Tim Ryan

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. It ain't over yet.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Also known as corporate welfare.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Would the gentleman yield?

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Well, it's interesting that one of the gentlemen, Mr. Speaker, that was down here complaining about earmarks just minutes ago prior to our getting down here, and we are not here to play gotcha but we are here to reveal what has happened here, in this bill loaded with earmarks, loaded with all this pork, one of the gentlemen down here, Mr. Speaker, had requested 20 earmarks worth $38 million but turns around and comes to the House floor and is critical of the Rich Center for Autism in Youngstown and dam safety projects and after- school programs and some of the other districts that are here and calling it pork and in one of the instances was trying to in some way disparage the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) in his project that he had that was named after him and the same gentleman is now supportive of the Thomas Road Improvement Program that is now under way that his predecessor, Representative Bill Thomas, submitted with his own name on it for the project but yet comes down and is critical. So our point is not to play gotcha. Our point is to say that Members of Congress should be able to direct a certain amount, and it's only a small percentage of the budget. I don't even know if it's .5 percent of the entire budget.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. We have got more here. The gentleman from California, the previous gentleman, who just made fun of us for all the earmarks, had 20 earmarks worth $38 million and is supporting one now named after the former Chair of the Ways and Means Committee. Another gentleman down here that was from Michigan got press releases, and you will love this one, $3 million for an extended cold weather clothing system through the Army. He was just down here making fun of everybody, and he's requesting thermal underwear. And it's not funny because the reason we are here is to make sure that we are getting this all out. And for Members of Congress to come question the Rich Center for Autism. And I know Mr. Altmire has a lot of issues. We have all got issues.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Right.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding. The thing is there's like hundreds of people on the other side of the aisle who are taking earmarks, who feel like that it's better that they make the decision for their own district as to where the money should be spent or some bureaucrat in Washington makes the decision as to where the money is spent. Somebody's spending the money. Now, it's either the elected Representative who's going to spend the money or it's going to be someone here in DC who's going to spend the money and has no idea of what the dynamics of the district are, what your long- term economic development plans are, what the health and safety welfare needs are of your district. So I think it's best in a democracy for the elected Representative, who gets to have meetings in their office with different constituents, as to who will decide where this money is spent. Now, is the autism center in Youngstown, Ohio, pork? I got three- hundred-and-some-thousand for that. Is the water line in a poor community to make sure that we have clean water, is that pork? I love it when the Members from the western part of the country come to the House floor and talk about all this government spending. You know, in California, in Arizona, there are congressional districts that would not even exist if it wasn't for a Federal investment. There are congressional districts that they're in a desert. How do you think the water gets from the Colorado River to your congressional district? Through osmosis? No. There is Federal investment that is invested in these different congressional districts, you know, the Colorado River Basin Project and all of these different projects that bring water to your district and your constituents. So I think it is absolutely absurd for people to come to the House floor, and we've done exactly what we said we were going to do. We made this process transparent. There's nobody here that thinks you should be able to hide something. So now when you make an investment or you claim an earmark, your name goes on it, and it says Rich Center for Autism in Youngstown, Ohio, at Youngstown State University, Congressman Tim Ryan, 17th District.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. We've raised the minimum wage for the first time since 1997. We've cut student loan interest rates in half from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent, which will save and increase the Pell Grant by $1,000 over the next 4 or 5 years. We will save the average student or their parents, whoever's footing the bill, $4,400 over the course of their loan that they take out. Those are significant investments to the middle class. We're going to fix the AMT, which would come in and zap 23 or 24 million people. But I think it's important that we share with the American people, Mr. Speaker, the investments that we have made here, that are different than what the President wanted us to do, and we can go through this. But medical research, $607 million above the President's request. That's a lot of money, $607 million to research Alzheimer's, cancer, Parkinson's and diabetes. Now, I think the American people want us to work together to try to fund some basic research.