Mike Ross

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. That would be Red China, Communist China. Our Nation has borrowed $321.4 billion from China to fund tax cuts for folks earning over $400,000 a year at home, leaving our children and grandchildren to foot the bill. That may be a tax cut for the wealthiest people in this country now, but it is nothing more than a tax increase on our children and our grandchildren. The United Kingdom, $179.5 billion. OPEC, imagine that one, OPEC, our Nation has borrowed $98 billion from OPEC. And we wonder why gasoline is approaching $3 a gallon. Korea, $72.4 billion; Taiwan, $68.9 billion; the Caribbean banking centers, $61.7 billion; Hong Kong, $46.6 billion; Germany, $46.5 billion. And get a load of this, rounding off the top ten: Our Nation has borrowed $40.1 billion from Mexico to fund this reckless spending, these record deficits and this record debt given to us by this Republican Congress and this administration. Now, as members of the Blue Dog Coalition, why do we raise this issue? We have got just a few minutes left here. We raise it because our Nation is borrowing $1 billion a day. Never mind that. On top of that, we are spending a half billion dollars a day paying interest on the debt we have already got. That is a half billion dollars a day that cannot go for education, cannot go for health care, cannot go for infrastructure improvements. It has got to go to service the debt. It has got to pay back these foreign countries, these foreign central banks and foreign investors that are funding these record debts and record deficits in this country. In fact, as you can see here, like interest payments on a family's credit card, every dollar spent on the national debt is a dollar that does not educate a child, build a road, or keep the Nation secure. Because of recent record deficits, the government's annual interest payment is the fastest growing category of Federal spending over the next 5 years and has posted double-digit percentage growth for the past 2 years. Interest payments dwarf spending on most national priorities such as homeland security, education, and veterans health care. By 2011 annual interest payments under the administration's proposed budget will grow to $302 billion, a 38 percent increase from the current level. As you can see here, the amount of money we are spending in billions of dollars simply paying interest on the national debt, this is the amount of money going to pay interest on the national debt. This is the amount of money being spent to educate our children. This is the amount of money going for homeland security to keep America secure. And this is the amount of money going to keep our promises to our veterans. America's priorities are not being met because of this Republican Congress' reckless fiscal mess. It is time to put an end to these record debts and record deficits. It is time to restore some common sense and fiscal discipline to our Nation's government. Mr. Speaker, if you have any comments, questions, or concerns about what we have been discussing in the past hour, you can e-mail us, Mr. Speaker, at bluedog@mail.house.gov. That is bluedog@mail.house.gov. I want to thank the gentleman from California for joining me this evening. As we are out of time, I want to leave you with how we started. When we started this hour, I pointed out the national debt was $8,419,147,820,878 and that every living soul in America's share was $28,134. Just in the hour that we have been discussing trying to restore some common sense and fiscal discipline to our Nation's government, this number, our Nation's debt has gone up another $41 million, roughly another $41.666 million. As members of the 37-member strong fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, we come to this floor of the United States House of Representatives every Tuesday night to talk about restoring accountability and fiscal discipline to our Nation's government. We are going to hold the Republican leadership accountable for the reckless spending and the lack of accountability, but we are also going to offer up commonsense solutions to fix these problems, to ensure that we leave this country just a little bit better than we found it for the next generation. Does the gentleman from California have any closing thoughts?

Mr. ROSS. Yes.

Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, this evening as I do each Tuesday evening that the United States House of Representatives is in session, I rise on behalf of the 37-Member-strong fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. As you walk the halls of Congress, as you walk the halls of the Cannon House Office Building, the Longworth House Office Building and the Rayburn House Office Building, it is easy to spot an office that belongs to one of the 37 Members of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, because you will find this poster as a welcome mat by each door of a Blue Dog member. As you can see, today the U.S. national debt is $8,419,147,820,878 and some change. Your share of the national debt, that is every living man, woman and child, including the children born today, every American citizen's share of the national debt is $28,134. As Members of the Blue Dog Coalition, it is what we call the debt tax, d-e-b-t, and that is one tax that cannot go away until this Republican Congress and this administration gets our Nation's fiscal house in order. Last week, the President made a big announcement about how the deficit really was not as bad as what his White House had first thought and reported it would be. I think the best way to sum up the events of last week can be found in an editorial, July 11, 2006, from the Los Angeles Times entitled ``Another Mission Accomplished,'' And I will not read the entire editorial, but I think it sets the stage for what we plan the spend the next hour discussing this evening. It starts off like this: ``The release of the White House mid-session budget review is an annual event normally marked by a few wonkish observations and the routine updating of various spreadsheets, not by a full-dressed Presidential dog-and-pony show. But President Bush plans to preside today with Members of Congress and invited guests in attendance. By all indications, including his own, in his weekly radio address last Saturday, he plans to turn this into a celebration just in time for the fall campaign.'' The editorial from the Los Angeles times dated July 11, 2006 continues. ``This is proof, if anyone still needs it, that this administration is desperate for something to boast about. On Mr. Bush's watch, triple-digit budget surpluses have turned into annual triple- digit budget deficits. ``There is no information in the mid-session report to alter that utterly dispiriting fact. Yes, the report is expected to project that this year's deficit will be somewhat less gargantuan than last year's, probably somewhere between $280 and $300 billion versus a $318 billion shortfall in 2005.'' And it concludes, that part of the editorial, by saying, ``That is not much to crow about.'' Well, they are right. Last week the administration released its mid-session review of the budget. And after further examination, let's take a closer look at what the report actually tells us. The report actually tells us that what we have here is another record deficit. The administration's updated estimate of $296 billion deficit makes 2006 one of the four largest deficits in our Nation's history. It is hard now to believe that we had a balanced budget in this country from 1998 to 2001. But it did not take this administration and this Republican-led Congress very long to turn fiscal responsibility into record deficits. As you can see, the largest deficit ever in our Nation's history occurred in 2004 when the Republicans controlled the White House, the House, and the Senate. It was $413 billion in red ink, in hot checks, if you will. The year 2003 was the second largest deficit ever in our Nation's history, where, for the first time in over 50 years, the Republicans controlled the White House, the House and Senate, and they gave us the second largest deficit ever in our Nation's history, $378 billion. The third largest record deficit ever in our Nation's history again occurred while the Republicans controlled the White House, the House, and the Senate. It was in 2005, and it was $318 billion deficit, the third largest deficit ever in our Nation's history. Then this year, the President has a press conference, has a grand ceremony and event to announce that the deficit for fiscal year 2006 is only $296 billion, the fourth largest deficit ever in our Nation's history. I think the editorial in the Los Angeles Times had it right when it said that is not much to crow about. The administration's updated estimate of $296 billion deficit, as I indicated, makes 2006 the fourth largest deficit ever in our Nation's history. While this number represents an improvement over the 2005 deficit of $318 billion, it still ranks as the fourth largest deficit ever in our Nation's history. These revised estimates do not account for the extent of our budget problems, because they include in the calculation the annual surpluses in Social Security. The first bill I filed as a Member of Congress when I got here in 2001 was a bill to tell the politicians in Washington to keep their hands off the Social Security trust fund. This Republican Congress refused to give me a hearing or a vote on that bill, and now we know why, because they are raiding the Social Security trust fund to fund tax cuts for those earning over $400,000 a year. They are raiding the Social Security trust fund to fund this out-of- control deficit, this out-of-control debt, this reckless spending that we are seeing occurring in our Nation's capital and the way the Republican leadership is running our government and this country. In fact, when the Social Security surplus is excluded, as it should be, the 2006 deficit is not $296 billion; it is $473 billion. Now, throughout the evening we are going to be talking more about this, including projected surpluses, and how they became huge deficits. I will talk more about that in a little bit, but I have been joined this evening by the cochair for policy for the Blue Dog Coalition, Jim Cooper from Tennessee. Glad to have you with us this evening.

