Jason Smith

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record notice from over 230 economists that this bill before us today would only increase inflation. [From FOX Business, Aug. 4, 2022] Over 230 Economists Warn Manchin's Spending Bill Will Perpetuate Inflation (By Kelly Laco) A letter sent to House and Senate leadership from 230 economists argues that the Inflation Reduction Act is expected to contribute to skyrocketing inflation and will burden the U.S. economy, contrary to President Biden and Democrats' claims. The economists wrote in the letter first obtained by Fox News Digital that the U.S. economy is at a ``dangerous crossroads'' and the ``inaptly named `Inflation Reduction Act of 2022' would do nothing of the sort and instead would perpetuate the same fiscal policy errors that have helped precipitate the current troubling economic climate.'' Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va, announced last week he reached an agreement with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, on the $739 billion reconciliation Package after more than a year of negotiations among Democrats. The economic experts point to the $433 billion in proposed government spending, which they argue ``would create immediate inflationary pressures by boosting demand, while the supply-side tax hikes would constrain supply by discouraging investment and draining the private sector of much-needed resources.'' Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced last week that he reached an agreement with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, on the $739 billion reconciliation package after more that a year of negotiations among Democrats. (F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg via/Getty Images) They also write that of ``particular concern'' is the corporate minimum tax that they say will undercut efforts to restore functioning supply chains. In addition, the bill's prescription drug provisions ``would impose price controls that threaten healthcare innovation, creating a human health toll that would add to the financial woes that Americans are already experiencing.'' A few of the notable signers include Nobel laureate Vernon Smith, former Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers Kevin Hassett, former Director of the Office of Management and Budget Jim Miller and Robert Heller, former president of the Federal Reserve Board 1986-1989. In addition, professors from the University of Chicago, Princeton University, Duke University, the University of Virginia, Columbia University and the University of Notre Dame, among others, were listed on the letter dated Aug. 3. The experts conclude that although they agree with an ``urgent'' need to address inflation, Manchin's bill is a ``misleading label'' applied to legislation that would achieve the ``opposite effect'' President Biden urged Congress to pass the bill during a virtual roundtable Thursday. ``My message to Congress is this: Listen to the American people,'' he said. (Jonathan Ernst/File Photo/ Reuters) The letter was sent to Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Schumer has touted the Inflation Reduction Act as an immediate solution to inflation, which reached a new 40-year high last month. ``The Inflation Reduction Act will lower inflation, lower the costs of prescription drugs, close loopholes long exploited by big business who pay no or little taxes,'' Schumer said Thursday on the Senate floor. In addition, Biden urged Congress to pass the bill during a virtual roundtable Thursday. ``My message to Congress is this: Listen to the American people,'' he said. ``This is the strongest bill you can pass to lower inflation, continue to cut the deficit, reduce health care costs, tackle a climate crisis and promote America's energy security and reduce the burdens facing working-class and middle-class families,'' Biden continued. However, Republicans are less enthusiastic about the more than $700 billion spending and tax package. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News that the bill raises taxes and ``calling it an inflation reduction bill is rather laughable.'' (J. Scott Applewhite) (AP Images) McCarthy told Fox News on Wednesday that ``Democrats have no plans to solve all the problems they created'' and Manchin's bill is not the solution. In the Senate, McConnell stated this week that most of his colleagues were ``somewhat shocked'' about Manchin's reversal of previous positions He continued, telling Fox News that the bill raises taxes and ``calling it an inflation reduction bill is rather laughable.'' ``Democrats are catastrophically out of touch with what American families actually care about. Their approval ratings show it. And their reckless taxing and spending spree proves it, as well,'' said McConnell in a statement this week. The Senate is set to convene on Saturday to vote on a procedural motion to move the bill forward. It is still unclear if Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., will support the legislation, and her vote is necessary for final passage of the bill under reconciliation rules that would allow a majority to pass. Democrats previously touted a letter from 126 economists supporting Manchin's bill.