Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011

Floor Speech

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Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. I move to strike the last word.

The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the amendment by Tom Rooney of Florida. Let me commend my colleague from Florida, first and foremost, and those that have joined him in this amendment.

At the President's State of the Union message there was a symbolic gesture in this Chamber for us to sit together, and we did. And we talked about the camaraderie and the need to reach out and work together.

I applaud my colleague for his strong stance and his willingness to work bipartisanly to do what the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines, the Secretary of Defense, the Bush administration and the Obama administration have asked Congress to do: end this wasteful, duplicative spending.

There are new Members that have come to Congress on both sides with new zeal and the ability to perhaps look outside the beltway at what people have to experience on a regular
basis, and they scratch their heads in awe of what seems to be a commonsense proposal by the Bush administration, by the Obama administration, by the Air Force, by the Marines, and by the Navy, and that's to end this wasteful spending.

We've heard great talk about competition. My God, I'm all for competition. I don't think there isn't a person who isn't for competition. Two engines, why not three? Why not four? It would be better overall for our industrial base.

But the people on the committee know the hard truth, as do all Americans. We've seen it. I fault no one for support of the interest of their State or their district or their employees, but let's be honest about this. We're going to have to make priorities. I've witnessed it in the C-17 and the F-22. And there comes a time when you recognize that we need these precious dollars. There has to be cuts. Both sides have acknowledged, and again I want to compliment my colleagues on the other side for the zeal that they have come here with to say, listen, the Pentagon isn't sacrosanct either, and we have to make these cuts.

And here's the Secretary of Defense pleading yesterday at a conference saying, please, the Navy, the Marines, the Air Force do not want this engine.

Look, competition is great, but let's look at some of the facts here that have been cited as well. If you have 86 percent of the market currently, and you're seeking to get 92 percent of it, where does competition lie? With a company that has 86 percent? I don't think so.

And I think anyone who looks at this from a commonsense perspective comes to that understanding, comes to that difficult decision that has to be made with respect to the Nation's deficit.

Now, Mr. Rooney has proposed that this money go directly into a lock box to deal with the Nation's deficit. There are a lot of good proposals where to use money, but that's what he's proposed. I submit, as a Democrat who would like to see the money going to COPS funding, to make sure that LIHEAP funding gets there, that these are the kinds of compromises and decisions that we have to make. And this is what's right for the country. We have to address this deficit.

And if we have our leadership, the Bush administration, and their Pentagon, the Obama administration, you heard Joe Courtney talk about Admiral Roughead again saying today the absurdity involved in this argument.

It doesn't matter what company. What matters is this country. I strongly support his amendment.

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