House Proceeding 01-28-09 on Jan 28th, 2009 :: 0:24:35 to 0:44:35
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0:22:10 to 0:24:35( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: David R. Obey

0:24:22 to 0:24:37( Edit History Discussion )

David R. Obey: participate in this process. so if someone says i'm sorry i was shut out, but it is they who turn the key in the lock that kept them on the outside, that certainly isn't our fault. we have tried to welcome any

0:24:38 to 0:24:59( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: advice, any suggestions from any source not just members of congress, but others in this ciety and this product reflects that. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. lewis: mr. chairman, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman from california is recognized for such time as he may consume. mr. lewis: mr. chairman, i normally would not proceed in

0:24:40 to 0:28:20( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Jerry Lewis

0:25:00 to 0:25:21( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: this fashion, but you might have guessed that i could have guessed that the chairman might react to some of those remarks that i made, especially remarks about his falling over backwards to cooperate with the minority. so i would like to take a little time to be very specific about this. i appreciate chairman obey

0:25:22 to 0:25:42( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: making the point that he reached out to the minority on the stimulus package. he did reach out to me as the ranking member of the appropriations committee and i made three suggestions relatin how the bill could become a bill that many republicans could support. i suggested that chairman obey

0:25:43 to 0:26:03( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: consider less spending, and especially removing spending for those items that are not stimulus and should be funded through the regular appropriations process. spending on programs that don't create jobs actually increased, particularly those in the labor-health and human services

0:26:04 to 0:26:25( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: subcommittee that chairman obey chairs him i suggested that chairman obey consider lowering the top line of spending on this package. what happened? the top line on spending actually increased. i suggested a greater emphasis on targeted tax cuts for low-income families and small businesses.

0:26:26 to 0:26:49( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: what happened? the tax relief portion of this stimulus bill got smaller as the top line on spending increased. it's one thing to seek constructive input in the hopes of building bipartisan consensus on a bill as important as this package.

0:26:50 to 0:27:10( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: but that clearly has not happened. judging from the legislation as presently written, it's quite clear that t is less about creating jobs and stimulating the economy and more about spending the public's money. do not for one minute believe that this bill reflects the input of house republicans or even many houseemocrats. this bill was largely written by

0:27:11 to 0:27:31( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: two people. any suggestion -- suggested negotiations on this notiation occurred between the speak earn my chairman. that's not a negotiation. that is a travesty, a mockery, a sham. wow, what a shame to waste a historic opportunity to bring republicans and democrats together.

0:27:32 to 0:27:54( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: to roll up our sleeves and work in a bipartisan fashion. it's not too late to make this a better bill. a bipartisan bill. as i said in my opening remarks i sincerely want the president toe successful. the challenges we face do transcend politics. if the president or his staff

0:27:55 to 0:28:15( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: are listening, i ask them to pursue bipartisanship so this can be a package both democrats and republicans will support. i say one more time, travesty begins when there's a flat embargo at a subcommittee level where our staff is told they shouldn't be communicating with the minority staff. bipartisanship is the best of

0:28:16 to 0:28:20( Edit History Discussion )

Jerry Lewis: our committee. if this pattern continue, our committee is not going to be

0:28:21 to 0:28:41( Edit History Discussion )

James E. Clyburn: able to continue to produce products worthy of its name. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from wisco mr. obey: i yield two minutes to mr. clyburn: i thank the gentleman for yielding me the time and thank h so much for all he's this great package. mr. speaker, i rise in strong

0:28:25 to 0:31:40( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: James E. Clyburn

0:28:42 to 0:29:03( Edit History Discussion )

James E. Clyburn: support of this balanced, responsible recovery package that will put america back to work. i want to thank in addition to chairman obey, speaker pelosi, chairman rangel, oberstar, chairman miller, chairwoman slaughter, and all the other chairmen who have made sure the bill reflected the pressing needs of our economy. i also would like to thank the

0:29:04 to 0:29:24( Edit History Discussion )

James E. Clyburn: staffs who workt so diligently in constructing this bill. particularly amy in the speaker's office. beverly of the appropriations committee. janice of ways and means. and david in transportation and infr i have listened intently to the opponents of this legislation.

