Providing For Consideration Of Senate Amendment To H.R. 3326, Department Of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010; For Consideration Of House Joint Resolution 64, Further Continuing Appropriations, Fiscal Year 2010

Floor Speech

Providing For Consideration Of Senate Amendment To H.R. 3326, Department Of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010; For Consideration Of House Joint Resolution 64, Further Continuing Appropriations, Fiscal Year 2010; For Consideration Of H.R. 4314, Permitting Continued Financing Of Government Operations; For Consideration Of Senate Amendment To H.R. 2847, Jobs For Main Street Act, 2010

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Mr. GARAMENDI. Madam Speaker, I just heard a fine exposition on promises. There is one promise that overrides all of the others, and that's the promise that I think each one of us made to our constituents to do everything that we possibly could to see that they were well cared for and that this government was acting on their behalf. If we are simply looking at a rule and whether it's going to be applied and that becomes the most important promise of all, then we are forgetting about the well-being of Americans, of whom there are 35 million unemployed, of whom there are, in my district, tens of thousands, more than one out of eight either unemployed or underemployed. My promise to those people is that I will do everything I possibly can to see that they have a job.

This rule allows us to get to that. It allows us to get to the point of providing a jobs program that's going to provide at least $35 billion for highways and transit, that's going to provide some 500,000 young men and women the opportunity to have summer jobs, to expand AmeriCorps so that people can provide services and employment.

It's also going to take care of those who are unemployed, who, for no reason of their own, have found themselves out of a job. It's time for us to stand for them, and it's, frankly, time for us to move away from the notion of just providing those unemployment benefits to providing a job.

Far better that there be taxpayers than tax receivers. That's what this is about. It gives us an opportunity to do that, and we will do everything we possibly can on our side of the aisle to make the fundamental promise of making sure that the Federal Government is doing everything it possibly can to provide jobs and opportunities for businesses, for employment, and for taxpayers to actually have a job so they can pay taxes.

Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I would just like to point out it's not the role of Federal Government to provide jobs. It's not our job to take money from some and give to others, to try to make them dependent on the government.

I urge my colleagues, Madam Speaker, to defeat the previous question so an amendment can be added to the rule. The amendment to the rule will provide for separate consideration of House Resolution 554, a resolution to require that legislation and conference reports be posted on the Internet for 72 hours prior to consideration by the House, and does not affect the bill made in order by the rule.

I will insert the text of the amendment and extraneous materials immediately prior to the vote on the previous question, and I ask my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question and the rule.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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