H82 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE January 8, 2009 

in them, and I know that they know 

that government isn’t necessarily the 

answer to all of our woes. 

We are talking about solutions. We 

have remarkable challenges, and everybody wants a solution to this. But the 

root word of ‘‘solution’’ is to solve, and 

to take government money that has 

been talked about here that is not the 

government’s money, that is the people’s money, I am making just a short 

point on that, this is tax money that 

we don’t have; that we don’t have. 

People think we are talking about 

this $1.2 trillion or something like it is 

sitting over here in the corner and all 

we have got to do is figure out how to 

spend it. Well, it is not. It is on the 

backs of the children, grandchildren 

and now great grandchildren of the 

adults in this Nation. That is wrong. 

That is wrong. 

There is a solution. There are positive solutions out there. You and our 

colleagues have talked about some of 

them today. They are allowing Americans to keep more of their hard-earned 

money, making it so that businesses, 

small and large, can create jobs, 

unlock the credit crisis, the credit 

freeze that we have had, and make certain that we move in a direction that 

allows the economy to expand and allows jobs to grow without spending 

money that we don’t have. 

That is one of the huge differences 

between the folks in charge right now 

and those of us who believe strongly in 

the American people and believe 

strongly in American principle, in 

American vision and American values, 

that would embrace a solution that 

would champion the individual, champion the American people. 

So I want to commend you for what 

you are doing, and just mention that 

one of the casualties of all of this discussion is the concept of what a zero 

means. A zero tacked on to a zero 

tacked on to a zero with a one put in 

front is a lot of money when you get a 

lot of zeros, and the American people, 

frankly, Members of Congress, have 

lost sight about what a trillion dollars 

is. 

One trillion dollars is virtually onethird of our current revenue that 

comes into the Federal Government, 

and when we are talking about trillion 

dollar deficits, that is spending again 

money that we don’t have for, as the 

President-elect said today, as far as we 

can see. That is not the kind of policy 

that will result in positive improvement for the men and women across 

this Nation and growth in our economy, which is what we need. 

The gentleman from Georgia knows 

that, having served at the State level 

and having put in place policies that 

have created remarkable opportunity 

for so many people. I wanted to thank 

you for your leadership. 

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Thank you. 

Let me say this. I think $1 trillion is 

actually 12 zeros. That is amazing. So I 

hope, Mr. Speaker, that anybody that 

is watching would go to a Web site that 

has got some of these math solutions 

on it and look at exactly how much $1 

trillion is. 

One billion seconds, one billion seconds is 32 years. There are 60 seconds in 

a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 

hours in a day, 365 days in a year. One 

billion seconds is 32 years. And we are 

talking trillions now, trillions with a 

‘‘T.’’ 

Mr. Speaker, when I was running for 

office, when I was running for Congress, I had served in the State legislature. I went to a gathering and I met 

somebody there, he was a lobbyist for 

the peanut shellers, and as I got on the 

plane to come back to Georgia I 

thought to myself, you know, everybody must have a lobbyist. Everybody. 

If the peanut shellers of America have 

a lobbyist, then everybody must have a 

lobbyist. 

But I thought of one group, one group 

and only one group in this country that 

does not have a lobbyist, and Mr. 

Speaker, you probably know who that 

group is, and I would imagine that anybody watching this knows what that 

group is. But in case you don’t or you 

may have forgotten, I am going to tell 

you who that group is that does not 

have a lobbyist up here. That is the 

American people. 

The American people have representatives up here. They have somebody 

that is supposed to represent them on 

this floor. And about half of America is 

being shut out because of the process. 

We are going to bring bills to the floor 

that are going to deal with the deficit. 

We are going to bring bills to the floor 

that are going to deal with the national debt. We are going to bring bills 

to the floor that are going to talk 

about health care and are going to talk 

about all different types of things. 

Half of this body, Mr. Speaker, half 

of the Representatives, who are the 

only people in this city that represent 

our people back home, are going to be 

shut out of the process, because it is 

going to be done under suspension, 

which is a form that the majority has 

chosen to do some very important bills, 

without debate, without committee 

hearings, without input, in fact, a lot 

of times without even being available 

to be read for two or three hours. 

That is no way to do business. So we 

not only have the problems that we 

have discussed here today with the 

budget, with the deficit, with the national debt. This whole process is broken. The whole process is broken. 

The gentlelady from Ohio, the gentleman from New Jersey, myself, we all 

had amendments and different ideas 

that we wanted to put in this legislation. What is so wrong with letting us 

vote on it? Why did this have to happen 

so quickly and so immediately? Why is 

something more important than open, 

honest, fair debate? There is no disinfectant in the world like sunlight. So 

we need to open up this process. We 

need to have sunlight. 

Mr. Speaker, if I could tell the American people anything, it is to understand that the only person in Washington, D.C., that is here on your behalf is your Representative. And let me 

tell you something, you better keep a 

close eye on him or her to make sure 

that they are representing you, and not 

only that they are representing you, 

but that they have the ability to have 

some input into what is happening in 

this body. 

There are many Members in the majority party that can’t get any input if 

they disagree with what is going on, 

not just if you are in the minority, but 

if you are in the majority. This has 

been a closed system, a closed House. 

I am not saying we did it perfectly, 

Mr. Speaker, when we were in charge 

for 12 years. But I want to put all of 

that aside. President-elect Obama gave 

many people in this country hope. He 

gave them hope and he promised 

change, and part of that hope and that 

change was to open up the process and 

to work in a bipartisan way. 

So as I am closing today, I want to 

hope. My hope is that your hope will be 

brought to fruition, and that we can sit 

in this Chamber and we can have open, 

honest discussions about how the constituents of the Third District of Georgia feel, or how the district of the 

gentlelady from Ohio’s feels, or how 

the district of the gentleman from Virginia feels. We will make sure that our 

600,000 or 700,000 constituents give the 

only representation they have in this 

body the ability to speak, to speak 

freely and openly and share ideas, not 

only with their colleagues, but with everybody in this country. 

So, Mr. Speaker, if I could ask for 

them to contact their Representative, I 

would, and pay attention, because I 

promise you that nobody is going to 

look after you if they know that you 

are not looking at them. 

Mr. Speaker, with that, I appreciate 

the opportunity that the minority 

leader gave me to share this hour with 

you and others. 

f 

HOUR OF MEETING ON TOMORROW 

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I ask 

unanimous consent that when the 

House adjourns today, it adjourn to 

meet at 9 a.m. tomorrow. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland). Is there objection 

to the request of the gentlewoman 

from Ohio? 

There was no objection. 

f 

AUTHORIZING THE SPEAKER TO 

ENTERTAIN MOTIONS TO SUSPEND THE RULES ON TOMORROW 

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I ask 

unanimous consent that the Speaker 

be authorized to entertain motions to 

suspend the rules relating to House 

Resolution 34 on the legislative day of 

Friday, January 9, 2009. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there 

objection the request of the gentlewoman from Ohio? 

There was no objection. 


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