Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008

Floor Speech

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Mr. WESTMORELAND. I want to thank my friend for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, this would almost be sad if it really wasn't so comical.

I think what a lot of folks are witnessing today is some more smoke and mirrors, another magic show that they may have seen somewhere.

We have the chairman of the Appropriations Committee who said that the President's budget would spend 48 percent less this year on education and some other things that he mentioned than 1980, but yet they talk about what kind of spending spree we are on. I can't imagine what kind of spending spree the Democratic majority must have been on in 1980.

Let me say this. We keep hearing a lot of history lessons, a lot of history in here. For some reason we don't want to talk about the future.

But we keep hearing about the $57 billion from the people in this country that make over $1 million. Now, I really don't know if that's true or not. I am going to assume the chairman of the Appropriations Committee knows if that's true or not.

But it's almost like he sounds mad that he can't get his hands on somebody else's money. He says, you know, we can't get that $57 billion, and we want to spend it. I am mad about it.

You know what? We are spending too much money on the war on terror. Well, look, I have only been here 3 years, but I know one thing. I know that the chairman of the Appropriations Committee and the Democratic leadership over there can stop this war today, today. They got 232 votes. They control the purse strings, they can stop it today.

The supplemental budget that we passed that our leader talked about was $20 billion more than the President requested. The chairman of the committee said, you know what, I would spend $10 billion more. What's stopping him? He is already spending $11 billion more. What's stopping him from spending $10 billion more.

Because you know why? I think they are afraid to tell you that these things that they are investing in, that's what they like to call spending taxpayers' dollars. The things that they are investing in is coming out of the American people's pocket. They are making investments for the people of this country that they don't even have any say in. It's time we wake up.

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Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan).

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I thank the gentleman. Would the gentleman from Georgia yield for a question?

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Sure.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I was wondering, I will ask it as you are walking, do you believe that the Federal Government has responsibility for any K-12 education programs?

Mr. WESTMORELAND. I think that the Federal Government, if they want to fund K-12, it should be in block grants to the local school districts for them to be able to spend the money to the needs of their local school districts and the needs of the State.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. You do believe in Federal spending on education at the local level?

Mr. WESTMORELAND. I think that if the Federal Government is going to spend money on education, that they need to send it to the State as a block grant for the State Department of Education to spend in their local districts.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I thank the gentleman.

I wanted to make sure, because as we had the conversation, I have heard many gentleman who were up here earlier say they didn't believe in any Federal spending for education, local education, at all.

I just want to clarify that you, at least, do believe that we do have an obligation to spend money. I appreciate you saying that.

Mr. WESTMORELAND. You know, I have listened to you many nights and I respect you, because I really believe that you are a true believer in what you are saying.

Let me just say this, that I am part of that fringe.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I know. I have been here.

Mr. WESTMORELAND. You are part of a fringe, somewhat of a fringe.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. I don't think I am.

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Being part of that fringe, I am proud of the fringe.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Chairman, that's twice in the past 2 days that our friend from Georgia has admitted being on the fringe. In response to the claim that I am on the fringe voting for this bill, I would just like to say I joined his colleagues, every Republican on the Labor-H subcommittee from all over, conservative Republicans, in support of this bill.

The gentleman from New York; Mr. Regula, the gentleman from Ohio, these are balanced, fair investments.

As the gentleman from New York stated, we are not raising taxes. Check, keep your forms from last year, your tax forms, and compare them to next year. There will not be an increase in your taxes.

What we are doing is we are not spending the money on the banks, we are spending it on the kids. We are not giving it to the oil companies, we are giving it to the kids for education and health care.

It's a difference in priorities. There is not a tax increase in here, and the bottom line is we make investments into the future of our country.

I find it offensive and staggering that the minority leader can come here, along with our friends, and talk about leaving the country in better shape than they found it, or that we have that obligation. Three trillion dollars in debt under your watch, Republican House, Republican Senate, Republican White House, $3 trillion.

The gentleman from Ohio wasn't here, but this Congress asked the Secretary of the Treasury to raise the debt limit five or six times so they could go out and borrow more money from China, more money from Japan, more money from OPEC countries. So we don't need lectures on how to leave the country better off than we found it.

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