What might have been good in 2003 might very well be outdated today. My only goal is to protect our troops in harm's way by ensuring that they receive the most advanced body armor on the market today as they carry out their mission. May God bless our country, may God bless and keep our soldiers safe.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Reverend Roy P. Smith of Little Rock, Arkansas. I first met Roy in 1992 when he moved to my hometown of Prescott, Arkansas, to lead the church that my family and I belong to, the First United Methodist Church of Prescott. During his 3 years in my hometown, Roy was my pastor, my spiritual adviser, and a leader in our community. By the time Roy, along with his wife Sandy, daughter Martha Helen and son Andrew left Prescott to move on to their next assignment up the road in Malvern, Arkansas, Roy had become one of my closest and most trusted personal friends. My family and the Smith family will be forever linked together by a strong and lasting bond of friendship, and it is a distinct pleasure to have Reverend Roy Smith here today to open this legislative day in the United States House of Representatives with his thoughtful and meaningful words of prayer. As we go about doing the work of the people, may we remember the prayer Reverend Roy Smith delivered on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives this day.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, this evening, I rise on behalf of the 43- member-strong, fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. Mr. Speaker, I don't know about you, but I believe the American people like me are sick and tired of all the partisan bickering that goes on at our Nation's capital. I can tell you that I don't care if it is the Democratic or Republican idea. I ask myself is it a commonsense idea and does it make sense for the people in Arkansas' Fourth Congressional District? Then I vote accordingly. What we have witnessed on this floor this evening is a lot of talk, and I think it is time that we speak to the facts, the facts about the state of our Nation and how we get out of this mess that we have seen be created during the past 6 years when the Republicans controlled the White House, the House, and the Senate. Let's begin by looking here at the Blue Dog Coalition poster. The Blue Dog Coalition is nothing more than a name for fiscally conservative Democrats. And as you walk the halls of Congress, the Cannon House office building, the Longworth House office building, and the Rayburn House office building, you will occasionally happen upon one of these Blue Dog Coalition posters reminding Members of Congress, reminding those who walk the halls of Congress that today, today, the United States national debt is $8,841,089,074,666.40. If you divide that by every man, woman, and child living in America today, every one of us, our share is $29,326.47. It is what those of us in the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition call the debt tax, d-e-b-t, and that is one tax that cannot be cut, that will not go away until we get our Nation's fiscal house in order. This evening, they have been talking about the budget for fiscal year 2008 that will begin October 1. Let's begin by talking about the budget passed by the Republicans for fiscal year 2007. Mr. Speaker, I have got to tell you that when I came to Washington back in 2001, the first bill I filed as a Member of Congress was a bill to tell the politicians in Washington to keep their hands off the Social Security Trust Fund. That was back when the Republicans controlled the White House, the House, and the Senate. And the Republican national leadership would not give me a hearing or a vote on that bill. Now we know why. Because this year, under the budget that was approved last year by the Republicans for fiscal year 2007, the deficit, the deficit is $427 billion. That is counting the portion that they are borrowing from the Social Security Trust Fund with absolutely no provision made on how it is going to be paid back, when it is going to be paid back, or where the money is coming from to pay it back. We hear a lot of talk about the national debt. It doesn't show up much in most public opinion polls. A lot of folks think we can simply print more money. Oh, how I wished it were that simple. The total national debt from 1789 until 2000 was $5.67 trillion. But, by 2010, the total national debt will have increased to $10.88 trillion. I know those are big numbers. They are big numbers to me. But I can tell you this: It is a doubling, it is a doubling of the 211 year debt in just one decade, in just 10 years. Interest payments on this debt are one of the fastest-growing parts of the Federal budget, and the debt tax, d-e-b-t, is the one tax that cannot be repealed. And every man, woman, and child in America, our share is $29,326.47. It would take all of us in America writing a check that large to pay off this debt that has been accumulated as a result of the reckless spending we have seen from this administration and this Republican-led Congress for the past 6 years. Well, as you can see, the current national debt, $8,841,089,074,666.40, again, every man woman and child in America, our share of the national debt, $29,326.47. Why do I raise this issue and why is this issue so important to the 43 members of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition? Here is why: Deficits do matter. Deficits reduce economic growth. They burden our children, our grandchildren with liabilities. They increase our reliance on foreign lenders. In fact, I think it is important, Mr. Speaker, that we look here at the amount of foreign-held debt and the fact that it has more than doubled under the Bush administration. These numbers are in the billions. You can see how much was borrowed from foreigners in 2001, and you can see how much is borrowed from foreigners today. In fact, Mr. Speaker, the U.S. is becoming increasingly dependent on foreign lenders to fund our government. Foreign central banks and foreign investors currently hold a total of about $2.224 trillion. That is, $2,224,000,000,000 of our public debt. Compare this to only $623 billion in foreign holdings in 1993. Kind of like David Letterman and his Top Ten List, we have a Top Ten List of whom the United States of America has borrowed money from, we are talking foreign central banks and foreign investors, to fund our government. Since 2001, this administration and this Republican-led Congress has continued to pass tax cuts that primarily benefit only those earning over $400,000 a year. They have done so while America is at war. Never before have we cut taxes when America was at war. In the past wars, we have had a shared sacrifice; and this war the only sacrifice being made is by our men and women, our brave men and women in uniform and their families. I know this. My brother-in-law is currently stationed in the Middle East in the United States Air Force. This war has affected all of us in one way or another, and I know the kind of toil that takes, not only on him but his family back home at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Washington. Yet we have seen this administration, this Republican-led Congress, up until January pass tax cut after tax cut that primarily only benefits those earning over $400,000 a year. Where is the money coming from? We haven't had a surplus. It has come, first, from raiding the Social Security trust fund. After they have gotten all the money they can suck