John Tanner

Mr. TANNER

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I hope you will join me today in honoring WCMT-AM, in Martin, Tennessee, for being named a 2005 Crystal Award Winner by the National Association of Broadcasters. As you know, this very prestigious award recognizes those radio stations that provide outstanding public service to their communities, and we are proud that WCMT is receiving this honor. WCMT is a treasure for West Tennessee because of its focus on those who live in Weakley County and the surrounding areas. The station's news programming has long been an excellent source of information for West Tennesseans, and its community outreach efforts have been invaluable to many of our fellow residents. It is locally owned and operated by Thunderbolt Broadcasting, whose president and general manager, Paul Tinkle, is a long-time friend of mine and a true leader in Weakley County. WCMT-AM is a past recipient of the Weakley County Chamber of Commerce's Business of the Year Award and a four-time finalist for the NAB Crystal Award, with which it is now being honored. Mr. Speaker, please join me in recognizing the decades of dedicated broadcasting excellence and community service that have helped WCMT earn this celebrated honor.

Mr. TANNER

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great American and a very dear friend of mine, Mr. Jonas Kisber, of Jackson, Tennessee. Jonas just recently celebrated his 75th birthday, surrounded by family and many friends. Jonas was born into a family of retail merchants. Kisber's Department Store, founded in 1905, was a fixture in Jackson for many years. Everyone in West Tennessee was familiar with Kisber's Store and when the store closed in December of 1991, it was an emotional, as well as economic, loss for the area. Jonas entered the United States Army in 1952. He served in the Korean conflict, and was honorably discharged in 1954 when he began his career at the family business. Jonas served as President of Kisber's Department Stores, Inc. from 1974 until 1991. He has been involved in many civic and cultural activities. He and his late wife, Jane Louise Greenberg Kisber, were well known in their community and in the State of Tennessee for being available to help when you needed someone you could count on to get a job done. Jonas was the founding Treasurer of the Episcopal Day School, has served in various offices for the Friends of the Jackson Madison County Library Foundation, was President of the Tennessee Retail Merchants Association in 1976-1977, is a member of the Tennessee Library Association, the Jackson Lions Club, served on the Board of Directors of the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce, and is a past President of the Temple B'nai Israel. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Murray Guard, Inc. He is also currently a member of the Tennessee Board of Regents, a position previously held by his wife, Jane, and to which he was appointed at the time of her death in August of 2002. He and his late wife are the parents of three children, Joan Kisber Haskins of Chicago, Illinois, Matthew Harris Kisber of Nashville, Tennessee and Rachel Kisber Obermeier of Bad Soden, Germany. Matt, a former Tennessee State Representative for many years, currently serves as Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. Jonas is also the proud grandfather of three boys and a new granddaughter. Throughout his life, Jonas has contributed much to his community, his state and his nation. He has never shied away from work when his skills and efforts were needed and could make a difference. It is my high honor to recognize his many achievements and contributions, and to say thanks to him for all he has done through the years to make the City of Jackson and the State of Tennessee a better place in which to live.