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentlewoman from Washington State, and I would just like to point out that by doubling the size of the IRS and adding 87,000 new IRS agents, that will result in more than 20,000 of her families in Washington State who make less than $20,000 a year that will be receiving audits. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Donalds).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, the new GDP numbers announced this morning confirm that Washington Democrats' reckless spending has sent our Nation into a recession. On top of paying an extra $5,200 this year because of the President's inflation crisis, Americans are now having to live in fear that they will see their paychecks cut or they will lose their jobs. This incredibly troubling news comes just 1 day after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates, which means more Americans won't be able to afford to buy a car or a new home. Forty-year high inflation, skyrocketing interest rates, and now a recession--these are the disastrous consequences of one-party Democrat rule in Congress and in the White House. What is their predictable reaction? Yesterday, they announced a bill to increase taxes and to spend hundreds of billions of more dollars. It is shameful. I will fight tooth and nail to protect Americans from the left's out-of-control spending.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, our Nation is at a crossroads. After 1\1/2\ years of one-party Democrat rule, America is on the brink of a recession, violent crime is on the rise, and our freedoms are under attack like never before. Homicide rates across the Nation are up nearly 50 percent compared to 2020. There have been at least 80 incidents of pro-abortion vandalism, intimidation, and violence since May. At a time when 85 percent of Americans are concerned about rising crime rates, the left is pushing to ban one of the most popular firearms in America. Not only is this reckless, it is a violation of America's Second Amendment rights. Our country needs leadership. When the left is in charge, the only thing Americans get is an attack on our freedoms. I will never stop fighting for Missourians and our conservative values.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, President Biden's reckless agenda is sending our Nation hurdling towards a recession. The President wants people to believe 40-year high inflation is someone else's fault. But his solution to this crisis highlights his complicity in driving up the cost of everything, from gas to groceries. One of President Biden's solutions to rising energy costs is begging foreign countries to pump more oil. This is the same President who is waging a regulatory assault on U.S. energy production. His administration has sold nearly 1 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to a Chinese energy company. It is unbelievable. I am coauthoring an amendment to block the administration from ever doing this again. As a fighter for working families, I will keep doing everything I can to hold the administration accountable for driving inflation to the highest level in 40 years.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, as families are forced to make tough financial decisions every day because of sky-high inflation, Washington Democrats are fueling the economic crisis by spending hundreds of billions of dollars to advance their radical agenda. But that is just the spending they are trying to pass through Congress. President Biden is using executive actions to secretly put his radical agenda in place, footing taxpayers with a $532 billion bill without any input of Congress. He spent $85 billion to continue a pandemic-era student loan payment moratorium benefiting higher-income earners. He put $11 billion down the drain by eliminating strengthened work requirements to SNAP for able-bodied adults without dependents. Instead of spending half a trillion dollars on things like reducing work incentives and giving handouts to the wealthy, President Biden needs to get serious about solving the significant challenges facing our Nation.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, as a strong advocate and fighter for the Second Amendment, I cannot support the Senate's gun control bill. The legislation is simply another attempt to blame law-abiding gun owners instead of holding accountable the disturbed criminals who are carrying out despicable acts of violence. The gun control bill would strengthen red flag laws, which take away individuals' due process rights, while allowing law enforcement to remove guns from individuals at the request of an expansive list of acquaintances. In America, a person is innocent until proven guilty. But liberal Democrats, they don't see it quite that way. The presumption of innocence--the foundation of our criminal justice system--apparently does not apply to law-abiding gun owners in the world of the Democrats' vision. I will fight tooth and nail to protect families from Washington Democrats' relentless attacks on our freedom and way of life.