out of it, they have gone to foreign investors and foreign central banks. Here is the top 10 list. Japan: Our Nation has borrowed $637.4 billion from Japan to fund tax cuts for people in this country earning over $400,000 a year. China: $346.5 billion. The United Kingdom: $223.5 billion. OPEC: Now we understand why gasoline was approaching $3 a gallon last summer. We have borrowed $97.1 billion from OPEC to fund tax cuts in America for folks earning over $400,000 a year. Korea: $67.7 billion. Taiwan: $63.2 billion. My friend John Tanner, one of the founders of the Blue Dogs, said it best when he said our country is in such a mess that if China does decide to invade Taiwan, we will have to borrow even more money from China to defend Taiwan. The Caribbean Banking Center: $63.6 billion. Hong Kong: $51 billion. The United States of America has borrowed $52.1 billion from Germany to fund our government. And get a load of this: The United States of America, our country, has borrowed $38.2 billion from Mexico to help fund tax cuts in this country for folks earning over $400,000 a year. Those are the facts, not rhetoric, as we have heard. Well, the Democrats are now in the majority, and it is now our responsibility to offer up a commonsense budget that puts America's children and families first again. Yes, we are doing it without raising taxes. In fact, we are proposing tax cuts. We are proposing a fix to the Alternative Minimum Tax, which is now eating away at middle-income families all across this country. I think it is important to note that for the first time in 40 years, and this is not a partisan thing, President Clinton was born and grew up in Hope and Hot Springs Arkansas, two towns I am proud to represent in the United States House of Representatives. I am a 1979 graduate of Hope High School and live some 16 miles up the road from there now in Prescott, Arkansas, which is where Holly and I are raising our children. But if you think back with me, it was President Clinton who gave us the first balanced budget in this country by a Democrat or a Republican, either one, in about 40 years. You can see that the debt added under President Clinton was $1.6 trillion. We actually had a balanced budget from 1998 through 2001. Then the debt added under President Bush so far, $3.9 trillion. This is an accumulation of gross national debt in trillions of dollars, the difference that we have seen. How did that happen? Well, in the Clinton years, when we had the first balanced budget in about 40 years, one of the ways it happened was by the House of Representatives implementing what is known as the PAYGO rules, which means pay-as-you-go, something that we do at the Ross home in Prescott, Arkansas, something that we do at our small-town family pharmacy that my wife, who is a pharmacist, and I own, and something most families in America and most businesses in America adhere to. Pay-as-you-go. Yet for the past 6 years, those rules were abolished on the floor of the United States House of Representatives. The PAYGO rules were not in effect, and we saw the largest deficit after the largest deficit after the largest deficit in the history of this country, which has totaled into the largest debt ever in our Nation's history. I am real proud of the new Democratic leadership, because the 43 members of the fiscally conservative, Democratic Blue Dog Coalition went to the Democratic leadership and said we are in the middle, and we believe we are where America is and it is important to us that you govern from the middle, and they have. There was a lot of talk about the first 100 hours, and we did a lot of good things for the American people in the first 100 hours. We did a lot of good things for children, we did a lot of good things for working families, and, yes, a lot of good things for seniors. We cleaned up the mess in Washington by passing ethics reform. We raised the Federal minimum wage for working families. We passed legislation to allow our government to negotiate with the big drug manufacturers to bring down the high cost of medicine for America's seniors. We did a lot of good things in the first 100 hours. But the most significant thing we did early on, one of the first things we did in the first few hours of the 110th session of Congress, is we adopted PAYGO rules on the floor of the United States House of Representatives, meaning pay-as-you-go. It means if you have got an idea for a program you want to fund over here, you have to show us how you are going to pay for it. You have to show us what you are going to cut over here. Now, some Republicans seem to think that means that the way you pay for new programs is raising taxes. We saw the largest deficit ever in our Nation's history, year after year. We saw the largest debt in our Nation's history ever. And we saw all this money that the Republican leadership and this administration was borrowing from foreign central banks and foreign investors to fund tax cuts and to fund programs. They were so out of touch that they forgot the idea that you could actually cut programs to fund programs, cut programs that don't work to fund programs that do. You don't have to raise taxes to fund programs. You do away with the programs that do not work. You want to talk about waste? There is all kinds of waste in our Federal Government. I have about $400 million worth of waste sitting in a cow pasture at the airport in Hope Arkansas. In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina hit, one the first things FEMA did was order tens of thousands of brand new, fully-furnished mobile homes. They brought many of them, 10,777 at one time, to the airport in Hope, which had these inactive tarmacs and runways that were World War II era, and they thought it was a wonderful place to have a so-called FEMA staging area. The idea was they were going to come through there on the way to the Gulf Coast. They all came, but they never went. This was 2005, and these mobile homes never got to the storm victims of Hurricane Katrina. At last count, FEMA has 8,420, 8,420 of these brand new, fully- furnished, not camper trailers, we are talking about mobile homes, 16 foot wide and 60 foot long, just sitting there. Just sitting there. To try to get them to the homeless on the Gulf Coast, I raised the issue with the Inspector General at FEMA back in late 2050, saying, Mr. Inspector General, Mr. Director of FEMA, Mr. President, if you don't move these mobile homes off this cow pasture, they are going to start sinking and it is going to destroy them. I did that to try to get them off high center and get them to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. You know what they did? Mr. Speaker, do you know what they did? They showed up. They didn't move them. They showed up with $7 million. FEMA showed up with $7 million worth of gravel to put under them. This stuff is so crazy you can't make it up. And they continue to sit there today. So the Republican leadership needs to understand when we talk about paying for something, when we talk about cutting programs that don't work and use that money to pay for programs that do, we are not talking about raising taxes, we are talking about identifying waste, like the $400 million, the more than 8,000 brand new, fully furnished mobile homes sitting there in the cow pasture at the airport in Hope, Arkansas. That was one of the first things that happened on the floor of the House at the Blue Dog's insistence, as this 110th began under the new Democratic majority. And