Clean Estuaries Act Of 2010

Floor Speech

Clean Estuaries Act Of 2010

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Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I have a simple motion that every American can understand. It says: Stop the out-of-control spending until we balance the budget and get our fiscal house in order. People are worried. They are worried about what this Congress is doing to their children's futures, and rightly so.

This year, the Federal Government will take in $2.1 trillion but will spend $3.6 trillion. Let me say that again. It will take in $2.1 trillion and spend $3.6 trillion. Only in Congress does that math make sense. That's like a family making $50,000 a year but spending $80,000. If that were your family, Mr. Speaker, making 50 and spending 80, you'd do something about it. You'd cut back. You'd tighten the belt. You'd make responsible decisions. But not this Congress. No, not this Congress. This Congress is spending like there is no tomorrow.

This year, the Federal Government will run a deficit of at least $1.4 trillion. That's 10 percent of GDP. Any economist in the world will tell you that deficits shouldn't be more than 2 or 3 percent of GDP.

What are we spending money on today? Estuaries. That's right. Estuaries. Most Americans have probably never heard of the term.

With our Nation over $12 trillion in debt, borrowing money from China every day to pay our bills, taking in $2.1 trillion, spending $3.6 trillion, record deficits as far as the eye can see, not dealing with the energy crisis, not dealing with the entitlement crisis, replacing freedoms with mandates, replacing private-sector growth with 16,000 new IRS agents, what are we spending people's money on today, on Tax Day? We are spending it on estuaries, a massive increase in funding for estuaries.

Mr. Speaker, come on. Americans are taking to the streets all across the country today, Tax Day, dumping tea in the harbor and standing up against Congress, which is bankrupting their country. What are the Democrats offering them? More spending on estuaries.

Mr. Speaker, before Congress even considers doubling the funding for this program or any other nonessential spending, we must first balance the Federal budget and begin paying down some of the money we borrowed from China and other countries. Estuaries can wait, Mr. Speaker, but fiscal responsibility cannot.

All this motion says is to keep the spending at what it was last year. After all, a lot of families, a lot of taxpayers, a lot of small business owners have been living on last year's spending levels, maybe even something less.

I would ask my colleagues this, Mr. Speaker:

How bad does it have to get before we can begin to take that modest first step and say maybe estuaries can get by on the same amount of money they were on last year? That's all this motion says. All this motion says is let's just keep them where they were last year.

A ``yes'' vote on this motion tells the people you represent back home, the people who are paying their taxes today, who elected us and entrusted us to protect their hard-earned money: Yes, I agree that Congress must set priorities. Yes, I agree that we should forgo such increases until the budget is balanced. Yes, I respect you, the taxpayer, enough to say that I can hold the line on spending even if it means only $35 million for estuaries this year.

Mr. Speaker, I had a coach in high school who was a chemistry and physics teacher--the toughest teacher in the school and the toughest coach in the State. Every single day in class, every single day in the practice room, he would talk about discipline. He had a great definition. He said that discipline is doing what you don't want to do when you don't want to do it. Basically, that meant doing it his way when you'd rather do it your way. It meant doing things the right way when you'd rather do them the convenient way, the easy way.

Discipline is the quality we need in this Congress today. The easiest thing to do in the world is to spend money, particularly someone else's money.

Really simply, this amendment says: Let's have the discipline to say ``no'' to spending. Let's have the discipline to say let's do the right thing today. Let's not do the convenient thing. Let's hold the line on spending and treat taxpayers with a little respect on this day of all days. Treat them with a little respect.

I urge a ``yes'' vote.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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