Gene Taylor

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Well, you have not recognized me for mine, so I might as well.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, if an elected Representative of the people of the United States, who represents about 700,000 American citizens, wishes to make his colleagues aware of the growth of the national debt in just 2 years and 2 weeks, without creating----

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. I am continuing, sir.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. And if 16 of his colleagues, also elected, wished to make the Chair aware, in a very orderly manner, and to make our colleagues aware of the growth of the debt in a very orderly manner, I would like you to cite which section of the House rules, which, by the way you waive on a daily basis at your discretion, are being violated?

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I wish to continue at this time. How much time do I have remaining, sir?

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak with deep regret at the continued efforts of the majority to hide from the American people the true nature of the deficit that they have employed; that they have increased more debt in 2 years than in the first 200 years of our Nation. Their answer to that debt is $80 billion of more debt. I do not think you should dare call yourself fiscal conservatives. I think what you should call yourself are the seeds of destruction for the greatest Nation this world has ever known.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I cannot begin to say how hypocritical I think it is that a bill that purports to be for tax relief for children would burden our children with $80 billion worth of new debt to solve a $3 billion problem. There is a lot of inconsistency and, of course, there is a much stronger word than that. On March 17, 1994, I believe it was right there, then-Member Hastert stood on this floor and said clearly, ``Until our monstrous $4.3 trillion Federal debt 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.'' That was Speaker Hastert. The same day he said, ``In light of Congress' exhibited inability to control spending and vote for fiscal responsibility, it is imperative that we have a balanced budget amendment to compel Congress to end its siege on our financial future.'' The Speaker has now been Speaker for 1,622 days and has yet to have scheduled a vote on a balanced budget amendment. But I can tell you what happened in the 2 years and 3 weeks since the passage of the Bush budget spending increases and the Bush budget deficit decreases. We are now $914 billion dollars deeper in debt.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, no, under Speaker Hastert's tutelage for the past 2 years, we have added not $914 dollars of debt. In fact, under the rules of the House, I am going to ask my colleagues to step to their right, because we are going to need four more of our colleagues to come forward. Announcement By The Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I know that most Americans are at work right now. Some of you are watching. If you care about your country, you have got to be upset that in almost a little over 2 years almost $1 trillion has been added to the national debt. To make a reference from that, we went all the way from 1775 to 1975 and did not borrow that much money. The next time one of my Republican colleagues looks you in the eye and tells you he is a fiscal conservative, ask him about that trillion dollars and the $1 billion a day that we will pay in interest on that money and will pay for the rest of my lifetime, your lifetime, and, God bless them, Mr. Speaker, these kids' lifetime.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, on March 17, 1994, then a Member of the House, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert) came to the floor and said, ``Clearly, our Nation's monstrous $4.3 trillion Federal deficit, until it is eliminated, interest payments will continue to eat away the important incentives which the government must fund. I will not stand by and watch Congress recklessly squander the future of our children and grandchildren.'' Later in that same day he said, ``In light of Congress' exhibited inability to control spending and vote for real fiscal responsibility, it is imperative that we have a balanced budget amendment to compel Congress to end its siege on our financial future.'' That was on March 17, 1994. As most of us are aware, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert) has been the Speaker now for about 1,613 days. In that 1,613 days, he who controls every single amendment that comes to this House floor, when we start, when we stop, every bill that comes to the floor, he who appoints the members of the Committee on Rules that decide which amendments are germane, those that can be offered, has not allowed a vote on a balanced budget amendment. We would think there were a couple of things that would come to his mind, since in 1994 he spoke so strongly of the need for a balanced budget. I would like to ask Max, Trevor, Sarah, and Krystle-Joy to come to the floor. See, in the time that the gentleman from Illinois (Speaker Hastert) has been Speaker, and they can stand in front of me, it is their big moment in the sun, in the 1,613 days the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert) has been Speaker, we would think the gentleman who cares that much about the national debt would maybe let the debt go up by, say, $914. But that is not the case. Now I need Michael, Bryan, and Taylor to join us, because the Speaker has had 1,613 days. I guess I can take 5 minutes. Now, in the time that the Speaker has been for a balanced budget, he says, we would think the debt might grow by $914,878. That is not the case. I need Amanda, Mark, and Robin to join us. Parliamentary Inquiry