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. You know, obviously there have been situations decades ago where, you know, everyone was spending too much money. And for us to put in the PAYGO rules that say you've got to pay for every dime you spend one way or the other I think is a significant step in the right direction. Nobody here wants to continue what has happened over the last 6 years. And when you look at what's happened, over $3 trillion in debt has been borrowed from China, Japan and OPEC countries. Our friends on the other side, when they were in charge, raised the debt limit five times in order to go out and borrow more money. And we see the situation that we're in now. So we're trying to, slowly but surely, rein all of this in and make very strategic investments. And I would say, Mr. Speaker, that you can go to the Web sites for the Speaker and our caucus and what we're doing. We're making investments into alternative energy, research and development, so we can open up new sectors of the economy. We're making investments in education, saving the average family who takes out loans and utilizes the Pell Grants $4,400 over the course of that loan. That's a middle- class tax cut. What we're going to do with the AMT, the alternative minimum tax, we're going to prevent 23 million people from getting a tax increase next year. And that's a middle-class tax cut. These are people making $50,000 to $75,000 a year. We're going to prevent that from happening. Significant steps in criminal justice. Cops on the beat. In communities like Youngstown, Ohio, the city doesn't have the tax base to keep hiring more and more cops, so it's harder to develop your economy if you don't have security. So, these are the kinds of investments that we're making. So, in closing, as we wrap things up, because I think we're going to wrap things up here in a minute, first, Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit these two articles for the Record so that not only are these earmarks represented openly, as our rules have provided, but there are also press releases that some of our Members on the other side who have been on the floor detesting earmarks, their press releases can now be submitted for the Record. [From the Bakersfield Californian, July 11, 2007] Get an Eyeful of Earmarks Earmark--a.k.a. ``pork barrel''--spending has almost as dirty a reputation as its porcine namesake. Earmarks are items from a pot of money--$29 billion in 2006--from the $2.4 trillion federal budget that is set aside from the complex federal appropriation process for congressmen to dole out for specific projects in their districts. There are two problems with earmarks: Some ideas are silly, flag-waving expenditures with little widespread redeeming value. Good or bad, finding out what the money is for and who the patron congress member is can be a nearly impossible task for the public until it is too late to change the spending outcome. That could be changing, and Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R- Bakersfield, may be among the 34 of 435 members of Congress who voluntarily released his list of requests in time for the public to comment. Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, has not. Early disclosure is the key element to any credibility claim. With that in mind, why wouldn't everyone list their proposed earmarks the way McCarthy has done? See the first bulleted item above. A good project gains stature, but a stinker may, like Dracula, die a deserved death when the light of day shines on it. Thus, disclosure has the potential benefit of increasing the quality--and hence the justification--of earmarks. But can earmarks be justified at all? Yes. The federal budget process tends to look at the big picture--after all, it is measured in trillions of dollars. An earmark can focus on a small, highly localized need that is easily overlooked in vast appropriation measures. McCarthy requested 20 earmarks worth $38 million for the 22nd district (Kern and San Luis Obispo counties) and another $142 million for Edwards Air Force Base and China Lake Naval Air Weapons Center. He may not get any funds, but some examples include $122,000 to help the Bakersfield Police Department deter gang violence; $7 million for the Lake Isabella Dam safety project; $500,000 for Cal State Bakersfield to help nursing education. A classic example is the Thomas Road Improvement Program now under way. In his final year in office, McCarthy's predecessor, Rep. Bill Thomas, provided desperately needed highway funding that otherwise would have been sucked up by politically powerful Southern California and Bay Area jurisdictions. Whether an earmark is good or bad is up to the individual voter. But at least now you know what is being requested. (A full list of McCarthy's requests was published in the July 1 Californian.) Walberg Secures House Approval of Funding for Biological Weapons Prevention Washington, August 16.--U.S. Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI) announced today that 2008 funding for Dexter Research Center, Inc. was approved in the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill that recently passed the House. The bill will now go to the U.S. Senate to be voted on as part of the fiscal year 2008 Appropriations process. ``The Department of Defense must have the capability to respond to chemical and biological attacks, and this important project will increase the safety and security of our men and women in uniform,'' Walberg said. With this funding, the Michigan company will help develop a Total Perimeter Surveillance (TPS) system based on infrared technology able to identify and trigger an immediate response to chemical and biological attacks against Department of Defense facilities. ``We are excited to have this opportunity to leverage our science and manufacturing capabilities to help make our national defense sites even more secure,'' said Robert Toth, Jr., President of Dexter Research Center. Funding details: Dexter Research Center, Inc. (Washtenaw County) $2,000,000--This project funding will go towards assisting in the development of a Total Perimeter Surveillance (TPS) system capable of identifying and responding to chemical and biological attacks. The TPS solution, based on novel infrared technology, can provide complete perimeter threat detection and identification with sufficient advanced warning to Department of Defense facilities to meet current threat requirements. Walberg Secures House Approval of Funding for Sonobuoys Washington, August 13.