I am proud of this majority for listening to the 43 of us. It was one of our 12 points that I spent the last 2 years on the floor of the House talking about for meaningful budget reform. It was one of the first things implemented on this floor which will help us get back to the days of a balanced budget and a surplus, which is very, very important for a lot of reasons that we will discuss. Mr. Speaker, I think it is important that we look at the facts. The debt when President Bush took office, $5.7 trillion, the debt today $8.8 trillion. The debt added so far under the Bush Administration, $3.1 trillion, the debt projected at the end of the Bush Presidency is $9.6 trillion, the total Bush increases to the debt, $3.9 trillion. Deficits without the Social Security surplus. The OM budget deficit for 2007, $427 billion. The OM budget deficit for 2008 under the President's budget, $451 billion, one of the largest deficits ever in our Nation's history. The cost of debt service. This is why it matters to every man, woman and child in America. The net interest for 2002 was $170 billion. You can see what's happening here. The net interest for 2008 is projected to be $261 billion. What does that mean? That means our Nation is spending three-quarters of a billion dollars a day simply paying interest on the national debt before we borrow another billion dollars today. Every day, our Nation starts off owing three-quarters of a billion dollars in interest payments. Let me tell you why that matters. Because the interest payments on the debt are dwarfing other priorities. The red is the amount of money we are spending of your tax money, Mr. Speaker, paying interest on the national debt. We talk about our children and how we love them and how we value their education. Look at how much we are investing in education in this country. Again, the red demonstrates the amount of money we are spending in a year paying interest to the national debt, which continues to go up to the tune of about $1 billion a day. The light blue reflects how much we do, as a Nation, value education. It reflects how much we are spending in a year educating our children. The green. Oh, we talk about how we support our men and women in uniform on the floor of this House. And I hope every Member that gets up and says that does. You know, money speaks louder than words. Look at our priorities. The green represents the amount of money our Federal Government is spending on veterans, including a new generation of veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. Look how that compares to the red, the amount of money we are spending simply paying interest on the national debt. And this new buzz word ``homeland security.'' Oh, we all take our belt off and take our shoes off and go through all that at the airport, and we feel safer. Are we? Look at the purple. Look at how much we are investing in homeland security. Look at how much we are investing as a Nation under the President's budget, all of this is under the President's budget in keeping America safe, and look how all those, education, veterans, homeland security compare to the amount of money our Nation is spending paying interest on the national debt. I represent a district about half of Arkansas, and about half of that is in the Delta region, one of the poorest regions in the country. We have a lot of hope in that region that someday I-69 will be completed. I-69 is an interstate that was announced in Indianapolis 5 years before I was born. I am 45. With the exception of about 40 miles in Kentucky and a few miles in Tennessee, none of that has been completed south of Indianapolis. Just to complete the Arkansas section that can create economic opportunities and help the Delta region realize an economic revival with will take some $1.6 billion. That's a lot of money we don't have as a Nation. Why? Because we are spending it paying interest on the national debt, a debt that continues to go up under these Republican policies and under this administration's budget. As I said earlier, we are spending three-quarters of a billion dollars a day simply paying interest on the national debt. Give me about 2 days interest on the national debt, Mr. Speaker, and I can build I-69 through Arkansas and create all kinds of jobs and economic opportunities and help this poor Delta region recognize an economic revival. On the western side of my State, folks have been waiting since I was a small child for the completion of Interstate 49. It, too, can create jobs and economic opportunities and open up the western side of Arkansas and complete the first north-south corridor through the middle of our country. I need $2 billion to complete I-49 in Arkansas. It's a lot of money, but it's about 3 or 4 days interest on the national debt. We need new public schools built in this country for our children to be able to receive the very best education possible. We could build about 200 brand new elementary schools every single day in America just for the interest we are spending on the national debt. My point, Mr. Speaker, is that America's priorities, education, veterans, homeland security, roads, infrastructure, are going to continue to go unmet until this Nation gets its fiscal house in order. That is what the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition is all about. We are about restoring fiscal discipline and common sense to our government. This week, the Democrats are going to offer a budget that is fiscally responsible. Our budget adheres to the PAYGO budgeting rules that I talked about earlier and provides a commitment to the compensation of statutory PAYGO requirements. Our legislation, I should say legislation that was passed by the Republican Congress and signed by President Bush, has increased mandatory spending by $262 billion over the last 5 years. The PAYGO rule, as applied to mandatory spending increases as well as tax cuts, will enforce much greater spending restraint than the Republicans passed over the last 5 years. And I have gone through the details of why in my presentation earlier. The Democratic budget meets the President's levels of spending for national defense, very important to me and members of the Blue Dog Coalition. We've got to have a strong national defense. Our brave men and women in uniform are doing whatever we ask of them; and as long as they are willing and able to do that, it is our duty and our obligation to provide them the resources that they need to do their job as safely as possible. And it is also our duty and obligation to them to ensure they receive the health care and veterans benefits that they have earned as this new generation of veterans return from Afghanistan and Iraq. And the Democratic budget increases homeland security funding levels. The Democratic budget reaches balance, a balanced budget by 2012, and provides for greater deficit reduction than the President's budget over 5 years. Total spending in 2012 will be 18.9 percent of GDP, exactly 1 percent lower than it will be this year and lower than it has been in any year since 2001. And, yes, that's Democrats offering that budget, a commonsense budget to restore fiscal discipline to our Nation's government. This is a lot different than how the other side tried to explain it. Our budget provides accountability. If there is one thing our Nation needs as a government, it is to restore accountability to our government. Defense auditors estimate that more than one of six dollars they have audited for Iraq is