Our Children And Grandchildren's Future

Floor Speech

Our Children And Grandchildren's Future

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. I thank the gentle lady for yielding me some time here.

Obviously, today there are serious concerns about the President's budget, a budget that borrows too much and spends too much and taxes just way too much.

Prior to my running for Congress this past year, I spent 28 years in the health care business. And one of the first things you learn in the medical profession is ``do no harm.''

So, Madam Speaker, I come to the floor today to speak briefly about the harm the President's budget will cause back in rural Pennsylvania. My rural district is much like the heartland of this country. Mom-and-pop shops, family farms, small businesses. Just run-of-the-mill folks looking for a fair shake.

So in evaluating the President's budget, I asked myself one question: will this proposal help or hamper the economic growth in my district. And truth be told, it didn't take long for me to answer this simple question.

Increasing taxes on small businesses, as this budget proposes, will penalize the very segment of the economy that is best equipped to get us back on track. Small businesses are creating 7 out of every 10 jobs. They are the backbone of rural America. They are the farmers that harvest much of the food that we eat. They are the small, independently owned energy companies whose employees go to work each day with the goal of achieving American energy independence. They are the independent truckers that haul the goods that we consume.

You see, Madam Speaker, these are not Republican or Democrat jobs, but they are jobs that are at risk of being eliminated if this budget proceeds as currently written.

The President's new cap-and-tax energy policy, which will inevitably drive up the cost of every manufactured and processed good we consume, will increase utility bills and will cost more just to fuel up at the tank and will devastate rural America.

Madam Speaker, oil was discovered in my district 150 years ago. We are also home to the most promising natural gas play in the country and the third largest in the world. Many of my constituents make a living by harvesting the natural resources that we are blessed with. These same natural resources, I may add, that are used to build windmills, solar panels and biorefineries.

You see, without natural gas and oil, there would be no windmills or solar panels. These very natural resources are the key feedstock in manufacturing the next generation of clean energy sources.

So we should celebrate the American energy industry, the fuels that made this country what it is today, the fuels that will serve as a bridge to the renewable energy future; not penalize it, as does this budget that the President proposes.

All is not lost, however. The Speaker will have an opportunity to allow fruitful debate and deliberation next week when the budget comes to the floor. House Republicans will put forward a budget proposal that offers smart government solutions and address the very issues I've laid out.

The American people are hurting. The economy is on life support. And if the Democratic leadership asks themselves this simple one question--will this budget help or hamper economic growth--they will come to the table and work with Republicans to find a reasonable compromise for the good of the entire country.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source