--U.S. Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI) announced today that 2008 funding for sonobuoys, produced by Sparton Electronics of Jackson, was approved in the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill that recently passed the House. The bill will now go to the U.S. Senate to be voted on as part of the fiscal year 2008 Appropriations process. ``Funding for sonobuoys, produced by Sparton Electronics, is important for the security of our naval personnel and Jackson County,'' Walberg said. Funding details: Sparton Electronics, (Jackson County) $2,500,000 increase-- This project funding will go towards procurement of sonobuoys for the Department of the Navy. The sonobuoy remains the Navy's primary sensor for detection and localization of submarines by air anti-submarine warfare (ASW) platforms. Sonobuoys provide the only means to rapidly sanitize large areas of water prior to fleet units arriving in the area. Walberg Secures House Approval of Funding for Peckham Industries Products Used by Military Washington, August 17.--U.S. Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI) announced today that 2008 funding for Peckham Industries was approved in the Departments of Defense Appropriations Bill that recently passed the House. The bill will now go to the U.S. Senate to be voted on as part of the fiscal year 2008 Appropriations process. Peckham produces Fleece Insulating Liners, a Cold Weather Layering System and a Multi Climate Protection System all used by United States military personnel. ``These three projects greatly benefit our brave men and women in uniform and Eaton County,'' Walberg said. ``It's a privilege to provide our soldiers with the equipment they need,'' Peckham CEO/President Mitchell Tomlinson said. ``These contracts represent much needed jobs and opportunities created for persons with disabilities. We're proud to continue providing the highest quality, high performance cold weather gear available to our military.'' Funding details: Peckham Industries, $3,000,000--This project will go towards the production of Insulating Liners for Extended Cold Weather Clothing System for the Department of the Army. This product was created in direct response to soldiers' complaints of bulkiness and lack of breathability in previous attire. Peckham Industries, $3,000,000--This project will go towards the production of a Cold Weather Layering System for the United States Marine Corps. The CWLS is part of the Marine Corps' Mountain and Cold Weather Clothing and Equipment Program, which provides lightweight, durable combat clothing that allows Marines to operate in all kinds of cold weather environments. Peckham Industries, $2,500,000--This project will go towards the production of a Multi Climate Protection System (MCPS) for the Department of the Navy. The MCPS is a modular ensemble that provides total performance by layering thermal protection and shell garments.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. And I would just like to say, go to our Web site. Look at what we've done for K-12, student aid, rural development, the farm bill. All of the things that we've passed out of here have been investments, actually met the President's budget numbers, so it's just a shift in priorities. So, I'm saying I think we've made significant progress this year, and we hope to expand it next year. And with that, Mr. Meek, I yield back to you.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. The issue here is that the earmarks are a very small percentage of the Federal budget. All of these bills have been bipartisan. If you look at all of the appropriations bills that have passed out of the House, there has been a significant number of Republicans who have joined with the Democrats to make these investments, especially Members of the Appropriations Committee that have looked at these issues very carefully to make these investments in a bipartisan way. The energy bill, of which our friends on the other side, Mr. Speaker, have derided us and it's a Democratic this and a Democratic that, 314 votes; 314 votes, which is 70 or 80 Republican Members of this body have joined with us to try to increase CAFE standards, make investments in alternative energy, make investments in the middle America and the Midwest. This is on a bipartisan basis. So it seems like those folks who come to the floor seem to be on the fringe level of the party that they're talking about these things. But I think it's important for us to talk about some of the investments that we have made here. There has been a significant shift in priorities. Now, we haven't come anywhere close to achieving what we have wanted to achieve since we have taken over. We don't have 60 votes in the Senate, and the Republicans have done a good job of blocking a lot of our legislation that we've tried to pass. The President has vetoed SCHIP, which is the State Children's Health Insurance Program, that we wanted to provide 10 million middle-class kids with health care, and the President vetoed it twice. And the fringe Republicans, many have joined with us. Ray LaHood, Steve LaTourette, a lot of good Members of Congress have joined with us to try to override that veto, but the President was able to sustain it. So we asked to cover health care for 10 million kids, $35 billion over 5 years. President said we're spending too much money. Turned around within days and asked for $200 billion more for Iraq that we're going to borrow from China. And so some of the investments that we're trying to make, I think it's important for the American people to know what we have done.