suspect, including $2.7 billion in Halliburton contracts. The Democrat budget assumes substantial savings from more efforts by the Defense Department, with increased congressional oversight, to root out wasteful spending, building on just-passed reform legislation to reduce waste in Federal contracting. You know, the Constitution of the United States of America gives Congress the duty, the authority to provide oversight; and for the past 6 years this Republican-led Congress has been nothing more than a rubber stamp for whatever this administration wants. That is not what the framers of our Constitution envisioned. I am not suggesting, Mr. Speaker, that we go on a witch hunt or start issuing a lot of subpoenas. But what I am suggesting is that it is time for this Congress to fulfill its constitutional duty and responsibility of providing oversight. And we have started doing that. No more flying into Washington on Tuesday and out on Thursday. You are seeing a new Congress that is cleaning up the mess, that is coming in on Monday and staying to Friday, rolling up their sleeves. And, yes, not just voting on the floor of the House, but meeting in committees and providing the oversight as required by the Constitution of the United States of America. Also under the Democratic budget, the House committees will conduct performance reviews to make sure that government programs are working, and work to eliminate, yes, the Democratic budget will work to eliminate unnecessary and wasteful spending. Similar efforts saved billions of dollars under the Clinton administration which gave us the first balanced budget by a Democrat or a Republican in some 40 years. The Congress will save millions of dollars by investing in efforts to identify and eliminate wasteful spending and improve government efficiency. Our budget addresses the permanent AMT reform. You heard the Republicans tonight talking about the Democratic budget is going to raise our taxes. We are not raising anyone's taxes. In fact, our budget calls for a permanent fix for the alternative minimum tax, commonly known as AMT, to provide tax relief, yes, tax relief, for middle-class families, without increasing the deficit, and reaffirms support for extending middle-income tax cuts consistent with the PAYGO rules, pay- as-you-go. The Democratic budgets includes a deficit neutral reserve fund that provides the framework necessary for permanent AMT relief for America's middle-income working families. While our plan to permanently reform AMT is a revenue and deficit neutral approach, the President's budget calls for a temporary 1-year fix and contributes to the already out-of- control deficits. Well, providing a permanent fix to the AMT will prevent millions, yes, millions, of hardworking Americans from facing a devastating tax increase this year. The Democratic budget, our budget, will cut taxes for America's working families. President Bush's failed tax policies have left us with a debt of nearly $9 trillion. In fact, Mr. Speaker, as you can see here, again I will remind you, today the U.S. national debt: $8,841,089,074,666.40. Well, in taking a revenue and deficit neutral approach to reforming the AMT, our budget is taking a measured and responsible approach to cleaning up the fiscal mess in which our Republican predecessors have left us. Over the past 6 years they have done these things, and now we have asked for a chance the clean them up, and we are in the process of doing that. The Democratic budget meets the needs of veterans. Very important. Our budget meets previously unmet needs for veterans by increasing discretionary funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs from $36.5 billion to $43.1 billion. That is a $6.6 billion increase over fiscal year 2007. That is an 18.1 percent increase over last year, and a $3.5 billion increase, or 8.9 percent over the administration request for fiscal year 2008. Over the 5-year budget, the Democratic budget resolution includes $32 billion more to protect the health and well- being of our men and women in uniform than does the administration's request. And, yes, we owe it to our brave men and women in uniform, a new generation of veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. And, as a Nation, we had better be there for them and provide them the health care and the resources that they need, because they are there for us doing what our Nation is asking of them. The additional funds will allow the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide excellent health care, keeping up with the high rate of health care inflation, and the continuing increases in new veterans entering the VA system. In fiscal year 2008, Mr. Speaker, the VA will treat 5.8 million patients. Yes, America is at war, and we need to recognize it and we need to properly fund the Veterans Administration to provide the health care and the needs of our new veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Our budget addresses the Veterans Administration's repair and maintenance backlog in the wake of a VA report that outlines 1,000 specific problems at VA facilities around the country. That is no way to honor our veterans. We have got to fix these 1,000 specific problems that have been outlined by the Veterans Administration, not only at Walter Reed, but all across this country. Our budget increases efforts to address mental health, post-traumatic stress disorder, and traumatic brain injuries. The Democratic budget also rejects the Bush administration's proposed enrollment fees and near doubling of prescription copayments for America's veterans. Mr. Speaker, in the last half of this hour I want to visit more about this budget that may very well be on the floor of this House on Thursday. Our budget provides for a strong national defense. Our budget provides for robust defense funding levels while targeting resources on the most pressing security concerns. It increase funding for veterans health care and services by $5.4 billion above current services. The Democratic budget provides more homeland security funding than the administration and provides funding for the 9/11 Commission recommendations. Yes, we are going to fund the bipartisan 9/11 Commission recommendations that should have been done several years ago. In the area of health care, our budget accommodates an increase of $50 billion to expand children's health insurance to cover millions of additional uninsured children. Mr. Speaker, we have 48 million people in this country without health insurance. This is America. We are the leader of the free world, and we have got 48 million people in this country that don't have access to health care. And who are these? Not the people who don't want to work. If you don't want to work or can't work, you qualify for Medicaid, which is a health insurance program for the poor, the disabled, and the elderly. These 48 million folks, who are they? Ten million of them are children. Children. And the rest of them are people that are trying to do the right thing and stay off welfare and they are working the jobs with no benefits. We want to expand children's health insurance to cover the millions of additional uninsured children in this country. Education. The Democratic budget provides a 2008 program level that is $3 billion over current services for education, training, and social services, which includes funding for No Child Left Behind programs, special education, and aid to help students afford college. Now, this idea of No Child Left Behind was