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, that is not a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Again, Mr. Speaker, in that 1,613 days since the gentleman from Illinois (Speaker Hastert) way back when told us he was for a balanced budget, we would think that the debt would have grown by only 914,878.72, with a couple of commas thrown in, but it is not the case. I regret to do this, but I have been told by the Chair that I cannot call the pages by their first names, so I am going to have to ask page 11, 12, and 13 to come forward, under the Rules of the House. Again, since the Speaker told us way back when how adamantly he was for a balanced budget, we would have thought that by now, and since I am losing track with a couple of commas in there, that he would have said, enough, it is time for a balanced budget amendment. Time to let Members at least vote on it. Now, 1,613 days later, it still has not happened. Now I have to ask pages 14, 15, and 16, and I practiced saying your names, so I apologize. Now, if the camera can get all of this, we can let some Members have some idea, not of the national debt, but of how much the debt has grown in 2 years and 1 week since the passage of the Bush tax cuts and the Bush budget. The first $2 trillion spending bill passed by this Congress did not come from a Democratic President, it came from a Republican President. The tax cuts, they increased spending, decreased revenues, and this is the difference. I think it is particularly appropriate that these fine young people from all parts of our country are holding the sign. The lobbyists who benefited from this and the fat cats who are having big dinners tonight who benefited from this, they are not going to pay this bill. These kids are. These kids and their kids and their kids. Parliamentary Inquiry

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. To the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston), if I had voted to stick these children with that bill, I would be as ashamed to look at their faces as the gentleman is. I did not vote to stick these kids with that bill. announcement by the speaker pro tempore

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I missed the legislative business of Monday, June 2, 2003 due to a delay in my flight from Mississippi. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 227, for H. Res. 159: expressing profound sorrow on the occasion of the death of Irma Rangel; ``yea'' on rollcall No. 228, for H. Res. 195: congratulating Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs for hitting 500 major league home runs; and ``yea'' on rollcall No. 229, for H.R. 1465: to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4832 East Highway 27 in Iron Station, North Carolina, as the ``General Charles Gabriel Post Office.''

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, the comments from the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas) border on fraud. If more debt would stimulate the economy, then you would think that with the $817 billion of debt that has been added in slightly over 2 years since the passage of the Thomas-Bush tax package and budget, we would have a red- hot economy. Our friend from Louisiana says that that money we are borrowing goes into the Social Security trust fund. No, I say to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. McCrery), it is stolen from the Social Security trust fund. Take the lockbox. Please tell these folks in the gallery where the account is. Because there is not one penny in that account. They cannot find it. It is all IOUs. They are taking money from working people, Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes; and they are using them to give to other folks in tax breaks, and then they are borrowing the rest, $817 billion, to run our Nation. I say to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. McCrery), you obviously do not understand the facts. Mr. Speaker, this is the theft of the future of America. Those people who claim to be for a balanced budget are running up $817 billion worth of debt in 2 years, stealing it from your Social Security trust fund, stealing it from Medicare; and now they are saying the only answer to this is more debt. Please vote against this. Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I want to compliment the gentleman from California. I want to compliment the gentleman from California for having the guts to finally say the rules are rigged against those Members who do not blindly follow the Republican leadership. Every one of us represents about 700,000 people. We do not run for office saying, some of us can speak and some of us can't. Some of us can offer amendments and some of us can't. The Committee on Rules serves to do nothing but keep Members from offering their amendments. I have got an amendment on base closure. I think every single citizen of this body ought to be recorded as being wanting to close bases or wanting to keep bases open. I have been denied the opportunity to have that vote for 3 years running now. I have got to ask, who wants to close bases? Do the military retirees who live next to them who want to use the hospital want to close them? No. Do the military retirees who want to use the commissaries want to close them? No. Do the communities that in many instances have paid to bring those bases there like Pascagoula, Mississippi, paid $20 million to help bring home port Pascagoula there, do they want to close them? No. So maybe who does want to close bases? Mr. Dreier, how about your friend Katrina Leung? I think it is a fair question to ask whether or not someone who is being accused of being a Communist Chinese spy, who has contributed to your campaign, whether or not she wants to close bases. Why can I not have a vote as a Member of this body on deciding whether or not we are going to close bases? Are we are going to listen to our Nation's military retirees? Are we going to listen to our citizens? Or are we listening to Katrina Leung?

