Rules Of The House

RULES OF THE HOUSE -- (House of Representatives - January 04, 2007)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, on this historic day, the sun is shining brightly in Washington outside and today, finally it is shining inside this great Capitol building.

Normally, a New Year's resolution is a list you write for yourself. But the ethics package that we Democrats are now adopting was written by the American people at the ballot box in November. This January resolution is possible only because of the November revolution by voters who were, quite frankly, revolted by what they saw going on here in Washington.

Under Democratic leadership, ``Spring Cleaning' is getting an early start here in January. We ban lobbyists-sponsored junkets and gifts and the use of corporate jets from jet-setting lobbyists like the tobacco company that even took one Member of Congress on a special flight to his criminal arraignment.

In Congress, an earmark too often is a secret means for a Member to funnel Federal dollars to special projects. Some are worthwhile, some are dubious.

When I talk about earmarks to my rancher friends down in Texas, they have a different earmark in mind. It is the mark you put on an ear of your cattle to identify them. By their very nature, earmarks are public, designed to identify ownership. I think we need some of that Texas thinking here in Washington. If earmarks can identify a steer, we are now able, through this new package, to know who is ``steering' earmarks of federal tax dollars to some unworthy cause.

Ethics reform, of course, is not an end in and of itself. The goal of reform is to improve the substance of the work that we do here. It is to ensure that the priorities in Washington are genuinely the priorities of hard working families in San Marcos, Bastrop, Kyle, and many other communities across our country.

Because fiscal security is national security, we are also working to cut the ballooning federal deficit with pay-as-you-go budgeting; barring new spending provisions or tax changes that would increase our soaring national debt.

Our reforms seek to curb the cost of corruption. It is a cost that has been borne in the pocketbooks of our seniors who pay too much for drugs because of a drug bill that was designed by the pharmaceutical manufacturers, instead of designed to help those who needed help most.

It is the cost of corruption that is reflected in no-bid contracts in Iraq and in the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina debacle. And it is reflected in the price that the jobless, the homeless, and the hopeless are paying for the corruption within this administration.

Mr. Speaker, accountability, so long lacking from this administration and the House leadership begins today.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

http://thomas.loc.gov/