a great concept, but it has become nothing more than an unfunded mandate for our local school districts, and it has forced our schools and teachers to spend all their time teaching to a test instead of teaching our children how to learn. This No Child Left Behind business is so messed up, Mr. Speaker, that we are spending the whole school year teaching a test, and then giving the children the test in March on everything that they were supposed to learn through May. It is my understanding the reason they give the test in March on everything they are supposed to learn through May is they have got to do it early, as in March, so that the people that grade the tests can get the results back by October so the school district will have it to write a report that is due in September on how they are going to make the school better. And they call it No Child Left Behind. It needs some serious fine tuning, and we need to put an end to this unfunded mandate and fund this program and fund our children's education. Well, the budget, as I mentioned, also will provide aid to help students afford college. The Democratic budget increases funds for Head Start and child care. Let me tell you, Mr. Speaker, that we live in a country where we get to choose where we work, where we worship, whom we marry. One of the few things in life we don't get to choose is who our parents are. Some children get really lucky. I did. Some don't. But as a Nation, I believe we have a duty and an obligation to be there for all children. And, Mr. Speaker, if we will invest in their education, in Head Start funding, if we will invest in the early years of a child's life, we can turn them into a productive, lifelong citizen of this country. Compare that to turning our backs on them and spending $25,000 a year warehousing them behind bars. The choice is easy for me, and that choice is reflected in our Democratic budget. Well, the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition in the past has had to write our own budget. Why? Because the Republican leadership wouldn't give us a seat at the table. They wouldn't listen to our ideas. They would not include our ideas in their budget. This year the new Democratic majority leadership invited the Blue Dog Coalition, the 43 of us that are fiscally conservative Democrats, to sit at the table and to help draft a commonsense budget that reflects our values, our priorities, and restores fiscal discipline to our Nation's government. We asked for several principles to be included in this budget, and I am pleased to tell you, Mr. Speaker, that the budget that will be on the floor of this House on Thursday includes all six of the provisions that we asked for. Again, we are in the middle, America is in the middle, and as you can see, we are ensuring that this new Democratic majority governs from the middle. Here are the six points that we asked to be included in the budget, and they have been: Number one, as we mentioned earlier, the Democratic budget adheres to the House pay-as-you-go, PAYGO, rule, a principle long advocated by the Blue Dogs as a solution for putting an end to deficit spending and reducing the nearly $9 trillion national debt. Republican budgets over the past several years included a net total of hundreds of billions of dollars in new mandatory spending. By contrast, this budget includes a net total of zero dollars in new mandatory spending. Due to its adherence to PAYGO rules, any increases in mandatory spending must be offset elsewhere in the government. That means cut programs that don't work. Don't borrow more money from China and Mexico. That key provision is included in the budget that will be on the floor of this House, the Democratic budget, on Thursday. The second thing we asked for and got in this budget: The Democratic budget provides a commitment to the extension of statutory PAYGO requirements, a tool that was instrumental, as I mentioned earlier, in the return of the budget surpluses during the 1990s. Our budget resolution puts the House on record as endorsing an extension of the statutory version of PAYGO, pay-as-you-go, rules, which proved instrumental in bringing the budgets from large deficits of the early 1990s to the budget surpluses achieved by the end of that decade. We have now passed PAYGO as a rule in the House, and now in this budget we are endorsing it as law. Number three, we asked for and received in this budget a provision for a strong national defense. The budget provides for a strong national defense and ensures that the protection of all Americans is the number one priority of our Federal Government. The preamble of the Blue Dog Coalition talks about fiscal discipline and talks about a strong national defense. It was important to us that we matched the funding request in the President's budget and provide increases in homeland security funding levels, and we have done that. The Democratic budget does that. It targets these resources to our most pressing security needs, and the budget includes an increase over the President's request for veterans health care and homeland security. That is the third point. The fourth point that we asked for and got included in the budget: Unlike the President's budget, the Democratic budget is fiscally responsible and realistically reaches balance in 2012. Our budget puts an end to irresponsible deficit spending and has a better bottom line than the President's budget over 5 years by $234 billion and therefore accrues less debt and waste, fewer resources on interest payments on the national debt. Our budget holds the line on mandatory spending levels, putting our country back on the path toward fiscal responsibility. The fifth thing we asked for and got in the budget, Mr. Speaker, provides for fiscally responsible tax relief. The budget calls for a permanent fix, not temporary, but a permanent fix, for the alternative minimum tax, AMT, to provide tax relief for middle-class families without increasing the deficit and reaffirms support for extending middle-income tax cuts consistent with PAYGO, pay-as-you-go, rules. And, finally, number six, the last thing we asked for and got included in the budget: The Democratic budget contains tough program integrity measures to crack down on wasteful spending while ensuring that legitimate recipients of Federal funds and law-biding taxpayers are not penalized. That is what our new Democratic budget does. It will be on the floor of this House on Thursday. Here is the alternative. This is what has been proposed by the President in his budget: The Bush administration has turned a projected 10-year budget surplus of $5.6 trillion into a projected 10-year deficit of $2.8 trillion. Under the last 6 years of fiscal irresponsibility, America's national debt has increased 50 percent to nearly $9 trillion, or $29,000 for every American. About 75 percent of America's new debt has been borrowed from foreign creditors, making our fiscal integrity a matter of national security. The national debt is up $3 trillion since 2001, and it will soar to more than $12 trillion by the end of 2012. President Bush has now borrowed more money from foreign nations than the previous 42 U.S. Presidents combined. Let me repeat that. This administration has borrowed more money from foreign central banks and foreign investors in the past 6 years than the previous 42 Presidents combined. You want to talk about a threat to our national security, there is one. Well, the President's budget continues on the same fiscally irresponsible