Financial Services And General Government Appropriations Act, 2008
Floor Speech
FINANCIAL SERVICES AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008 -- (House of Representatives - June 28, 2007)
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Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. I thank the Chair.
And let me, as I did yesterday when I offered a similar amendment to the appropriations bill we dealt with then, let me start by thanking the chairman and the ranking member and the committee for their work. I have the utmost respect particularly for the ranking member. I have respect for the chairman as well, but particularly the ranking member, who comes from the great Buckeye State. I appreciate his service over the years to Ohio, not just in northern Ohio, but to our entire State.
I bring before the body again an amendment. This is the fifth time. And as I said yesterday, I don't do this to be a pain in the neck, I do it because I think government spends too much money.
In this particular bill, the increase over fiscal year 2007 spending levels to what's in front of us today and dominating our debate is a $2 billion increase. And so my amendment would simply say, let's not increase the budget by $2 billion in this appropriations bill. Let's simply do what all kinds of families are doing across this country, let's spend last year's level. Let's live within last year's budget as all kinds of taxpayers, all kinds of families, all kinds of business owners are having to do across this country. It's not too much to ask government to do the same.
Here is why it's important. It's important because there is a growing financial crisis coming for this country, which is the entitlement programs, which we're not even talking about today. Whether it's entitlement programs or discretionary spending, which we are focused on today, we've got to get a handle on spending. There is no better place to start than today and say, you know what, let's live with what we lived on last year.
The other reason it's critical that we do this, and this is just as sure as the sun is going to come up tomorrow, whenever you spend and spend and spend, it inevitably leads to tax and tax and tax. I've said every single time I've presented this amendment, and it's every bit as true today, that it's not tax and spend, it's spend and tax. Spending drives the equation. If we can hold the line on spending, we can keep taxes low on American families, on American taxpayers and on American business owners. That's why this amendment is so important.
Let me just point to a couple of specific things. The bill in front of us today increases spending 9 percent over last year's budget. Now again, there are some great things in this bill. And as I said earlier, I commend the chairman and the ranking member for the work they've done and the committee's work as well, but I want to point out some of the things that taxpayer dollars are going to be spent on.
First, the text of the bill weakens an existing provision in current law that prohibits funds from being used for any needle exchange program in the District of Columbia. Taxpayers might want to know that their dollars are going to be spent for something like that. The text of the bill weakens the existing provision in current law that prohibits Federal funds from being used for the District of Columbia Domestic Partner law, something taxpayers I know in the Fourth District in Ohio, but probably all across this country, would like to know.
And then the third one, and I will just point out, the IRS, that wonderful agency that so many Americans and so many taxpayers love, is going to get a $550 million increase over last year's budget, 5 percent over last year's budget. I said yesterday on the floor, in the course of our debate, that when you get all this additional government, all this new government, all this new spending, it reminds me of a statement from one of our great presidents, our third President, Mr. Jefferson. Mr. Jefferson said, ``When government fears the people, there is a liberty. When people fear the government, there is tyranny.''
Now, with that statement in mind, just ask yourself the simple question: American taxpayers can ask themselves a simple question; if next week when we're home someone knocks at our door and we answer the door and they identify themselves as, hello, I'm Mr. Smith and I'm from the IRS, is your first response, oh, joy, one of my government servants is here to help me today? I mean, that's what American taxpayers are in store for. That very agency that they have not the fondest respect for is going to get a 5 percent increase in this bill.
Again, Mr. Chairman, I don't think it's too much to ask for government to live on last year's budget. That's what this amendment does.
I appreciate, again, the work that the committee has done, but I think it's certainly within reason to say we can keep spending where it was last year again, like all kinds of families are having to do across this country.
With that, I reserve the balance of my time, Mr. Chairman.
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Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. Mr. Chairman, before yielding to the distinguished ranking member, just let me say a couple of things in response to the chairman. We certainly care about the Chair, but, Mr. Chairman, we care about the American taxpayers as well.
Tax cuts go to taxpayers, not the rich. Tax cuts go to taxpayers. But we have had to debate this every single time we have brought these series of amendments forward when you talk about cutting the bills, drastic cuts, the-sky-is-going-to-fall cuts. All we are saying is, let's spend what we spent last year.
Now, only in Washington when you spend the same amount of money that you spent last year is that called a cut. Only in Washington. Back in Ohio, back in Urbana, back in Lima, back in Findlay, no one would call that a cut. They would say, you know what? The government is getting by on what they did last year. That is probably something they should do, when they're talking about a $3 trillion budget that they spend each year.
Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan), the distinguished ranking member of the Budget Committee.
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Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Chairman, let me just reiterate what the previous speaker said. Look, we heard the term ``devastating cut.'' As the gentleman from Texas indicated, we want to level-fund. We don't want to give a $550 million increase to the IRS. We want to level-fund the IRS and other agencies contained in this bill. It is not too much to ask government to do the same thing that taxpayers and families do all the time.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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