30-Something Working Group
30-SOMETHING WORKING GROUP -- (House of Representatives - December 07, 2005)
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Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, you know, there has been a whole lot of twisted-up debate on time tables and whether we are insisting on a time table and withdrawal, and whether the withdrawal is immediate or 6 months.
When we talk about the drawn-down of troops, and the fact that we need to make sure that it is the Iraqi people that are ultimately responsible for running their own country, we are referring to the President's objectives that he said that he wants to see.
And the other day I heard the President talking about that we will withdraw and begin to withdraw troops from Iraq when we have objectives that are reached.
Well, what the heck does that mean? Does it mean that when 50 percent of the Iraqi battalions are fully independent? Does it mean 75 percent? Where are the benchmarks? I mean, it is fine to say that we need to have objectives about this. We should not leave or withdraw troops until we meet objectives.
But what are those objectives? I need something concrete to be able to go home and tell my constituents. I mean, we have got 2,013 American lives that have been lost, and 50 percent of those kids have been kids under the age of 22. There is some serious accountability that needs to be brought to bear here.
And, you know, vague references to objectives that should be met by the President is not what I call accountability, not when you have $223 billion being spent on this war.
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Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Your reference to what their philosophy is with pursuing this tax reconciliation, this tax cut package tomorrow as not being a conservative philosophy.
I will commend to you our colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. CARDOZO's) comments, who is one of the leaders of the Blue Dogs. In his special order last night, with the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Ross), it is the politics of Scroogeonomics, because as we approach the holiday season, what they are doing and what they are engaging in, the Republican leadership is engaging in, Scroogeonomics.
We can only hope that tonight, as many of our Republican colleagues' heads hit their pillow, we can only hope that they are visited tonight by the ghost of Christmas past, because that is how we are going to ensure, it is probably the only way that we will ensure it, through a visit of the ghost of Christmas past, that they are shown what the essential ramifications are if they actually move forward and pass this proposal, the cuts to child support, enforcement, the cuts to food stamps, the horrendous cuts in financial aid that they just handed down a couple of weeks ago in the budget reconciliation, Budget Cut Act.
Now tomorrow they want to give tax cuts to people who are in the top two-tenths of 1 percent of the wealthiest Americans.
We are not making this up. This is factual. That is who the vast majority of these tax cuts will go to. What is unbelievable in this Scrooge-onomics proposal of theirs is that they actually have the audacity to call the budget reconciliation act the Budget Deficit Reduction Act when you have got $50 billion in budget cuts in that and then tomorrow they are going to adopt, hopefully they won't, hopefully we will have enough of our colleagues visited by the ghost of Christmas past and they will have their consciences tweaked and they will vote ``no'' tomorrow, but then tomorrow we could potentially adopt $70 billion in tax cuts. I just helped my first graders with their math homework, but even they could figure out that that adds $20 billion to the deficit, $20 billion in which we already have $27,000 for every man, woman, child and newborn baby in this country. That is how much each of us owes.
Mr. PALLONE. The thing that is amazing, I know you were sort of hinting at the holiday analogy there, I cannot help, this is the 2 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, or Hanukkah, too. I cannot help thinking of the analogy. I try not to necessarily throw religion into the debate.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I was referring to the holidays.
Mr. PALLONE. But think about the sort of Christmas analogy. We all talk about religion, and certainly Christianity, I am a Christian, preaches about how you are supposed to help the poor and help the downtrodden, and here we are in the holiday season cutting programs to the poorest people, the victims of Katrina, their health care under Medicaid, their housing, their ability to get food stamps or food programs. Then I also think about the manger in the story of Jesus and his birth, there is the idea that the family went around and they couldn't find a place that would take them, they couldn't find housing and so they ended up staying in the manger because there was no place else to go. That is how I feel. You read about these housing cuts and I feel like this is like Mary and Joseph and Jesus walking around, they can't find a place to sleep and they have to end up on the street. What happened to this whole idea of Christian values or religious values? It is like thrown out the window at the very time when most people are thinking about it.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. When you are talking about your faith, my faith, I am a member of the Jewish faith, our faith talks about the spirit of Tikkun Olam and giving back to our community and thinking of those who are less fortunate. We are referring to the party that claims to corner the market on faith-based values. If you look at every aspect of their agenda, there is not a component of their agenda that has anything to do with what our faith traditions teach us or with values or with making sure that the least of us and the least among us are assisted. We are supposed to be their voice. If you had listened to the religious leaders who have come to this Capitol and talked about how abominable they think this proposal is, both the budget reconciliation bill and the tax cut package tomorrow is, then you would know that they do not have the moral high ground in this debate whatsoever.
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Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. When Mr. Murtha, who has taken each of us, no matter what generation of Member we are, has taken each of us under his wing, I know I have had an opportunity to learn from him and be mentored by him and I am not on Armed Services or Homeland Security or any of the committees of reference but yet he is still willing to sit down. What was the response on the other side of the aisle to Mr. Murtha's jump-starting this dialogue and doing what essentially the Nation has been begging for and that is to make sure that this body has a dialogue and has a debate and a discussion? To question Mr. Murtha's patriotism. That was their reaction. It wasn't, Gee, how can we sit down and hash out our differences. It wasn't, Well, we don't agree with you on redeployment. No matter how you feel about to what degree or how quickly we should withdraw the troops, there is no question that Mr. Murtha is a man with 37 years of experience in the Marines and 30 years in this body, having been the chair of the defense appropriations committee on which he is now the ranking member. That is what they do.
They undermine and undercut and insidiously insult the patriotism of an unbelievable American like JACK MURTHA, and it is outrageous. He deserves better and the country deserves better than where they have taken this debate.
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Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. You are absolutely right. Unless you believe that the contracting and the culture of corruption and cronyism and incompetence is reserved for contracting only in the Iraq gulf coast region.
We have a third-party validator, in the New York Times today, where in the gulf coast here we have Rosemary Barbour, the wife of the nephew of Haley Barbour, Mississippi's Governor and former Republican National Committee chairman, who now has apparently received $6.4 million in contracts by her company, and 10 separate contracts from FEMA or the General Services Administration without any bid. A no-bid contract.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. Now, wait, wait, wait, Ms. Wasserman Schultz. Can you please say that one more time? I am sorry, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. DELAHUNT. Repeat that. That is unbelievable.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. The wife of the nephew of Haley Barbour, Mississippi Republican Governor, former RNC chairman, she has received $6.4 million in contracts for things like laundry service and showers and delivering tents. Not emergency needs 3 months after Katrina hit that would seem to require no-bid contracts, but 10 separate contracts from FEMA and the General Services Administration, no-bid contracts, of $100,000 or more.
Now, if that is not cronyism.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. Culture.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. And a culture of corruption.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. And incompetence.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. That we have been talking about, then I do not know what that is.
Did that contract have to be no bid? What made the wife of the nephew of the Governor, who is a former RNC chairman, who just also happens to have been a Republican Party activist, what made her the most qualified? Coincidentally? Coincidentally? Oh, gee, she just happens to be related to the Governor of Mississippi, who is the former RNC chairman and who happened to get a no-bid contract, 10 no-bid contracts for services that I would not deem emergency, that needed to not take the time we would like to require in terms of accountability for reviewing contracts and making sure it goes to the responsible bidder, the person who is going to provide that service in the most economical way.
I know we are coming in on our last few minutes.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. We have a few minutes, but the majority treats government like it is their own personal sandbox.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Yes, like it is their piggy bank.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Exactly. And they can do whatever they want to do, take care of their friends, and do it using the taxpayers' dollars.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. And, Mr. Ryan, if we could point to some of these things and they could justifiably say these are anomalies, these are outlandish things that only happen on occasion, but, look: pages and pages. Look how thick this notebook is. I am not making this up.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. Ms. Wasserman Schultz, you have local contractors. You have local contractors that are saying they are not getting work. They are saying they are not getting work.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. They do not have the connections. That is why they are not getting the work.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. They are not getting the work.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. And the workers are not getting the prevailing wage.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. But, meanwhile, say it again before we close. Just read what you read about the contracts, just in case some Member went and picked up some coffee or something.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. The wife of the nephew of the Republican Governor of Mississippi, former RNC chairman, $6.4 million in contracts, 10 separate contracts from FEMA and the GSA that were no-bid, for services like providing laundry equipment, delivering tents, and maintaining showers for relief workers.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Wait a minute. I think you guys are being a little hard on the Governor here, because his press secretary says that ``the Governor had no knowledge whatsoever of Rosemary's receiving that contract.''
Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Ryan, just stop.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. No, I think you are being a little hard on him. His press secretary, KENDRICK, said he did not know anything about it. Are you saying you do not believe him?
Mr. MEEK of Florida. Just because he says it, does not mean it is true.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. You are saying you do not believe him.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. No, we are saying there is a continuation of the culture of cronyism and corruption, and it is time to give government back to the people. And that is what we want to do next year, give government back to the people; make sure government can be responsive to the people's needs and provide for the needs of the people who need the most help.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. And time and time again you have the act itself, everybody knows what is happening, and then you have the press secretary come out, just like the White House press secretary said Scooter Libby did not know anything. Karl Rove did not know anything. No one knew anything, but the facts say something completely different, Mr. Meek.
And it is a shame that this culture of corruption, cronyism, and incompetence is so pervasive throughout the United States Congress and our government.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. Before you give the Web site out, Mr. Ryan, I want to say that for every time we have pointed out a culture of corruption and cronyism and incompetence, they are still at work doing it.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. We can do better.
Mr. MEEK of Florida. That is the sad part.
Mr. DELAHUNT. We can do it together.
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Together America can do better and a stronger America begins right here at home.
30somethingdems@mail.house.gov. Thirty, the number, somethingdems@mail.house.gov.
Thank you, Mr. Delahunt, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Meek, and Ms. Wasserman Schultz.
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