OFFICE OF THE MAJORITY LEADER

TRANSCRIPT

Hoyer on the Republican's Fiscal Irresponsibility
September 25, 2003

MR. OBEY: I YIELD FIVE MINUTES TO THE DISTINGUISHED MINORITY WHIP. MR. HOYER: I THANK THE RANKING MINORITY MEMBER FOR YIELDING. I AGREE WITH EVERYTHING HE SAID. I THINK THE CHAIRMAN AGREES WITH MOST OF WHAT HE SAID. USUALLY WHEN WE DISCUSS THESE ISSUES, ALMOST INVARIABLY THOSE OF US ON THIS SIDE OF THE AISLE RISE AND FIRST SAY THAT WE DO NOT HOLD RESPONSIBLE OUR CHAIRMAN FOR THE POLICIES THAT ARE BEING PURSUED. IT IS HIS RESPONSIBILITY, HOWEVER, TO PRACTICALLY TRY TO CARRY OUT FLAWED POLICIES. HE DOES SO WITH A GREAT DEAL OF SKILL, WITH EMINENT FAIRNESS, AND WITH GRACE FOR WHICH ALL OF US WHO SERVE ON HIS COMMITTEE ARE VERY THANKFUL. BUT, MR. SPEAKER, THE CHAIRMAN OF THE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE IS OPERATING IN THE CONTEXT OF THE MOST FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE POLICY THAT ANY ADMINISTRATION HAS FOLLOWED IN THE HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY. I PAUSE FOR EMPHASIS. THE CHILDREN OF AMERICA, THE GRANDCHILDREN OF AMERICA ARE GOING TO BE CALLED UPON TO PAY THE BILL FOR THIS IRRESPONSIBLE POLICY. THAT IS WHAT THE RANKING MEMBER MEANT WHEN HE SAID THAT ALL OF THE DOLLARS THAT ARE BEING REQUESTED TO PURSUE A POLICY THAT I SUPPORTED IN IRAQ WILL BE PAID FOR BY OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN. AN IRRESPONSIBLE POLICY, AN UNREALISTIC POLICY, AND I WOULD RECALL MEMBERS JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO, WHEN WE ADOPTED THAT BUDGET RESOLUTION OF WHICH MR. OBEY SPOKE. WE ADOPTED IT ON THURSDAY. NO DEMOCRATS VOTED FOR IT, NOT ONE. WE THEN ON TUESDAY FOLLOWING THAT THURSDAY HAD A MOTION MADE BY MR. SPRATT, AND THAT MOTION SIMPLY SAID THAT WE INSTRUCTED THE CONFERENCE NOT TO DO WHAT WAS IN THE BUDGET, NOT TO CUT VETERANS BY $1.5 BILLION, NOT TO CUT HOUSING, WHICH IS IN SHORT SUPPLY FOR MIDDLE AMERICA, NOT TO DO MANY OF THE THINGS THAT WOULD HAVE UNDERCUT EDUCATION, HEALTH CARE, THE ENVIRONMENT THAT WERE PROPOSED IN THAT BUDGET, AND I WOULD RECALL MEMBERS -- AND UNFORTUNATELY THERE ARE NO PRESS HERE -- BUT RECALL MEMBERS THAT THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BUDGET COMMITTEE, MR. NUSSLE, SITTING WHERE THE CHAIRMAN OF THE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE NOW SITS, RAILED FOR ABOUT 29 MINUTES ABOUT HOW AWFUL THE MOTION TO INSTRUCT WAS. AND HOW MEMBERS OUGHT TO VOTE AGAINST IT. AND THEN LO AND BEHOLD, THE MAJORITY LEADER CAME TO THE FLOOR, SPOKE QUIETLY TO MR. NUSSLE, AND THE VOTE WAS CALLED. MANY REPUBLICANS RUSHED TO THE FLOOR TO VOTE AGAINST THAT MOTION TO INSTRUCT. AND LOW AND -- AND LO AND BEHOLD, AS THE MINUTES WENT BY, THE VOTES WERE CHANGED. LO AND BEHOLD, WHEN THE MINUTES WENT BY, THE RHETORIC OF MR. NUSSLE WAS FORGOTTEN QUICKLY WHEN THE REALITY OF THE VOTES AND THE NECESSITY TO REPORT AT HOME THE CONSEQUENCES OF THOSE VOTES WAS REALIZED BY OUR REPUBLICAN FRIENDS ON THE MAJORITY SIDE. AND SO THEY CHANGED THEIR VOTES, OR IF THEY HADN'T VOTED, VOTED FOR MR. SPRATT'S MOTION TO INSTRUCT. HOW IRONIC. AND NOW MR. YOUNG IS CONFRONTED WITH ANOTHER