course. Under the President's budget, America's national debt will grow by $3 trillion over the next 5 years to $11.5 trillion, more than twice the size of the debt that the Bush administration inherited. Under the President's plan, deficits continue for the next 5 years. The deficit would increase by $24 billion in fiscal year 2008 if not for a growing Social Security surplus that is used to mask the true nature of the President's deficits. With honest and realistic accounting, under the President's budget, we have a deficit projected to rise to $464 billion by 2016. To hide this fact, the budget omits enormous costs, including the full cost of fixing the alternative minimum tax and the full cost for the Iraqi war, which is now costing us as taxpayers some $12 million an hour. $2.5 billion a week it costs us, $9 billion a month. The President's budget cuts domestic purchasing power by $114 billion over 5 years. Well, the President's budget omits the full cost of the administration's policy in Iraq and Afghanistan, which means the President will come back, as he did last week, asking for more emergency spending, asking for more supplemental measures, another way of trying to hide the true cost of the war in Iraq. The President's budget only provides $50 billion for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan after fiscal year 2008, yet last week he asked for $95 billion just to get through the rest of this year. Despite the numerous underestimations provided in years past and the nearly half a trillion dollars spent already, again he has come in and underestimated the amount of money that will be needed for fiscal year 2008 in Iraq and Afghanistan. The administration's budget discontinues the funding after just a down payment for 2009, even though the administration is increasing troop strengths and has no current plans to scale back operations in Iraq or Afghanistan. Mr. Speaker, a recent CBO, Congressional Budget Office, scenario estimated war costs for Iraq, Afghanistan and the Global War on Terrorism, could be as much as $603 billion higher over 10 years than what is included in the administration's budget. The President's budget uses rosy assumptions that boost the bottom line. The President's 2008 budget relies on unrealistically rosy assumptions that the economy will grow its way back to a budget surplus. For example, in 2012 it assumes revenues that are $155 billion higher than comparable projections made by CBO, the Congressional Budget Office. Without these optimistic assumptions, a claimed 2012 surplus of $61 billion becomes a $94 billion deficit. The President's budget fails to address permanent AMT reform. The President's budget includes only a 1 year fix for the Alternative Minimum Tax. This will allow the number of taxpayers affected by the AMT to skyrocket from 3.5 million in 2006 to 26.5 million in 2008, and represents a $247 billion tax increase on middle class families over the next 5 years. That is in the budget President's budget, a $247 billion tax increase on middle-class families over the next 5 years. Forty-three members of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog coalition do not support tax increases like the one found here in the President's budget. The AMT has been deliberately used by the Bush administration to mask, to hide, the cost of its tax cuts, which have been paid for by the middle-class. The AMT has also taken back a large portion of the Bush tax cuts promised for middle-class families. In 2001, an act provided marriage penalty relief by increasing the standard deduction and the size of the 15 percent tax bracket, but it did not reduce the marriage penalty contained in the AMT. In essence the 2001 act did not provide marriage penalty relief for many married taxpayers. Democrats are going to fix that in the budget voted on on the floor of this House on Thursday. It remains unfixed, however, in the President's budget. Congress has recently enacted a series of temporary fixes that limited the expansion of the AMT, Alternative Minimum Tax, to about 4 million taxpayers. But if left unchanged, next year the AMT will become a burden on the pocketbooks of millions of middle-class Americans. Well, the President's budget also includes additional hidden taxes and fee increases. For example, the President's budget raises taxes on about 30 million families with employer-provided health insurance by over $300 billion over 10 years. The President's plan will result in a growing proportion of seniors paying higher Medicare premiums every year by eliminating indexing of the income related premium and extending it to the Medicare prescription drug benefit. These proposals will increase premiums paid by seniors to the tune of $5.5 billion over the next 5 years. Veterans, I told you what the Democratic budget is going to do for veterans. Let's look at the President's. The President's budget proposes new enrollment fees and increases copayments for veterans healthcare. These fee collections will cost veterans $2.3 billion from 2008 to 2012. The President's budget also imposes medical fees on TRICARE, the health insurance plan for military retirees under the age of 65. The increased fees imposed on military retirees will amount to $1.9 billion in 2008 and $14.5 billion over 5 years. The President's budget eliminates, doesn't cut, it eliminates, a $9 million traumatic brain injury program at a time when hundreds of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are returning home needing help as a result of these traumatic brain injuries. Education. We talked about what the Democratic budget will do for education. Let's look at the President's. The President's budget cuts funding for elementary and secondary education, denying 3.2 million children the extra reading and math help they were promised by the so- called No Child Left Behind Act. The Bush budget eliminates higher education programs designed to help lower income students afford college, including the Perkins loans, the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program and the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership Program. Approximately 1.5 million students would lose financial aid awards as a result of these Bush higher education cuts. Mr. Speaker, the Bush budget eliminates, not cuts, it does not cut, it eliminates 44 education programs, including Supplemental Opportunity Education Grants, Education Technology, Even Start, Ready to Teach, school counseling, mentoring and school drop out prevention. The President's budget cuts, I am sorry, it doesn't cut, it eliminates, 44 education programs that can help to lift up our young people. The President's budget cuts discretionary education funding by $1.5 billion, or 2.6 percent below fiscal year 2007. Well, the President's budget also reduces the availability of low cost loans for financially needy students by proposing to recall $419 million from Perkins loan revolving funds held by 1,315 colleges and universities. This will be the first step toward recalling $3.2 billion over 5 years from these revolving funds, which are used to provide low income loans averaging $2,000 to financially needy students. The President's budget eliminates the $771 million Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program and the $65 million Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership Program, both of which help lower income students afford a higher education. Overall, Mr. Speaker, approximately 1.5 million students would