Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008

Floor Speech

TRANSPORTATION, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008 -- (House of Representatives - July 24, 2007)

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Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. I thank the chairman.

The amendment before you would reduce the appropriations in the bill by $3.2 billion, as was just read by the Clerk.

Even though the majority party will call this a ``cut in spending,'' this is not a cut. This is simply returning the level of spending in this appropriations bill to last year's level. It is level funding, spending the same dollar amount we spent last year. Again, as I have articulated on this floor several times in the appropriations process on other pieces of legislation, it is exactly what all kinds of families across this country have to do.

Mr. Chairman, I want to commend the work of the committee. I don't bring this amendment because I don't appreciate the work that the committee does; I bring it because our country and our government do face a real financial challenge in the future. If we don't begin to get a handle on the spending that this Congress does and that our government does, we are going to have real problems.

The best way to begin to start that, when you think about the challenges and problems that loom in front of us, with entitlements, with Social Security, with Medicaid, with Medicare, the way to start that process, to get a handle on the fiscal crisis that is looming, is to start right here and say, you know what? It is probably not too much to ask for the Congress and for the Government of the United States to spend the same amount that they spent last year. That is why I bring this amendment forward.

I would also point out this: Inevitably, when you continue to increase spending and increase spending and increase spending, it always leads to greater taxes. People talk all the time about tax-and-spend politicians. In truth it is just the opposite. It is spend and tax. Spending drives the equation, and that is why we have to focus on spending if we don't want to raise taxes on the American people, which we surely don't want to do.

Yet the other party is talking about doing exactly that. All you have to do is look at recent press clippings where they talked about raising the tobacco tax to deal with the SCHIP program. They have talked about raising taxes on the top marginal bracket to begin to address the AMT. Both are bad ideas for families, bad ideas for our economy, and not the direction we want to proceed.

Again, I bring this amendment forward because I think it is something that we have to begin to focus on as we look at the financial situation that is just around the corner for this country. All kinds of families, all kinds of taxpayers, all kinds of business owners have to live on last year's spending. It is not too much to ask our government to do the same. It is not to much to ask that our government do exactly what families all across this country have to do.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. Mr. Chairman, because the Democrats are so mesmerized by our presentation, we will continue. It is the first time I have known them to be speechless, but we will continue, and so I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).

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Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. Mr. Chairman, just a few comments before we use the remaining few minutes of our time as well.

Think about this. The ranking member of the Budget Committee pointed out the facts, what's in this bill, the numbers, the budget, and what's going on. But it's always important to come back and focus on how that translates into the lives of the American people and American families.

I think it's important just to remember and think about the typical family across this country. They go to work each day. They go to church on Sunday. They make their house payment. They make their car payment. Maybe they're paying their kids' private school. They're saving for college. They may be saving for a family vacation. They don't get an automatic 7 percent, in this particular bill $3.2 billion, increase. They don't get that. They have to budget. They have to learn to live on less many times.

And that's all this amendment says is, you know what, let's just spend exactly what we spent last year, because if we don't. And we keep on this spending train that we're on, there will be tax increases. And then that family I just described, it's going to be tougher for them to pay for that vacation, pay for their kids' school, pay for the shoes for soccer practice and Little League and pay for all those things that families have to pay for. That's why this is important.

It begins to put us on the path to deal with the problems that are certainly going to be there if we don't start getting a handle on spending. That's why I bring the amendment forward. That's what all our speakers have talked about, because it's that important that we begin to do the right thing here.

Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

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