Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011--Continuing

Floor Speech

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Mr. WEINER. Mr. Chairman, to the great relief, I'm sure, of all those assembled, I don't intend to take the full 5 minutes.

The amendment I propose is one that I think that both sides of the aisle will rally around. It's very simple. It limits any aid in this bill going to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Why we would be providing any aid to Saudi Arabia at all has been an eternal mystery to me, given their propensity to exporting terrorists, given that they had exported 15 of the 19 homicide bombers on September 11, given that just in December when the WikiLeaks came out, it was learned in a quote from the Secretary of State, ``It has been an ongoing challenge to persuade Saudi officials to treat terrorist funding as an important priority.'' Given that the Saudis have textbooks that say things like this in them. This is what they teach to their children:

``The Prophet said, The hour of judgment will not come until Muslims fight the Jews and kill them. O Muslim. O Servant of God. There is a Jew behind me. Come and kill him.'' They have textbooks that also lash out at Christians.

It is also important to note that in this House year after year, we've eliminated aid to the Saudis, only to have it come back. As you see on this chart, 2005--it was actually defeated that year--but every subsequent year, this House voted to ban aid to Saudi Arabia, and it comes rising back up like a Shakespearean specter. This language strikes the Presidential waiver, and says no more aid to Saudi Arabia.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. WEINER. I simply say, with the greatest respect to Madam Chair, that we have spoken in this body repeatedly. The Saudis don't need our money. They've got plenty of their own money. It's the money that they use when they jack up gas prices and give us no help in trying to deal with them. It's the money that they use to export terrorism. They don't need any of our money.

I understand there is a Presidential waiver. This may come as a surprise that my friends now want to give the President that authority to override Congress. I think we should take it away and say no aid to Saudi Arabia.

I ask for a ``yes'' vote.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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AMENDMENT NO. 101 OFFERED BY MR. WEINER

The Acting CHAIR. For what purpose does the gentleman from New York rise?

Mr. WEINER. The gentleman from New York is on a roll, so he'll ask for Weiner amendment 101.

The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.

The text of the amendment is as follows:

At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the following new section:

Sec. __. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to pay the salaries and expenses of personnel of the Department of Agriculture to provide nonrecourse marketing assistance loans for mohair under section 1201 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8731).

The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to the order of the House of February 17, 2011, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Weiner) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.

The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.

Mr. WEINER. Thank you.

Once again, I have no intention of taking the full measure of my time. This is an amendment that has been discussed on this floor many times. Unfortunately, it keeps coming back. We provide subsidies believe it or not----

Mr. KINGSTON. Will the gentleman yield?

When the gentleman is ready to yield, I want to say we support the amendment.

Mr. WEINER. Thank you. I appreciate it. I'm going to be very brief. Just let me explain. This is an amendment that----

Mr. DICKS. Will the gentleman yield? What are the names?

Mr. WEINER. Now I would say to the ranking member, I'm from Queens. I'm from New York City. So I thought mohair was a guy named Moe who had long hair. But I now know that it is a subsidy that dates back to World War I when our uniforms were made with mohair and there was a strategic imperative to make sure we had enough. We provide a subsidy. This has not been used in military uniforms now for about 55 years.

Congressman Chaffetz and I have been agitating to try to eliminate this subsidy. There's still $1 million of funding going to about 12 farmers. No goats lost anything for the purpose of this picture. This is what a mohair looks like.

I would urge my colleagues to end this wasteful subsidy.

I yield to the chairman of the subcommittee.

Mr. KINGSTON. Well, I have to ask my friend from New York if sheep are carnivorous. Do they bite human beings? That's my question. I understand that they can be carnivorous.

Mr. WEINER. Reclaiming my time, first of all, show some respect. They're goats. Second of all, and if you are referring to a press conference that went awry that I had where I perhaps might have been bitten by a goat, I will say this: I believe that there is nothing wrong with these animals. We want them to have as much hair as they need. And if you want to give them a haircut, you should do it with your own money. It shouldn't be on the taxpayers' dime.

So I urge a ``yes'' vote on the Wiener amendment.

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