Lynn Westmoreland

Mr. WESTMORELAND

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. WESTMORELAND. I want to thank my friend from New Jersey for offering this amendment. I hope this House will see fit to pass it. But let me say this: I think as we talk about children and education, that from my background, and I have a high school education, I attended college for a short period of time prior to being married, but let me say this: What I have found is that education is best from the local level, and I don't know that the Federal Government can really take some of these programs and put them down into a local school district and say here is this money, use it for this purpose or you don't get the money. To me, it would be much better if some of this money were set down in a block grant to the State and let the State identify the problems and especially the funding problems that they have and be able to administer the money. Madam Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Mr. Chairman, this is a simple amendment. We've listened to the other side talk about, I guess, some of us maybe being disingenuous or doing different things with this amendment. And the gentleman from Ohio talked about a fringe group over here, and I'm happy to be part of that fringe group. The Republican Study Committee I guess is who he was talking about in that we're trying to look after the taxpayers' money. For the past 12 years, I would have to admit, although I've only been here three of those years, that we spent too much money. We expanded government too much, and we didn't do what we should have been doing. But it's good, because I think a lot of people woke up after the last election and realized that we had lost our brand of being fiscal conservatives, being responsible with the taxpayers' money, because it's not our money, it's their money, they work hard for it every day, and that we need to be more responsible with it. And I think that the President got that message. And in this budget, he cut the funding for the writing instruction. It's $23.5 million, or a very, very small percentage of the $152 billion budget that the majority party is offering for this appropriations bill, which is $11 billion more than the President offered. And, you know, it doesn't hurt to zero a program out if it's not working or not doing its job, or if the money can better be spent somewhere else in a different program, something that has more advantages for more people. Under titles II, III and IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Federal Government provides extensive support to States and operates numerous programs designed to enhance teacher recruiting and training. While many of these programs provide important services, States would be well served to receive this funding in the form of a block grant with increased flexibility to use these funds on the programs most needed in that State. Mr. Chairman, I know from talking to my local school board superintendents and school board members that they certainly agree with that. No Child Left Behind, while working in a lot of situations, has cost them more money, really, to implement those programs than they receive in Federal dollars because a lot of that money is, has to be spent in a certain area. This would be an opportunity that we could take this very, very small amount out. The President recommended a zero. It was funded at $21.7 million last year, so there's been a 10 percent increase this year, and just zero the program out. And so it's a pretty simple amendment. It puts back the writing instruction program back to zero, where the President put it, and I hope that my colleagues will finally decide, let's vote for one thing that actually cuts something. I know one appropriations bill, Mr. Chairman, we were talking about, and I believe the chairman of the committee said they had cut 250 programs. And I asked for a list of those programs. Haven't received it yet. So, hopefully this will encourage him to support this amendment, because it is zeroing out a program, and also get me the list of the other 250 programs that this Congress has cut so far this year. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank my friend from New Jersey for offering this amendment because I did not know that this would open up the types of discussions that it has, but I think it's great for this body. My friend from Ohio, Mr. Ryan, who, Mr. Chairman, I stood up on that podium and listened to many nights with the 30-something group, that talked about the spending of the Republicans, I hope he will come back now and talk about the largest tax increase in the history of this country. He talked about dividing Members, and I stood there, Mr. Chairman, right where you're at, and I listened to the rhetoric that was designed to divide Members. And talking about a spending and what's a good investment, I don't know when we were in the majority party why the things we weren't doing wasn't a good investment. Now, all of the sudden spending $11 billion more than the President's recommendation is a good investment. So spending more money is a good investment, and he's talking about that we borrowed money from foreign countries. I don't agree with that, but you know what, they probably won't borrow money from a foreign country. You know what they're going to do, Mr. Chairman? They're going to go up on your taxes. They have passed and are passing appropriations bills, other pieces of legislation that's going to cause this country to have the largest tax increase in history. So I want to thank him for bringing this up, and I want to thank the gentleman from New Jersey for bringing this up because this is a perfect example that we have to prioritize, and we all have different ideas about prioritizing. We all have different ideas about who's writing a budget, if it's a good investment or if it's wasteful spending. So, I support the gentleman's amendment because I don't think that those children in Alaska, regardless if a Member of my party says it or not, or the children of Hawaii need special exception and more money than my kids, my special need kids in the Third District of Georgia. So I thank the gentleman from Arizona for yielding, and I yield back.