Mr. ROSS. I share your concern because we have been sent here. We have been sent here by the people to be their representatives. And part of being their representatives is to ensure that their tax money is being accounted for and being spent in a meaningful way and in a way that we would deem responsible. It kind of reminds me growing up at that little country Methodist church just outside of Prescott in Hope, Arkansas, Midway United Methodist Church. I still try to get back there every year for homecoming. My parents still go there. My mom still plays the piano there. And growing up there at Midway United Methodist Church, every Sunday I heard the preacher talk about being a good steward. Being a good steward. And I think that the American people have sent us here and expect us to be good stewards of their tax money and make sure that it is being accounted for and make sure that it is being spent in a responsible way, a way that will help lift people up, a way that will invest in their children and their education and their future. And that is why I am so very concerned about this. That is why we are pleased to offer up a 12-point plan for budget reform, to cure our Nation's addiction to deficit spending. That is why, as Blue Dog members, we are pleased to offer up this accountability plan under the leadership of Mr. Tanner, one of the founders of the Blue Dogs, and that is why I am so pleased to be a part of your legislation, Mr. Cardoza, another part of our Blue Dog package, to basically tell Cabinet-level agencies that Mr. Secretary, Madam Secretary, if you can't produce a clean audit, then you have got to go back to the Senate and have a reconfirmation hearing. And there is another bill that you have got that I am real proud of, and that is, again, about being good stewards, about the public trust that is being placed in us to come here and to represent the people from back home. They place a lot of trust in us. And when we violate that trust, when we break the laws that we helped write as Members of Congress, we shouldn't be held to the same standards as every other citizen in this country. We should be held to a much greater standard. And we should have to serve even longer prison terms and have even bigger fines than everyone else, because if we are going to come here and violate the public trust and break the laws that we helped write, we should be held to an even more strict standard. And I am proud of the bill that we have on that. And I will yield to the gentleman from California to describe that piece of legislation

Mr. ROSS. You have been there.

Mr. ROSS. I just want to quickly make the point as I do every Tuesday and I am going to as long as these things are still down there. But the reason that we have House Resolution 841 by Mr. Tanner and those of us in the Blue Dog Coalition, this is a bill about accountability and about holding agencies accountable. This is why we need legislation to restore accountability within our government. I don't know how good you can see this, Mr. Speaker, but this is the airport in Hope, Arkansas. Hope used to be known for something else. Now we are known for the trailer houses, mobile homes, manufactured homes. As you can see, this is an active runway at the Hope Airport. And these are old World War II proving ground runways that are no longer being used. So FEMA decides they are going to go out and buy about 20,000 brand-new, fully furnished, microwaves built in, whirlpool tubs built in. We have been in them. We have seen them.

Mr. ROSS. I don't know if they are Jacuzzi brand but they are whirlpool.

Mr. ROSS. Since President Bush took office, the amount of foreign- held Treasury debt has more than doubled, increasing from $1 trillion to $2.1 trillion, meaning that this administration has already accrued more foreign debt than the previous 42 Presidents combined. Let me repeat that. This President and this Republican-led Congress has borrowed more money from foreign central banks and foreign investors than the previous 42 Presidents combined. As you can see here in 2001, the amount of money borrowed from foreign central banks and from foreign investors was $988 billion. That was troubling enough. In 2006, we are up to $2.66 trillion that has been borrowed from foreigners. Unlike deficits in earlier years, current deficits have been primarily financed by foreign investors with the rise in foreign-held debt equaling three-fourths the increase in publicly-held debt since the start of the current administration in 2001. This rise in foreign-held debt is troubling because it makes our economy beholden to foreign creditors and represents another financial burden passed on to future generations. Foreign-held debt is fundamentally different from domestically-held debt, since the interest payments on foreign-held debt flow outside the United States of America and reduce Americans' standard of living. The cost of servicing foreign-held debt is high. Local, State, and Federal Government interest rates to foreign investors totaled $114 billion in 2005, an amount that will grow rapidly if the Treasury continues to sell debt to foreign investors at the current rate. Compare this to only $23 billion in foreign holdings in 1993. Today, the debt, the foreign-held debt, is $2.1 trillion. And just like David Letterman, I have got a ``top ten list.'' The top ten current lenders, again, our government is borrowing $1 billion a day. We keep passing tax cuts for those earning over $400,000 a year. And where does the money come from? We have got record deficits. Where is the money coming from to give tax cuts to those earning over $400,000 a year? Here is the top ten: Japan, our Nation has borrowed $640.1 billion from Japan; China, $321.4 billion.

Mr. ROSS. They are fully furnished, 16-foot wide, 60-foot long mobile homes, about a half a billion dollars worth of them. And they are parked here at the airport in Hope, Arkansas. Except the theory was they were going to bring them in and then take them to the storm victims from Hurricane Katrina. We are coming up on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. And so the theory was that they were going to be coming in and then going out. This would be a FEMA staging area. Well, they all came and never went. And as a result, they quickly filled up these old World War II-era proving ground runways and started parking them just in the hay meadow. I mean, just literally on the pasture. And then the Inspector General noted that with the rains they were going to start sinking this past spring. Lord knows, we would love to have rain now. It is awful hot and dry in Arkansas. But FEMA's response was not to get the homes to the people who need them. FEMA's response was to spend 4 to $7 million putting gravel on 200 acres of hay meadow pasture land at the Hope Airport to keep these mobile homes from sinking. The bottom line is, if you can't really get a good look at it there, if you have ever wondered what 9,959 mobile homes look like, that is what it looks like. At one time we had 10,777. We finally have got it down to 9,959. But this is a better look of what it looks like. I mean, there is a fence, barbed wire fence and pasture. They are just sitting there on the areas. Here, as you can see, 16-foot wide, 60-foot long, mobile homes; 9,959 of them sitting there at the airport in Hope, Arkansas, 450 miles from the eye of Hurricane Katrina nearly a year after the storm. Now, FEMA buys these for victims of Hurricane Katrina; and then FEMA says, well, we are not going to put them in a flood plain. Well, everybody that lost their home and their housing in Hurricane Katrina, they loss it because they lived in a flood plain. It is time to restore some common sense to FEMA, and it is time to find a good use, a responsible use of these 9,959 mobile homes that are simply parked there at the airport in Hope, Arkansas, an example of mismanagement by a Federal agency. Example of mismanagement by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. An example of why we need to restore accountability in our government. And I am not going to let up on this until every single one of these mobile homes that taxpayers have paid for, about $400 billion worth, are put to good use. They are not serving anybody any purpose. They are not doing anyone any good sitting in a hay meadow at the Hope Airport in Hope, Arkansas. This is a symbol of what is wrong with this administration. This is a symbol of what is wrong with this Republican-led Congress. It is a symbol of what is wrong with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. I yield back to the gentleman from California.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. I want to thank the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Tanner). At this time, I would like to introduce another gentleman from Tennessee who is very active in the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, another member who is not afraid to come to Washington, stand up and say he is a conservative Democrat, and that is my friend, Mr. Lincoln Davis from Tennessee.

Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Davis), the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Tanner), the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Bean), and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Boyd) for joining me for this Special Order this evening. Mr. Speaker, we are here to demonstrate that if given the opportunity as Democrats, we are prepared and ready to lead this Nation. We are prepared to lead this Nation in restoring fiscal responsibility and accountability to our government. We are not just here to point out what is wrong with this Republican administration and Republican Congress. We are here to offer up real commonsense solutions to fix these things. We have talked about them in the last hour, the 12-point reform plan for curing our Nation's addiction to deficit spending through budget reform. We have talked about Mr. Tanner's bill, House Resolution 841, to require congressional hearings when a Federal Office of Inspector General report documenting fraud, waste, abuse or mismanagement in the government results in a cost to the government of at least $1 million. We have talked about the need for other ideas that we have that we are advancing, like the idea of the gentleman from California (Mr. Cardoza) with H.R. 5315, a bill that would require a Federal agency to produce an audit within 2 years that complies with the standards established in the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996. If they can't do that, the Senate would hold reconfirmation hearings on any Cabinet-level official whose agency cannot fully account for its spending within 2 years. Mr. Speaker, this past hour has been about accountability. It has been about our government being accountable for every tax dollar it spends. Mr. Speaker, as members of the Blue Dog Coalition, we are ready, willing and able to lead this Congress if given the opportunity.