Mr. TANNER

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, in 1997, Jennifer Dunn, a Republican from Washington, and I started this debate on the estate tax. At that time the country was in much different shape financially than it is today. At that time, we raised the issue for estate tax relief because I thought then it was punitive. It had nothing to do with the theory that the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal) spoke so eloquently about, and that is to keep 3 percent or 1 percent of the people from owning 99 percent of our country. We did not want to be like England where whoever got control of the land and money, and 1,450 still had it 26 generations later and people who were hardworking could not break through that ceiling because of the nobility that was enshrined in their tax code. That is why we have an estate tax. But we raised that issue, and I voted for the bill that is being proposed today, but I can no longer vote for it. Let me tell you why. It is because, as I look in the faces of these young people, you are looking at a House, a Senate and an administration that has embarked since 2001 on the most radical, irresponsible financial riverboat gamble that this country has ever seen. There has been no political American leadership that has ever done what this group of people who currently hold the power of government here in Washington have done to this country. Since April of 2001, in your name and mine, this government has borrowed $1.2 trillion in hard money. What that means to us is that we have transferred, at only 4 percent interest, $50 billion a year from programs like Social Security, like health care, like armor for our troops, from veterans, to health care, to education, all the things that will give the citizens of this country a chance, an opportunity to be whatever it is their God-given talents give them, we have transferred $50 billion a year from that to interest. And you know what is worse? Eighty-four percent of this $1.2 trillion has been borrowed from overseas. We are now sending more money overseas. Eighty- four percent of this interest check is going overseas. Let me tell you something scary. A former official of the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank and now an economist in Hong Kong, was recently quoted as saying that the U.S. dollar is now at the mercy of Asian governments. Do you know what we are doing? We are mortgaging our country to foreign interests who do not see the world as we see it. It has got to stop, and it has got to stop sometime, and I for one am saying I want to stop it now. In your name, we are borrowing at the rate of $13,300 a second. This is staggering, mind numbing. $48 million an hour. Since this debate started, in our names we have borrowed $48 million and given the bill to those little children sitting up there. $1 billion a day. Do you know how much $1 billion is? If you take thousand-dollar bills and stack them up like that, to get to a million dollars it is a foot high; to get to a billion dollars, it is as high as the Empire State Building; and to get to a trillion dollars, which is what has been borrowed in the last 46 months in your name, it is a thousand times as high as the Empire State Building, one thousand dollar bills like this. We are facing a financial Armageddon. What we have done has created a financial vulnerability vis-a-vis the rest of world that is every bit as big a security interest as anything else we are going to face in the future. I just hope that someday soon that some sense will come to this place about how we are handling or mishandling your money.

Mr. TANNER

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Julia Holt on being awarded the 2005 Safety Education Hero Award. The public safety education she provides to children has proven to be life-saving. She is a true hero in our community and is helping train our young people to be heroes, too. As Public Education Officer with the Dickson Fire Department, Ms. Holt teaches fire safety lessons at six elementary schools to kids ranging from kindergarten to sixth grade. Although she has only served in that capacity for three years, Ms. Holt was named Tennessee's Fire Educator of the Year in 2004. In February, 2004, Ms. Holt's Fire safety lessons were put to the test when seven-year-old Dustin Stephens got too close to a living room wall heater and his clothes ignited. Fortunately, Dustin's brothers Ryan and Justin were able to use what Ryan had learned the week before in Ms. Holt's class. The firefighters responding to their call said Justin's life was saved because of the boys' quick action and their exceptional training. Ms. Holt is an extraordinary public servant, and she has proven her commitment to ensuring that all children have proper training to respond to emergencies like the one Dustin and his brothers faced. Mr. Speaker, I ask that you join me today in thanking Ms. Holt for all she does in our community and congratulating her on receiving this distinguished award.

Mr. TANNER

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Chairman, I do not think the American people realize how bad the situation here is in Washington and how financially mismanaged our government has been over the last 4 years. Since 2001, this country has borrowed in hard dollars $1.12 trillion. What that means to every citizen is simply this: at 5 percent interest, that is over $50 billion a year that has been transferred away from addressing the problems of health care and veterans and education and the things that will keep our country competitive into interest. What is worse than that though is since that time 84 percent of the budget deficit that we have run, the money we have borrowed has come from foreign interest. We are now sending $80 billion a year overseas in interest checks. We are bankrupting America while this country, this Congress fiddles. And this situation is not only dire and getting worse by the second. We are borrowing $13,000 a second, paying interest at about $5,000 a second. If you took 1,000 dollar bills and stacked them on top of one another, one million dollars would be about a foot high. A billion dollars would be about as high as the Empire State Building, and a trillion dollars would be a thousand times as high as the Empire State Building. This government has borrowed over $1 trillion in the last 48 months, and we are doing nothing in this budget to address that problem. We are lording over the largest budget deficits in the history of the United States. That is the record. I mean, people are entitled to their opinion. They are not entitled to their own set of facts. This is not something that is going to happen in the future. This has happened and is happening now. The director of GAO was before the Committee on Ways and Means last week. Do you know what he said? He said if we continue on this course, if we do what the administration and this Congress recommends, and that is make the tax cuts permanent, and spending only grows at the rate of growth of the economy, in the year 2040 every dime that comes into Washington, D.C. will be going to pay interest. There will be nothing left, 35 years from now. I do not know if I can impress on the American people enough to demand that something be done about this horrible mismanagement of their country and their country's finances.

