Gene Taylor

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, 2 years ago today, my son's 13th birthday, the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas) told us that his tax breaks then would create jobs. It did, 229 of them, but the rest of America lost 2 million jobs. He said it would stimulate growth. It did, $817 billion of new debt that my kids and other kids and those kids coming home from Afghanistan, those kids coming home from Iraq are going to have to pay. I think it is incredibly important that 2 years to the day that my colleagues have increased the debt by $817 billion, they are saying let us do it again, and when I go home and see my son tonight, I have got to look him in the eye and say, I failed you, I failed you because I let folks think for the present at the expense of the future. I let folks like the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas) and others who promised to be for a balanced budget, who promised to be fiscally responsible, I failed because I did not get them to keep their promise. I am going to keep my promise and be fiscally responsible. I beg my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I submit the attached report of Time Magazine correspondent Jim Lacey for the Congressional Record. Time Magazine Reporter Jim Lacey Embedded With 101st Airborne Since returning from Iraq a short time ago I have been answering a lot of questions about the war from friends, family, and strangers. When they ask me how it was over there I find myself glossing over the fighting, the heat, the sandstorms, and the flies (these last could have taught the Iraqi army a thing or two about staying power). Instead, I talk about the soldiers I met, and how they reflected the best of America. A lot of people are going to tell the story of how this war was fought; I would rather say something about the men who won the war. War came early for the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne when an otherwise quiet night in the Kuwaiti desert was shattered by thunderous close-quarters grenade blasts. Sgt. Hasan Akbar, a U.S. soldier, had thrown grenades into an officers' tent, killing two and wounding a dozen others. Adding to the immediate confusion was the piercing scream of SCUD alarms, which kicked in the second Akbar's grenade exploded. For a moment, it was a scene of near panic and total chaos. Just minutes after the explosions, a perimeter was established around the area of the attack, medics were treating the wounded, and calls for evacuation vehicles and helicopters were already being sent out. Remarkably, the very people who should have been organizing all of this were the ones lying on the stretchers, seriously wounded. It fell to junior officers and untested sergeants to take charge and lead. Without hesitation everyone stepped up and unfalteringly did just that. I stood in amazement as two captains (Townlee Hendrick and Tony Jones) directed the evacuation of the wounded, established a hasty defense, and helped to organize a search for the culprit. They did all this despite bleeding heavily from their wounds. For over six hours, these two men ran things while refusing to be evacuated until they were sure all of the men in their command were safe. Two days later Capt. Jones left the hospital and hitchhiked back to the unit: He had heard a rumor that it was about to move into Iraq and he wanted to be there. As Jones--dressed only in boots, a hospital gown, and a flak vest--limped toward headquarters, Col. Hodges, the 1st Brigade's commander, announced, ``I see that Captain Jones has returned to us in full martial splendor.'' The colonel later said that he was tempted to send Jones to the unit surgeon for further evaluation, but that he didn't feel he had the right to tell another man not to fight: Hodges himself had elected to leave two grenade fragments in his arm so that he could return to his command as quickly as possible. The war had not even begun and already I was aware that I had fallen in with a special breed of men. Over the next four weeks, nothing I saw would alter this impression. A military historian once told me that soldiers could forgive their officers any fault save cowardice. After the grenade attack I knew these men were not cowards, but I had yet to learn that the brigade's leaders had made a cult of bravery. A few examples will suffice. While out on what he called ``battlefield circulation,'' Col. Hodges was surveying suspected enemy positions with one of his battalion commanders (Lt. Col. Chris Hughes) when a soldier yelled ``Incoming'' to alert everyone that mortar shells were headed our way. A few soldiers moved closer to a wall, but Hodges and Hughes never budged and only briefly glanced up when the rounds hit a few hundred yards away. As Hodges completed his review and prepared to leave, another young soldier asked him when they would get to kill whoever was firing the mortar. Hodges smiled and said, ``Don't be in a hurry to kill him. They might replace that guy with someone who can shoot.'' The next day, a convoy Col. Hodges was traveling in was ambushed by several Iraqi paramilitary soldiers. A ferocious firelight ensued, but Hodges never left the side of his vehicle. Puffing on a cigar as he directed the action, Hodges remained constantly exposed to fire. When two Kiowa helicopters swooped in to pulverize the enemy strongpoint with rocket fire, he turned to some journalists watching the action and