Providing for Consideration of Senate Amendments to H.R. 4899, Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010
Press Release
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Mr. CULBERSON. And with my 30 seconds, I invite Ms. Jackson Lee to refer to page 14 of this bill. She may not be aware that this legislation gives control over Texas' education funding to the Federal Government and, in fact, will force tax increases and spending increases in Texas, and that this has never been done before for any State in the Union. And I want to make sure that she is aware of this provision that says that Texas cannot spend any less money on education than we are spending in the fiscal year 2011, which is going to include some stimulus money and result in tax increases for Texas, giving the Federal Government control over Texas' education spending. Was she aware of that?
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Mr. CULBERSON. Is my colleague from Texas aware that this provision strips the Texas Legislature and the people of Texas of the power to make decisions at the State level?
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Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, one of the bedrock principles upon which this government was created was to provide for the common defense. Yet this Democrat majority was asked 5 months ago by the President to provide funding for the war.
It's been 35 days since the United States Senate passed a straightforward, simple funding bill for the war, which all of us on the Republican side would have voted for without objection to support our men and women in the field. Yet today we've only got 90 minutes of debate for it.
The United States, the public, the American people have only seen this bill since 11 this morning.
I serve on the Appropriations Committee, none of the Republican members of this committee, none of the Republican staff members were included in the drafting of this bill. The United States of America, particularly our troops in the field, deserve far better than this.
Is it any wonder that the public does not trust the government? Is it any wonder a tsunami is building that will sweep out this liberal majority in November and elect a constitutional conservative majority committed to fiscal responsibility, committed to preservation of our Constitution, committed to preservation of the States' rights to control something as fundamental as education spending?
On Page 14 of this bill, which no one saw until 11 today, the State of Texas is stripped of its sovereign authority to control education spending. It's given--for the first time in this Nation's history, control over education spending in a sovereign State of the Union is given to the Federal Government by an amendment no one saw until 11 today, that the liberal majority is prepared to vote for, which will result in the destruction of the 10th Amendment sovereign power of the people of Texas, in big tax increases and spending increases, because this language says we can't spend any less than was spent in 2011, an artificially high number that will include ``spendulus'' money, leading to property tax increases, statewide tax increases in Texas.
Why aren't we simply funding our troops in the field?
This is why you'll lose the majority in November.
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