Mr. TANNER

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Johnny Gibson, a renowned wilderness guide, a cherished member of our community and my friend. Johnny began his life of service when he joined the Marines on July 12, 1941, at the age of seventeen. He served his country in the Pacific for four and a half years, and after this tour of duty, he returned to school to earn a high school diploma and begin working for the Tennessee Highway Department. A lifetime hunter and fisher, Mr. Gibson soon realized his true passion was in the outdoors, and he followed his calling to become the most famous wilderness guide in our area. Johnny dedicated his life to introducing people to the enchanting wildlife and beauty of the West Tennessee countryside. Some of his patrons have included country music stars, such as Ricky Shelton, Hank Williams Jr., and Little Jimmy Dickens, and political leaders like Walter Mondale and Al Gore. His years as a guide behind him, he is now dedicated to spending time with his wife of 43 years, Jane, their five children and ten grandchildren. Mr. Speaker, I ask that you join me today in recognizing the exceptional service of my friend, Mr. Johnny Gibson.

Mr. TANNER

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in remembrance of Merle Kilgore, a talented musician, legendary writer, and friend, a fellow West Tennnessean who dedicated his life to entertaining the world. Merle began his music career in 1948, carrying Hank Williams' guitar at the Louisiana Hayride. He soon began performing, and he wrote and recorded hit songs such as ``Ring of Fire'' and ``Wolverton Mountain.'' Mr. Kilgore was also an actor, appearing in films such as ``Coal Miner's Daughter'' and ``Five Card Stud.'' Apart from his performance skills, he was a fine businessman, managing the legendary career of Hank Williams, Jr. He was named honorary State Senator by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1987, while I had the honor of serving in that body. Merle Kilgore was more than a music legend. He is remembered by those who knew him best for his loyal friendship and sharp wit. Mr. Kilgore's stories and anecdotes brightened the lives of everyone he touched. Merle's cheerful outlook on life will be deeply missed by his family and friends. A dedicated family man, he is survived by his wife, Judy; two sons; three daughters; eight grandchildren; and a great- granddaughter. Mr. Speaker, I ask that you join me in honoring the exceptional life of a true legend and dear friend, Mr. Merle Kilgore.

Mr. TANNER

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the accomplishments of David E. Hayes, an outstanding leader in our community and the new chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America, a group that represents almost 5,000 community bank members. He is also the President and Chief Executive Officer of Security Bank in Dyersburg, Tennessee. A native of West Tennessee, Mr. Hayes began his banking career in Memphis in 1967, and since then, he has amassed an impressive resume that includes leadership roles in many community and state level banking organizations. David has demonstrated his commitment to West Tennessee not only through his professional career, but also through his enthusiastic involvement in the local community. He has served as the chairman of the Dyersburg Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the Dyer County United Way, and president of the Dyer County Heart Association. He has also been an active member of the Dyer County Industrial Development Board and the Executive Committee of the Dyersburg State Community College Foundation Board. He and his wife of 37 years, Sara, have two children, David Jr. and Amy, and two young grandchildren, Joanna and David. Mr. Speaker, I ask you to please join me in congratulating Mr. Hayes on his election to the chairmanship of the Independent Community Bankers of America. We in West Tennessee are very proud of his outstanding achievement.