Mr. ROSS. I appreciate the gentleman making that point. We would welcome Republicans to join us. We would welcome an opportunity for Republicans to give us a hearing and a vote on these bills that we are trying to submit to restore some fiscal discipline and commonsense to our national government.

Mr. ROSS. I thank the gentleman from Florida, one of the leaders of the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, for joining us this evening and addressing part of the Blue Dog's 12-point reform plan for curing our Nation's addiction to deficit spending. And these are just 12 commonsense ideas that we offer up, and yet the Republican leadership refuses to give us a hearing or a vote on these ideas. One of them is simply a balanced budget. Forty-nine States require a balanced budget. I can assure you my wife requires a balanced budget at the Ross home in Prescott, Arkansas. Most bankers require businesses to have a balanced budget. And this is just another commonsense idea we have. Another of the 12-point plans for budget reform simply says, ``Ensure that Congress reads the bills it is voting on.'' Now, we can't pass a law to make Congress read the bills it is voting on, but I can promise you this: When this Congress votes on 500-plus-page bills and gives the minority, our side of the aisle, less than an hour to read the bill before we vote on it, I can promise you that Members of Congress cannot read every word of every page of every bill before they are being forced to vote on it. We saw that happen, for example, with the Medicare prescription drug bill, now estimated to cost $720 billion over the next 10 years. It went to a vote barely a day after the final version of the 500-plus- page bill was made available for Members of Congress to see and read. What we propose, as members of the Blue Dog coalition, is that Members of Congress should be given a minimum of 3 days to have the final text of legislation made available to them before there is a vote. Another commonsense idea. I want to thank again the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Boyd) for joining us and raising some of these things, because we are not here just to say Republicans are bad. We are here to say we are tired of all the partisan bickering that goes on in our Nation's Capital. It shouldn't be about whether it is a Republican idea or a Democrat idea; we want to see some commonsense ideas. And we are not here just to criticize. We are here to hold the Republican Congress accountable, but we are also here to offer up a solution to this problem, and that is why we have written this 12-point plan for budget reform. At this time, I am pleased to introduce one of the newest members of the Blue Dog coalition, who has contributed greatly to our calls of trying to restore common sense and fiscal discipline to our Nation's government. Before I do that, though, Mr. Speaker, if you have any comments or concerns of us, I hope you will e-mail us at bluedog@mail.house.gov. Again, Mr. Speaker, if you have any comments, questions, or concerns of us, I would encourage you to e-mail us at bluedog@mail.house.gov. And at this time, I am now pleased to turn this over to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Bean).

Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the 37-member strong, fiscally conservative, Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, I rise this afternoon to discuss our Nation's debt. As you can see here, Mr. Speaker, today the United States national debt is $8,413,298,480,959 and some change. If you divide that enormous number by every man, woman and child, including those babies being born today, every United States citizen's share of the national debt comes to the tune of $28,120. In the Blue Dog Coalition we have coined the phrase ``the debt tax,'' not to be confused with the death tax or estate tax. The debt tax, D-E- B-T, is one tax that cannot go away until we get our Nation's fiscal house in order. That is what the Democratic, fiscally conservative, 37-member-strong Blue Dog Coalition is all about trying to restore some commonsense and fiscal discipline to our Nation's government. As you walk the halls of Congress and as you walk the halls of the Cannon and the Longworth and the Rayburn House Office Buildings, you will come across these posters which signify that you have walked by the door of an office of one of our fellow Blue Dog members. We are concerned about this because, Mr. Speaker, from 1998 through 2001, this Nation had a balanced budget, and yet under this administration and this Republican-led Congress, we have seen record budget deficits, the largest deficits ever, ever in our Nation's history. In 2004, the deficit was $412 billion. In 2005, it was $318 billion. In 2006, it was $372 billion, and in fiscal year 2007, it is projected to be $350 billion, one of the largest deficits ever in our Nation's history. One of the first bills I filed as a Member of Congress when I got here back in 2001 was a bill to tell the politicians in Washington to keep their hands off the Social Security trust fund. The Republican leadership in this Congress refused to give me a hearing or a vote on that bill, and now we know why, because the real deficit projected for fiscal year 2007 is not $280 billion or $350 billion, depending on whose numbers you want to believe. It is really $545 billion. So where does the difference come about? It is because this Republican Congress and this administration is counting the Social Security trust fund, and that is wrong. When you and I go to the bank to get a loan, our banker wants to know how we are going to pay it back, when are we going to pay it back, and yet this Republican Congress continues to give us the largest budget deficits ever in our Nation's history while borrowing money from the Social Security trust fund with no provision being made on how or when that money will be paid back. Where is it going come from? They cannot tell us. When is it going to be paid back? They cannot tell us. Social Security has kept over half the seniors in America out of poverty. It is time for this Republican Congress to keep their hands off the Social Security trust fund. Now, why is this debt so important? Total national debt from 1789 to 2000 was $5.67 trillion. Let me repeat that. From 1789 until 2000, the total national debt was $5.67 trillion. But by 2010, the total national debt will have increased to $10.88 trillion. This is a doubling. This is a doubling of the 211-year debt in just 10 years. Another reason that deficits should matter, Mr. Speaker, is because interest payments on this debt are one of the fastest growing parts of the Federal budget, and the debt tax, D-e-b-t tax, is one that cannot be repealed until we get back to the days of a balanced budget. Not only is our Nation borrowing $1 billion a day; this number is going up by about $1 billion a day. Our Nation is borrowing $1 billion a day. More important than that, our Nation is spending a half a billion dollars, $500 million, every single day simply paying interest on the national debt that we already got before it goes up another billion dollars a day. I represent a very poor district in Arkansas. We have a lot of hope in creating economic opportunities by building new highways. We need $1.6 billion to complete Interstate 69. It sounds like a staggering number until you think about it. If we did not have this debt, we could build Interstate 69 with 3 days' interest on the national debt. Mr. Speaker, our government will spend more money in the next 4 days paying interest, not principal, just interest on the national debt, than what it would cost to completely build Interstate 69 through Arkansas. Interstate 49 will also be critical to creating economic opportunities and jobs for my district. We need $1.5 billion to finish it. Again, a staggering number until you think about we are spending $500 million every 24 hours simply paying interest on the debt we already got before it goes up another billion dollars today. We could complete Interstate 49 with just 3 days' interest on the national debt. Hot Springs, Arkansas: We need about $200 million to complete the expressway around Hot Springs. $80 million to get it up the hill, and up the mountain and another 100 to 200 million to get it back down and totally completed. $80 million would be nice. $200 million would be better. We could complete the Hot Springs Expressway with just a few hours' interest on the national debt. El Dorado, Arkansas, the largest town in my district not located on a four-lane highway, desperately needs four-lane access. We could four- lane U.S. Highway 167 for about $400 million. Put it another way, we could four-lane U.S. Highway 167 from Little Rock to El Dorado and connect on down to Louisiana to I-20 with less than 1 day's interest on the national debt. Interstate I-530, $200 million to complete that project that is also under construction. A lot of money. But just a few hours' interest on the national debt. In fact, Mr. Speaker, we could build 200 brand-new elementary schools every single day in America just with the interest we are spending on the national debt. We cannot meet America's priorities as it relates to reducing our dependence on foreign oil. In fact, Mr. Speaker, we will spend, we will spend more money in Iraq in the next 8 hours than we will spend on research and development of bio-refineries in the next 365 days. Health care, education, making the kind of advancements to our Nation's infrastructure that we so desperately need, the kind of investments that we saw under Roosevelt with the WPA program to help get us out of the Great Depression, or with Eisenhower with the interstate program, these kinds of priorities for America will continue to go unmet until we get our Nation's fiscal house in order. That is why as a member of the Blue Dog Coalition I am here to talk about this debt, and this deficit, because America has many priorities. Many priorities that continue to go unmet as our Nation continues to borrow $1 billion a day, as our Nation continues to spend half a billion a day, $500 million a day, simply paying interest on the national debt. Meanwhile, America's priorities continue to go neglected. Now why should deficits matter other than all of these reasons I have already given you? Deficits reduce economic growth. We all know that. Look how much better the economy was in the 1990s when we had a balanced budget. Deficits burden our children and our grandchildren. It is wrong for us to borrow money from other countries to give tax cuts to people here earning over $400,000 a year and leave our children to pay the bill. How would you like to go to the bank and tell your banker you want to borrow money to build this new house, but you are not going to pay for it, you are just going to leave the bills for your children? You know, Mr. Banker, I have got two wonderful children. I am going to make sure they get a wonderful education, grow up, get a good job. They are going to pay for this house. The banker would try to have you locked up as being mentally insane. Yet that is how we are running our country today. In fact, deficits do matter because they increase our reliance on foreign lenders, foreign lenders who now own over 40 percent of our debt. Where is this money coming from that we are borrowing? 40 percent. As we know, some of it is coming from the Social Security trust fund with no provision on how or when it is going to be paid back. Well, where is the rest of this debt coming from? We are borrowing $1 billion a day. Where is it coming from? Is it coming from your hometown bank? I do not think so. It is coming from foreign central banks and foreign investors. In fact, Mr. Speaker, the United States of America is becoming increasingly dependent on foreign lenders to fund our lifestyle, which is give me tax cuts if I make over $400,000 a year, borrow the money from China and let my kids worry about paying it back. That is the way this Republican Congress is running America. Foreign lenders. Foreign lenders currently hold a total of more than $2 trillion of our public debt. Compare this to only $23 billion in foreign holdings back in 1993. The top 10 list. The top 10 current lenders. America continues to pass tax cuts for folks earning over $400,000 a year with money that we are borrowing, because we are borrowing $1 billion a day, with money they are borrowing from whom? Here is the top 10: Japan, The United States of America owes Japan $640.1 billion; China, $321.4 billion. As my friend and a founder of the Blue Dogs, Mr. Tanner, has so eloquently stated and pointed out before, if China decides to invade Taiwan, the United States of America will have to go to China to borrow more money to defend Taiwan. The United Kingdom, $179.5 billion; OPEC, imagine that. We wonder why gas is approaching $3 a gallon. Our Nation has borrowed $98 billion from OPEC to fund tax cuts for folks in this country earning over $400,000 a year. Korea, the United States of America has borrowed $72.4 billion from Korea; Taiwan, we have borrowed $68.9 billion; the Caribbean banking centers, $61.7 billion; Hong Kong, $46.6 billion; Germany, $46.5 billion. And are you ready for this? Rounding out the top 10 countries that our Nation borrows money from to fund our out-of-control deficit spending to the tune of $1 billion a day, we have now borrowed $40.1 billion from Mexico. Now, Mr. Speaker, when an American family sits down around the dinner table to pay their bills and budget for their household, they include all of their family obligations, their mortgage, their car payment, their credit card bills, their education expenses, you name it. Those hardworking folks take into account the cost of a 4-year education for their children, not just for one year of it. They take into account their car payment, and how many years it is going to take to pay for that car, not just to drive it for a year. When they mortgage their homes, they take into account how long and by what means they will be able to afford their housing, not just live in it for a year. And you know what, Mr. Speaker, they expect the same from their government. And yet as we can see, July 11, today, Los Angeles Times editorial entitled ``Another Mission Accomplished,'' I am not going to read all of the editorial, but the first two paragraphs are worth reading: ``The release of the White House mid-session budget review is an annual event normally marked by a few wonkish observations and the routine updating of various spreadsheets, not by a full-dress Presidential dog-and-pony show. ``President Bush plans to preside today, with Members of Congress and invited guests in attendance. By all indications, including his own, in his weekly radio address last Saturday, he plans to turn this into a celebration just in time for the fall campaign. ``This is proof, if anyone still needs it, that this administration is desperate for something to boast about. On Mr. Bush's watch, triple- digit budget surpluses have turned into annual triple-digit budget deficits. There is no information in the mid-session report to alter that utterly disparaging fact. ``Yes, the report is expected to project that this year's deficit will be somewhat less gargantuan than last year's, probably somewhere between 280 and $300 billion versus a $318 billion shortfall in 2005. That is not much to crow about.'' That is an editorial that appeared today in the Los Angeles Times entitled ``Another Mission Accomplished.'' It goes on. But the point is that this administration is so desperate for some good news that they are having a celebration to celebrate that our Nation is not going to borrow $318 billion as it did in 2005; it is only going to borrow between 280 and $300 billion in fiscal year 2006. Mr. Speaker, I submit to you that our Nation borrowing nearly $1 billion a day is nothing to celebrate. Now, contrary to this administration's rhetoric in light of these new numbers touted today, we have yet to get government spending under control. Instead of talking about 1 year, we should have a real plan to deal with the realities of our long-term debt and deficit, just like American families do for their financial obligations. A perfect example of this is how we are handling our obligation in Iraq. I believe we all support our troops. I hope we do. I have got a brother-in-law who spent Christmas refueling Air Force planes over in Afghanistan. My first cousin's wife gave birth to their first child during his service in Iraq. We honor all of those who have and who continue to serve our country in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Where I disagree with this President is on the point of accountability. This President, this Republican Congress, is sending $279 million of your tax money to Iraq every day. And yet if you ask him to be accountable for it, if you ask him for a plan on how that money is being spent and how it will win the peace and ultimately bring our men and women in uniform home, he will tell you you are being unpatriotic. That is where I disagree with this President. We just entered our fourth year in this war, and I believe if we are going to send $279 million of your tax money to Iraq every day, this administration and this Republican Congress should be held accountable for how that money is being spent. But we are still finding it piecemeal; we are still excluding the cost of the war from our annual spending process. We are passing a number of supplemental appropriation bills to pay for it that mask the war's true cost. It is time, it is past time that this administration be up front with the American people and include these important costs in their annual budget estimates. Only then, Mr. Speaker, only then will we be able to celebrate a real decline in deficits. Again, Mr. Speaker, the U.S. national debt as of today is $8,413,298,480,959 and some change. For every man, woman and child in America their share is $28,120. What is staggering is that by the time we conclude this hour on the floor today, the U.S. national debt will have risen to the tune of more than $41,666,000. At this time, Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield to the gentleman from Florida, Mr. Allen Boyd, one of the founding members and one of the real leaders of the fiscally conservative 37-member strong Democratic Blue Dog Coalition as we continue to talk more about the debt and the deficit and accountability. Mr. Speaker, I yield to my friend, the gentleman from Florida, Mr. Boyd.

Mr. ROSS. I want to thank the gentleman from Tennessee, one of the founders of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, Mr. Tanner, for offering up this bill. Again, another example of how the Blue Dogs are not just pointing fingers. We are holding the Republican Congress accountable, but we are not just criticizing them. We are offering up solutions, and this is another commonsense solution to restore accountability to our government. A lot of people may not know this, but the Government Accountability Office reported that 19 of 24 Federal agencies were not in compliance with all Federal accounting audit standards and could not fully explain how they had spent taxpayer money appropriated by Congress. This bill that the Blue Dogs and Mr. Tanner have introduced will hold these Federal agencies accountable for how they spend your tax money, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. ROSS. Yes, I will yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Boyd).