quipped, ``That's your tax dollars at work.'' Bravery inspires men, but brains and quick thinking win wars. In one particularly tense moment a company of U.S. soldiers was preparing to guard the Mosque of Ali--one of the most sacred Muslim sites--when agitators in what had been a friendly crowd started shouting that they were going to storm the mosque. In an instant, the Iraqis began to chant and a riot seemed imminent. A couple of nervous soldiers slid their weapons into fire mode, and I thought we were only moments away from a slaughter. These soldiers had just fought an all- night battle. They were exhausted, tense, and prepared to crush any riot with violence of their own. But they were also professionals, and so, when their battalion commander, Chris Hughes, ordered them to take a knee, point their weapons to the ground, and start smiling, that is exactly what they did. Calm returned. By placing his men in the most non-threatening posture possible, Hughes had sapped the crowd of its aggression. Quick thinking and iron discipline had reversed an ugly situation and averted disaster. Since then, I have often wondered how we created an army of men who could fight with ruthless savagery all night and then respond so easily to an order to ``smile'' while under impending threat. Historian Stephen Ambrose said of the American soldier: ``When soldiers from any other army, even our allies, entered a town, the people hid in the cellars. When Americans came in, even into German towns, it meant smiles, chocolate bars and C-rations.'' Ours has always been an army like no other, because our soldiers reflect a society unlike any other. They are pitiless when confronted by armed enemy fighters and yet full of compassion for civilians and even defeated enemies. American soldiers immediately began saving Iraqi lives at the conclusion of any fight. Medics later said that the Iraqi wounded they treated were astounded by our compassion. They expected they would be left to suffer or die. I witnessed Iraqi paramilitary troops using women and children as human shields, turning grade schools into fortresses, and defiling their own holy sites. Time and again, I saw Americans taking unnecessary risks to clear buildings without firing or using grenades, because it might injure civilians. I stood in awe as 19-year-olds refused to return enemy fire because it was coming from a mosque. It was American soldiers who handed over food to hungry Iraqis, who gave their own medical supplies to Iraqi doctors, and who brought water to the thirsty. It was American soldiers who went door-to-door in a slum because a girl was rumored to have been injured in the fighting; when they found her, they called in a helicopter to take her to an Army hospital. It was American soldiers who wept when a three- year-old was carried out of the rubble where she had been killed by Iraqi mortar fire. It was American soldiers who cleaned up houses they had been fighting over and later occupied--they wanted the places to look at least somewhat tidy when the residents returned. It was these same soldiers who stormed to Baghdad in only a couple of weeks, accepted the surrender of three Iraqi Army divisions, massacred any Republican Guard unit that stood and fought, and disposed of a dictator and a regime with ruthless efficiency. There is no other army--and there are no other soldiers--in the world capable of such merciless fighting and possessed of such compassion for their fellow man. No society except America could have produced them. Before I end this I want to point out one other quality of the American soldier: His sense of justice. After a grueling fight, a company of infantrymen was resting and opening their first mail delivery of the war. One of the young soldiers had received a care package and was sharing the home-baked cookies with his friends. A photographer with a heavy French accent asked if he could have one. The soldier looked him over and said there would be no cookies for Frenchmen. The photographer then protested that he was half Italian. Without missing a beat, the soldier broke a cookie in half and gave it to him. It was a perfect moment and a perfect reflection of the American soldier.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, since you are on the floor, do you think it is a coincidence that no one is in the press gallery when you bring this bill up? Because I do not. Those of you of my Republican friends, and I do consider you my friends, who ran on the basis of a balanced budget, if you vote for this budget, you lied. Two years ago you came to the floor and said there was a surplus. We owed the Social Security trust fund over $1 trillion at that time. We owed our own Federal Government employees' retirement system over $500 billion at that time. We owed the Medicare trust fund over $200 billion at that time. And with a perfectly straight face you looked the American people in the eye and you talked about surpluses as far as the eye could see, and it was all a lie. I regret that I did not say it sooner. So tonight I am going to give you one last chance to do the right thing. The guy sitting over there, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert), when he was just a Member he used to come to the floor and wax eloquently on the need for a balanced budget amendment. You have been Speaker now for 1,550 days, plus or minus; and yet you have never scheduled a vote on a balanced budget amendment, because you