0:29:25 to 0:29:46( Edit History Discussion )

James E. Clyburn: and per the usual prescription they tell us that only tax cuts can cure this recession. but, mr. speaker, what good is a tax cut when you don't have a job? america works when americans work. in south carolina, my home state, the unemployment rate is 9.5%.

0:29:47 to 0:30:07( Edit History Discussion )

James E. Clyburn: the third highest in the nation. more than 26,000 south carolinians joined the jobless branch last month. raising the total number of unemployed in the state to a record 210,000. our package is balanced. it has middle class tax cuts. business tax cuts, it has

0:30:08 to 0:30:28( Edit History Discussion )

James E. Clyburn: investments in our physical infrastructure. it is the right mix of spending and tax breaks to get america working again. this legislation is p and pro-biness. allow me to quote from the letter, the national association of manufacturers sent yesterday. we strongly support a number of

0:30:29 to 0:30:49( Edit History Discussion )

James E. Clyburn: provisions in the american recovery and reinvestment act. this legislation was combined targeted tax incentive increased investments in areas critical to our competitiveness will help get our nation's economy back on track and ensure job creation economic growth. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. obey: one

0:30:50 to 0:31:11( Edit History Discussion )

James E. Clyburn: the chair: the gentleman is recognized for an additional minute. mr. clyburn: i also have a stack of letters from business organizations all endorsing this package. including the nationallack chamber of commerce, the community bankers, and the national association of realtors.

0:31:12 to 0:31:34( Edit History Discussion )

James E. Clyburn: president obama was joined by a dozen c.e.o.'s this morning who have endorsed this package. we have a letter from 120 high-tech c.e.o.'s endorsing the investments we make in our digital infrastructure. so in closing, mr. speaker, fortune 100 c.e.o.'s, from all sectors, are telling us that

0:31:35 to 0:31:41( Edit History Discussion )

James E. Clyburn: this is the right course of action. i urge my colleagues to choose progress over partisanship.

0:31:42 to 0:32:02( Edit History Discussion )

Ken Calvert: vote yes on this package and let's put americans back to work. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. lewis: mr. chairman, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. calvert. mr. calvert: i thank the gentleman. the chr: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. calvert: mr. speaker, i rise in opposition to this so-called stimulus bill which seems only to stimulate one sector of our

0:31:45 to 0:33:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Ken Calvert

0:32:03 to 0:32:24( Edit History Discussion )

Ken Calvert: economy, the government. as a person who was a small businessperson, realt, and restaurateur, and member of small business organizations i can tell you that most small businesses out there are in opposition to this legislation. there is no doubt our country is going through some difficult economic times. there are many steps congress can and should take to get our

0:32:25 to 0:32:45( Edit History Discussion )

Ken Calvert: economy back on a path of prosperity. unfortunately, it appears that the majority party is using our current economic cris, economic woes to grow government spending to epic and historic proportions. by way of comparison, in 1934 government spending reached about 11% of g.d.p. in response

0:32:46 to 0:33:07( Edit History Discussion )

Ken Calvert: to the great depression. if passed this stimulus bill will increase government spending to 23% of g.d.p. the question remains, what will all this spending get the american people? will it truly provide more middle class jobs or improve infrastructure? the answer sadly, no. the bill provides a

0:33:08 to 0:33:29( Edit History Discussion )

Ken Calvert: mind-boggling 65 billion for labor, health and human service programs. the strategy under this bill is throw billions of dollars in every bureaucratic direction, cross our fingers, and hope for the best. not only are we wagering our future with this bill, but we are crossing a point of no return. this bill moves us dramatically closer to a welfare state. it is forcing people who are the

0:33:30 to 0:33:51( Edit History Discussion )

Ken Calvert: backbone of our economy, the middle class, into a troubling kind of public dependency. mr. speaker, let us take time to truly do what is right for the american people and provide targeted and limited stimulus through tax cuts and spending on ready to build infrastructure that will really put americans back to work immediately. that's what my constituents want. that's what they deserve.