Mr. ROSS. The gentleman raises an excellent point. As you can see here, these are manufactured homes. You would think that they would be in Louisiana or Mississippi or someplace where people lost their homes and everything they owned as a result of Hurricane Katrina. And you would have thought, well, the hurricane was last August, and this is July, so we are coming up on the first anniversary, and you would think they would have by now gotten to the people who have been left homeless from these storms. Yet they have remained parked, you can see, in this cow pasture here, or hay meadow here, or whatever you want to call it. There is the barbed wire fence, and the grass, and the pasture land, and 10,777 of these manufactured homes. These are 16-foot wide, 60-foot long, and almost a $500,000,000 worth of mobile homes sitting at the Hope Airport in Hope, Arkansas. These trailers, 10,777 of them, arrived late last year. Today, we still have 9,959 of them. That is a close-up view. You have to see this. Hopefully, Mr. Speaker, you can get a good look at this. That is an aerial view. They are being parked at the airport in Hope, Arkansas. That is not all of them. Lord knows, there is not a lens wide enough to get them all. But we still have 9,959 brand-new, fully-furnished, totally unused mobile homes that were designed to go to storm victims following Hurricane Katrina that are parked 450 miles from the eye of the storm at an airport in Hope, Arkansas. Now, if that is not enough, FEMA is spending $250,000 a month, $25,000 of that is going to the city to park them there, but the rest of that $250,000 a month is going for security and all the maintenance and all the stuff that is required to store them there. And on top of that, FEMA's response is not to get them to the people who need them, FEMA's response is, oh, my goodness, the inspector general is right. When a big rain comes, they are likely to sink in this hay meadow. So now FEMA is spending another $7 million laying gravel on nearly 200 acres of land. This is the kind of lack of accountability within our government that we are trying to get at with this bill Mr. Tanner and the other Blue Dogs have introduced.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This evening I rise on behalf of the 37-member strong, fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition to discuss a grave concern of ours and that is the Nation's debt. As you walk the Halls of Congress, there is never a doubt whether you are walking past one of the 37 of us that make up the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition because you will see this poster as a welcome mat by each of our doors. As you can see from this poster, today the United States national debt is $8,346,401,298,731 and some change. For every man, woman and child living in America today, including the children born this hour, their share of the national debt is $27,905. I might add, a staggering $27,905. It is what we call the debt tax, D-E-B-T. Mr. Speaker, that is one tax that cannot be cut or eliminated until this Republican Congress and this Republican administration gets its fiscal house in order. As members of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, we are here tonight, Mr. Speaker, to talk about trying to restore some common sense and fiscal discipline to our Nation's government. It is hard now to believe, but from 1998 through 2001, this Nation had a balanced budget and the economy was much better. People were saving more. They had good jobs. Today, for those fortunate enough to have a job, many of them have had to leave the good-paying jobs with the good benefits for low-paying jobs with little or no benefits. It is time to get our fiscal house back in order so we can jump-start this economy, invest in alternative and renewable fuels and bring down the high cost of gasoline, ensure that our children are getting the very best education possible, ensure that health care is affordable and accessible, and ensure that we are doing right by our men and women in uniform and our veterans. In order to meet what I believe should be America's priorities, we must first get our Nation's fiscal house in order. And we are not doing that. We had deficit spending, record deficits in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and, yes, the projected deficit for fiscal year 2007, you will hear a lot of people refer to it as $350 billion. The deficit for fiscal year 2007, a lot of people will tell you it is $350 billion, but it is not. It is not, Mr. Speaker. The real deficit for fiscal year 2007 is $545 billion. Why the difference between the $350 billion and the $545 billion? It is quite simple. Our Government is borrowing from the Social Security Trust Fund to fund this deficit, to fund tax cuts for those earning over $400,000 a year. I am now beginning to understand why when I came to Congress in 2001 the first bill I filed was a bill to tell the politicians in Washington to keep their hands off the Social Security Trust Fund. This Republican Congress refused to give me a hearing or a vote on that bill. And now we know why. Because for fiscal year 2007 the real deficit is not $350 billion as they want you to believe, it is $540 billion, because the difference is money they are taking from the Social Security Trust Fund with no provision on when or how it gets paid back and no idea where the revenue is going to come from to pay it back. The national debt. Listen to this. The total national debt in 1789 to 2000 was $5.67 trillion. But by 2010, the total national debt will have increased to $10.88 trillion if we continue down this path. That is a doubling. That is a doubling of a 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, as I refer to it, is one tax that cannot be repealed or cut until we get our Nation's fiscal house in order. Again the D-E-B-T tax, the debt tax, $27,905 for every living man, woman and child in this country today. That is what it would take to pay off this massive debt of $8,346,401,298,731 and, of course, some change. Why do deficits matter? Deficits reduce economic growth. They burden our children and grandchildren with liabilities. They increase our reliance on foreign lenders who now own 40 percent of our debt. Mr. Speaker, the U.S. is becoming increasingly dependent on foreign lenders. Foreign lenders currently hold a total of more than $2 trillion of our public debt. Compare this to only $23 billion foreign holdings back in 1993. The top 10 current lenders, now get a load of this, think about this. We are passing law after law providing tax cuts to those earning over $400,000 a year, while cutting Medicaid, while cutting student loans. And where is the revenue coming from? We are borrowing $1 billion a day. We are spending half a billion dollars a day paying interest on the debt that we have already got, and we are borrowing another billion dollars a day on top of that. Where is it coming from? Japan. We owe Japan $640.1 billion. China. Our Nation has borrowed $321.4 billion from China to provide tax cuts in this Nation to those earning over $400,000 a year. United Kingdom, $179.5 billion. OPEC. Imagine that. Our Nation has borrowed $98 billion from OPEC. Korea, $72.4 billion. Taiwan, $68.9 billion. The Caribbean banking centers, $61.7 billion. Hong Kong, $46.6 billion. Germany, $46.5 billion. Mexico. Our Nation has borrowed $40.1 billion from Mexico to give tax cuts in this country to those earning over $400,000 a year. Mr. Speaker, I submit to you it is time for us to get our Nation's fiscal house in order, to stop the deficit spending, to pay down this debt and get back to addressing the real needs and the real priorities of America's working families, America's farm families, and America's seniors. Mr. Speaker, if you have any comments or questions about what we are discussing tonight dealing with the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition and our concern about the debt and the deficit, and as we talk more about accountability this evening, restoring accountability to our Nation's Government, Mr. Speaker, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, I encourage you to e-mail us, sir, at bluedog@mail.house.gov. That is bluedog@mail.house.gov. Now, I have laid out the problem that this Nation faces. We are not here as members of the 37-member-strong, fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition to simply criticize the Republican leadership for their failures since they took over this House and became the majority, became the ones in charge of this place. We are here to also offer up solutions, something that I believe too many politicians fail to do. They are quick to criticize, but they are not quick to offer up solutions. Mr. Speaker, we have a 12-point plan that will cure our Nation's addiction to deficit spending that has been laid out by the Blue Dog Coalition. We will be talking about these 12 points tonight, including a constitutional amendment calling for a balanced budget, among others; and we will also be talking about restoring accountability to our Government. But at this time I will yield to my friend, a fellow Blue Dog, who comes to us from the State of California. That is the gentleman from California, Congressman Jim Costa.

Mr. ROSS. I want to thank the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Tanner) for his leadership as a founding member of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. I want to thank him for his leadership on House Resolution 841. We have talked tonight about House Resolution 841 to require congressional hearings when there is fraud, waste and abuse and mismanagement of Federal agencies with your tax dollars. We have also talked tonight about another commonsense solution, and that is H.R. 5315, by one of the Blue Dog cochairs, Mr. Cardoza of California, who has a real commonsense idea, and that is if you are a Cabinet head and your Federal agency that you oversee cannot fully account for its spending, you should have to go back to the Senate for reconfirmation. So these are commonsense solutions that we are offering up. We are not here just to be critical of the Republican administration. We are here to say here is what is wrong and here are the things that we think we can do to fix it. Clearly, the time has come to hold this administration accountable for its reckless behavior. I believe Congress must act now to renew its constitutional responsibility to serve as a check and balance for overspending, waste, fraud and financial abuse within the executive branch of government. Wasteful government spending has forced the national debt to its current record level of $8,346,401,298,731, and future generations, our children and grandchildren, will be forced to pay that bill. Future generations will have to pay back with interest the money the Federal Government is borrowing from other countries due to this administration and this Republican Congress's fiscal recklessness. The time has come, Mr. Speaker. The time has come to restore common sense and fiscal discipline to our Nation's government. The legislation that I have described to you this evening, these are two different legislative proposals put forth by the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition that will put our Nation back on the track toward balancing the budget and restoring accountability. Again, Mr. Speaker, the U.S. national debt, when we started this evening it was $8,346,401,298,731. And just in the past hour, as we have been discussing this financial crisis facing America, this number, this national debt has risen $41,666,000. Mr. Speaker, our Nation is borrowing $1 billion a day. We are spending a half a billion a day paying interest on the debt we have already got. Mr. Speaker, it is time to restore some common sense and fiscal discipline to our Nation's government, and once we do that, once we do that we can meet America's priorities. A half a billion dollars a day simply going to pay interest on the national debt. In my district alone, I have got $4 billion in road needs. I need $1.5 billion to finish I-69, Interstate 69. I need another $1.5 billion to finish Interstate 49. I need $200 million to finish Interstate I-530; $300 million to four-lane 167 from Little Rock to El Dorado and beyond; about 80 to $100 million to finish the Hot Springs Expressway; and $200 million to four-lane U.S. Highway 82 from the east to the west side of Arkansas. These kinds of road projects can create jobs and economic opportunities for one of the poorest regions in the country, the Delta region, which I am proud to represent. But before we can meet America's priorities and lift these folks up out of poverty and give them a helping hand by building the roads they need, we must first restore common sense and fiscal discipline to our Nation's government and pay down this national debt and stop this deficit spending.