lose financial aid awards as a result of these Bush higher education cuts. The Bush budget cuts funding for Head Start by $100 million. If enacted, this cut in the President's budget means that up to 13,500 children will be cut from the program next year. There are cuts to healthcare. There are so many cuts. There are cuts to agriculture. There are cuts to homeland security. Mr. Speaker, I know as our time winds down that it is important that we look at the President's budget, it is important that we look at the Democratic budget and that we ask ourself, which one reflects our values, our priorities? Which one reflects America's values and priorities? I am proud that this new Democratic majority on the Budget Committee, under the leadership of Chairman Spratt, that they sat with us, 43 member strong fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition and gave us input in helping write a common sense budget that meets America's values and priorities, while restoring common sense and fiscal discipline to our Nation's government. And I hope on Thursday, Mr. Speaker, we will see this budget, this commonsense budget pass that does reflect our values. It relates to our children and education, to our working families, to our seniors and their security, their Social Security and their retirement security and their health care security, and to children, some 10 million without health insurance tonight. It is a commonsense budget that can help us return to the days of a balanced budget, that can help us put an end to this deficit spending, that can help us put an end to this reckless spending that we have seen for the past 6 years occur day after day on the floor of this House Chamber. Mr. Speaker, as I close this evening, I remind you that as you walk the halls of Congress, as you walk the House Office Buildings, you will note this Blue Dog Coalition poster reminding every Member of Congress and those who walk the halls that today the U.S. national debt is $8,841,089,074,666.40. And every one of us, every man, woman and child in America, our share is $29,326.47. Mr. Speaker, I submit to you that it is our duty and obligation to restore fiscal discipline to our national government; and that when we leave here someday we will be able to say to our children and grandchildren that we helped make this country a better place for all of us to call home. With that, Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the 43 member strong, fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Staff Sergeant Justin M. Estes of Sims, Arkansas; who died on March 5, 2007, fighting for our country in Iraq while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Staff Sergeant Justin Estes was 25 years old when he selflessly gave his life for his country during combat operations. After graduating from Oden High School where he played basketball and baseball, Staff Sergeant Estes joined the Army where he would serve in South Korea, Germany, Iraq and Macedonia. Staff Sergeant Estes was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C., where he was assigned to C Company, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment. He was serving his second tour of duty in Iraq. Staff Sergeant Justin Estes gave his life to serve our country and will forever be remembered as a hero, a son and a friend. My deepest condolences go out to his mother and stepfather, Diane and John Salyers of Sims; his father and stepmother, Don and Cathy Estes of Harrodsburg, Kentucky; his two sisters, Norma and Kelli Estes; his grandparents, John and Clazina Visser and Joe Barry; and to his aunts, uncles and cousins. He will be missed by his family, his community and all those who knew him and called him a friend. I will continue to keep Staff Sergeant Justin Estes and his family in my deepest thoughts and prayers.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Thank you, Chairman Grijalva. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 138, a resolution honoring and recognizing the importance of Hot Springs National Park on its 175th anniversary. I am pleased that the entire Arkansas congressional delegation is supporting and cosponsoring this bipartisan bill. April 20, 2007, will mark the 175th anniversary of Hot Springs National Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. This resolution will write into history the important role that Hot Springs National Park has played in the formation of the Department of the Interior and the National Park System. The very idea of setting aside special places in the United States for the future enjoyment of its citizens originated in Hot Springs, Arkansas, when on April 20, 1832, President Andrew Jackson and the United States Congress established Hot Springs Reservation to protect the 47 hot springs in Garland County, Arkansas. That year, Hot Springs Reservation became the first protected area in the Nation and was the only Federal area mentioned by name in the act that established the National Park System. The Hot Springs Reservation was then officially renamed Hot Springs National Park on March 4, 1921, becoming America's 18th national park, joining many other national landmarks. For more than 200 years, Hot Springs National Park has remained an area of exceptional beauty and magnificence. People have used the hot spring water and therapeutic baths to treat a variety of ailments, and the reservation eventually developed into a well-known resort nicknamed ``the American Spa.'' Well, today Hot Springs National Park protects eight historic bathhouses, and the Bathhouse Row area in Hot Springs National Park is a national historic landmark district that contains the largest collection of bathhouses of its kind in North America. It provides visitors from around the country and the world with leisure activities such as hiking, picnicking, and scenic drives and remains a national treasure to be enjoyed by generations of Americans. Hot Springs National Park has played a crucial role in the formation of the United States National Park System. I am proud to sponsor a resolution commemorating its 175th anniversary, and I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of House Resolution 138 today.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of my dear friend Bobby Hildebrand of Camden, Arkansas, who passed away February 24, 2007. Bobby Hildebrand and his family grocery store, Harvey's Grocery Store, were South Arkansas institutions. Bobby was a businessman, a landowner and the proud owner of Harvey's Grocery in Camden, one of Arkansas's legendary political landmarks. Bobby made Harvey's Grocery a famous gathering spot for Arkansas politicians, business leaders and residents of South Arkansas who had a love of good food, heated debate and friendship. Bobby became known for his locally famous barbecue as much as his generous heart. Each time I drove through Camden, my car always wanted to veer to Harvey's Grocery where I knew I would find good food and great conversation with a man I truly looked up to and admired. I was privileged to have witnessed first hand the effect Bobby's big smile had on visitors of his store and friends who needed someone to listen. Above all else, I am blessed to have been able to call Bobby a dear friend. Bobby talked endlessly about how politics could be a good and noble profession and how a career in public service could positively affect the lives of thousands. His love of politics helped inspire me and many others to seek elected office and for that, I am forever grateful. I send my deepest condolences to his wife, Pat of Camden; his brother Harvey Hildebrand of Louisiana; and his sister Dorothy Herrington of Camden. Bobby Hildebrand will be greatly missed in Camden, Ouachita County and throughout the state of Arkansas, and I am truly saddened by this loss.