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Philip Fawcett, who has been serving as Legislative Fellow in my office since January and will be completing his tenure at the end of this month. Phil Fawcett joined my staff last January through the 2007 Congressional Fellowship Program of the Brookings Institution. He exemplifies a truly remarkable and exceptionally dynamic professional and has contributed greatly to the work my office has done for the 17th District. His work on the issues of transportation, housing, and the environment has been well-organized and efficient, and I have greatly valued his advice on a wide variety of co-sponsorship and voting matters. Phil Fawcett attended the Georgia Institute of Technology and graduated with highest honors with a degree in aerospace engineering. Phil also gained his masters and doctorate degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He went on to pursue a career with the Aerospace Corporation and has worked closely with the National Reconnaissance Organization and numerous other programs within the Department of Defense. His extensive education, combined with his impressive 14 years of experience with technical and programmatic consulting, has played an integral role in his Legislative Fellowship. Having worked with various areas of the U.S. Government and numerous IC agencies, Phil has significantly contributed to my domestic agenda as well as international affairs related issues, such as my testimony to the U.S.-China Economic Security and Review Commission. He has also been a vital component in the areas of currency and trade, as he was responsible for helping to move legislation on international monetary policy and currency manipulation. His letter to the chairman and ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee that urged movement on the currency issue garnered the collection of over 90 member signatures. Phil Fawcett has worked closely with my district office and maintained crucial relations with the Department of Commerce, U.S. Trade Representative, Ohio Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration, among many other essential divisions. He has also handled all issues related to my co-chairmanship of the House Manufacturing Caucus with skill and proficiency. Furthermore, his vigorous commitment to the organization, planning and implementation of the Tech Belt Forum last September generated a very successful event, which was a significant stepping stone in the future economic and industrial advancement of my district. I would like to personally thank Phil Fawcett for his tremendous dedication and distinguished service and wish him all the best in his future endeavors. Phil, it's been a pleasure working with you and good luck!

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. It is not just the President. It is enough Members of Congress on the Republican side primarily that are standing by the President. They have to go to the voters next year and say, in my last term in Congress, I stood by President Bush. The thing is that when you talk about the war funding, the waste, the no-bid contracts, the Pentagon losing billions of dollars and nobody knows where it is, you don't hear our friends on the other side, Mr. Speaker, come up and pitch a fit about that. But if you want to talk about $1 billion or $2 billion more in health, education, job retraining, all of a sudden the sky is falling. All of a sudden the party that raised the debt limit five times and borrowed $3 trillion under President Bush is now concerned with a shift in funding to college education, Mr. Meek, to community health clinics, Mr. Altmire, to Head Start, to these fundamental programs that this country has stood behind. And the kicker is SCHIP, $35 billion over 5 years, and the President says that's too much spending so we can't provide health care for 10 million kids, poor kids, but we can just turn around without a blink of an eye and ask for $200 billion to keep the war going in Iraq, without any kind of deadlines or timelines or any kind of shift in the focus. That's the frustrating part. Before I yield to my friend, I would just like to say there has been a pattern here. On September 11 or after September 11, Mr. Murphy, it was go shopping. And then during the whole SCHIP debate, it was, well, they can go to the emergency room, these kids. Then during Katrina it was, ``You're doing a good job, Brownie,'' consistently these flippant remarks that the President tends to make that lacks an understanding of the seriousness of some of these situations. So it is frustrating as we are trying to make some investments into the United States of America, into this country, and the President consistently, with a small band of Republican supporters, is able to veto this, and unfortunately, we don't have enough votes in the House yet to override these vetoes. I yield to my friend.