Jim Walsh

Mr. WALSH of New York

Mr. WALSH of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Hinchey).

Mr. WALSH of New York

Mr. WALSH of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I'd just like to sort of maybe refresh. There's a lot of demagoguery going on here today. I'd like to refresh my colleagues' memory in that the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964. The Republicans became the majority party in this country in 1994. Where were you for 30 years? There's plenty of blame to be passed around, but please take responsibility for your own.

Mr. WALSH of New York

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Speaker, on rollcall vote No. 712, which would have prohibited funds in the fiscal year 2008 Transportation-HUD Appropriations Act from being used to implement provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act, I was unavoidably detained and unable to vote. Had I been present I would have voted ``no.''

Mr. WALSH of New York

Mr. WALSH of New York. I rise today in tribute to Loi Nguyen, respected leader of the Syracuse Vietnamese Community. Sadly, Mr. Nguyen passed away on July 8th, 2007, after a long battle with liver complications. Mr. Nguyen was a true patriot and an exemplary citizen. He fought valiantly alongside U.S. troops in Vietnam as a battalion commander in the South Vietnamese Army, suffering 10 years in a Communist re- education camp for aiding Americans. Along with other South Vietnamese soldiers who helped the U.S., Mr. Nguyen was allowed to immigrate into the United States, and moved to the Syracuse area in 1990. He began to assist refugees from Vietnam and other Southeast Asian nations in learning to drive, find jobs, learn English, and register to vote. He led the Vietnamese Community of Syracuse and the Vietnamese Veterans, and worked tirelessly to build a sense of community and improve conditions in Syracuse's North Side, where many Vietnamese immigrants live. One of his crowning achievements, Mr. Nguyen was instrumental in the development of the Franciscan Vietnamese Freedom Garden, which will serve as a green space for residents of the North Side, and also as a symbol of community. Mr. Nguyen's leadership, his patriotism, and his concern for others have benefited his community greatly. He fostered a better understanding and sense of community among many different cultures, and reminded us all of the significance of what many of us take for granted--freedom. Loi Nguyen will be missed, but will not be forgotten.

Mr. WALSH of New York

Mr. WALSH of New York. I am entirely familiar with the long-standing practice of Congress to fully fund the section 8 voucher program to be sure all vouchers could be used but recognizing that this rarely happened and that excess funds would be recaptured and rescinded in the next fiscal year. I am also very familiar with the fact that HUD programs serve the most vulnerable of our populations, and that veterans are one of the most impacted by the HUD programs in general, and especially the homeless program. I was disappointed to hear that this cycle has been broken, that this Congress has decided that keeping the funds at the public housing authorities is more important than funding facilities for low-income elderly and disabled. But that is exactly what this bill does. It imposes a rescission of a magnitude that would be in excess of the section 8 program need each year, and then precludes the recapture of those funds. The report specifically tells HUD that section 8 funds are off limits for rescission or recapture. To put this in perspective, section 8 voucher funding is 40 percent of HUD's entire project. So HUD is now forced to take the entire amount of the $1.3 billion from a small universe of programs. I urge all of my colleagues to support the motion to recommit and protect the poorest in our communities.

Mr. WALSH of New York

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. WALSH of New York. I certainly would like to echo his sentiments regarding the time available to us to complete the bill and the ability of Members to get home. Let me just offer a modest proposal. There is a unanimous consent request, but I just ask that the authors consider the possibility that there are four across-the-board cuts proposed for the bill different percentage amounts and there is 2 hours allocated for that debate. Seemingly, 1 hour's worth of debate to determine whether or not there was a majority of votes in the Chamber to cut this bill across the board by 0.25 percent or 4.6 percent, seemingly 1 hour would be enough time to debate as opposed to 2. So that decision has been made, but as the chairman suggested, people may think differently as we move on through the debate about the possibility of spending less time debating those same issues. Amendment Offered by Mr. Westmoreland

Mr. WALSH of New York

Mr. WALSH of New York. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. WALSH of New York. Mr. Chairman, I agree. I am one of the signatories on the letter. I support it. It will help our hospitals.