Mr. ROSS. Twenty-six. Since then, only three programs have been removed from the list, and four more have been added. Clearly, it is necessary that Congress become involved to curb mismanagement in Federal agencies. You raised a good point. In fact, to go into that a little more, in 2004, $25 million of Federal Government spending went absolutely unaccounted for, according to the President's Treasury Department. The Bush administration was unable to determine where the money had gone, how it was spent or what the American people got for their tax money, $25 billion in 2004. Even worse, this Republican-controlled Congress failed to hold the executive branch accountable, failed to hold the executive branch accountable for this submission. And with your bill, sir, it would require this Congress, it would require this government, to hold this administration accountable for this kind of reckless and irresponsible spending. Furthermore, in 2005 the Government Accountability Office reported that 19 of 24 Federal agencies were not in compliance with all Federal accounting audit standards and could not fully explain how they had spent taxpayer money appropriated to them by Congress. And yet the Republican leadership in this Congress did not force these agencies to fully account for how the money was being spent before doling out billions more of taxpayer dollars to the same programs. Clearly, Congress has failed to ask serious questions about the Bush administration's fiscal irresponsibility, record-high deficits 4 years in a row, and have now pushed the Federal debt to $8.3 trillion. Mr. Speaker, if you have any comments or concerns about what we are discussing this evening, and I hope you do, I hope you will email us at bluedog@house.mail.gov. I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee.

Mr. ROSS. You are so right on target with what we need to be doing as a Nation. In 2003, the Government Accountability Office identified 26 high-risk areas for the Federal Government.

