American Recovery And Reinvestment Act Of 2009

Floor Speech

American Recovery And Reinvestment Act Of 2009

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Mr. HENSARLING. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I listened carefully to the distinguished chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. We agree there are people who are suffering.

But, Mr. Chairman, the people who are going to suffer the most are children and grandchildren who are about to inherit $1.2 trillion of additional debt burden for a piece of legislation that has not received one, not one congressional hearing and will have little to no economic stimulus.

Now, Mr. Chairman, something else I agree on with my friends on the other side of the aisle, this Nation needs a stimulus bill, but we need an economic stimulus bill, not a big government stimulus bill. That's why, Mr. Chairman, I am proud to rise in support of the Republican alternative that will help preserve jobs, that will help grow job opportunities in small businesses all across America. I am proud to support an alternative that will expand the paycheck of working Americans so that they can pay for their mortgages, so that they can send their kids to college, so that they can pay their health care premiums.

I am proud to support an alternative that helps the unemployed at this time of need, that will help reduce the housing glut from the market and, perhaps, even more importantly, Mr. Chairman, doesn't send the bill to our children and our grandchildren.

What our Democrat colleagues send us is a bill that, even if you were a Keynesian, doesn't help stimulate economic growth. Only 3 or 4 percent of this is about traditional infrastructure. Instead, we have $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, $1 billion for Amtrak, an extra $1 billion to follow up the Census. Over half of this bill is on traditional big government.

We know what Rahm Emanuel, the former chairman of the DNC has said: never waste a crisis. They are not wasting it. They are building big government.

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