Mr. WESTMORELAND

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Madam Chairman, would the gentlewoman please address the Chair and not a Member?

Mr. WESTMORELAND

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend from Florida for yielding, and when I came to the floor today, I didn't come here to speak; but, you know, my father was a fireman for 26 years for the City of Atlanta. In fact, he died in an alarm. I know what it is like for these firefighters to answer the alarms. He suffered a heart attack while turning off an OS&Y valve in a pit. It was 18 degrees that December morning. I know what it is like for those firefighters. But, you know, my father never belonged to a firefighters union, and that is what this is. This is basically a union bill and payback to the unions. But, you know, Georgia is a right-to-work State. We have a 10th amendment to our Constitution. I was very disappointed to hear from the chairman that this thing passed out of committee 42-1. That breaks my heart. That really breaks my heart that those Republicans were on that side. I don't know what the majority thinks about the 10th amendment, but I believe very strongly in it. This has something to do with States rights. And I am sorry and I am very disappointed that this House will do this under suspension and there won't be any opportunity for amendments or this thing to be looked at. I hope that the majority of the Members here will realize what is going on, oppose this suspension and bring it up under regular order.

Mr. WESTMORELAND

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, the Arkansas River system provides navigation, flood protection, hydropower, water supply and recreation for millions of Americans. This body of water provides a 9-foot navigation channel that is almost 445 miles long and is controlled over this length by 17 locks and dams. Madam Speaker, lock and dam No. 5, which this legislation would name after Colonel Charles Maynard, became operational in 1968. This is a vital piece of infrastructure where almost 9 million tons of commodities pass through it annually. Prior to his work as district engineer in Little Rock, Arkansas, Colonel Maynard served in the Army in New Guinea and the Philippines during World War II and later supported the Berlin airlift as an engineer in charge of construction at Keflavik Field in Iceland. Madam Speaker, Colonel Maynard oversaw many of the Army Corps of Engineers construction projects along the Arkansas River. Under his watch, Colonel Maynard directed the construction of 13 of the 17 locks along the river. Due to his military education, management skills and World War II experience, he was uniquely qualified for his assignment as the Little Rock district engineer. This designation is an appropriate honor for Colonel Maynard's achievements and contributions. I urge all Members to support H.R. 781. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTMORELAND

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 375, honoring the United Parcel Service and its 100 years of commitment and leadership in the United States, and all across this world. It is increasingly difficult for businesses to survive in today's global economy, and I am proud to offer this resolution honoring UPS as a company that has not only survived but one that has continued to grow and prosper for 100 years not only in this country but all over the world. In 1907, when Mr. James E. Casey borrowed $100 from a friend to start a delivery company, I am sure that it was impossible for him to envision what his hard work would become. Whether it was purchasing his first delivery car in 1913, becoming the first package delivery company to provide air service in 1929, or using alternative fuels to power its fleet, UPS has continued to embrace technological advancements in order to better serve its customers. Now, 100 years after its inception, UPS is a 427,000-employee global transportation corporation that moves nearly 15 million packages through its network each business day. While UPS is headquartered in my home State of Georgia, its presence is felt in every congressional district and all around the globe. Madam Speaker, I believe it is fitting that we honor this tremendous achievement, and I urge all Members to support this resolution and recognize what brown has done for us. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTMORELAND

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arizona for yielding, and I want to thank the gentleman from Missouri for being an honorable gentleman during this tough time. Mr. Speaker, I want to start with a couple of warnings. First, I would suggest anyone on the Republican side shaking hands with the majority might want to be careful because they have been licking their fingers and sticking them into the political wind. Second, government opinion by polls may lead to short-term success at the ballot box, but in this case it could lead to a catastrophe on a global scale. We in this House best serve the United States, Iraq, and the world community if we establish conditions in Iraq that allow for a somewhat orderly transition to autonomy for Iraqis. A quick withdrawal from Iraq would set off a fuse that would eventually blow up not only Iraq but quite possibly surrounding countries as well. Iraq foreign minister on Monday warned against a quick withdrawal by the United States, saying, ``The dangers could be a civil war dividing the country, regional wars, and the collapse of the state.'' Today when we talk about the Holocaust or when we talk about Rwanda or when we talk about the Sudan, we ask how could good people stand by and let this happen. It is an important lesson to remember as we pull out our voting cards today. Remember, we are trying to help. If we pull out of Iraq, we guarantee that the Tigris and the Euphrates will run red with the blood of innocents. We guarantee a safe haven for the training camps of al Qaeda. We guarantee more free rein for the death squads of Moqtada al Sadr. We guarantee a civil war between Shiites and Sunnis. We guarantee even more or worse instability in the region, perhaps for decades. No matter how we vote today, we are not going to stop the war. We may stop fighting, but we are not going to stop the war. As Indonesian jihadist leader Abu Bakar Bashir said, ``All Muslims should fight to create an Islamic state. There are only two options for Muslims, to win or to die.''