Mr. TANNER

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in memory of our colleague, Bob Matsui, as we honor his life and his long service to this Congress and to our Nation. I had the pleasure of serving alongside Bob on the Ways and Means Committee since 1996 and knew him to be a statesman of enormous ability and integrity, a man of kind and gentle nature, a rare individual with whom one could disagree without finding him to be disagreeable. These are the most important qualities a public servant in this House of Representatives could possess. Bob made an immeasurable contribution to the House. His keen intellect and ability to craft bipartisan legislation will be missed by me and the entire Congress. Our thoughts and prayers are with Bob's family at this difficult time. His passing is truly a great loss for our Nation.

Mr. TANNER

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, ministerial-level representatives from at least 30 countries, including the United States, will gather three weeks from now in Rabat, Morocco for the first-ever ``Forum for the Future'' international conference on reform and development in the Middle East and North Africa. Parallel discussions will also be held between representatives of civil society and the business sectors from within these countries. The ``Forum for the Future'' was established by the G-8 summit meeting in Sea Island, Georgia this past June as a permanent mechanism whereby the G-8 countries will engage in dialogue on political, economic, and social reform with the countries of North Africa and the broader Middle East. In the words of the communique issued by the G-8 leaders on June 9, 2004, the ``Forum for the Future . . . will root our efforts in an open and enduring dialogue . . . the Forum will serve as a vehicle for listening to the needs of the region, and ensuring that the efforts we make collectively respond to those concerns.'' Indeed, Mr. Speaker, those ``concerns'' form an enormous agenda for this initial meeting in Morocco, as well as for all subsequent sessions. In the political sphere, the Forum aims to promote progress in the Middle East and North Africa toward the establishment of democracy and the rule of law, the protection of human rights and basic personal liberties, respect for pluralism and diversity, and the free exchange of ideas. On the economic front, the Forum seeks to address the desperate problem of unemployment, as well as to expand the private sector within the Middle East and North Africa by means of encouraging entrepreneurship, expanded trade and investment, protection of property rights, and the combating of corruption. Finally, on social policy, the Forum has targeted the problems of illiteracy and ignorance, by focusing on means by which educational standards can be raised and the accessibility to a good education can be broadened for men and women alike--that last point being especially crucial, as there are so many unresolved difficulties pertaining to the status of women which the Forum also wants to address. Mr. Speaker, it is particularly appropriate that Morocco should host this inaugural meeting of the ``Forum for the Future,'' because that country has been making great strides forward in all of these areas, and there is much that can be learned by studying the process of reform that is taking place there. When the G-8 leaders launched the ``Forum for the Future'' last June, their communique spoke of a ``partnership for progress and a common future'' with the countries and peoples of North Africa and the broader Middle East. Every Member who shares that goal--who believes that our own future and security as a nation may ultimately be dependent on the achievement of freedom, stability, and prosperity in a very troubled region--will want to thank Morocco for hosting this important international event, the ``Forum for the Future,'' on December 11, 2004. And we look forward to a successful first step in what the G-8 leaders themselves have described as ``a long-term effort . . . a generational commitment.''