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, families everywhere are feeling the pain of Washington Democrats' radical climate agenda. President Biden launched the war on American energy when he canceled the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office. He has also banned new lease sales for oil and gas, and his regulatory onslaught is limiting U.S. energy production. As a result, Americans are paying the price for the far left's costly energy agenda every time they flip a light switch, buy groceries, or drive to work. But that is the goal of Washington Democrats' climate agenda: Drive up the cost of traditional energy sources to force our Nation's transition to alternatives that are less reliable, widely unavailable, and even more expensive. America cannot afford the left's war on affordable energy. What America needs right now is the all-of-the-above energy agenda put in place by President Trump and Republicans in Congress.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, the biggest challenge facing Missouri families right now is sky-high inflation. They know that President Biden and Washington Democrats have only themselves to blame for driving inflation to the highest level in 40 years. Last month alone, inflation cost Missouri families an extra $663. That is about the same as a monthly payment on a brand-new pickup truck. Gas prices are the highest they have been, at over $5 a gallon. The cost to fill up an F-150 is over $150. Families are paying more to put food on their tables, clothes on their backs, and gasoline in their cars. Milk is up 15 percent. Bread is up 14 percent. Bacon is up 18 percent. Just yesterday, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the third time since March. This is yet another price increase for families, farmers, and small businesses. The American people cannot afford to keep paying for President Biden's mistakes.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, today's rule is an all-too- familiar pattern of the legislative laziness from my Democrat colleagues. Once again, Washington Democrats are hiding their spending from the American people. They are smuggling their spending levels for the upcoming appropriations process into a rule for a totally unrelated bill so they don't have to debate or defend their out-of-control spending habits. Last year, Democrats did the exact same thing. The chairman of the Budget Committee drafts a spending resolution; he skips over his committee; and then they toss it into a rule, hoping no one notices. At no point in the last 4 years of the majority have House Democrats actually marked up a budget in the Budget Committee. Time and again, House Democrats have acted with as little sunlight as possible because they don't want to be held accountable for their record. Americans know that Washington spending is driving inflation, and now Democrats are calling for even more. Last year alone, House Democrats voted for $7.5 trillion in new spending, including the $2 trillion so- called rescue plan that ignited the highest inflation in four decades. Since President Biden took office and one-party Democrat control of Congress took over in Washington, inflation is up 11 percent. Gas prices are up 110 percent on their watch. President Biden's 2021 deficit was the second highest in history, $517 billion more than the CBO said it should have been. Democrats don't want to debate budgets. They certainly don't want to debate the President's budget, which would spend $73 trillion over the next decade, a 66 percent increase over the past decade. It would add $16 trillion in new debt with well over $1 trillion annual deficits every year. Democrats don't want to talk about budgets because they are spending like they simply don't exist. If Democrats won't show their cards, allow me. The resolution that is tucked away in this rule has over $1.6 trillion in discretionary spending next year, a $132 billion, or 9 percent, increase over the most recent fiscal year 2022 omnibus. It is $21 billion more in spending than even Biden's budget proposal. Instead of hiding, I urge my colleagues to be crystal clear with the American people about exactly what they have in store for them: tax increases, high inflation, open borders, energy dependence, and an ever-growing mountain of debt.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, as the Republican leader of the House Budget Committee, I led a group of 12 Members of Congress last week to the Rio Grande Valley to see firsthand the real cost of President Biden's disastrous immigration agenda. There were major gaps in border wall and open areas that make it easier for the Mexican cartels to make millions of dollars trafficking humans and illegal drugs over the border. And yet, we saw $350 million worth of rusted border wall materials sitting unused because of President Biden's illegal decision to freeze border wall funding. Border Patrol agents told me they are seeing 10,000 encounters each week in the Rio Grande Valley sector alone, including 174 different nationalities who have been apprehended on the southern border. The rest of the world has figured out that our border is not secure, whether the Biden administration realizes it or not. I will continue fighting to secure the border and protect families from President Biden's disastrous agenda.