Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008

Floor Speech

ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008 -- (House of Representatives - June 20, 2007)

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Mrs. MUSGRAVE. Mr. Chairman, my amendment would eliminate funding for the Denali Commission. This amendment would save taxpayers $1.8 million.

In fiscal year 2007, the Denali Commission received $49.5 million. The President's request in this fiscal year for 2008 is $1.8 million and the bill provides that entire amount.

When we look at the State of Alaska, it has a very low tax burden. Alaska has no State income tax. It has the lowest taxes as a percentage of per capita income of any State in the country. Also, Alaska is actually a relatively wealthy State in terms of per capita income.

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Mrs. MUSGRAVE. Reclaiming my time, I thank both the gentlemen and look forward to our efforts to save the American taxpayers $1.8 million.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mrs. MUSGRAVE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

My amendment would cut one-half of 1 percent spending from the Energy and Water appropriations bill. I am offering this amendment to this bill to make a cut of just one-half percent of the overall funding of the bill.

With the national debt at an all-time high, Mr. Chairman, of $8.8 trillion, Congress is leaving a very sad legacy for the next generation. I believe that we in Congress must take responsibility for this burden by establishing Federal spending priorities and setting spending caps for some programs and eliminating unnecessary spending for others. When you look at this amount of money, when you look at this huge amount that we are spending, I believe that it is very reasonable to ask for this modest cut. We owe it to the taxpayers whose money we are spending to make a serious commitment to fiscal responsibility and we need to exercise fiscal restraint.

The simple truth is that the money we stand here today to spend is not our own. The funds that we are appropriating come from the hard-earned incomes of families across this country. The families in my district in eastern Colorado need money for groceries, to buy gas for their cars, to educate their children, and I think that when we are here on this floor talking about this issue, we ought to think about the families in Colorado and around the Nation that work very hard to make ends meet.

I know that there are worthy programs in this bill and I commend the work of the chairman and the ranking member, but I think we need to realize that this fiscal responsibility is what we should be exercising right now. I urge my colleagues to support my amendment and really to demonstrate to the American public that we remember where this money comes from as we spend it and make our decisions here in this Chamber.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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