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, WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 2011 No. 109 House of Representatives The House met at 10 a.m. and was great landowner. He owns 27 percent of this clear—this does not include the called to order by the Speaker pro tem- all the land in America. national parks; this does not include pore (Mr. WEBSTER). This poster here shows the holdings the Fish and Wildlife Service, the f of Uncle Sam. All of the red in the marshes, the coastal plains, the envi- United States, including the red in ronmentally sensitive areas. The Fed- DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO Alaska, is owned by Uncle Sam. Over 50 eral Government would make the deci- TEMPORE percent of the land in the West is sion as to what would be sold. In 2005, The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- owned by Uncle Sam. the landholdings of the United States, fore the House the following commu- Now, if we were to transfer all of according to OMB, was worth about nication from the Speaker: these acres to the east coast, that’s $1.1 trillion. So I think, if we sold a WASHINGTON, DC, about the size of all of the land east of portion of this land, it would raise rev- July 20, 2011. the Mississippi that is owned by Uncle enue for the United States, approxi- I hereby appoint the Honorable DANIEL Sam. Looking at it another way, let’s mately $200 billion or less. WEBSTER to act as Speaker pro tempore on go across the seas, to Europe. If you Plus, it would do other things. this day. were to take all of the land that Uncle It would put the land in the hands of JOHN A. BOEHNER, Sam owns and superimpose it on Eu- Americans. Americans would own the Speaker of the House of Representatives. rope, it would include the United King- land, and they would pay taxes. They f dom, Spain, France, Switzerland, Neth- could pay taxes not only to local and MORNING-HOUR DEBATE erlands, Italy, Austria, Germany, and State governments, but when they Poland. That would be how much land build a business or make a business, The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- Uncle Sam would own if he owned that they would bring in more Federal in- ant to the order of the House of Janu- portion of Europe. come tax. It will save the Federal Gov- ary 5, 2011, the Chair will now recog- So the great landholder is none other ernment the cost of maintaining own- nize Members from lists submitted by than the Federal Government. The ership, and it will raise revenue and the majority and minority leaders for Federal Government owns about 27 per- pay down the debt. morning-hour debate. cent of all the land in America—623 Real property in the hands of real The Chair will alternate recognition million acres. Americans. between the parties, with each party We are now talking about how to in- What a thought. limited to 1 hour and each Member crease the revenue for this country. It will create productivity. other than the majority and minority Maybe we should do something that Sell American land to Americans. leaders and the minority whip limited was thought of years ago. Ronald Let Americans own more of America. to 5 minutes each, but in no event shall Reagan may not have been the first, Uncle Sam shouldn’t prevent Ameri- debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. but he did mention in the 1980s that the cans from having a stake, or a share, in f Federal Government ought to sell some America. The United States owns most of that land to Americans to help—get of the grand estate of our great coun- UNCLE SAM—THE GREAT this—pay down the debt. This has even try, and it’s time to let more Ameri- LANDOWNER been talked about in the White House. cans own it—because this land was The SPEAKER pro tempore. The President Obama, a couple of weeks made for you and me. Chair recognizes the gentleman from ago, discussed selling just one little And that’s just the way it is. Texas (Mr. POE) for 5 minutes. 300-portion acre in Los Angeles that f Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, we’ve was worth approximately $2 billion. heard the song: Maybe we should sell some of that. THE DEBT LIMIT ‘‘This land is your land; So I introduced the American Land The SPEAKER pro tempore. The ‘‘This land is my land; Act, which will do this: Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from ‘‘From California to the New York Is- It will require that the Bureau of California (Ms. CHU) for 5 minutes. land; Land Management and the Forestry Ms. CHU. In less than 2 weeks, on Au- ‘‘This land was made for you and Service sell a portion of their land for gust 2, we must raise the debt limit or me.’’ the next 5 years, and that will be a 26 the American Government will go into But we need to understand that, in percent decrease in total land in the financial default. If we don’t, it will be America, the greatest, largest land- United States owned by Uncle Sam. a disaster for the economy, and real holder is Uncle Sam—Uncle Sam, the Now, bear in mind—I’m going to make American families will pay the price. 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. H5241 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 01:12 Jul 21, 2011 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A20JY7.000 H20JYPT1 pwalker on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with HOUSE H5242 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE July 20, 2011 That’s why for almost 95 years we For those who believe that the poten- raise taxes in a recession.’’ Of course, have kept our promises and paid our tial for default is not real, let me quote today we have nearly 15 million unem- bills. Congress has voted to avoid eco- a famous President who said 25 years ployed persons in our country. Unem- nomic default nearly 100 times since ago: ‘‘Congress consistently brings the ployment under the failed policies of 1917 because it was the right thing to government on the edge of default be- our President has increased to 9.2 per- do. The debt limit was raised 17 times fore facing its responsibility. This cent. We need to change course. under Ronald Reagan, four times under brinkmanship threatens the holders of Cut, Cap, and Balance is a plan I en- Bill Clinton and seven times under government bonds and those who rely courage the Senate to pass in order to George W. Bush; but now Republicans on Social Security and veteran bene- put our country back on the path to are shying away from their duty, fits. Interest rates would skyrocket; in- prosperity creating jobs. spreading misinformation about the se- stability would incur in financial mar- In conclusion, God bless our troops, rious threat we are facing, saying there kets, and the Federal deficit would and we will never forget September will be no impact on the average Amer- soar.’’ That President was Ronald 11th in the global war on terrorism. ican and that it will not hurt our econ- Reagan, making his plea to Congress. f omy. Today, the American people are call- DEBT CEILING DEBATE But that’s not true. Let me tell you ing again on this body to do what’s The SPEAKER pro tempore. The why. right. Chair recognizes the gentleman from If we default on our bills, the interest I know that, if we can move past all Connecticut (Mr. LARSON) for 5 min- on all our loans would skyrocket just the political posturing, we can reach a as your interest rate would go up if you utes. bipartisan agreement that protects So- Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Thank missed a credit card payment. This cial Security, Medicaid and Medicare, you, Mr. Speaker. means disaster for all American fami- that reduces the debt, and that saves I want to start first of all by talking lies. The median 30-year home loan our economy from the disaster of de- about the tenor of debate in this Cham- would increase by almost $20,000, or 10 fault. We must do it now. ber. Historically, we’ve had great de- percent. This would hurt an already f bates in this Chamber. I think that the struggling housing market, pushing Speaker of the House, JOHN BOEHNER, b 1010 home sale prices down and potentially is an honorable man who cares deeply leaving more borrowers underwater. HOUSE REPUBLICANS LEADING about this institution, and I think on If we default on our bills, the stock THE WAY TO RESPONSIBILITY both sides of the aisle we have very in- market could plunge, and Americans in telligent people who care passionately their fifties would lose almost $9,000 The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from about their beliefs. We have a Nation immediately from the typical 401(k). that’s in the midst of the worst reces- The S&P 500 could lose 6.3 percent in South Carolina (Mr.

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