0:33:52 to 0:33:56( Edit History Discussion )

Ken Calvert: let's not exploit this economic crisis to push through legislation that will increase

0:33:57 to 0:34:17( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: the size and scope of the federal government above and beyond anything our country has seen in its 233 years. thank you, mr. speaker. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. obey: mr. chairman, i yield one minute to the dwird -- the distinguished majority leader. the chair: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for one minute.

0:34:00 to 0:47:15( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Steny H. Hoyer

0:34:18 to 0:34:39( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: of the appropriations committee for yielding. i want to thank him for the extraordinary work he has done to put this package together. i want to thank mr. lewis for the work he has done as well. even though he may not agree with the product, the final product. i want to start my remarks and i

0:34:40 to 0:35:00( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: might take a little bit of time, i want to start my remarks talking about bipartisanship. and how we got here and why we're here. over a year ago it appeared to us that the economic program adopted in 2001, 2003 was not

0:35:01 to 0:35:23( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: working. it also appeared to the administration that it was not working. it appeared to mr. boehner that it was not working. we were in real trouble. that we weren't producing jobs. we had the worst eight years of job production that we have had in any administration since herbert hoover.

0:35:24 to 0:35:44( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: as a result of the failure to produce jobs, our country was in great distress and our people were challenged and at risk. and so the administration and the democratic leadership of the

0:35:45 to 0:36:05( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: congress and the republican leadership of the congress sat down at the table together, came up with a program to stimulate the economy. about 60 billion. and we worked togethe in a bipartisan fashion. it was a republican president but democratic-led congress. in fact agreed t the administration's increase in that program, as you recall, because we had suggested 00 billion.

0:36:06 to 0:36:26( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: we worked in a bipartisan fashion. then in september, me months later, secretary republican secretary of the treasury, came to us and met with the leadership and said we have a crisis. indeed we had invited him down because we thought that there was real trouble. said we have a crisis.

0:36:27 to 0:36:47( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: we need to act. we need to act immediately. democratic-led congress responded to secretary paulson said, we'll work with you. we'll work with you because our country needs a joint response. and we did that. when that legislation came to

0:36:48 to 0:37:12( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: the floor, very frankly, majority of democrats supported the republican administration's request. the majority of this house did not. we now have a democratic administration, democratic-led congress.

0:37:17 to 0:37:38( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: . caused by the failure of policies we've been pursuing economically over the last eight years. i do not say that for the purposes of being partisan. i say it for the purposes of us being instructed on what has worked and what has not worked. as you know, we're dealing with one of the worst economic climates in history.

0:37:39 to 0:38:00( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: 2.6 million jobs lost last year. thworst housing market since the great depression. financial turmoil that has threatened the savings and retirement of millions. that's the context in which this administration is taking office. as we move to confront this crisis, we welcome the criticism of our republican friends and others, but let's

0:38:01 to 0:38:22( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: put that criticism in some context. again, not for a partisan sense, but for a sense of instruction of the perception of what worked and what did not. i would suggest that, frankly, much of what i've heard from my republican colleagues over the last 20 years in terms of what would work and what would not

0:38:23 to 0:38:46( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: work is inaccurate. let's republican president bush saying, and i quote, my administration remains focused on economic growth that will create more jobs. let's remember how the minority economic plan in 1993. newt gingrich said of that plan that it would lead to, and i

0:38:47 to 0:39:08( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: quote, a job-killing recession. the leader of the republican party made that observaon. he was dead, flat, 100% wrong. in fact, we created 22.some odd million jobs during those eight years. an average of 256,000 per

0:39:09 to 0:39:29( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: month. this administration's averaged less than 40,000 john boehner, the republican leader said at that point of time and i quote, the message is loud and clear. cut spending first and shrink the size of the federal government. in opposing the economic program.