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. It's interesting, and I think you made the right point. It seems like the President has one priority, and one and only one, and that is the funding of the war. What is interesting is when you look at the Labor-HHS bill, some of the other bills we are trying to pass that increase the Pell Grants and some of the other things, we are not getting the level of support we should. These vets need those programs. These veterans that are coming back, it's not like they are making a lot of money, many of them with their kids they are trying to send to college. So why wouldn't this apply? The vets aren't just fighting for the Defense appropriations bill that passes out of the House or the VA benefit package that passes out of the House. The veterans are fighting for America. They are fighting for a strong country that does research and development. Veterans have family members who get cancer. So they are very concerned, I would think, Mr. Speaker, with investments at NIH to continue cancer research. They have kids that may need health care. They have kids that go to school. They may have a kid that wants to participate in a Head Start program. In each instance, Mr. Altmire, our fearless leader in this 30-Something group tonight, these vets are fighting for what makes America great, and that is freedom, that is investment, that is a strong economy. Those are the kind of things we are investing in. So to say your only priority is the war and spending what is now projected by the end of the year $1.3 trillion in the war. The President says, and a small group of recalcitrant Republicans say here in the House: We can't fund it because we don't have the money to put in the health care and everything else.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Walter M. Duzzny. Walter, who has served as the Director of Mahoning County Emergency Management and Communications for 25 years, is retiring at the end of this month. Walter Duzzny has dedicated over thirty-four years to public service. He began his career in Emergency Management and has made great contributions to the field ever since. As the first Director of the Disaster Services and Preparedness Agency, Walter influenced the Agency to adopt an ``all-hazards'' concept, which resulted in the development of a County HazMat team and Safety Service and Support Centers. Thanks to Walter's hard work and dedication toward the Agency, Mahoning County has the proper tools to implement preparatory, response, and recovery strategies in the event of an emergency. Walter has contributed to Mahoning County in more ways than one. He has remained an active member of the community through his participation in several organizations. As a retired Army Reserve Colonel, Walter serves as the President of the local chapter of the National Reserve Officers Association. He also serves on the Board of St. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church and remains a member of several other organizations. Walter's accomplishments have positively impacted Emergency Management on local and national levels. His innovative drive and valuable contributions will be greatly missed. I wish Walter all the best in his retirement.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. If the gentleman would yield, it's, I mean, we're obviously in a very complicated world. We're trying to solve some very complicated problems. And the frustrating part is when you have the President of the United States have a series of comments throughout his administration that have basically, you know, simplified all of these issues. You know, after 9/11 the big great challenge he gave us, Mr. Speaker, was to go shopping. You know, we try to pass children's health care and he says, well, you can get health care at the emergency room. And then, Mr. Meek, at his press conference today, he said that our whole children, SCHIP, trying to cover 10 million people program was a trick on the American people. These are, you know, we're wasting time holding hearings. There are very serious issues that our families are dealing with, and to have the President of the United States, the most powerful man in the free world, someone who is able to stop children's health care from being administered in this country to 10 million kids, someone who's able to veto bills, and you need to rally, you know, a lot more Members of Congress in order to pass something, to try to simplify and make light, and I like to have as much fun as anybody else and we have our share of fun here, but we're dealing with some pretty serious issues. That the President's behavior and tone and temperament and comments on these issues becomes very frustrating. I yield to my friend.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. It's the same disjointed kind of argument that the President, Mr. Speaker, has given us on the SCHIP bill. This is 10 million kids, $35 billion over 5 years. We could pay for these 10 million kids to get health care for a whole year for 40 days in Iraq. And the President, who has run up $3 trillion in debt, borrowed it from China, raised the debt limit five times, is now going to draw the line in the sand on fiscal responsibility on 40 days in Iraq to provide health care for 10 million kids. I mean, there are so many disjointed arguments and floating pieces that are going around here that just don't make a whole lot of sense to many of us. I hope that we can try to continue to push to get more Members on the other side of the aisle to join with us to do some pretty basic things that the American people want us to do.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. We haven't borrowed money to make sure that we can hire enough people in the Consumer Product Safety Commission to make sure our toys are safe coming in from China. We're borrowing money to give the top percent a tax break, people making millions and millions and millions of dollars a year, and hey, if you make millions, God bless you, but now we're in a position where we don't have enough employees to monitor the toys coming into the country and we're giving multimillionaires a tax break. We're borrowing the money from China, which is pretty interesting when you think about all these toys coming in from China, that we're borrowing the money to fund the war and the tax breaks from China. So China's now our bank. So now they, of course, want their products coming into the country. So, now all of the sudden, things like the reduction in employees at the Consumer Product Safety Commission happens because the Republican House and Senate and the White House have got us so dependent. You mind if I go through here? I don't even know what these toys are. I see them on my brother and sister-in-law's floor. You'll know soon. You're newly wed. The football bobblehead cake decoration. Okay. These are toys that have been recalled due to lead. This has a Patriots bobblehead.