REALITY. LAST YEAR WE COULD NOT PASS APPROPRIATION BILLS. EIGHT OF THEM WERE PASSED NOT ONLY AFTER THE FISCAL YEAR, BUT AFTER THE CONGRESS HAD ADJOURNED. WHY? BECAUSE MR. YOUNG WAS FORCED TO OPERATE WITHIN A CONTEXT OF A TOTALLY UNREALISTIC BUDGET. AND WHAT DID THE REPUBLICANS SAY? THEY SAID OH, IT'S MR. DASCHLE'S FAULT, IT IS THE SENATE'S FAULT. THEY HAVEN'T ADOPTED A BUDGET. WELL, NOW THEY CONTROL THE HOUSE, THEY CONTROL THE SENATE, THEY CONTROL THE ADMINISTRATION, AND AS MR. OBEY POINTED OUT, ON A GOOD DAY THEY CONTROL THE SUPREME COURT. I THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD LINE, AND UNFORTUNATELY TRUE AT TIMES AS WELL. BUT THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THEY CONTROL IT ALL. AND THEY LAMENTATION THE PUT FORWARD LAST YEAR, THE EXCUSE ME PUT FORWARD LAST YEAR, THE RATIONALIZATION THEY PURSUED LAST YEAR IS NOT AVAILABLE TO THEM, NOT TO MR. YOUNG, BUT TO THE MAJORITY LEADERSHIP. MAY I HAVE TWO ADDITIONAL MINUTES? MR. OBEY: I YIELD TWO ADDITIONAL MINUTES. MR. HOYER: AND SO WE ARE CONFRONTED WITH, YES, HAVING PASSED OUR BILLS, AND I MIGHT SAY SOME WITHOUT A SINGLE DEMOCRATIC VOTE. AS A MATTER OF FACT, ONE OF THE LARGEST BILLS, ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BILLS FOR EDUCATION OF OUR CHILDREN, FOR THE HEALTH CARE OF OUR FAMILIES AND CITIZENS, NOT ONE DEMOCRAT VOTED FOR IT. NOT BECAUSE WE'RE NOT FOR EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE, BUT BECAUSE WE KNEW THAT BILL WAS AN UNREALISTIC BILL. AND SO WE ARE CONFRONTED TODAY WITH A RESOLUTION THAT MR. YOUNG IS REQUIRED TO PUT FORWARD, AND ACTING AS HE ALWAYS DOES RESPONSIBLY, HE MUST PUT FORWARD AND I'M GOING TO SUPPORT, AS MR. OBEY IS GOING TO SUPPORT. IT IS THE ALTERNATIVE WE OUGHT TO PURSUE. I SAID THE MOST FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE ADMINISTRATION. WHY? BECAUSE AFTER WE ADOPT THIS BUDGET, OR THESE APPROPRIATION BILLS, WHICH WILL SPEND A LESSER AND LESSER PERCENTAGE OF THE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT OF OUR COUNTRY ON DISCRETIONARY SPENDING THAT WE'LL MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT, WE WILL HAVE CREATED OVER HALF A TRILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT IN THIS SINGLE YEAR. MORE DEBT THAN WE INCURRED IN THE FIRST 90% OF THE DAYS OF THIS REPUBLIC. AND OUR CHILDREN ARE GOING TO PAY THE BILL. HOW TRAGIC. HOW IRRESPONSIBLE. WE PASSED A BANKRUPTCY BILL IN WHICH WE MADE IT HARDER TO DECLARE BANKRUPTCY, AND EACH OF US ON THE FLOOR SAID WE NEED TO REQUIRE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THOSE WHO SEEK CREDIT. IF WE APPLIED THAT SAME CRITERIA TO THIS ADMINISTRATION AND TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, WE WOULD FAIL. WE ARE NOT EXERCISING PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. IN THIS INSTANCE WE MUST PASS THIS RESOLUTION. AND I WILL VOTE FOR IT. BUT I LAMENT THE FACT THAT IT IS PASSED IN THE CONTEXT OF THE MOST IRRESPONSIBLE FISCAL POLICY THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN, THIS COUNTRY HAS EVER SEEN, AND IS DISADVANTAGING OUR COUNTRY AND OUR ABILITY TO INVEST IN THE FUTURE. I YIELD BACK THE BALANCE OF MY TIME.