0:39:30 to 0:39:52( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: in reality, the democratic plan led to unprecedented economic growth. we all know that. the 1990's were the best economic period of timistically that we've had in this country -- time statistically that we've had in this country. let's remember how republicans reacted to the budget reconciliation act in 1990, when george bush the first was

0:39:53 to 0:40:14( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: president of the united states. tom delay said, and i quote, the democratic package will destroy our economy. now the democratic package was, of course, an accommodation made between president bush, the head of o.m.b. and elves. opposed overwhelmingly by republicans reduced the budget

0:40:15 to 0:40:36( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: deficit by approximately 2 billion. what -- 82 billion. what we've seen from our republican colleagues is an overstatement of what their program would do and a great understatement of what the programs and policies that we pursued would do. i would suggest that we consider the representations being made today in that context.

0:40:37 to 0:40:57( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: today i hope that our republican colleagues will put that history aside and join with us to pass this bill d try to help restore our prosperity. none of us have served in this congress as a lower ebb of the economy than today. nobody in this congress. including john dingell. the dean of the congress of the

0:40:58 to 0:41:19( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: united states. american recovery and reinvestment act is projected to create or save three million to four million jobs. what does it do? i know mr. obey has said this, but let me repeat it. tax relief, 75 billion to working americans and to small businesses.

0:41:20 to 0:41:40( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: states will be helped, policemen, teachers won't have to be laid off. so that we can keep our infrastructure. i know we'd like to do more in infrastructure. the sad news is, it's tough to spend it quickly in the infrastructure field.

0:41:41 to 0:42:01( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: we will do more. protecting vulnerable populations. people are in food lines historically long. people are unemployed in historic numbers. states are stretched with their medicaid as who need health care. in energy we've all talked about energy innocence -- in

0:42:02 to 0:42:23( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: energy. we've all talked about energy independence this bill deals with energy independence and creating jobs. health care. we all know. john mccain talked about it in his campaign, barack obama talked about it in his campaign. everybody knows that if we

0:42:24 to 0:42:44( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: don't get health care reform and health care progress, we won't be able to go forward with the kind of health care that americans need and want access to be them and their families. education, traing. we're not going to be exetive in this world if we don't make sure -- competitive in this world if we don't make sure our children are competive.

0:42:45 to 0:43:08( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: we can't afford to do that or we won't compete with the japanese, the chinese, the germans, the indians and others. a former economic adviser to senator mccain's presidential election found that, quote, the jobless rate will be more than 2%, 2% lower by 2010 than without the fiscal stimulus.

0:43:09 to 0:43:29( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: that he or she thinks should not be in here. i know i could. i know others could. some people want more in. some people want less in. but frankly most of the economists i've talked to think this is about the right mix. may not be specifically what each wants, but about the right mix between tax cuts and spending.

0:43:30 to 0:43:50( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: this legislation is the result of an honest, urgent effort to include the best ideas from economic experts from across the spectrum. as well as both sides of the aisle. it's an effort that cannot -- that cannot become weighed down by prokial interests. there are no earmarks in this bill. overall this plan contains what

0:43:51 to 0:44:11( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: is widely viewed as the right mix of spending and tax cuts to spur our economy. it will include tax relief for 95% of working families. tax cuts for jobs, crumbling roads and bridges and nutrition, unemployment and health care assistance to those families who are being hit

0:44:12 to 0:44:33( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: hardest by this recession. this administration inherited the situation in which we find ourselves. the democratic leadership tried to work with the bush administration to get us out of it. hopefully we'll do that, we'll continue to do that in a bipartisan fashion. the budget office estimates that 2/3 of the revery funds

0:44:34 to 0:44:54( Edit History Discussion )

Steny H. Hoyer: will be spent in the first 18 months which means an immediate jolt to our economy. and we'll continue to work with president obama to increase that number. the c.b.o. also estimates that if we passed this bill by the end have up to .-- 3.6 million