know it gets in the way of your tax cuts. We are voting tonight to add another $800 billion, that is a thousand times a thousand times a thousand times a thousand times 800, in new debt in just 1 year, because you know your budget plan does not work. So for just once, be honest with the American people. Quit lying to them, because you are lying to my kids; and I cannot tell you how mad that makes me. It is okay to lie to me, but do not lie to my kids. Do not lie to those kids in Bethesda tonight at Walter Reed; do not bring them cookies tomorrow and tell them how much you love them and you respect what they have done for our country, and then stick them with $800 billion worth of new debt in 1 year. Because you begged for the privilege of running this country, but you do not want to pay the bills of running this country. You ought to be ashamed. I want to tell you, I am ashamed of you.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Chairman, before anyone thinks that I am trying to impress upon them that I am a biblical scholar, I will tell my colleagues I am not, but I happened to listen to one Sunday evening. His name is Father Dennis Carver, and he was in Pass Christian, Mississippi. He was talking about a civilization called the Babylonians. They were apparently a very prosperous civilization, but one of the things that was unique about them is that for the sake of their prosperity, they would literally take their children, put them on an alter, and slit their throats. Although the gentleman from Iowa's budget does not quite do that, I will say that it is fair to say that we are burdening our children with so much debt that they cannot possibly hope to attain the sort of lifestyle that we have, or remain the world's greatest Nation. In 1994, the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle), the chairman of the Committee on the Budget, gave a speech on this House floor bemoaning the fact that at the time, every American man, woman, and child was $17,000 in debt as a portion of the national debt. The Republicans took over in 1995. I had hoped things would get better. But since 1995 through today, that same statistic is that every American man, woman, and child is now in debt $22,000. The Republicans have been in charge, the Republican Party. I had hoped they were truly fiscal conservatives. They have proven otherwise. If we look at American history, during every single war in American history, and I challenge all of my colleagues to question me on this and look it up for themselves, in every other war in American history, they raised taxes to pay for that war. They took the attitude that those of us who were fortunate enough not to be in the front lines, not to be shot at, not to watch our comrades maimed, ought to at least be willing to pay for that. But there is a difference. Only this generation of Americans is saying that we are going to fight a war, we are going to occupy the nation of Iraq for at least 10 years, with a starting force of 100,000 people as occupiers, but, by the way, we are going to stick these young people in this room and the young people back in Mississippi, the young people in Texas, we are going to stick them with the bill, knowing that they will never have a chance to recover from that and they will continue to squander at least $1 billion a day every day of our lives as a Nation on interest on that debt. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) and other members of the Blue Dog Coalition have done an admirable job of saying, we have to do better. And I have to tell my colleagues, I am going to vote for the Blue Dog budget, but I would have been willing to vote for any budget that freezes all of the tax cuts, because it is simply not fair. Two years ago, the gentleman from Iowa and others came to this floor and said the President's tax breaks would not increase the national debt. I say to my colleagues they were $802 billion wrong. At what point do they admit to their mistakes, and at what point do they stop the bleeding? The Federal debt is still growing. On February 28, 2003, the public debt was $6,445,790,102,794.08. The public debt has increased by more than $802 billion since Congress passed the President's first budget plan on May 9, 2001. The debt grew $442,337,086,210.23 in the 12 months from February 28, 2002 to February 28, 2003. There is no surplus except in trust funds. In the first four months of fiscal year 2003, the Treasury reported a budget deficit of $97.6 billion. However, the trust funds for Social Security, Medicare, military retirement, and federal employees retirement collected $90.2 billion in surpluses to fund future benefits. Outside these trust funds, the federal government ran a deficit of $187.8 billion. During fiscal year 2002, Social Security added $159 billion to its surplus, and the trust funds for Medicare, military retirement, and federal employee retirement added to total of $68 billion in surplus funds. Outside those trust funds, the federal government ran a deficit of $386 billion. The Congressional Budget Office reported that fiscal year 2002 had the largest percentage decrease in revenues in 56 years and the largest percentage increase in spending in 20 years. We spend almost one billion dollars per day on interest. The Treasury spent $332.5 billion on interest on the debt in fiscal year 2002. Military spending totaled $332.1 billion, slightly less than the interest expense, despite a 14 percent increase to fight the war on terrorism. Medicare spending totaled $256 billion, $77 billion less than we spent on interest.