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Georgia for leading this hour- long Special Order, this discussion on the debt, the deficit, but more importantly on accountability, in restoring common sense, accountability, fiscal discipline to our Nation's government. Madam Speaker, I don't have to tell you that we have got the largest debt ever in our Nation's history; $8,835,629,777,913 and increasing some $40 million every hour. Our Nation is spending a half a billion dollars a day simply paying interest on a debt we've already got, and that is before we increase it by $1 billion a day. Half a billion dollars a day going to pay interest on the national debt. That is a half a billion dollars a day we do not have to properly equip our troops, to support our troops, to support our veterans, those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, to educate our children, to build roads. The list of what should be America's priorities is endless, and yet our Nation is spending half a billion dollars a day simply paying interest on a debt we've already got. It is time to restore fiscal discipline and common sense to our government, and one of the ways we do that is by requiring accountability in Iraq. That is why the Blue Dogs have written what has become known as H.R. 47, providing for Operation Iraqi Freedom Cost Accountability. Let me just say this, that 9/11, September 11, 2001, is a day that I will never forget. From my office window in the Cannon House Office Building I could see the smoke rise from the Pentagon. A few hours later, after being evacuated, I would learn that a young Navy petty officer, Nehamon Lyons, IV, from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, was among those killed at the Pentagon on that dreadful day. In the months that followed, I voted to give the President the authority to go to Afghanistan to hunt down Osama bin Laden. Remember him? To bring him to justice and to put an end to the Taliban, to put an end to terrorism. And then on September 26, 2002, I was called to the White House. I sat in the Cabinet Room, took notes, I still have them, where the President and Andy Card and Condoleezza Rice and about 20 Members of Congress present proceeded to tell us that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, that Saddam Hussein trains terrorists on weapons of mass destruction, and that if military force is used, in the President's word, it will be, quoting now, ``swift.'' September 26, 2002. Fast forward to March 13, 2007. More than 3,000 brave men and women in uniform have died, have sacrificed with their lives in Iraq. Thousands more injured in ways that will forever change their lives. As long as we have men and women in uniform in harm's way, I am going to support them; members of the Blue Dog Coalition are going to support them. This war has affected all of us. My brother-in-law is presently stationed in the United States Air Force in the Middle East. My first cousin was in Iraq when his wife gave birth to their first child. People that I grew up with and taught in Sunday school and duck hunt with have already served one tour through the Arkansas National Guard duty in Iraq and will likely be returning next year if the President gets his way with this so-called surge. Madam Speaker, I believe that the American people spoke on November 7, and they told us they do not want more of the same. And simply adding 20,000 more troops to Iraq is, in my opinion, more of the same. The American people want a new direction in Iraq, not more of the same. In line with that, the American people want accountability for how their tax money is spent, not only in Iraq, but also here at home. And that is what we are trying to do with House Resolution 97. Government investigations and media reports have detailed waste, fraud, and possible war profiteering by some of the very contractors that are being paid billions of dollars by the United States for their services in Iraq. Most recently, a report issued January 30 by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction counts unsanitary conditions, potential health hazards, poor construction methods, and significant cost overruns among the examples of waste, fraud and abuse rampant in the government's funding of the Iraq war. House Resolution 97, which has been written and endorsed by the 43- member strong fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, puts forth tangible commonsense proposals that ensure future transparency and accountability in the funding of Operation Iraqi Freedom. House Resolution 97 is an important first step toward making sure that more resources get to our troops in the field. House Resolution 97 focuses on four crucial points for demanding fiscal responsibility in Iraq: a call for transparency on how Iraq war funds are spent; the creation of a Truman Commission to investigate the awarding of contracts; a need to fund the Iraq war through the normal appropriations process and not through these so-called emergency supplementals; and, finally, using America's resources to approve Iraqi assumption of internal policing operations. Funding requests for the Iraq war should come through the normal appropriations process so that Congress and the people have a clear understanding about what is being spent on the war in Iraq. With House Resolution 97, the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition is calling for the Iraqi Government and its people to progress toward full responsibility for internally policing their country. Without such progress, it is wasteful to continue our investment in the lives, limbs, and taxpayer dollars in Iraq. We must honor those who have sacrificed in Iraq, our brave men and women in uniform, and the thousands more that have come home injured in ways that will forever change their lives. It is very important that we honor them, we support them and their sacrifices through demanding accountability from the Iraqi people. It is time to tell the Iraqi people it is time to step up and accept more responsibility for your own country. If you are going to continue to shoot at one another and to shoot at us, if public opinion poll after public opinion poll coming out of Iraq says that 70 percent of them don't want us there and 60 percent of them think it is okay to kill a U.S. soldier there, then we should send a clear message to the Iraqi people that it is time for them to step up and assume responsibility. If they want us to continue to sacrifice our brave men and women in uniform and return many more thousands home injured, if they want us to continue to spend $12 million an hour of our tax money in Iraq, some $2.5 billion a week, then it is time for the Iraqi people to accept more responsibility and more accountability for their actions. At the same time, Madam Speaker, it is very important that this administration understand that if we are going to support $12 million an hour, $2.5 billion a week of hard-earned taxpayer money going to Iraq, we want to know how it is being spent, we want it accounted for, and we want to know without a shadow of a doubt that it is going to support our brave men and women in uniform. I yield to the gentleman from Georgia.