Conference Report On H.R. 1, American Recovery And Reinvestment Act Of 2009
Floor Speech
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Mr. SIMPSON. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I feel like I went to bed a couple weeks ago and woke up in bizarro-world. We are about to spend over $1 trillion for a stimulus bill which will do little, if anything, to stimulate the economy. What it will stimulate is the growth of government.
I have no doubt that those on the other side of the aisle feel that this is the right thing to do to help the economy, but sincerity does not make something right which is fundamentally wrong, and this bill is fundamentally wrong.
We were just told a few minutes ago that the key word here is ``necessary.''
Millions of dollars for mouse habitat? Yes, it is not specifically put in the bill. What they have done is put in a fund for habitat restoration, which the agency says they will spend up to $30 million on mouse habitat restoration. That is beautiful. Necessary? I don't know.
Fifty million dollars for the NEA. I love the NEA. Necessary in a stimulus bill?
Billions of dollars for a sin express train from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Necessary? I don't think so.
And, of course, we have got the infamous Frisbee golf course. And if you are going to have a Frisbee golf course, you had better have green golf carts, So we put money in for green golf carts. That is good, too. Necessary? I don't think so.
The list is too long to complete when you look at this bill; but, fundamentally, the problem is the process that created this bill. None of this stuff would have been in here had we gone through a process which allowed Members to have input and debate and so forth on this bill. Instead, this has been created in the Speaker's office, in the President's office, and handed to us and said, ``We have got to pass this bill.''
This process stinks. There is no other word for it. And for the first time in my public life, 4 years on a local city council, 14 years in the Idaho legislature, and 10 years in this body, for the first time in my life I am embarrassed to be a Member of this body.
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