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) for yielding me this time. To the point on Bosnia, a lot of us had misgivings. I remember going there fully intent on finding kids to tell me it was a bad idea. I met a kid from Ocean Springs, Mississippi. I regret that I cannot remember his first name. His last name is Rhodes. I asked him should we be here. It was a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving. It was snowing and crummy. It is 80 degrees in Ocean Springs, and it is 18 degrees in Bosnia. And the kid said, Yeah. I was dumbfounded. I said, Why? He said because I am keeping women from getting raped. I am keeping children from getting murdered. I am keeping old folks from getting drug out into the street and getting tortured at night. That is why I joined the United States Army, to be a good guy. Tonight we vote to commend the 250,000 young Americans, just like Private Rhodes, who are doing the very same thing. To my colleagues, I would say every other generation of Americans, check the record, every other generation of Americans voted to pay the cost of those wars right then and not stick the young Private Rhodeses with that bill. Let us not be the first generation of Americans that after we welcome the Private Rhodeses home, stick them with the bill from this war. I am going to vote for the resolution because it is exactly right, but I am going to vote against their budget because they are sticking those 250,000 young Americans and their children with this bill. That is inexcusable. Let us vote for the troops. Let us vote to pay the bill. Those of us fortunate enough not to be on the front lines, not to watch our buddies lose an arm or leg, their vision, not to watch our buddies die, at least ought to be willing to pay the bill for this war right now and not stick our kids with it. In the past 2 years, we have run up $802 billion worth of debt. That is no prize to hand those kids when they come home. Let us support the troops and pay for this war right now. Let us be honest with the American people and leave them a Nation that is worthy of their sacrifice. Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. I thank the gentlewoman. I think it is important that we remind the American public where we are now. When we passed the Bush tax cuts in May, just 2 years ago, our Nation was $5,643,680,010,418 in debt. Less than 2 years later we are $6,445,790,102,749 in debt. That is an increase of over $800 billion. If you were to track the American debt from the founding of the American Revolution through the Vietnam War, our Nation had borrowed that much money in about 180 years. In less than 2 years, our Nation has borrowed that much money. What is particularly frustrating I think for all of us is the complete flip-flop on the part of our Republican colleagues. The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert) has been the Speaker of the House now for, I believe, 1,500 days or something very close to it. In those 1,500 days, he has never scheduled a vote on a balanced budget amendment. I find this a bit ironic, because on March 17, 1994, then- Member Hastert said clearly, ``Until our monstrous $3.4 trillion deficit is eliminated, interest payments will continue to eat away at the important initiatives which the government must fund. I will not stand by and watch Congress recklessly squander the future of our children and grandchildren.'' As I pointed out, the debt has increased $2 trillion since the Speaker said that, then-Member Hastert. Yet he will not allow a vote on a balanced budget amendment, and we are not even sure he is going to allow a vote on the Blue Dog budget. As we know last year, it was so thoroughly convoluted in the Committee on Rules that we were not given a clear opportunity to offer it as an amendment. I hope, Mr. Speaker, you will do so this year. I would also remind you that on that same day, you said, ``The American people have wanted a balanced budget amendment for a long time, because they know it's the only way to force Congress to make spending choices.'' Mr. Speaker, if you meant what you said in 1994, we are willing to help you do just that, but you have got to give us a vote on it. There are some other interesting quotes. The next year, January 25, the Speaker said, ``Mr. Chairman, a national debt of $4.5 trillion, you can see how it's growing, should finally convince every Member in this Chamber that Congress has got no discipline to solve its own problems. This balanced budget amendment will put discipline upon us.'' Mr. Speaker, I wish you would live by those words and give us a vote. Here a few days later, ``The American people want their government to be fiscally responsible. They want us to balance the budget in order to lower our debt and make our children's future brighter.'' We could not agree with you more. You were right in 1995. Why are you not for a balanced budget now? Some other friends of mine on the other side of the aisle have said similar things. Now Majority Leader Tom DeLay, it has been a while, March 11, 1994: ``We are showing what we would do. If the Republicans were in charge of this House and in charge of the Senate, it would be a much different America. It would be a much different government.'' In the past 2 years, or less, you guys have run up $800 billion in new debt. It is obviously different. I do not think it is better, but there is always time to change. I think one of the ways that you can change is to allow a vote on the floor next week of the Blue Dog budget, which would get us back on the path to a balanced budget. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay) had some interesting statistics. This is from a speech that he gave on the House floor in 1995: ``In 1980, each child born that year immediately inherited a debt of $4,000. That is government debt. By 1985, because no balanced budget had been adopted, the children that year had inherited a $7,600 debt. By 1990, our children were burdened with almost $12,800 in debt.'' This is again from Majority Leader DeLay's floor speech from 1995: ``Each year every child born in America this year will begin life with a debt of more than $16,700. Is it any wonder that young families have trouble saving money for a down payment on a house? Is it any wonder that the Federal Government's consumption of more than one- quarter of all our economic activity is driven in interest rates and stifling economic growth?'' When the majority leader made that comment, our Nation was about $4.3 trillion in debt. We are now $2 trillion further in debt, so I think it is fair to say that your $16,000 debt that you made reference to is now a $25,000 debt for every American man, woman and child. Yet what really troubles me, and I could go on and on pointing out very important Members of the Republican Party: the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert), the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier). One thing that strikes me as an American who tries to be objective about all of this and who kind of enjoys watching other people's political races, I remember distinctly then-candidate Al Gore being severely beaten about the head and shoulders for flip-flopping on the abortion issue. I know many people in this Chamber have different opinions on this, but my Republican colleagues reminded the American people that Al Gore ran as a pro-life candidate only to change to a pro-choice and accused him of flip-flopping. That is probably true. But if that is true, then how can the Speaker and the majority leader, the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas) and others who came to this floor and gave eloquent speeches, and they were eloquent speeches, about the importance of balancing the budget, the importance of a balanced budget amendment, that deficits are bad, that interest payments on the debt are bad, how can they now look the American people in the eye and say they are good? It is a fair question to each of you. It is a fair question the American people ought to be asking my Republican colleagues. Do not try to tell me that you never said it, because it is in the Congressional Record. So the question is, what did you really believe in? Did you believe it when you said it then, or do you believe it when you are saying deficits are not important now? Because they are totally opposite. And all I think the American people are asking for is some honesty, some honesty in budgeting, and some concern about the future of this country, and that we quit sticking our kids with the bills. The last thing I am going to say, and it is the analogy I use back home because everyone understands it, there is not a Member in this body who would go out and buy a car, and say, ``I don't care what it costs, I don't care what the payments are, because my 6-year-old child is going to pay the bill.'' There is not a Member in this House that would go out and buy a house and tell the realtor, ``I want the nicest house in the county. I don't care what it costs, I don't care what the payments are, because I am going to stick my grandkid with the bill.'' That is precisely what we have been doing as a Nation, and in less than 2 years we have stuck our kids and grandkids with an $800 billion bill. The Blue Dogs will give you an opportunity next week to start turning that around. We are going to give you an opportunity to be men of your words. I hope you will join us in trying to balance the budget. Mr. Speaker, I would hope that you would live by your own words and give us a vote on a much-needed balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak. I very much want to thank the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Berry) for what he had to say. I too heard the President of the United States just a couple of weeks ago stand in this well and tell the American people we would not pass our problems on to the next generation. Maybe the President does not read his own budget. I would hope he does. He signs it before he sends it to us. Maybe the President is not aware that since the passage of his budget and his tax cuts that our Nation's debt has increased by $758,108,651,628.89. The first $2 trillion budget in American history incidentally was not submitted by a guy named Dukakis or a wild-eyed liberal named McGovern. It was submitted by George W. Bush. The first $2.25 trillion budget in American history was not submitted by a wild- eyed liberal. It was submitted by George Bush. Mr. Speaker, I would hope someone in this body would explain to me that when the tax cuts take place with great fanfare, they take place during the middle of the day or during prime time TV. But when my Republican colleagues want to raise the debt limit and burden the next generation with these bills, that vote takes