Mr. WESTMORELAND

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry. If this motion to recommit is passed, it does not kill the legislation; does it not simply send it back to committee?

Mr. WESTMORELAND. I thank my friend for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I don't know how I am always so lucky, or unlucky, I guess, to speak after the majority leader's minute, which is probably the longest minute I have ever seen. But to listen to him talk, you know, this weekend I bought a TV from somebody that was as good a salesman as Mr. Hoyer. I didn't need the TV. It was too expensive, and I really didn't want it. But after talking to the salesman, I ended up thinking I needed it and I could afford it and it was what I needed. So I bought it. Mr. Hoyer and I have had this conversation on the floor before, and that is that you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time. So the American people were sold a bill of goods last November, and they are continually being sold things in this Congress. I come from Georgia. We have the HOPE scholarship, Mr. Speaker, one of the greatest tools for education that I think has been done. It comes from a lottery, which a lot of people oppose, but a lot of young people in Georgia are now able to go to college. What we found in Georgia was that when the State started paying for the college tuition, that the tuition went out of sight. It was another funding means for these institutions of higher education to charge more. Now, the majority leader said that tuition in Maryland had gone up 43 percent in 4 years. Well, if he thinks that is something, wait until this bill passes. Because what is going to end up happening is that when the government starts loaning the money and paying for this, those tuitions are going to skyrocket, because the people that are getting it don't really care how much the tuition is. Let me say this: When I bought this TV that I didn't need, that I couldn't afford, I got down to the bottom dollar of what I thought that I could afford. Of course, this great salesman walked away because he said, do you know what? If I can't make some money, I am not going to do this. We ended up negotiating. What ended up happening is that I paid up more than what I wanted to. He took less. But a bank is not going to loan money if they can't make money. We hear a lot of back and forth on this floor. We don't know who to believe and who not to believe. Let me tell you the truth. If a bank, a lending institution, cannot make money, they are not going to do business with people. So the reality is that the private sector is going to get out of making these loans, which is probably the last stop we have of having any type of accountability to it. The government is going to start doing it all. If the banks will not loan it at this interest rate because they are losing money, and the government will, then that means, again, here is the thing, if we continue to govern our political correctness, the taxpayers end up holding the bag. They are going to end up holding the bag on this.

Mr. WESTMORELAND. If it's true that you don't have the facts right, you should just beat the podium?

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Is the question I just asked not a procedure of this House as far as the Speaker is in control of this body, would he not be learned enough to know that if this motion passed, would it--

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Further parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Further parliamentary inquiry, if I read the motion to recommit correctly--

Mr. WESTMORELAND. I'm sorry, sir?

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Your answer.

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Further parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. WESTMORELAND

Mr. WESTMORELAND. I just want to tell Mr. Chairman that I hope Mr. Price is listening because it is going to take a lot of truth squad to straighten this out. The chairman over here mentioned the Iraq spending and wanted to see how much we would cut it. Well, when the President sent down the emergency Iraq spending bill the Democrats went ``Yee-Haw,'' let's add $23 billion to it. So I want to quote what the chairman and the subcommittee chairman has said. ``Don't lecture me on spending on the war.''