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, for the millions of Americans struggling under skyrocketing prices, President Biden's attention to this issue is a day late and many dollars short. For the first year in office, he denied inflation existed and then dismissed it as transitory. Now, he is blaming Putin, even though inflation was already at 7\1/2\ percent before Putin's army invaded Ukraine. It took President Biden almost a year to speak up because he doesn't see inflation as a threat to families. He sees it as a threat to his political problems and his political party's problems. Since Joe Biden became President, inflation has risen 11 percent; gas prices are at an all-time high; real wages have gone down 2.6 percent; and our economy is shrinking. This is the result of the President's policies: high prices for food and energy, lower wages, and now a baby formula shortage. Americans are hurting, and the President's policies are making it worse.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, Americans are facing the worst inflation crisis in 40 years because of the Democrats' reckless spending agenda, including President Biden's $2 trillion bailout bill. President Biden's new budget deliberately doubles down on that agenda. It spends $73 trillion over the next 10 years, a 66 percent increase. The President's budget assumes inflation will average 4.7 percent this year. Right now, inflation is 7.9 percent. To hit their target, inflation would have to be 2 percent, starting today, every month for the next 10 years. Despite ample warning that the President's agenda would fuel the inflation fire, inflation has now risen 8.9 percent since President Biden took office. Hardworking families have already paid a $3,500 inflation tax last year and are expected to pay a $5,200 inflation tax this year. The American people can't afford that.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, the administration is removing healthcare workers, Federal employees, and members of the Armed Forces from their jobs if they refuse to get vaccinated. Meanwhile, over 160,000 unvaccinated and untested illegal aliens crossed our border last February, the most on record in two decades. Now, Joe Biden and his Washington Democrat allies want to make a bad problem worse. Last week, President Biden eliminated President Trump's title 42, which allows DHS to deport illegal aliens if they pose a public health danger to our citizens. In other words, according to Washington Democrats, they believe American healthcare workers, Federal employees, and servicemembers deserve harsher treatment than those crossing our border illegally. This is unacceptable. Title 42 must be reinstated immediately and kept in place until this administration comes up with a plan to deal with the border crisis created by the administration's policies.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, Democrat policies have created multiple crises: the highest spike in prices in 40 years, gas prices over $4 a gallon, a violent crime crisis, school closures that have drastically harmed our children, and so many other items. President Biden's budget, which was released this week, deliberately makes every crisis American families are facing that much worse. With $73 trillion in spending, Biden doubles down on his delusion that spending more will cause inflation to go down when Americans are facing a $5,200 inflation tax this year. Biden's budget charges Americans another $2.5 trillion in taxes, upward of $4 trillion if you count the build back broke agenda, which he tries to put in the budget as being free. American families can't afford what this budget is costing.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, last Friday marked the 1-year anniversary of the Biden bailout bill. This $2 trillion package has directly led to worker shortages, billions in waste, and the worst inflation in 40 years. The Biden bailout didn't rescue our economy. It ruined a recovery that was already underway. Madam Speaker, $500 billion spent to incentivize business closures, lockdowns, and antiscience masking policies; billions wasted, misused, or repurposed for projects unrelated to the pandemic: Florida golf courses, checks for prisoners and Japanese citizens, trees for New York, libraries in the President's home State. The list goes on. And as a result, American families are finding it harder to put food on their table, clothes on their backs, and gasoline in their cars. President Biden sold the American people a COVID package that spent less than 9 percent on fighting COVID. He created a massive worker shortage and instigated the highest inflation in a generation. That is his legacy.