place about 3 or 4 in the morning. You will notice there will not be a reporter up there. Most of our constituents will be asleep. If they are proud of raising the debt and seeing to it that an even larger percentage of our Nation's budget is squandered on interest and we are squandering a billion a day, that is a thousand times a thousand times a thousand, then why will you schedule a vote to raise the debt at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning? Why will you change the House rules so that now, by just the adoption of the President's budget, we automatically raise the debt if you are proud of that? Mr. Speaker, please explain to me and explain to the American people why a group of people is elected to govern this country who promised to balance the budget, who promised to be fiscally responsible, yet in the over 1,400 days that Speaker Hastert has been Speaker of this House of Representatives, he will not even schedule one vote on a balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution. We vote to condemn people across the world. We vote to commend people across the world. We have cast 25 votes since this session started. The way I figure it, thus far Congress is being paid $1,000 per vote this year. But you cannot find time, Mr. Speaker, to schedule a vote on the most important thing of all, which is balancing the American budget so that this generation does not ask the next generation to pay our bills. Mr. Speaker, answer back. Would you go out and buy a car, go out and buy a Lexus and say, I don't care what it costs, I don't care what the interest payments are because my grandkid is going to pay for it? Would you go buy a house? The same deal. I want the most expensive house in town; I don't care what the interest payments are because my kid is going to pay for it. That is the way you are running this country. What is particularly sad is that you promised the American people you would not do that. That is how you got in the majority. And then you flat turned around and did just the opposite. You will not let us vote on the balanced budget amendment, you are running up $300 billion a year deficits, and your only answer to that is more debt and more tax cuts. I will remind you, Mr. Speaker, in every other conflict in American history, when we asked our young people to put their lives on the line, the rest of Americans were asked to pay the bill, right then and there. And quite frankly, the wealthiest Americans were asked to pay the most. The inheritance tax was a wartime tax. The luxury taxes were all wartime taxes. The folks who got to stay home and enjoy the benefits of America paid while someone else did the fighting. But at least they paid. What do you say now, Mr. Speaker? You say those who have the most should pay even less and, by the way, the kids from across town, the kids from across the tracks, let them go get shot in Afghanistan, let them go get shot in Colombia protecting a pipeline owned by Occidental Petroleum. Let that kid get shot in Iraq and, by the way, send him the bill for this war when he gets home. Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of good people in this body. A majority of people in this body came to this body saying they were going to be fiscally responsible. Where are they now? Where are they going to be tomorrow when we vote on a $300 billion bill that not one Member has read, that no one has any idea what sort of stuff is buried in it? Mr. Speaker, where are they going to be tomorrow? Because if those people care about their country, they will let us vote on a balanced budget amendment. If they care about their country, they will vote down this bill tomorrow until they have had a chance to read it. If they care about our country, they will quit sticking our kids with their bills.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, we are barely 3 hours into this Congress and the political hedonists of this Congress have struck their first blow. You know hedonism, if it feels good do it regardless of the consequences. Well, that is exactly what those people who have voted repeatedly to raise the debt limit and to stick our children and our children's children with our bills have done. Now they want to do it even better. One of the few things that controlled their urge to run up the bill and stick our kids with it was at least a law that said we had to vote to raise the debt limit. Now they want to do away with that law. They want a rule that says if they pass a budget we do not have to raise the debt limit. I would remind them that in the 19 months since the Bush budget became law, that we have stuck our children and our children's children with $749,529,498,242 worth of new debt. It did not stimulate the economy. It stimulated the debt. It is political hedonism. You heard it here first. You are going to hear it a lot. Just a little while ago the Speaker of the House said, ``We pledge to fight those who would endanger our freedom.'' Those of you who would bankrupt our Nation will destroy our freedom. And, therefore, just as the Speaker pledged to fight those who would endanger our freedom, I pledge to fight you tooth and nail on every effort to increase the national debt and every effort to hide the way that you do it. The last time we had to have a vote, it was scheduled for three o'clock in the morning. My dad's taught me a lot in life; but generally, one of his best rules is anything a person does past midnight, they are probably not very proud of, and I am sure my colleagues were not proud of the fact that they raised the debt limit. So now my colleagues do not want to have that vote at all. Mr. Speaker, I am opposing these rule changes; and I would ask every Member to do so who believes in accountability, believes in standing up and talking to the citizens and saying, yes, I did that and this is the reason why or, no, I did not oppose this rule. If my colleagues have come here to hide from the truth, if they have come here to stick their children and their children's children with their bills, then vote for it.