Mr. WALSH of New York. I yield to the gentleman from Nevada.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding and for bringing this amendment. There were a couple of things that were said in the debate that I just want to try to get a little clarity on. I served here in the late 1990s, and I recall that Republicans, as the majority party, passed a balanced budget in 1997. In 1998, we had our first balanced budget. Now, President Clinton was President at the time, but I believe I heard someone on the other side say President Clinton left the country with a $5.6 trillion surplus. I think they're mistaken. I think what they meant to say is President Clinton left the United States Government with a $5.6 trillion debt. Now, that debt has increased, but the fact is that when we were in the majority party, for the first time since the 1940s, we produced a balanced budget. The President does not have the power of the purse; the Congress does. We created that surplus. We created the balanced budgets, and there was no surplus left at the end of the Clinton administration. We actually paid down the debt about a half trillion dollars, about $500 billion. That was good work. Things changed pretty dramatically in 2001 when our Nation was attacked. We went to war, we had a recession, and the dot-com bubble burst. But we produced that surplus. We produced those balanced budgets. Not the President of the United States. The Congress. That's where the power of the purse resides.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, a lot is being said, a lot of numbers are being thrown around, a lot of claims are being made, even claims that facts are facts. And I just wanted to clarify a point that my good friend from New York made, and that is that this bill saves $1.5 billion over last year. I don't understand that statement because last year we spent $144.7 billion in budget authority, enacted, and this year it is $151 billion, so almost $8 billion more than last year. So the facts, I think, need to be checked. Let's try to be accurate. Everybody wants to thump their chest and say what a great party they have. But the facts are we are spending $8 billion this year more than last if this bill passes. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. WALSH of New York. I thank the Chair for yielding, and at this time I would yield 2 minutes to my good friend, the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays).

Mr. WALSH of New York. Mr. Chairman, that's my understanding, also. There are no further amendments, no further colloquies.

Mr. WALSH of New York. They wanted us to have the contest of ideas here. The fight should be over words and ideas and not with swords and other weaponry. But mostly what we have done is we have found what we disagree on and talked about it. But overall, overwhelmingly, both sides of the aisle, Republicans and Democrats, agree that the issues in this bill are priorities for the Nation. Maybe we think we should spend 5 percent less or they think they should spend 5 percent more, and I don't want to discount the differences. There are big differences between the two parties. And I am very proud that our party on our watch did balance the Federal budget, did produce surpluses before a crisis of international proportions affected us in 2001. But suffice to say, I have great respect for the gentleman from Wisconsin. Over the years he has made me as mad as anyone else because sometimes his arguments are just too good to argue with. So let me just end by thanking him for honoring our requests. I think we worked out a pretty good bill here, and I would urge my colleagues to support it. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time. Announcement by the Chairman

Mr. WALSH of New York. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, at this time I would yield such time as he may consume to the author of the amendment, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence).

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I yield back.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding. For my part, it was a great experience going through this 5 months with you. It was a lot of work. I think I speak for the staff as well when I say we are all pretty tired from all the work that we have done. And, of course, they had to put together a continuing resolution and a supplemental to boot. So I know I join the chairman in thanking the staff for the remarkable work that they have done, both sides of the aisle. These are professional people who obviously care about the issues, but they are not as concerned about the partisan aspects of this as we are. When the chairman talked about our experience here together, we combined about 57 years of experience here in the Congress. Most of that side falls on his watch and not mine, but I am getting up there too. And it is great to be able to work with someone who has the command of these issues that he does. And I remember asking him, and I have said this a couple of times, Why on God's green Earth would you want to be chairman of the full committee and the subcommittee also? And he said, Because the subcommittee issues are the issues I came here for 38 years ago. And he is making a mark on them today. There has been some partisan back-and-forth here, which is as it should be. The Founding Fathers wanted us to have a clash of ideas.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. WALSH of New York

Mr. WALSH of New York. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. WALSH of New York. Mr. Chairman, I would just like to remind my good friend and colleague from New York City that I too am a New Yorker and that I was there with a number of Members of Congress and the President after the attack occurred, and I spent a good deal of time talking with the workers, construction workers, the telephone company people, the police and firemen. And the impression of their sacrifice and their commitment to those people who were lost that day was burned into my memory. Ever since that day, it has been a priority of mine to make sure that those individuals were provided for in every way possible. So I just want to remind my colleague from New York City that I, as a member of the New York delegation from Syracuse, care very deeply about those individuals and providing these funds in this bill was a very high priority of mine, and I thank the chairman for working with me on that. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.