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member from Illinois for yielding. Mr. Speaker, before we vote on new legislation, it is very important that we have an honest look at the price tag. As Republican leader of the House Budget Committee, it is my responsibility to track how new spending impacts our Nation's bottom line. Every time Washington passes unpaid-for legislation that adds a new benefit or program, or expands an existing one, our fiscal problems get much worse. At each one of these moments, we take another step toward either raising taxes on middle- and low-income working-class Americans or asking China for another IOU. Look no further than the $2 trillion Biden bailout bill that was passed back in March. It added trillions to our Nation's debt. Also, the $5 trillion BBB that was passed out of this House would add trillions to our debt. According to the Congressional Budget Office, which is the official scorekeeper for Congress, the true cost of the bill before us is hidden. The true cost before us is hidden. Why? On paper, the bill appears paid for. However, the new spending does not begin until 2025, and then the expansion of benefits does not go into effect until after the budget window in 2032. Meanwhile, the pay- fors all go away within the 10-year window. This is a creative way for Democrats to use budget gimmicks and delay program start dates to push through billions in unpaid-for spending. These types of budget gimmicks are exactly what Democrats have been doing with the $5 trillion spending bill that was called out and why Senators on the other side of the building will not support the legislation. Congress must stop kidding itself with fanciful accounting. Stop pretending that creating and expanding government programs, especially mandatory spending programs, won't come with a real fiscal impact. Start being honest with the American people about the true price tag and the consequences of their reckless actions.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, the official congressional scorekeepers said on Friday that the build back broke bill that passed out of here a couple weeks ago did not cost $1.5 trillion, did not cost $2 trillion, but cost $5 trillion. But this administration will say it costs zero. The American people see right through it. They see right through this mess. And they know one thing. They know that this is nothing but hogwash. It is hogwash, Mr. Speaker. And we should instead replace all of these reconciliation instructions to bring forward a plan to reduce the deficit and stop the inflation that is destroying family budgets. Mr. Speaker, I ask all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to defeat the previous question, so that we can actually work on legislation to help American families at the supermarket, to help combat a price spike that is pushing working families to the brink and to actually provide some real solutions this week on behalf of the American people whom we represent in this body.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, we will consider an amendment to the rule to replace the socialist $5 trillion tax-and-spend reconciliation instructions from the fiscal year 2022 budget with a new call for committees to draft legislation to reduce the deficit, to combat runaway inflation and help get Americans back to work. This country has been through a lot in the past year under one-party rule by the Washington Democrats and President Biden. We have an inflation crisis; we have an energy crisis; we have a border crisis; and we have a supply chain crisis. Contributing to it all is a leadership crisis in the Oval Office. With all of these problems, you would think Democrats would finish the year addressing just one--just one--of those issues. But instead, Mr. Speaker, we are here on the last day of session for the year, and Democrats have chosen to spend this valuable time attacking former President Trump and his staff, attacking members of the Republican Conference, and they have even found room to include a $2.5 trillion increase to the debt ceiling. In fact, since Speaker Pelosi took the gavel in the House in 2019, House Democrats have added more than $9 trillion--House Democrats since 2019 have added more than $9 trillion to the national debt, which is more than the combined deficits under all 72 years that Republicans have ever been in the majority. The American people, Mr. Speaker, they deserve a Congress that is focused on the problems that they are facing in their everyday lives; a Congress that is delivering on policies to stop the runaway rise in prices, a problem that has now reached a 40-year high. Even President Biden's budget in May predicted inflation at 2 percent, Mr. Speaker. We are now at over 7 percent, the highest inflation in 40 years. The White House administration says that inflation is a high-class problem, Mr. Speaker. I will tell you, the people across America believe it is a real problem. They care about the prices in the grocery store. They don't care about the prices in the stock market. But you know what, House Democrats argue and say inflation is transitory, yet now they are finally agreeing that these rising costs in prices are actually having a real impact. We could be working on legislation to actually help American families by reducing the cost of energy during the winter. To do that, we need to get rid of the reconciliation instructions in the Democrats' budget, the same reconciliation plan that has paralyzed Washington for months as Democrats fought over how to spend $5 trillion. Even the Congressional Budget Office on Friday confirmed that what passed out of this Chamber a few weeks ago does not cost zero. It cost $5 trillion.