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, as the House considers passage of the conference report to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003, I would like to recognize the contributions of an outstanding member of the staff of the House Armed Services Committee. His name is George Withers. Of all of the people I have come to know in my 13 years on Capitol Hill, I can truly say that I have not met a finer person than George Withers. As a professional staff member of the Armed Services Committee since 1993, I have had an opportunity to work closely with George. Over these many years, I have come to appreciate his knowledge of the legislative process, judgment, professionalism and wisdom. Although he has a heart of gold, and a smile that is genuine as a sunrise, he was indeed mistaken for a very prominent elected official who is not known for his smile. One of the highlights of George's career on Capitol Hill was when President George W. Bush, upon meeting him, noted his resemblance to the Vice President and remarked, ``How's your heart?'' Around the world, there are likely many members of our nation's military who are watching this broadcast. George Withers was a Navy Aerographers Mate Third Class (AG3) with an Aircrew designation. He flew with VW-1 and VQ-1 flying WC-121 and EC-121 aircraft out of Danang during the Vietnam War. He also deployed and flew out of Agana, Guam; Cubi Point, Philippines; South Korea, and numerous other locations in the Western Pacific. A large number of those flights were electronic intercept missions over the Tonkin Gulf. During his distinguished service in the Navy, he earned the Bronze Star and completed 86 penetrations into the eye of typhoons as a typhoon-tracker. George's service in Vietnam took place to the advent of the ``all volunteer force''. This was a time when folks often ``had to be there'' rather than ``volunteered to be there''. Since they had to be there, it was pretty obvious from those who were there that our nation didn't pay nearly enough attention to what they wanted their barracks or housing to look like, what there mess halls served for meals, or what they wanted in the way of recreational opportunities. George has spent the better part of his career on Capitol Hill correcting those mistakes, and seeing to it that they never happen again. To the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, who are living in new quarters or work in new facilities, it has been made possible with the great assistance of George Withers. If you're in one of these new facilities in South Korea, Germany, Ecuador, Mississippi, or serving anywhere in the world, credit for the quality of your quarters is often given to a Congressman or a Senator. However, I know for a fact that none of these important quality of life improvements for our nation's military personnel could have happened without the dedication and hard work of a great American named George Withers. George, on behalf of the men and women in uniform, your friends here on Capitol Hill, and the countless other people that you have helped throughout your many years of military and public service, thank you. God Bless you in your retirement. You will be sorely missed.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, along with my colleagues, I would like to wish my very heartfelt thanks and farewell to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Stump). He will be sadly missed. He served this Nation very well since the early 1940s as a young seaman in the Navy and he has been a great Congressman. If the gentleman is watching, we are sure going to miss you. You are a great guy. Mr. Speaker, the procurement portion of this bill does a lot, but as all of us always feel at the end of the year, we have never done quite enough. The fleet is still the smallest it has been since 1933. But I am pleased to announce that the bill would fund the building of two Aegis class destroyers, one Virginia class submarine, one LPD-17, four service life extensions for LCACs, two submarine conversions, one submarine refueling, two small-waterplane twin-hull mine hunters, one T-AKE, which I hope the gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter) will help me put some American propellers on; and $54 million to the title XI shipbuilding program for our domestic shipbuilders. Aircraftwise, we are going to build 23 F-22s, 48 F/A-18s, 12 C-17s, a multiyear procurement for C-130Js, 35 JPATS trainers, one JSTARS, 35 UH-60 Blackhawk variants and a variant for 15 Navy versions of that helicopter; six training helicopters and 11 V-22s. As far as ground forces, there will be 35 MLRS systems, 45 upgrades to the Bradley armored personnel carriers, 332 Stryker interim armored vehicles, and upgrades to 31 M1A2s. But like all of my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, I