Mr. ROSS. I want to thank the gentleman from California, a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, Jim Costa, for joining us this evening. The gentleman mentioned the financial report of the United States Government for 2005. You pointed out that in that the debt is really not, for 2005, it really wasn't $319 billion; it was really $760 billion. And I just want to make sure, Mr. Speaker, that you understand we are not trying to make things sound worse than they really are, or make up some numbers or anything. The $760 billion deficit for 2005 is contained here in the financial report of the United States of America, which was published by John Snow, President Bush's Secretary of the Treasury. Now, how does this financial report say that the deficit is $760 billion in 2005 when everyone else has been saying it is $319 billion? And, again, there is no reason to make it any worse than it already is. It was already one of the largest deficits ever in our Nation's history. There is no reason to try to make it worse. But here is a little known fact that very few Members of Congress are even aware of: it is not well published on Capitol Hill. When the budget rolls out, you will see them bringing it to Capitol Hill with a lot of fanfare. It is about that thick and several volumes. This is quietly brought to Capitol Hill, and not even provided to every Member of Congress. Why is that? Because this is true accounting. The difference is that the budget uses cash-base accounting, which only the tiniest businesses in America use because it hides future obligations, thus painting, potentially, an unrealistic and misleading picture of the Federal Government's overall performance. That is according to David Walker, the Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office. So when you do cash-base accounting, the deficit for 2005 was $319 billion. But in this financial report of the United States of America, as required by law, the Treasury Secretary has to report what the real debt is, the real deficit is, based on accrual accounting. And, Mr. Speaker, accrual accounting is something that most businesses in America are very aware of because it is the method required by law. It is the method required by this Congress to be used by every business in America with revenues over $5 million. This financial report takes into account future obligations of the Federal Government, presenting a clearer, more understandable picture of Federal finances. So the real deficit for 2005 was not the $319 billion contained in the budget using cash-base accounting, but rather it was $760 billion as contained in the financial report of the United States Government for 2005 issued by the Secretary of the Treasury, John Snow, as required by law, using accrual accounting. This is the same accounting method required by this Congress for businesses with revenues over $5 million to use; and if they don't use the accrual method of accounting, they are slapped with all kinds of fines by the IRS and in all kinds of trouble with the Justice Department. So I thank the gentleman from California for bringing that to our attention this evening. Now, as I said earlier, the Blue Dog Coalition has a plan on how to fix all of this. We have a 12-point plan for meaningful budget reform. I mentioned one of them, which is requiring a constitutional amendment for a balanced budget. Forty-nine States require a balanced budget. Most businesses require a balanced budget. And I can assure you, in the Ross family my wife requires a balanced budget. A second idea we have in our 12-point plan for curing our Nation's addiction to deficit spending is don't let Congress buy on credit. Back when President Clinton gave us the first balanced budget in 40 years, we had something implemented on this House floor called PAYGO rules. Pay as you go. If you want to fund a new project, you have to show us which project you are going to cut. If you want to pass tax cuts, you have to show us which program you want to cut. In other words, pay as you go. Don't continue down this track that we are on today of running up the deficit, running up the debt, and borrowing money from China and Japan and Korea and OPEC to pay for this reckless spending. Another thing that we are doing, as members of the Blue Dog Coalition, is we have a plan to restore accountability. The author of this plan is a founding member of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, John Tanner, of Tennessee. Let me just say that under the United States Constitution, Congress has an obligation to provide congressional oversight of the executive branch. Congressional oversight prevents waste and fraud, ensures executive compliance with the law, and evaluates executive performance. However, under this Republican leadership, Congress has abandoned this responsibility by failing to conduct meaningful investigations of allegations of serious waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement of taxpayer dollars. By failing to serve as a check and balance for overspending, waist, fraud, and financial abuse within the executive branch, this Republican-led Congress has failed the American taxpayer. Every 24 hours, $279 million of your tax money is being spent in Iraq. But don't ask the President to be accountable for it. He will tell you you are unpatriotic. That is where I disagree with this President. I believe we have a duty and an obligation to be accountable for taxpayer money. The current Federal debt, as you know, is $8.346 trillion, much of which, as we talked about earlier, is borrowed from foreign countries. This President, this administration, and this Republican Congress must be held accountable for our massive Federal debt and for the $279 million of tax money that is being spent in Iraq every day. Now, as long as we have troops in Iraq, I want to support them, and I want to send money there. But I want to make sure that money is accounted for and being spent on our men and women in uniform. American taxpayers simply deserve to know how their money is spent. They deserve answers as to why their children and grandchildren will have to foot the bill for this administration's fiscal mismanagement of the Federal budget. And, Mr. Speaker, this includes answers as to why the Federal Emergency Management Agency continues to pay $250,000 a month to store almost 10,000 mobile homes, to be exact, as of tonight 9,957 of them, at the Hope Airport in Hope, Arkansas, in my congressional district, here is an aerial view of it, while many victims of Hurricane Katrina and other storms remain homeless. It is past time for FEMA to be held accountable and provide these new fully furnished mobile homes to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. FEMA's response so far has been, oh, my goodness, they are liable to sink in this pasture. As you can see here from a better view, and you have to see this to believe it, here are the 9,957 mobile homes just sitting in a hay meadow. Here is the barbed wire fence at the Hope Airport in Hope, Arkansas. Instead of moving them to storm victims that have been left homeless from various natural disasters, FEMA's response has been, oh, my goodness, the Inspector General is right, they are liable to start sinking in the hay meadow, so now they are spending $6 million putting gravel in this hay meadow at the Hope Airport in Hope, Arkansas. It is time, it is time for FEMA to be held accountable for this mismanagement. No business in our country could succeed financially if it failed to fully report back to its shareholders on how it is spending its money. But that is exactly how our Federal Government is operating. The administration is not telling its shareholders, the American taxpayers, how it spends the money coming into Washington. We have a plan to fix this. It is House Resolution 841, introduced by Representative John Tanner, a founding member of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, and at this time I want to call on Mr. Tanner to use as much time as he so desires to explain this bill, our solution, to try to address this lack of accountability in our government. I am real proud that we are not just here to criticize this administration, this Republican Congress, but also to offer up a solution. At this time I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, this evening on behalf of the 37-member- strong, fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, I rise to talk about restoring accountability to our Nation's government. As you can see here, today, the United States national debt is $8,347,371,018,253 and some change. If you divide that number by every living man, woman, and child, including the children, the babies being born today, every citizen of the United States' share of the national debt is $27,910. For those of you that have walked the halls of Congress, you have seen this poster outside each of the 37 members of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. The number changes daily. It is staggering. It is our way to try to hold our government accountable for this reckless spending and the largest debt ever in our Nation's history as well as the largest deficits ever in our Nation's history. Tonight, I would like to talk about accountability. Mr. Speaker, let me just say that under the United States Constitution, which I carry one with me, Congress has an obligation to provide congressional oversight of the executive branch. Congressional oversight prevents waste and fraud, ensures executive compliance with the law, and evaluates executive performance. However, under the current leadership, Congress has abandoned this responsibility by failing to conduct meaningful investigations of allegations of serious waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement of taxpayer dollars. And tonight, on behalf of the 37-member fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, I rise to hold this Republican majority, this Republican Congress, responsible for failing to conduct meaningful investigations of allegations of serious waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement of taxpayer dollars. Mr. Speaker, by failing to serve as a check and balance for overspending, waste, fraud and financial abuse within the executive branch, this Republican-led Congress has failed the American taxpayer. Every 24 hours, $279 million of your tax money is being spent in Iraq; and the current Federal debt is $8,347,371,018,253, much of which is borrowed from foreign countries. Our Nation is spending about a half billion dollars a day simply paying interest on the debt we have already got. A half billion a day. Many of America's priorities are going unmet because of this reckless spending. Just in my congressional district in Arkansas, I need $1.5 billion to finish I-69. We could do it with 3 days' interest on the national debt. I need another $1.5 billion to finish Interstate 49. Again, we could do that with 3 days' interest on the national debt. I need about $100 million to complete the Hot Springs Expressway. We could do that with just a few hours' interest on the national debt. I need $200 million to finish Interstate 530. We could do that with just a few hours' interest on the national debt. I need about $300 million to four-lane U.S. Highway 167 from Little Rock to El Dorado and on past there connecting I-39, 40 with I-20 in Louisiana. I could do that with less than a day's interest on the national debt. We need to four-lane U.S. Highway 82. We could do that with just a few hours' interest on the national debt. These are just some of America's priorities that will continue to go unmet. Others are making college affordable for young people, ensuring that our young people get the best education possible K-12. Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, so many of America's priorities are going unmet, are going not fully funded because of the reckless spending going on by this Republican Congress. These massive deficits, this large debt, is forcing much of your tax money to be spent, not meeting America's priorities and improving the quality of life for our children and grandchildren, but rather it is going to simply pay interest, not principal, just interest on the national debt. Now on top of that, what is happening? On top of that, our Nation is borrowing $1 billion a day. As I said earlier, we are sending about $279 million every day to Iraq. But do not ask the President to be accountable for it. Do not ask him for a plan on how he is spending that money, because he will tell you that you are unpatriotic. I disagree with that. I believe that this President, this Republican Congress must be held accountable when they spend your tax money. About 45 percent of the billion dollars we are borrowing every day is coming from foreign central banks and foreign investors, money that our children and grandchildren some day will be forced to pay back. American taxpayers simply deserve to know how their money is spent. They deserve answers as to why their children and grandchildren will have to foot the bill for this administration's fiscal mismanagement of the Federal budget. This includes answers as to why the Federal Emergency Management Agency, commonly referred to as FEMA, continues to pay a quarter of a million dollars a month to store almost 10,000 mobile homes. That is right, 10,000 mobile homes at the Hope Airport in my congressional district, while many victims of Hurricane Katrina remain homeless. There was a photo of it today in the New York Times. Literally 9,959 was the count earlier this week of brand new, fully furnished, 16-foot- wide, 60-foot-long mobile homes that are sitting there at the Hope Airport literally in a hay meadow. You can see the barbed wire fence. You can see the grass where they are just sitting. FEMA's only response has been to spend as much as $4 to $6 million laying gravel on this hay meadow to prevent these brand new, fully furnished mobile homes from sinking. FEMA's response should have been to get these mobile homes to the people who lost their homes and everything they own as a result of the devastating storms Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. It is past time for FEMA to be held accountable and provide these new, fully furnished mobile homes to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. This is an aerial view, an aerial view of some of the 9,959 mobile homes that are sitting parked, never been used by the storm victims, sitting parked, purchased by our government through FEMA. These were decisions made at the highest levels of FEMA, and here they are sitting, sitting at the airport in Hope, Arkansas. Now FEMA is beginning to bring back travel trailers that have already been used by storm victims where they will either be refurbished for future storms or auctioned off to the highest bidder. This is not to be confused with these brand new, fully-furnished mobile homes that were never used by storm victims, purchased with your tax money by FEMA. Again, it is past time for FEMA to be held accountable and provide these new, fully-furnished mobile homes to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. No business in our country could succeed financially if it failed to fully report back to its shareholders on how it is spending its money. However, that is exactly how our Federal Government is operating. The administration is not telling its shareholders, the American taxpayers, how it spends the money coming into Washington. But we can see how it is being spent: 9,959 brand new, fully-furnished 16-foot wide, 60-foot long mobile homes intended for storm victims from Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita sitting, unused, never used, at the airport in Hope, Arkansas, and FEMA's only response is, oh, goodness, we don't want them to sink in that hay meadow, so we will spend $4 million to $6 million dollars putting gravel on the hay meadow. In 2004, $25 billion of Federal Government spending went absolutely unaccounted for, according to the Treasury Department. The Bush administration was unable to determine where the money had gone, how it was spent or what the American people got for their tax money. Even worse, the Republican-controlled Congress failed to hold the Executive Branch accountable for this admission. The next year, the Government Accounting Office reported that 19 of 24 Federal agencies were not in compliance with all Federal accounting audit standards and could not fully explain how they had spent taxpayer money appropriated by Congress. That is worth repeating. The Government Accounting Office in 2005 reported that 19, 19 of 24 Federal agencies, were not in compliance with all Federal accounting audit standards and could not fully explain how they had spent taxpayer money appropriated by Congress. Yet Republican leaders in this Congress did not force these agencies to fully account for how the money was being spent before doling out billions more of your tax money for the same programs. Clearly Congress has failed to ask serious questions about the Bush administration's fiscal irresponsibility and record high deficits four years in a row, which have now pushed the Federal debt to a staggering $8,347,371,018,253. The time has come to hold this administration accountable for its reckless behavior. I believe Congress must act now to renew its Constitutional responsibility. It is right here in the Constitution of the United States of America, to serve as a check and balance for overspending, waste, fraud and financial abuse within the Executive Branch. That is why Members of the 37 member strong, fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition and I are cosponsoring legislation that would require Congress to renew its duty to conduct hearings on spending and hold administration officials accountable for waste, fraud and abuse within their agencies. Mr. Speaker, if you have questions or comments or concerns about the program that I am outlining tonight, I would encourage you to e-mail us, Mr. Speaker, at Bluedog@mail.house.gov. That is Bluedog@mail.house.gov. The legislation I am referring to is House Resolution 841, introduced by one of the founding members of the fiscally conservative, Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, Mr. John Tanner of Tennessee. Our legislation does this: Number one, Congressional hearings. It would require Congressional hearings within 60 days of a Federal Office of Inspector General report documenting fraud, waste, abuse or mismanagement in the government that results in a cost to the government of at least $1 million. Increased Congressional involvement in Inspector General reports would improve agency performance and save taxpayer funds. This legislation, House Resolution 841, requires Congressional hearings when a Government Accounting Office report names an agency high risk for mismanagement. GAO's ``high risk'' series is an effort to assist Congress in dealing with one of its important obligations, to exercise accountability for taxpayer funds. In 2003, the GAO identified 26 high risk areas for the Federal Government. Since then, only three programs have been removed from the list and four more have been added. Clearly it is necessary that Congress become involved to curb mismanagement in Federal agencies. It also requires the House Committee on Government Reform to hold hearings to question heads of departments or agencies whenever their auditors issue disclaimers or restatements of financial statements indicating accounting information is inaccurate or incomplete. It requires Congress to hold hearings at least twice a year to review the Office of Management and Budget's performance-based review program called Program Assessment Rating Tool, or PART. The PART was developed by the Office of Management and Budget to assist and improve program performance so that the Federal Government can achieve better results. A PART review helps identify a program's strengths and weaknesses in order to make the program more effective. However, despite several GAO recommendations that the Office of Management and Budget share their evaluation plans with Congress to ensure that their findings will be timely, relevant and credible, coordination with Congress is still lacking. The second bill that I would like to refer to that we have introduced as members of the Blue Dog Coalition that I am proud to cosponsor is H.R. 5315, the Accountability in Government Act of 2006. The lead sponsor on that is representative Dennis Cardoza of California, one of the co-chairs of the fiscally conservative, Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. Here is what that bill would could. It would require each Federal agency produce an audit within 2 years that complies with the standards established in the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996. It would require the Senate to hold reconfirmation hearings on any cabinet level official whose agency cannot fully account for how it is spending your tax money within 2 years. I am also a cosponsor of H.R. 5542, which amends the Federal criminal code to impose on a public official who engages in conduct in furtherance of a Federal felony a fine and a 2-year prison term in addition to any penalties imposed for such felony. Those who write the laws, Members of this body, Members of this Congress, must be held not to a lesser standard than everybody else in America, but to a higher standard. That is what this bill would do. It defines ``public official'' as an elected official of the United States or of a State or local government, a presidentially-appointed official or an official appointed to a State or local government office by an elected official of a State or local government. It says that if you are an elected official who has been placed in the public trust and if you break the very laws that you helped write, you should have a stiffer fine and additional 2 years of prison time tacked on to the term that any other citizen in this country would get. It is time to hold our elected officials to a higher standard. When they break the law, they should be punished to a greater degree than everyone else. Wasteful government spending has forced the national debt to its current record level, and future generations will have to pay that bill. Future generations will have to pay back with interest the money the Federal Government is borrowing from other countries due to this administration's fiscal recklessness. The time has come to restore common sense and fiscal discipline to our Nation's government. The legislation that I am talking about this evening will put our Nation back on the track toward balancing the budget and restoring accountability within our government. That is what the fiscally conservative, Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, 37 members strong, is all about, trying to restore some common sense and fiscal discipline and accountability to our Nation's government and requiring that elected officials be held to an even higher standard than everyone else. If elected officials break the law, they should be punished to a greater degree than everyone else, for they have been placed in the public trust, and when they violate that trust, they should be punished and they should be punished extensively. Mr. Speaker, if you have questions about our program, I would encourage you to e-mail us at Bluedog@mail.house.gov. Finally, Mr. Speaker, again, as of this evening, the national debt is a staggering $8,347,371,018,253.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and accomplishments of Joe Purcell who passed away in 1987 at the age of 63. On June 24, 2006, a memorial dedication ceremony will be held to memorialize Joe Purcell, one of the finest citizens and public servants that the city of Benton and the state of Arkansas have ever known. This dedication will recognize Purcell's legacy and life-long devotion to public service. Joe was an admired and cherished member of the Benton community and I would like to take a few moments to recognize his achievements. Joe Purcell was born on July 29, 1923, in Warren, Arkansas. After graduating from Little Rock Junior College, Joe served his country and entered the Army during World War II. After his time in the military, Joe attended the University of Arkansas School of Law, where he graduated in 1952. That same year, he began practicing law in Benton. Beginning in 1955, he served four years as city attorney in Benton. In 1959, Joe became Municipal Judge, a post he held until 1966 when he was elected Arkansas State Attorney General. Joe served two terms as Arkansas State Attorney General and went on to serve three productive terms as Lieutenant Governor. He also served as acting Governor of Arkansas from January 3rd through January 9th 1979, when then Senator David Pryor stepped down to serve in the U.S. Senate, before Bill Clinton was inaugurated as Governor. Joe also served as chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party and was chairman of the state's Bicentennial Celebration in 1976. President Bill Clinton described Joe Purcell as ``a self-made man who represented honesty and integrity in public service.'' This quote is inscribed on a permanent marker that will be unveiled at the Joe Purcell Memorial Dedication Ceremony. The marker will hold a special place of honor in front of the Old Federal Building in Benton, Arkansas. Joe Purcell spent a lifetime dedicated to the community of Benton and the betterment of the lives of others. While Joe may no longer be with us, the marker placed in his memory will remind others of his commitment to public service and pay tribute to a truly remarkable man. Joe was an admired and cherished member of the Benton, Arkansas community and his memory will continue to live on in the lives he touched and the accomplishments he achieved.