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Price) for offering this amendment. You know, this is what I call fuzzy math. I think, Mr. Chairman, we need to explain this to people because the chairman of the subcommittee just asked the question, maybe you wanted us to go deeper in the cuts. Well, let me explain to the people, Mr. Chairman, that this is a 9.9 percent increase in fiscal year 2007. This is not a cut. And what the gentleman from Georgia is saying, let's just take 1 percent. Let's give a haircut of 1 percent to this budget. If you do the 1 percent, you will have an 8.9 percent increase. So it is not a cut. That is fuzzy math. That is smoke and mirrors. That is more sleight of hand when you are presenting this that we are asking for more of a cut. All we are saying is let's not increase by 9.9, let's only increase by 8.9. Mr. Chairman, the American people need to be aware that sometimes in Washington when people talk about a cut, they are actually saying they are not getting as much of an increase as they want to have. Now, in a year's time for somebody to get a 10 percent raise or for a family to say, you know what, we can spend another 9.9 percent because we need it, so we will just go borrow the money, the majority says we are not borrowing the money. Okay. Well, I will go out and get an extra job to get more revenue. But the majority says, no, we are not doing it that way either. We are not raising taxes. Well, if you spend more, you've either got to make more money or you have to go in debt. Or you've got to get more taxes in. So I think that is where we have a little bit of a dilemma here. We see the final answer, but we don't see the solution in how to get there, the math problem in how to get there. I can tell you the math problem that is going to get there. It is going to be a problem for the American family and the small businessman, because where this result comes from is the largest tax increase in American history. So don't go for the smoke and mirrors, don't go for the sleight of hand, don't go for the wonderful sales job of we're not going to increase your taxes or increase the deficit, we're just making it happen. Well, that sounds like a fairy tale. Sometimes up here I feel like I am in Alice in Wonderland. I just want the American people to know that there is a group, that there are some of us that are trying to bring us back from Alice in Wonderland, trying to bring us back to a reality that we need to stop the big spending and the expansion of government.

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank my friend from Ohio for yielding and my friend from Indiana for offering this amendment. Let me say this: there seems to be some doubt over there or something from the subcommittee Chair and the full committee Chair about why we don't believe them. Well, in November they kind of snookered the public. They had told them that they were going to give more affordable health care to all Americans, which hasn't been done. They were bring gas prices down, which, hello, if you are out there at the pump, you know that's not true. And then we were going to get away from dependence on foreign oil, which last night we saw that we voted not to do that, but to be dependent on them. So you fooled the public in November; so we don't want you to fool us this time. And I think it is evident that you are trying to trick us when you had two Members go down and talk about the only reason why you are not going back against the Fairness Doctrine is because you don't have the FCC. And let me say you have said that the Republicans are calling this a red herring. Well, I want to say the majority party is looking at the Fairness Doctrine as the one that got away. The one that got away. You all want to recapture that one that got away. So I hope that all of my colleagues will vote in support of this. I thank the gentleman from Indiana for offering it with Mr. Hensarling and Mr. Flake. And I thank the gentleman from Ohio for yielding.

Mr. WESTMORELAND

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Madam Speaker, people throughout Western Civilization owe a debt of gratitude to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a courageous statesman and world leader, who resigned his office today. Oftentimes, leaders of courage fare much more favorably in the eyes of history than they do in the opinion polls of their day. Like President Harry Truman and Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Prime Minister Blair will be remembered for his wisdom, his forbearance and his foresight. The United States and free peoples throughout the world have had no truer friend than Tony Blair. Since he won the keys to No. 10 Downing Street in May 1997, he has steadfastly fought to promote human rights and to battle the scourge of terrorism. He has strived for peace in the Middle East, promoted Western aid to battle the AIDS epidemic and poverty throughout Africa and successfully argued for intervention against mass killings in the Balkans in the late 1990s. After the horrors of Sept. 11, Blair recognized more quickly than most world leaders that the global fight against terrorism was not a battle for the United States to wage alone. Blair knew that all civilized nations had to stand together as one to battle the medievalism, violence and hate preached by al-Qaida and other Islamist groups. Blair stood with the forces of freedom not just in word, but in deed. He committed British forces to serve with the U.S. military and other coalition forces in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and he bravely stood his ground against a rising tide of opposition among the British people. I am proud to be a part of this body which several years ago bestowed Blair with the Congressional Gold Medal. I can think of no one more deserving. Prime Minister Blair's visionary leadership will be missed on the world stage, but I trust that his vast talents will be put to good use in the pursuit of peace, justice and human rights for many years to come. Madam Speaker, I want to personally thank the Prime Minister and let him know how much I respect the tremendous work he has done over the past 10 years. He has had a positive impact on his nation and on the world. May God continue to bless him in all his endeavors.