Mr. TANNER

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, why are we here for the third time in 3 years? It is because our country has borrowed over $1.5 trillion in that time from 2001 until now. Mr. Speaker, this is not an accident. This is the first administration and the first Congress in the history of this country that has knowingly, willfully, deliberately, and consciously pursued an economic plan that will leave our country weaker in the long run than when they found it. No other people who have occupied these seats have consciously, willfully and deliberately bankrupted our country like what is going on today. Just in the last 4 years, at a 5 percent interest rate, these people have raised taxes on the American people $67 billion a year each and every year from now on to the rest of our lives because of this prolific borrowing that is going on. President Jimmy Carter once said that the highest office in our land is that of citizen, and he is right. Citizens hire us to come here every couple of years in this body to do the public work, to try to run their business like we would run our own. All we have asked of the majority is before we borrow another $800 billion in the name of every citizen in this country, they would at least give us the opportunity to stop and say why do we not pay for what we are spending? Why do we not do the moral value of paying our bills? We are not paying our bills by borrowing another $800 billion. We are passing our bills on to our children, our grandchildren and anybody else who follows us. That is no moral value. I tell my colleagues one other thing. We are creating a financial vulnerability in this country that is second only to the threat of terrorism. Since 2001, there has been an $844 billion increase in foreign-held debt, and do my colleagues know who holds it? Almost every country in the world. I hold this up from the Treasury Department: Japan, over $700 billion; mainland China and Hong Kong, over $230 billion; the Caribbean banking centers, over $100 billion. We are literally, you are literally mortgaging our future economy to anybody in the world that will give us money on the cheap today so we do not have to face up and pay our own bills from my generation: pass it on to somebody else. It is nothing less than a national security issue, and we will have more to say about that later. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to say one thing. We are not paying for anything. We are borrowing every dime he is talking about. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin). (Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal).

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt). (Mr. SPRATT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, what the gentleman just told Members is up is down, and down is up. The liberal big spenders have not spent a dime in this place in 10 years. They do not have the votes. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds. Mr. Speaker, I do not think people realize the situation we are in. We will step up to the plate if the other side will allow us to pay-as- you-go, but they will not do that. They are not paying anything. They are borrowing another $800 billion. We are not paying any bills. We are borrowing money right now based on last year of $1.1 billion a day, $48 million an hour, $796,000 a minute. We have already borrowed $10 million while we have been talking. It is $13,000 a second, and you will not let us have pay-as-you-go. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor).

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield for the purpose of making a unanimous consent request to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney). (Mrs. MALONEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 10 seconds. We want to take responsibility. We want to pay as you go instead of borrowing and borrowing and borrowing. That is responsible. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cooper).

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 10 seconds. The gentleman from Indiana's side of the aisle has borrowed more money in 3\1/2\ years than the Democrats borrowed in 40. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott).

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 5 seconds. You have got an opportunity to do that tonight by adopting a PAYGO rule. You can start right now. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/4\ minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Davis).

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran).

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey).

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Abercrombie). (Mr. ABERCROMBIE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I do not really believe that people of our country realize the shape the financial balance sheet of our country is in. The budget deficit last year, if we stack $1 bills on top of one another, would be 41,000 miles high. Listen to this: we are paying $5,100 a second in interest, $310,000 a minute. The American people will have paid $19 million in interest while we have been talking about this matter right now, and that is not including what we are borrowing. I tell my colleagues if we do not adopt pay-as-you-go, which simply says we are going to pay the bills, not borrow the money from our children and grandchildren, from anybody on Earth that will buy our paper at a relatively low rate of interest while we are here in this place, I tell my colleagues, I said at the outset, this is not an accident, Mr. Speaker. This is a willful, knowingly, deliberately conscious act of following an economic plan that puts us further and further into debt, and they will not accept a simple provision that says simply we ought to pay for what we are consuming. They will not accept that. We are going to have a motion to recommit that will ask for it to. He said we are going to get around it. We can do it tonight. We can start acting responsibly tonight by simply adopting pay-as-you-go. That is what most American families do. That is considered a virtue where I come from. One pays their bills, they try to behave, they go to work, they get up, they go to church. That is responsibility. It is not responsible to say I am going to buy a new house and give the mortgage to my son. That is not responsible. I tell my colleagues this is very frustrating because it is so abundantly clear we are mortgaging the future of this country. And what makes it worse is that now 43 percent of our paper is being held by foreign governments that do not see the world as we see it. And some day, I sound like a canary in a coal mine, some day, these chickens are going to come home to roost. When they quit buying, we are going to have lost control of this economy and we will have to pay whoever however much in order to refinance this debt. And that market is going to respond to what you people are doing. And it is not going to be too much longer, I am afraid. And when it does, it is going to be something that the American people are going to suffer from for a long time to come. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi).