Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008

Floor Speech

ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008 -- (House of Representatives - June 20, 2007)

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chairman, I thank my colleague from Ohio for putting up this amendment. It's a very simple amendment that I think does well for us to consider in context with what we have to wrestle with, the consideration coming from the largest tax increase in the history of the United States being offered, $400 billion on the taxpayers. And I take it into context as I looked here with this amendment offering a $1.3 billion cut in spending, going back to last year's levels, and saying let's live within our means.

I come from a Great Lakes State. When we talk about water, I do know about water. I know the impact that it can have, the impact upon all of our way of life.

But I also come from a State that's struggling at this point in time with economic conditions that comes from too large government, too much spending, too much taxation. And in the process of trying to deal with that, going the opposite direction of where they should, they're still frustrating what's going on and producing unemployment rates that rival any in history, and frustrating Michigan from having the same type of impact that we see just last week talked about in the New York Times of a 40-State growth rate that goes on with States that not only, because of tax cuts and spending within their means, have seen the ability not only to increase some of their services, set aside rainy day funds, but also talk about further tax cuts. That's what we need to be doing here; not considering spending more in a time in our history when we ought to be considering what comes with the future.

If we see a $400 billion tax increase go in place, we see a tax that goes on for working, a tax that goes on if you get married, a tax that goes on if you have a child, a tax that will go on, even if you die. Those are issues of great concern.

And so to be fiscally responsible here and use an amendment that simply takes us back to a reasonable standard of expenditures, puts us in a place that we can afford and fund to do the necessary services, we do ourself well.

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