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, what a mess. Truly, what a mess. Just about 9 months ago, I stood on this floor when we were debating the Biden bailout bill, and I warned the gentleman from Nevada how much the seniors in his State were going to lose in Medicare cuts. I said it State by State for everyone who spoke. You know what? Everyone on that side of the aisle, Madam Speaker, acted like it wouldn't happen. They still wanted to spend $2 trillion. But guess what? Reality has set in, and we are here. Unless you try to wipe away the scorecard for your reckless spending, seniors are going to have cuts. Why? Because of a law that Democrats passed in 2010, the Pay-As-You-Go Act. Nancy Pelosi loved the act then. President Obama signed that act into law, Madam Speaker. You guys just want to wipe the slate clean. Madam Speaker, we are here today for two reasons. First, because Democrats blew up a bipartisan agreement this afternoon--this afternoon--and second is because there are looming cuts to seniors and farmers and to programs that millions of Americans rely on because of reckless Democrat spending. Republicans have warned since March that these cuts would happen. In fact, the $2 trillion Biden bailout bill that Democrats rammed through Congress is what triggered a sizable portion of these cuts in the first place under the Pay-As-You-Go Act. Their bailout bill is the largest tranche of spending ever added to a paygo scorecard in the history of Congress--in the history of Congress--the $2 trillion expenditure back in March. Speaker Pelosi said in 2009 that pay-as-you-go budgeting ``will help return our Nation to sound fiscal health.'' It was President Obama who signed paygo into law, as I stated. But now the Democrat deficit spending is forcing cuts, and they are singing a much different tune. In fact, just today--just today--the chairman of the House Budget Committee said about paygo: It ``has never been an effective tool of fiscal policy.'' The fact is, Democrats should be working in a bipartisan way to protect seniors from these cuts, including those stemming from the Budget Control Act sequester and the Medicare physician fee schedule. But in typical fashion, Democrats have decided to abandon bipartisanship and just kick the can down the road over and over again. We can stop these cuts, but we should do it in a responsible way, one that addresses wasteful spending and puts in place some commonsense reforms. How about rescinding money from the Biden bailout bill that is fueling inflation? Maybe Congress could tighten up our laws so Federal benefits and payments aren't flowing to illegal immigrants instead of American citizens, or put commonsense work requirements in place for Federal programs so American businesses can reopen. Legislation I have introduced today does just that, and I would hope my colleagues across the aisle would support this effort to save seniors and others from cuts.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. This includes those cuts Democrats have directly caused with their reckless spending this year. Since the beginning of this Congress, House Democrats have passed $7 trillion--$7 trillion--in new spending. We have an inflation crisis, a border crisis, an energy crisis, and Democrats also chose to create a debt limit crisis that they want Republicans to help solve. One party, one rule, this is what you get. We have been clear from the beginning: If Democrats are going to pursue a partisan agenda that adds trillions to the debt, they can find the votes to raise the debt limit themselves. Republicans will not cosign a loan to enact a radical socialist agenda.

Mr. SMITH of Missouri

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Obernolte).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I would like to read a quote of a Senator who happens to be the budget chair on the other side of the aisle. He is quoted, ``You can't be a political party that talks about demanding the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes and then end up with a bill that gives large tax breaks to many millionaires. ``You can't do that. The hypocrisy is too strong. It's bad policy, it's bad politics.'' Madam Speaker, I agree with Senator Bernie Sanders. In this bill the hypocrisy is way too strong. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the great gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Rouzer).

Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, as the gentlewoman from Texas says, this helps a lot of people, especially if you are a millionaire. That is why it is the second largest provision in this bill. It is tax breaks for millionaires. In fact, Senator Tester from Montana is quoted, he is ``not a big fan because I think it gives tax breaks to the wrong people: rich people.'' That is a Democrat Senator from Montana. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the fine gentleman from New York (Mr. Jacobs).