Waiving Requirement of Clause 6(a) of Rule XIII with Respect to Consideration of Certain Resolutions
Floor Speech
WAIVING REQUIREMENT OF CLAUSE 6(a) OF RULE XIII WITH RESPECT TO CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN RESOLUTIONS -- (House of Representatives - April 28, 2009)
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, H. Res. 365 permits same-day consideration of a rule providing for consideration of the conference report on the budget resolution, S. Con. Res. 13.
This budget is a critical document and comes at a critical time in our country. We all know this budget is a blueprint of the priorities of the Obama administration and this Democratic Congress. This budget sets the framework for most of the legislation that we will consider this year--everything from the annual spending bills to improvements in education to health care reform to deficit control.
I'm not surprised that my friends on the other side of the aisle aren't pleased with this budget. Republicans voted against the recovery package, and now they are going to oppose this budget.
It's no secret that the Republicans have fundamental differences in the way they would govern this country. But that's why we have elections, Madam Speaker, and the American people spoke loud and clear about what they want their country to stand for. And those principles are set in this budget.
Madam Speaker, this budget must be adopted in order for this Congress to start working on the agenda the American people want us to enact. I am proud to support this budget.
I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, it's a little difficult to hear lectures from a member of the other party, the party that inherited from Bill Clinton a record surplus and then over the next 8 years presided over an economy that turned that surplus into a record deficit, that ruined, that forced this economy into the ditch that we are now trying to dig ourselves out of.
I want to apologize to the gentleman for the Democratic leadership's desire to actually accomplish something, to get things done. That's exactly what we are trying to do here. We have done enough talking. There has been enough speechifying. The American people voted for action. They voted for change. They voted for a new direction.
They didn't vote for more speeches. They didn't vote for more obstructionism. They didn't vote for more of the same of what we had over the last 8 years.
On this budget, just so it's clear, we had more than 14 hours of markup in the Budget Committee. I was there, because I am also on the Budget Committee.
We had a full debate on the House floor. Four substitute amendments were made in order. People had an opportunity to vote for budgets to the left and to the right and everything in between. So there was ample time for discussion. We had an open conference meeting.
The gentleman is going to have over 24 hours to read the budget. Now, for someone who hasn't read the budget, he is spouting out a lot of facts and figures. But he is going to have over 24 hours to read what the conference committee produced, because we are not going to vote on the budget until tomorrow.
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Mr. McGOVERN. I reclaim my time, Madam Speaker.
I appreciate the gentleman's commentary. The fact of the matter is that we are in such trouble right now that in order to get out of this ditch, in order to get out of this terrible debt that we are in, we are going to have to grow our economy, which means in the short term we are going to have to invest in our people and invest in our country.
That is the rationale behind the Democratic budget, behind the budget that President Obama has put forward. But, look, one thing is clear, Madam Speaker, the same old, same old is not what the people want. And for the last 8 years, the Republicans and President Bush have driven this economy into a direction that people have rejected soundly during this last election.
At this time, Madam Speaker, I would like to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott), a member of the Budget Committee.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Just so that the record is clear--and this is according to The Wall Street Journal--as for jobs created per year in Office, George W. Bush was the worst since the Great Depression. Let me read them.
Jobs Created Per Year in Office: Truman, 1.1 million; Eisenhower, 438,000; Kennedy, 1.2 million; Lyndon Johnson, 2.3 million; Nixon, 1.7 million; Ford, 745,000; Carter, 2.6 million; Reagan, 2 million; Bush I, 625,000; Clinton, 2.9 million; George W. Bush, 375,000.
This is the very conservative Wall Street Journal, hardly a paper of liberal ideas and thoughts.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I reclaim my time.
I would say to the gentleman that I not only hold President Bush accountable for the last 8 years and for the disastrous economy that we now have, but I also hold accountable the Republican leadership in Congress, which voted for some of the worst economic policies that have literally driven this country into debt and into a ditch.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I consume.
Let me apologize to the gentleman, again, for him getting what he wants. The Democratic leadership promised 24 hours for Members to be able to review this bill before there was a vote. They are going to get more than 24 hours. Let me also point out to the gentleman when he talks about this kind of unpopularity of President Barack Obama's ideas and his budget, maybe he hasn't seen the recent polls. By a 56 percent to 32 percent margin, Americans believe that the Obama budget sets the right priorities.
I think what is difficult for the gentleman to accept and members of his party is that the people have spoken. The people have had it with Bush economics. They've had it with the Republican priorities of the last 8 years. They want a change. This budget represents a change, and they are going to get it.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield 3 minutes at this time to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly), a member of the Budget Committee.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, let me first begin by saying something about the process. The Democratic leadership promised that Members would have 24 hours to review the budget before it was voted on. There will be more than 24 hours to view this budget.
This budget has gone through a long process. We had more than 14 hours of markup in the Budget Committee. I've lost count of how many amendments were offered. Again, there were four substitutes that were made in order and debated and voted on this floor. We had an open conference committee meeting that produced this final product. We are going to have over 24 hours to review it.
So I guess if people want to complain for the sake of complaining, there is not much we can do on this side to deal with that. But the fact of the matter is this has been a fair process and this has been a good process. I want to commend Chairman Spratt and Ranking Member Ryan and the staffs, both Democratic and Republican staffs, for their incredible work, their tireless work on this budget.
I am proud of the budget we are going to vote on. This is a budget with a conscience for a change. This is something that our constituents from the east coast to the west coast, I think, are going to find things in here that they can cheer about.
This is a budget that creates jobs with targeted investments in affordable health care, clean energy, and education. It cuts taxes for middle-income families by more than $1.7 trillion over 10 years. It cuts the deficit by nearly two-thirds in 4 years. And it cuts nondefense discretionary spending as a percent of the economy.
We are going to deal with health care. For years, ever since I came to Congress--I got elected in 1996--the number one issue that every poll shows that Americans want us to deal with is health care. We are going to be able to deal with it, I believe, this year. We are going to deal with college affordability so that everybody who wants to get a college education can get one, and nobody is denied a college education because they can't afford to get one.
We are going to deal with the issue of clean energy. We are going to actually begin to invest in renewable, clean, alternative sources of energy so we are not reliant solely on the oil industry or on foreign imports for our energy. So there is a lot in this budget I think that we all can be very proud of.
You are going to have 24 hours to review the budget. Even if you had 124 hours, my guess is that my friends on the other side of the aisle would be against this budget. They have been against virtually everything this new President has proposed. I think their kind of rationale there, their philosophy for regaining political power is to deny this new President any victory, any accomplishment.
Mr. DREIER. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. McGOVERN. I am not going to yield at this time. I didn't interrupt you during your closing statement.
The fact of the matter is that people are tired of a party that says ``no'' to everything. That was demonstrated loud and clear in the last election. We need to move in a new direction.
I think what the American people are hearing, quite frankly, is they are hearing that help is on the way. That is why 56 percent of the Americans polled agree with the priorities in this budget. They are hearing that help is on the way for all Americans, not just the wealthy few, the wealthy few who have benefited greatly over the last 8 years.
Things are different. Change is happening here in Washington, and I am proud to be part of this process.
So I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the previous question and on the rule.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.
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