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. I yield to the gentleman from California.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. It is the exact same argument.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this amendment. In 1993, a group of Congressmen wrote then-Secretary of State Warren Christopher asking permission for an outfit called Hughes-Loral to launch satellites in China allegedly for telecommunications purposes. The result of that and the mistakes that followed were that the Chinese now have the technology, paid for by the American taxpayer, to put multiple warheads on one rocket and kick them into different trajectories to land on different cities. That was the scandal that came of that. The pitch then was, nothing can go wrong. As a matter of fact, the letter says: You will find that Hughes satellites are guarded around the clock by U.S. Government and Hughes personnel during their time in China and that the Chinese have no opportunity to touch or even view the embedded MTCR control technology. Therefore, no technology transfer is possible at any time. As the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox) and the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Dicks) will tell you, they sure as heck got that technology, paid for by the American taxpayer, that now threatens the American taxpayer. The gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier) signed that letter. How many mistakes does the gentleman from California have to make? How much more do we have to put the American people at risk so that one company or two can make a couple of bucks, and then we as the taxpayers have to go back and spend a fortune to undo the harm that has been done?

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Dear Dad: My day began when a guy who was taking a thousand-dollar contribution from an alleged Chinese spy decided that I could not offer an amendment to keep American military bases open. Later on this same guy who took a thousand-dollar contribution from an alleged Chinese spy said it was a swell idea to sell supercomputers to the Chinese. It got more bizarre. The fellows who run this House and the Senate and the White House suddenly said I was the reason that we were spending too much money. Gee, I thought it was their President who submitted the first $2 trillion budget in American history and they passed it. Their President submitted the first $2.1 trillion budget in American history. But, Dad, it got more bizarre by the hour, because as the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas) told me I did not have good cards, I guess he did not want to see this one. Because 2 years ago, and 2 weeks ago, he told me he could cut taxes and balance the budget. Mr. Thomas, you got an $817 billion credibility gap. That is as much debt as this Nation incurred in the first 180 years, and you are telling me now the way to prosperity is to stick my kids with more borrowing and more debt. You were wrong then. You are wrong now. I love you, Dad.

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Chairman, I regret that my Republican colleague, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Bartlett), is not here, so I hope I do not steal his thunder. From the Subcommittee on Projection Forces, we have done a number of things for America's industrial base; but, more importantly, we have done a lot of good things for the men and women who serve our country. It is unconscionable to send them out to sea in old ships, old helicopters, and old planes. So we do take some steps to address those needs with this bill. I regret that we really do not do enough. We are now down to a fleet of about 300 ships. And at the rate we are going, we are on our way to a fleet of 140 ships. Fleet age used to be about 30 years. We are now down to keeping them for about 20, and we are only putting 7 in the budget. So quick math tells you if you are going to build 7 ships a year, and only keep them for 20 years, you are down to a 140-ship fleet. I hope we can turn that around. We have not had much help from this administration. Quite frankly, we did not have much help from the previous administration. And I do think a navy is important for force projection, so I do think the Congress needs to pay more attention to that. We authorized three DDG-51s, one LPD-17 advanced funding, two T-AKE ships, one Virginia-class submarine, which will be purchased with multiyear funds. The idea being that things are so expensive, things that take 4 or 5 years to build, we can go ahead and pay for them in four or five installments rather than one. Two SSBN to SSGN conversions. One LHD-8. $35 million for the Littoral Combat Ship, our next generation of small ships to operate in the Littoral zones around the world. One LCAC SLEP Program, Service Life Extension Program. Additionally, we have authorized the money to replace about 333 Tomahawk missiles that were used up in the course of the most recent war, and about a $40 million increase to the production line so that they can be built quicker than they would have been. One C-17 for airlift, $229 million for aerial refueling, which gives the Pentagon the option to either purchase or lease those planes that we need. Long- range bombers. We add about $100 million for the next generation of the manned bomber, and we will see to it that a number of B-2s will be kept in the inventory that would have been expired. So, again, we are not doing everything that I think any of us would like to do; and, quite frankly, I very much regret the Committee on Rules not allowing an amendment to be put on the floor so that every Member of this body could vote whether or not we are going to have another round of base closures. I think it is a particularly bad idea and a particularly bad idea when our Nation is at war. I very much regret that the democratic process will not be given an opportunity to express itself. I hope the Committee on Rules will change their mind between now and tomorrow.