am a bit concerned and somewhat disappointed that we could not do a better job on concurrent receipt. If the gentleman from California would, I would like to engage in a further colloquy. Mr. Speaker, I know the gentleman from California is a Vietnam vet and he has mentioned this scenario of Agent Orange. I happen to have a staffer who in the past year has become very, very sick as a result of his service in the Gulf War. After much testing, it was determined it was a result of mercury poisoning, and the only thing that any doctor can conclude is that it is from the air he breathed while he was in Desert Storm. My question would be, he was a young man when this occurred so he is not a military retiree. But had that happened to someone who had served 20 years or more, they have no visible scars, they did not receive the Purple Heart, they served, they went when their Nation called, and as a result of that they have been poisoned. How does this bill address that? Because again, I understand the need to reward, to compensate the person who has lost an arm, a leg, their vision, their ability to have children, but this is someone who has truly been poisoned as a result of his service to our Nation. What will we do for them with this concurrent receipt language?

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Chairman, if I may, since I have seen a tendency for some people in the bureaucracy of government to somehow lose sight of the value of our veterans, would you consider a letter to that extent to the Secretary? The Secretary has got a lot of things on his plate. Maybe he does not deal with individuals to the extent that you and I as representatives of 700,000 people do, but would you consider a letter to the Secretary along those lines telling him of our strong interest in accomplishing just that?

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Again, as a part of that letter, I would like to hear the Secretary's response because I would sure as heck hope that we do not have to wait another year before some of these injustices are finally made right. I thank you very much for your explanation. I look forward to working with you on that letter to the Secretary.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, this is an issue of great importance to a great many disabled veterans in America. We know that the hour is late. Because of the courtesy of the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh), in order to expedite the matter, we are going to ask that the time be reduced by half. We would ask that every Member who wishes to speak keep their remarks as short as possible. I am going to do my part to move it along. I am certain the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh) will.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer the motion to instruct that I presented yesterday pursuant to clause 7(c) of rule XXII.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, today almost 300 of us voted to give the President the authority to wage war, and a sad consequence of that is that there will be, if there is hostile action, young Americans coming home who have lost their arms, their legs, their vision, their ability to speak. Traditionally, there has been a system where they are compensated for that loss. Unfortunately, for those people who have served our Nation for 20 years or more, that compensation comes at the expense of the retirement benefit they have already earned. A lot of us do not think that is fair. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) has been for 17 years pushing legislation to address this inequity, to allow those people who served our Nation honorably in the military for 20 years or more to collect their full pension benefits and be compensated for whatever injuries they incurred on active duty, because it has very much so reduced their ability to make a living in their post-military life. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), the person who has worked so hard on this issue for 17 years.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton), a senior Democrat member of the Committee on Armed Services and a father of two members on active duty in the United States military.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Alexandria, Virginia (Mr. Moran).

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Shows), someone who has worked very hard for the veterans for his duration of his time here in Washington.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Bartlett), someone who has been a great help on this issue.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Maloney), a great member of the Committee on Armed Services.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Phelps).

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis).

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker I yield 45 seconds to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez).

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Hooley).

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of the time. Mr. Speaker, I thank all of the Members for their help tonight, Democrats and Republicans. We will send a message to the conferees: It is time, after 17 years of the efforts of the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), to do the right thing for those people who were injured serving us. They paid the price for us; it is time for us to pay what is due to them.