Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment to the FY15 Financial Services Appropriations bill.

But first, before I start, I would like to commend Chairman Crenshaw for his tireless commitment to stopping the culture of spending and continuing the culture of savings that we have seen from his subcommittee chairmanship. Given our country's current fiscal situation, we need to be mindful of our limited resources and that we need to do more with less. And one of the most basic concepts in budgeting is balancing wants versus needs. A need is something that you have to have, something you can't do without. A want is something that you would like to have. A good example is calcium. You know, calcium is necessary for survival, but ice cream, on the other, hand is a want. Everyone needs calcium, but plenty of people would do just fine without ice cream.

What will my amendment do? It will demonstrate to the taxpayers that this Congress understands the difference between wants and needs. My amendment prohibits any funds from this bill being spent by the General Services Administration towards the renovation of the bowling alley in the White House Eisenhower Office Building.

With our Nation $17 trillion in debt, upgrading the President's private bowling alley shouldn't be a priority. A spiffy new bowling alley may suit the wants for Commander in Chief, but I think I speak for the taxpayers of the Seventh Congressional District when I assert that it is certainly not a need. I think when the administration came forward with this proposal, they rolled a gutter ball.

The hardworking Americans expect and deserve better. These are difficult times in our country. This is no time for business as usual.

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

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