Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE -- (House of Representatives - November 17, 2005)

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Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, someone on the other side has said we have hit a new low tonight. I certainly agree with that. I have never heard so much hypocrisy and hyperbole, and I doubt that the American public has either.

I rise, Mr. Speaker, with my colleagues today because Federal spending has been out of control. Just because former Congresses and Presidents have foolishly increased spending does not mean we must continue along this destructive path in the future.

This Congress must become a better steward of taxpayers' dollars, and we must do it now. Contrary to what our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are saying, we are not finding these savings on the backs of college students. These reforms will actually strengthen student aid programs and expand student benefits.

Republicans are proposing rational solutions that will increase student benefits and expand college access without expanding the deficit.

The Deficit Reduction Act provides key benefits to students including lower loan fees, higher loan limits for borrowers, low market-based interest rates, new loan flexibility, and a simplified financial aid process. Our constituents deserve to send less of their hard-earned dollars to Washington and spend more on their families, businesses, and dreams. It is the taxpayers' money we spend and we must be accountable, meticulous, frugal, and effective in the ways the Federal Government spends money. This budget reconciliation bill does just that. And on behalf of all of my hard-working constituents, I hope that all of my colleagues join me in supporting this great bill.

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Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, as a lawmaker, we constantly must make important decisions while various forces pressure us one way or the other. Frequently ``doing the right thing'' is not the most popular choice. Often, ``doing the right thing'' for the majority of Americans could negatively impact small factions in the process. Rarely is ``doing the right thing'' an easy thing to do.

But ``doing the right thing'' is what my constituents elected me to do. ``Doing the right thing'' is why I first sought public office, and why I will continue to do so as long as my body allows. ``Doing the right thing'' is why I have consistently called for budget reconciliation and restrained spending. My constituents work hard for their money, and that money is not meant for the federal government to take and waste.

I cast a difficult vote against the massive Hurricane spending bill because it was the right thing to do. It was not easy and it was not initially popular, but it was the right thing to do. Unfortunately I lost that vote, and as a result our government slipped even deeper into a budget deficit. Just as my constituents spend less on other things when they encounter emergency costs, the federal government must do the same.

Although it wasn't the easy thing to do, we are now doing the right thing by slowing the growth of government spending to accommodate for the hurricane funding. Our Committee chairmen have been meticulous in cutting wasteful and duplicative spending so that the slowed growth that federal programs face will be minor. I am proud to have played a role in that process in the Education and Workforce and Agriculture Committees.

Over the past few weeks I have met with community pharmacists from North Carolina and my staff has spoken with dozens on the phone. The pharmacists believe that slowing the growth of the Medicaid bureaucracy will negatively impact them to the point that their pharmacies can no longer operate. As their Representative and as a customer of community pharmacies, those concerns are extremely important to me.

I approached Chairman BARTON and his staff on the issue, and if the changes made in this bill indeed adversely affect community pharmacists in the long term to the point that they can no longer operate, we must promptly revisit the topic with stand alone legislation or some other technical fix. However, I can not in good conscience vote against a bill so important to our nation's prosperity because of its effect on one important interest. That is not to say that their concerns did not weigh heavily on my mind; the good simply could not be thrown away for the perfect.

Voting for this bill is the right thing to do, and I hope we will continue to slow the growth of our federal government. My constituents know how best to spend their money--not politicians.

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