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, THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2011 No. 91 House of Representatives The House met at 10 a.m. and was even with nations like Iran working REPUBLICAN WOMEN IN called to order by the Speaker pro tem- with the United States in that critical CONGRESS pore (Mr. FITZPATRICK). 2001–2002 post-9/11 era. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The f It was a tragic mistake not to finish Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from the job and withdraw with global sup- DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO Tennessee (Mrs. BLACKBURN) for 5 min- port. Instead, the Bush administration, TEMPORE utes. sadly, with support from too many in Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, ear- The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- Congress, started a reckless, flawed lier this week my Republican female fore the House the following commu- and ultimately tragic war in Iraq. colleagues spent an hour on the floor of nication from the Speaker: President Obama reasonably says this great Chamber talking about why WASHINGTON, DC, that we won’t try to make Afghanistan they have chosen to come to Congress, June 23, 2011. a perfect place. We won’t because we talking about why they have chosen to I hereby appoint the Honorable MIKE leave the private sector and come to FITZPATRICK to act as Speaker pro tempore can’t. America has already invested on this day. enough, direct costs of over 1,500 Amer- the public sector, and talked about JOHN A. BOEHNER, ican lives, approaching one-half tril- why it is so important, so vitally im- Speaker of the House of Representatives. lion dollars. Indirect and long-term portant that they chose to come as Re- f will be much greater. Bear in mind, we publican women. have invested $2 trillion in the war I think that as you listened to that MORNING-HOUR DEBATE against terror, and the long-term costs debate, their stories were inspiring. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- are going to be between $4 trillion and You realized the diversity of the back- ant to the order of the House of Janu- $6 trillion. ground of the Republican women that ary 5, 2011, the Chair will now recog- In Afghanistan, ultimately there will have come to this Chamber, the rich- nize Members from lists submitted by be a negotiated settlement with the ness of the experiences, the life experi- the majority and minority leaders for least, worst guys, the Taliban and war- ences that they have brought with morning-hour debate. lords, assorted tribal strongmen. It’s them. You also realized how solidly The Chair will alternate recognition already started. and firmly committed they are to between the parties, with each party strengthening and preserving this We cannot afford to continue this ef- limited to 1 hour and each Member great Nation. fort, not when crying needs are here in other than the majority and minority I think it’s fair to say that our Re- America to rebuild and renew our leaders and the minority whip limited publican philosophy of government country. to 5 minutes each, but in no event shall centers on faith, family, freedom, hope, debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. Last week, the American mayors got opportunity, and preserving those te- it right when they called this question f nets that really underpin this Nation. and called for renewed investment here I can say that, as a wife, a mother, a TROOP WITHDRAWAL FROM at home. The tragedy is that it’s not grandmother, a small business owner, AFGHANISTAN ultimately going to make that much I’ve had the blessing of learning first- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The difference the longer we’re there and hand how very important it is that we Chair recognizes the gentleman from the more we fight. Whether it’s going take our conservative philosophy of Oregon (Mr. BLUMENAUER) for 5 min- to be 1 year, 2 years, 10 years, far in the life and government into the public utes. future, it’s not going to look that sector of our Nation. Daily we work to Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, much different in terms of the ultimate preserve opportunities for all of our it’s time, after a decade, to wind down outcome in Afghanistan. children and our grandchildren. this American-Afghanistan adventure. America needs to be engaged in this We work to make certain that each With his speech last night, President dangerous region. It needs to help Af- and every child in our presence knows Obama started a process America needs ghanistan. It needs to help the Paki- the value of, and realizes there is an to accelerate, removing 100,000 combat stani people. It needs to be involved, opportunity for them to achieve the troops from Afghanistan. both diplomatically and with develop- American Dream; that it is a good I supported the initial move 10 years ment assistance. No longer do we need thing, a healthy thing for them to ago against the Taliban in Afghani- to have combat troops being a part of dream big dreams and to work very stan. It began on a very hopeful note, that mission. hard to make those dreams come true. 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. H4463 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:18 Jun 24, 2011 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A23JN7.000 H23JNPT1 rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with HOUSE H4464 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE June 23, 2011 We know, and we teach our children moral issue. Trillions of dollars are MESSAGES FROM THE PRESIDENT in our families and our extended fami- spent on undeclared wars, but who’s Messages in writing from the Presi- lies, in our classrooms, that if you paying for it? The poorest among us, dent of the United States were commu- work hard, you exercise discipline, you the lesser among us—in health care, in nicated to the House by Mr. Pate, one show integrity, and you put others education, in homelessness, in jobless- of his secretaries. first, that inevitably, you’re going to ness. And now the wealthiest of Ameri- prevail and enjoy seeing your dreams cans have the lowest tax rates since f come true in the marketplace of prod- 1950. And really, it just bothers people THE FAIR TAX ucts and ideas. when you say they, too, should make We all know, and we work hard so some sacrifices, not just for the war The SPEAKER pro tempore. The that our children don’t have to work that I don’t support, but for the secu- Chair recognizes the gentleman from harder. We work hard so that we’re giv- rity, the economic security of this Na- Georgia (Mr. WOODALL) for 5 minutes. ing more opportunities to the next gen- tion, where the debt ceiling is going to Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I am eration. be an issue, and yet those that are pay- pleased to rise today after the former That is why you’re going to see our ing for the cuts have nothing to do chairman of the Ways and Means Com- Republican Conference women con- with the crisis that we’re in. mittee. I want to talk about taxes tinue to lead the fight on preserving So I conclude, I’ll be back in support today, but I want to associate myself jobs, rebuilding jobs, rebuilding this of H.R. 1152. And I will ask you to con- with the previous speaker’s comments economy, making certain that the 21st sider that as we wind down from our in- about how we make different decisions century economy is jobs-rich for our volvement in the Middle East, think when we have skin in the game because children and our grandchildren. about giving some relief to our volun- that is absolutely something that we That is why we have taken the lead teers. Think about asking young Amer- are losing in this country. We are los- on the issue of health care. Women are icans to make some type of commit- ing what used to be that common value the drivers when it comes to health ment. Think about having an America that we rise and we fall together. care decisions, and we are committed that says, yes, I support the involve- I see my colleague from the Rules to making certain that we reverse this ment and am prepared to make sac- Committee, Mr. MCGOVERN, sitting in course that we are on with ObamaCare, rifices, which includes my family, my the Chamber today. And he tells the that we push to repeal that law, and community, and our great Nation. committee on a regular basis that we that we make certain we preserve ac- We should not just have professional need to pay for those things that we do. cess to affordable health care for ev- volunteers; it is not American, it is not We’re involved in wars, and we need to eryone in this Nation. moral. When our country is involved, pay. We need to have a populace that We are committed to strengthening everyone should be prepared either to believes in what we’re doing in such a our Nation, our economy, jobs, stand up and be counted or don’t sup- way that they are willing to sacrifice strengthening our people, and making port this type of involvement.