Providing for Consideration of H.R. 4241, Deficit Reduction Act of 2005

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 4241, DEFICIT REDUCTION ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - November 17, 2005)

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Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the point of order from the gentleman from Washington. I am here to speak to my colleagues, but especially the 235 of you who, like me, served in legislatures throughout the country prior to coming to Congress. The fiscal sleight of hand that we are undertaking here today is simply that of a financial shell game, and the loser is already clear, it is our States. You don't have to take my word for it.

The Congressional Budget Office has spoken and they have identified that the reduction in child support without a change in the requirements is a violation of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 that many of you were here that supported on a bipartisan basis. It is a violation of the law.

We can play this ridiculous game of pretend and safely ensconce ourselves in these walls but do you truly believe that the actions today will go unnoticed and that State legislatures are not watching what we do? I know that the National Conference of State Legislatures is watching. I hope that ALEC is watching, too, and I suspect that the National Governors Association is taking notes. I can assure you that they are tuning in to C-SPAN and taking careful notice of today's proceedings because besides illegal, today's vote will have a direct impact on their ability to serve the people of their States, the same people who live in our districts.

In fact, President Ronald Reagan's promise of federalism today is nowhere in this Chamber. President Reagan's famous debate line with Mr. Mondale is frighteningly apropos in this exercise: ``There you go again.'' And yes, here we go again attempting to balance our Federal budget on the backs of 50 States.

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