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. When you think about hundreds of millions of dollars worth of trailers sitting in the gulf coast that never got used for Katrina, when you think about all the wasted, unbid contracts through FEMA, to Halliburton, and in the war, I mean, hundreds, hundreds of millions of dollars, billions of dollars. Then all of a sudden we find that we have these regulatory issues, this is security, this is economic security. This is family security, when you hear Democrats talking about securing the country, it doesn't mean we want to start a war, it means we want to protect the homeland, and border security, family security, food safety, toy safety, product safety, these are things that it is our responsibility, as Members of Congress, to take care of. You have people sitting in towns and cities and counties all over the United States that are very, very concerned with this issue. To have a person who is in charge of these kinds of things say we only have one person who is in charge of toy inspection, and we don't need any more money to do it is a complete dereliction of duty, of our responsibility here. When you look at what we are trying to do at every single turn, from raising the minimum wage to reducing college costs, to ensuring product safety, to ensuring food safety, this is about economic security. This is about homeland security. You know, 50,000 new cops on the beat, first responder funding. I mean, these are all things that we have been pushing and our friends, many of them on the other side, are obstructing this from getting done.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Do it.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. How about the President the other day? This drove me crazy. He says, Congress is wasting their time with all these hearings. It ceases to amaze me anymore that we try to pass children's health care, and the President says, well, they can go to the emergency room. We are trying to have oversight so that we can have real product safety, safeguards up for food, and you are having all these hearings. We are trying to oversee what's going on in Iraq so we can, A, fix the problems we are having, but, B, finding all of these billions of dollars that have been going to these nonbid contracts and the jobs are not actually getting done. Then he said, oh, you are having all these hearings. Then he said today, about the SCHIP bill, I don't know if you heard this, but he said, Congress is trying to pass this health care bill for kids, but it's really a trick. He said it was a trick. This is not a trick. This is us trying to pass health care for kids. He thinks it is somehow cute to say that on Halloween that this is somehow a trick.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Well, you know, one of the things we talked about while you were out trick-or-treating was the connection between the money that has been borrowed by the past three Congresses and the administration from China, that's now our bank, and how their exports have been facilitated into this country, in this instance, the toys. So it's very difficult, I think, from a perspective of someone who's borrowing money from a country to say, hey, wait a minute; we've got some real issues with doing business with you. It becomes very difficult. And so I think our position with China, borrowing the money, the OPEC countries and many, many others, has put us at a significant position of weakness in dealing with a variety of foreign policy issues, but also dealing with issues like this. Now, I showed this chart earlier, Mr. Meek, and I know, I think this was your idea to get it. But this is the chart of the number of toys being imported into the country and the number of employees that are assigned to protect the consumer. And so, much of this, much of these imports have been from China, and I don't think it's a coincidence that we want to somehow facilitate business with this country, which is fine. We know we have to do business in a global economy. But you don't do it at the expense of the health, safety and welfare of your own citizens.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. We are getting them now, and, of course, it's important to recognize that you probably can't monitor every piece of corn that's coming into the country or every product that's coming into the country. But what happens is if you do have a significant presence, one is in random inspections, there will be a general consensus among people shipping food into your country that there will be inspections, and they may get caught if they do not keep meeting the standards. But at the same exact time, what this does here is if people are getting busted for sending food in from China, then all of a sudden you are going to see production increases here in the United States, whether it's toys being manufactured or maybe something else. So it's very important. This is about safety. This is about protecting our kids. This is about making sure that our families have, when they are having Thanksgiving dinner, have a lot of knowledge and confidence in how the government is administering these programs.