E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 112 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION

Vol. 157 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, JULY 26, 2011 No. 113 House of Representatives The House met at 10 a.m. and was are in the conundrum we are in today Remember what happened on the called to order by the Speaker pro tem- with the debt ceiling, something that floor of the House when we were debat- pore (Mr. ROSS of Florida). has routinely been increased year after ing Republican and Democratic alter- f year for decades. natives to the budget? The Republican It was on full display in the Repub- Study Group offered up their proposal DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO lican-controlled House yesterday as we that went even further than my friend, TEMPORE debated the Interior appropriation bill. PAUL RYAN’s. And when it was passing, The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- Now remember, last week Republicans we watched Republicans start to twist fore the House the following commu- took to the floor with a so-called ‘‘cut, arms to get people to vote against it nication from the Speaker: cap, and balance’’ proposal, which is because, again, it was something they WASHINGTON, DC, their answer going forward with the thought was great politics and theater; July 26, 2011. economy. It would impose an 18 per- but if it came closer to reality, they I hereby appoint the Honorable DENNIS cent of GDP limit on the amount of understood that it would hurt them if ROSS to act as Speaker pro tempore on this spending that the Federal Government the American public understood the day. could employ in any one year. Now re- real agenda. JOHN A. BOEHNER, member, that is not what we have done Speaker of the House of Representatives. Well, we are now at a very serious for years. never pro- stage dealing with the debt ceiling. Ac- f posed a budget that was even as low as tions matter. Too many are still acting 21 percent of gross domestic product. MORNING-HOUR DEBATE like they’re on the campaign trail or at So it’s a dramatic reduction, more a Tea Party rally or on a Fox TV The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- than 14 percent less than anything shout-fest. There have already been ant to the order of the House of Janu- Ronald Reagan ever proposed. negative consequences from the reck- ary 5, 2011, the Chair will now recog- Well, yesterday in the debate my col- less action of holding the debt ceiling nize Members from lists submitted by league from Kansas offered an amend- hostage—American businesses are pay- the majority and minority leaders for ment, an amendment that I personally ing more; there are threats that we’re morning-hour debate. found destructive and unbalanced that going to be paying more for interest in The Chair will alternate recognition would have done terrible things, sin- the international bond market. between the parties, with each party gling out for elimination the National limited to 1 hour and each Member Endowment for the Arts, the National It’s past time to stop this dangerous other than the majority and minority Endowment for the Humanities, zero- posturing. There is enough irrespon- leaders and the minority whip limited ing out important resources for con- sibility displayed already, we should to 5 minutes each, but in no event shall struction for fish and wildlife, con- avoid putting the rhetoric, in effect, debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. struction and acquisition of land. It into a budget. f would be a 30 percent reduction in Now is the time to stop playing water infrastructure. Overall, it would games on the budget deficit. We’ve STOP PLAYING GAMES WITH THE have been an 11 percent reduction. But seen this movie before. The last time DEFICIT at least it was honest. the Republicans took control in 1995 The SPEAKER pro tempore. The This is where in fact some of my Re- there was a debate on imposing a bal- Chair recognizes the gentleman from publican colleagues want to go. In fact, anced budget amendment. It failed by (Mr. BLUMENAUER) for 5 min- it is less than what they would have one vote in the Senate, and it failed utes. imposed with their proposal the week with the single Republican ‘‘no’’ vote, Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, before. As I argued against the amend- Mark Hatfield from Oregon. Senator there is an air of unreality here on ment on the floor, I predicted that it Hatfield, in a profile in courage, stood Capitol Hill. There are some people would fail overwhelmingly, that many up and made clear that he was all in with no experience in government, lit- Republicans would vote against it be- favor of balancing the budget, but not tle knowledge, and less regard about cause even though they are willing to with a gimmick long into the future. the outcomes who are pontificating, make reckless proposals disconnected He was chair of the Appropriations lecturing, and threatening. The dis- from reality if the only consequences Committee. He invited his colleagues connect between the rhetoric, the re- are polls and politics, when it really to make the action by reducing the ality between governance and an ideo- comes down to basics, even they don’t budget, not playing games with gim- logical agenda is in large part why we want to impose it. micks. That’s what we should do today.

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.

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