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Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 112 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION

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Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 112 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 112 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 157 WASHINGTON, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011 No. 177 House of Representatives The House met at 9 a.m. and was PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE And that’s just the way it is. called to order by the Speaker. The SPEAKER. Will the gentleman f from Texas (Mr. POE) come forward and f lead the House in the Pledge of Alle- PRAYER giance. FOREIGN AID The Chaplain, the Reverend Patrick Mr. POE of Texas led the Pledge of (Mr. PRICE of North Carolina asked J. Conroy, offered the following prayer: Allegiance as follows: and was given permission to address Eternal God, we give You thanks for I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the the House for 1 minute and to revise giving us another day. United States of America, and to the Repub- lic for which it stands, one nation under God, and extend his remarks.) We come to the end of a week where indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. we have given thanks for the heroism Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. of our astronauts. They answered the f Speaker, of all the extreme statements call to service of their Nation, and of ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER we’ve heard coming out of the Repub- their race, to leave the comfort of The SPEAKER. The Chair will enter- lican Presidential debates in recent home to expand the horizons of us all. tain up to five requests for 1-minute weeks, perhaps none is more alarming We have honored as well the elders of speeches on each side of the aisle. than the idea that we should ‘‘cut for- eign aid to zero’’—even for steadfast both the Senate and this people’s f House, two men who have served to- U.S. allies, even for critical global gether over a century in this most NOT SO FAST WITH THE CONFETTI health and antiterrorism efforts. noble work of representing the people (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was We might dismiss this ridiculous as- of the United States. given permission to address the House sertion as a ‘‘hail Mary’’ from a can- Now we approach a week during for 1 minute.) didate desperate to revive his flagging which all Americans will gather to re- Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, this chances, were it not for the fact that it member who we are: a Nation gener- week marked the passage of an impor- drew heavy applause from the Repub- ously blessed not only by You, our God, tant milestone in American history. lican voters in the audience and eager but by courageous ancestors, faithful But don’t just break out the confetti agreement from the rest of the Repub- allies, and the best good wishes of peo- and the fireworks so quickly. lican field, including the presumptive ple everywhere who long for freedom, According to the Treasury Depart- frontrunner. ment, our national debt just passed $15 who would glory in the difficult work Is this the state of today’s Repub- trillion for the first time in history. of participative government and who lican Party, the party of international- Mr. Speaker, here is what $15 trillion do not enjoy the bounty we are privi- ists such as Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight looks like. That seems like a lot of leged to possess. Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan? ‘‘Cut money to me. That totals over $48,000 Bless the Members of this assembly foreign aid to zero?’’ for every man, woman, and child across and us all, that we would be worthy of Foreign aid has always been an easy the call we have been given as Ameri- the fruited plain. Now, how did we get here? Through target for demagogues, especially dur- cans. Help us all to be truly thankful unchecked, excessive spending by the ing difficult economic times, but the and appreciative and appropriately Federal Government. reality is that it is one of the most generous in our response. This addiction to spending somebody cost-effective investments our Nation May all that is done this day be for else’s money has got to stop. We must makes. For about 1 percent of our an- Your greater honor and glory. be bold and cut unnecessary spending. nual budget, it strengthens key allies Amen. Tough times call for tough actions, and such as Israel, the Palestine Authority, f we must even do more. Afghanistan, and Egypt; it promotes Congress must pass the balanced economic development that benefits THE JOURNAL budget amendment. Force the govern- American companies and creates jobs The SPEAKER. The Chair has exam- ment to balance its books just like back home; it helps us respond to hu- ined the Journal of the last day’s pro- Americans are supposed to do. We keep manitarian disasters and supports de- ceedings and announces to the House digging ourselves into the dark abyss mocracy, human rights, and the rule of his approval thereof. of debt. Maybe we should quit digging law. Suggestions that we should ‘‘start Pursuant to clause 1, rule I, the Jour- before we reach Greece or the bottom- at zero’’ and ask our allies to come to nal stands approved. less pit of bankruptcy. us hat in hand are simply preposterous. b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H7833 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 04:22 Dec 08, 2011 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\RECORD11\RECFILES\H18NO1.REC H18NO1 bjneal on DSK2TWX8P1PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE H7834 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE November 18, 2011 SOCIAL SECURITY IDENTITY JOBS and the intelligence community need THEFT (Ms. FOXX asked and was given per- to step up and help offer sustenance and support for those Kenyan troops, (Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas asked mission to address the House for 1 minute.) Mr. Speaker. and was given permission to address Let me say that this is the time to the House for 1 minute and to revise Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, when the liberal Democrat extremists took con- step up and help the Kenyan commu- and extend his remarks.) nity help our country and the rest of trol of the Congress in 2007, the unem- Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. the world. ployment rate was 4.6 percent, and Speaker, since 1980 Social Security has f been required to publicly put deceased when Republicans took back control of Americans’ personal information into a the House in January of 2011, the un- MIDDLE CLASS CHALLENGES so-called death master file which was employment rate had jumped to 9 per- CONGRESS meant to help prevent payment and cent. Under liberal Democrat control, (Mr. TONKO asked and was given benefit fraud. Nearly anyone can get 6.9 million Americans became unem- permission to address the House for 1 this information, including identity ployed. So now we have 13.9 million un- minute and to revise and extend his re- thieves. employed Americans who have been ig- marks.) nored by the liberals in Washington. Identity theft affects not only swin- Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, America’s Higher taxes, record spending, and dled businesses and American tax- middle class, her determined, hard- bigger government have failed to cre- payers, but grieving families whose suf- working middle class, is challenging ate jobs or boost economic growth. Put fering is made worse when they learn Congress. Will Congress respond to our simply, this economy is growing too that someone has been preying on the middle class? slowly to replace the millions of jobs death of their loved ones. Criminals are We in the middle class are growing lost. GDP growth in the first quarter of exploiting this information in order to increasingly aware of the statistics 2011 fell to 1.8 percent; in the second profit off deceased children by applying that the wealth concentrated in the quarter it was 1.3 percent. for tax refunds. That’s just wrong. top 1 percent has grown exponen- The failure of the President’s run- tially—275 percent. Over the same Every year, Social Security puts away spending, deficits and debt is timeframe, America’s middle class has about 14,000 Americans in this death being felt by every family struggling to seen its wealth flatline, and if it’s file who aren’t even dead. Any of us put food on the table and pay their grown, something diminished like 15 to could be put on that list by mistake— mortgage. 20 percent. That is unsustainable. a mistake that can result in severe fi- Instead of expanding the size of gov- America’s middle class knows it. nancial hardship and emotional heart- ernment, Republicans in Washington They know that we need to invest in ache. are committed to a pro-growth eco- our middle class, empower the pur- Americans deserve better. So today nomic agenda that will put America chasing power, raise our children, in- I’m introducing the Keeping IDs Safe back to work. And I urge people to go vest in their education and higher edu- Act to stop the sale of the death mas- to America’s job creators, jobs.gop.gov, cation, invest in health care, invest in ter file immediately. I urge my col- to see the plan Republicans have to public safety, invest in job creation leagues to support this legislation.
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