Mr. ROSS

Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the 37-Member strong, fiscally conservative, Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, I rise this evening to talk about a very important principle, and that is restoring accountability within our government. Under the United States Constitution, Congress has an obligation to provide congressional oversight of the executive branch. Congressional oversight prevents waste and fraud, ensures executive compliance with the law, and evaluates executive performance. However, under the current leadership, Congress has abandoned this responsibility by failing to conduct meaningful investigations of allegations of serious waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement of taxpayer dollars. By failing to serve as a check and balance for overspending, waste, fraud and financial abuse within the executive branch, this Republican- led Congress has failed the American taxpayer. This President, this administration, and this Republican-led Congress must be held accountable for our massive Federal debt. American taxpayers deserve to know how their money is being spent. In 2004, $25 billion of Federal Government spending went absolutely unaccounted for, according to the Treasury Department. The Bush administration was unable to determine where the money had gone, how it was spent, or what the American people got for their tax money. Even worse, the Republican-controlled Congress failed to hold the executive branch accountable for this omission. Then, in 2005, the Government Accountability Office reported that 19 of 24 Federal agencies were not in compliance with all Federal accounting audit standards and could not fully explain how they had spent taxpayer money appropriated by this Republican-led Congress. Yet, Republican leaders in Congress did not force these agencies to fully account for how the money was being spent before doling out billions more of taxpayer dollars to the same programs. FEMA continues to store over 9,000 mobile homes, as you can see here, in a pasture in Hope, Arkansas, while victims of Hurricane Katrina remain homeless. FEMA's response has been, well, we will make sure the manufactured homes do not sink; we will spend $4 million laying gravel in this pasture. It is time FEMA was held accountable. It is time FEMA got these brand new, fully furnished, 14-foot-wide, 60-foot-long mobile homes to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. American taxpayers deserve answers as to why their children and grandchildren have to foot the bill for the fiscal mismanagement of this administration. The time has come that this administration is held accountable for its reckless behavior. Congress must act now to renew its constitutional responsibility to serve as a check and balance for overspending, waste, fraud and financial abuse within the executive branch. That is why the Blue Dog Coalition is sponsoring legislation that would require Congress to renew its duty to conduct hearings on spending and hold the administration officials accountable. One of the founders of the Blue Dog Coalition, Mr. Tanner of Tennessee, has introduced H. Res. 841. Among other things, it would require congressional hearings within 60 days of Inspector General reports that identify waste, fraud, abuse or mismanagement of more than $1 million. It would require congressional hearings when the Government Accountability Office names an agency ``high risk'' for mismanagement. It would require congressional hearings when an agency's auditors issue disclaimers or corrections, indicating accounting information is inaccurate or incomplete. It would require congressional hearings at least twice a year to review the Office of Management and Budget's performance-based review program. Mr. Speaker, wasteful government spending must stop, and that is why it is time to restore some commonsense and fiscal discipline to our Nation's government. It is time to restore accountability to our Nation's government.