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Conference Report on H.R. 1, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Floor Speech

Date: Feb. 13, 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Finance and Banking Housing and Property


CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 1, AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT OF 2009 -- (House of Representatives - February 13, 2009)

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Mr. KINGSTON. I thank the gentleman for yielding and want to say, the Republican Party is in absolute agreement. This is about jobs. This is about immediate action. That's why we have offered a plan that gives twice the jobs at half the cost. We believe it should be also debated today, but instead, the Democrats have chosen to pass the largest appropriation bill in the history of the United States.

Now, I don't think they've read it. We all know this bill hasn't been read but by a mere handful of people, but part of this bill actually increases the debt ceiling to $12 trillion. And you know what, if deficit spending worked, we would be in great shape.

Last March, $29 billion to Bear Stearns; in May, $168 million for another stimulus package; in July, $200 billion for Fannie Mae; in September, $85 billion for AIG; in October, $700 billion for Wall Street. My goodness, we would be in great shape if deficit spending stimulus bills like this and bailouts worked.

But instead, what we're doing here today is just one more of the same. This is a bill that has 17 percent tax cuts, a big 20 cents an hour for the workers out there. It has a mere 7 percent in shovel-ready projects, dams, roads, bridges that need to be rebuilt.

But the Democrats have instead decided to increase the Federal Government spending: 31 new Federal programs; $200 billion in phantom earmarks that will be decided where the money is spent by State and local governments, even though the Federal legislative branch should be deciding where Federal money goes; $2 billion for groups like ACORN; $500 billion in a non-earmark bill for the NIH headquarters in Maryland. Isn't that interesting? $600 billion for DTV; $30 million for a rat in San Francisco. Mickey Mouse is going to be envious. He's no longer the mouse with the greatest net worth in California. Now, there's a San Francisco rat that has edged him out.

While people are being foreclosed and unemployed, the Democrats are spending $30 million for a rat.

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