Date: 2007-10-03
Speaker: TUBBS JONES (democrat)
Chamber: H

TIM. we used to play football once upon a time. and I remember being on the sideline as a freshman member of the football team. I used to be what they call a "headhunter." I used to break the wedge in kickoff. Thats the way I got on the bus to be able to travel. And many times I would sit on the sideline and say. "Wow. the coach just let me in. Ill sack that quarterback." Well. you know. this is one of these moments. Im so glad that Im a Member of Congress and its been federalized by the people of the 17th Congressional District to come up here and represent them and the American people. And Im proud of the fact that we have passed a childrens health care bill that covers children that are in need. that means families. that means a healthier America. that means better test scores. that means lower cost to State and local communities from picking up emergency room bills where they end up getting the care because they have to provide the care. but theres no way to pay for the care. then raise local taxes on the local community because of that lack of health care insurance for that uninsured child. Im so glad that Ive had the experience of walking to a CVS. WalMart. whatever you want to call it. into a drugstore. and Im glad as a Member of Congress I have witnessed mothers and fathers trying .to figure out how they can stop their child from coughing and how can they prevent the sickness that is spreading in some communities based on the fact that it is financially challenged. need it be urban or rural. Im glad Im here to give them voice because apparently. Mr. Speaker. there are some Members in this Chamber and there are some Members in the other Chamber over in the Senate that. in my opinion. are failing to represent that side of America. One may say. well. Congressman. I understand. colleague. what have you. youre talking about those other folks. youre not talking about me. Well. guess what? Im so glad. Mr. MURPHY. that I have health care insurance. but I didnt ask my constituents to elect me so that I could have health care insurance and they cant. Thats not how this thing works. And my kids. like Mr. RYAN said. they go to school with other kids. and if those kids dont have the necessary insurance to have preventive care to head off some of the major issues thattheyre going to face because theyre getting drugstore care. the best care that their parents can provide for them. theyre going to make my child sick. So now were back to the point of fiscal responsibility and were back to the point of doing the right thing and good government and where I left off. Im glad Mrs. TUBBS JONES mentioned that this is a bipartisan bill. passed this House overwhelmingly. passed the Senate with _a very good vote. Now the question comes to my Republican colleagues. because the President is not going to run for President again. and the thing about it is that we have term limits on the Presidency of the United States. and thats been carved out long before my presence here in Congress and long before my mothers presence here in Congress. But Mr. RYAN pointed something out. because Im putting this back on the Members of the House and the Senate and the Congress. because I dont want Members going home saying. well. you know. the President. and the President this and the President that. My constituents want more than that. Its almost like when I walk into my Baptist church. they want to hear more as a Christian than one day Jesus Christ. he died on Calvary. They need to hear more than that. They need to hear more of a story. They need to hear more of the reason why we practice that certain religion. Putting that aside just for a moment. our constituents have to know more about whats going on here in Washington. DC. That parent needs to know why. The President is saying socialized medicine. Well. thats what he says. thats his Potomac twostep because the average American doesnt even know what youre talking about when you say "socialized medicine." They understand health care. ] 2045 They understand being able to take their child to a doctor and the States understand. the 43 or 46 Governors that are supporting the SCHIP bill. they understand getting a block grant from the Federal Government so they can provide healthcare for their children. I would like to talk a little bit about what Mr. RYAN mentioned. This President and the past Republican majority here in this House irresponsibly gave tax cuts to billionaires and millionaires and then turned around and gave unprecedented subsidies to oil companies of some $50 billion. $8 billion in lost waste. fraud and abuse of nobid contracts in Iraq. billions of dollars for schools and roads and clinics in Iraq. stood up here tearyeyed saying. "We need to help the Iraqi people." Well. I want folks to get tearyeyed about helping American children and their families. I want them to get tearyeyed. I want them to get emotional. When you look at this foreign debt hold. no other time in the history of this country have we ever been in the fiscal situation that this President has put us in and the Republican. thank God the minority now. has put us in in the past. and this is what we owe these foreign countries. I am going to move on because I know we have some Members here. Here is another issue. When you look at the cost of the war and how many kids can be enrolled in Healthy Start. I am just going to use the per hour number. $13.7 million. 2.000 kids can be enrolled. And then I am going to jump up here to the 1year cost. $120 billion for the 1year cost. 16.7 million kids can go into Healthy Start. Now. that is just Healthy Start. We come to the floor with the facts. not fiction. Here is the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. I just want to make sure that all the Members are with me on this. The cost of the Iraq war is rising. Again. here are the numbers. Per second. Since I have been here talking a few seconds have passed. Per. second. $3.816 is being spent per second. Do you hear the Members down here talking about wasteful spending. anything like that? Meanwhile. we are giving the Iraqi Government all kind of chances. To further drive my point home. here it is. President Bush. Members are familiar with this. doubled the foreignheld debt. It took 42 Presidents 224 years to build up $1 trillion in foreign debt. All these Presidents. this President and his Republican colleagues here in Congress have been able to build up more than 42 presidents. 224 years of history. $1.19 trillion in debt over the last 6 years.. and we have turned that around. pr are trying to turn that around here. Here they are. These are my Republican colleagues and the President of the United States. Many in this picture are my friends. But I tell you one thing: When we send this and we go to try to override the President of the United States of America and standing in the schoolhouse door not allowing kids to have health care in this country. I want to know. are you going to march down to the White House like you did when we put time limits on this war and accountability on this war to push the Iraqi Government to where they need to be to get our combat troops out of harms way and to get their troops qn the ground? The last time. Mr. Speaker. I was on the floor was Monday with Mrs. TUBBS JONES. I walked downstairs and I dont know his name. But it was one of our people that work here in the Capitol that constantly bring the folks over from Walter Reed on what we call the "twilight tour." walking around here in the Capitol. Mr. MURPHY. and getting a tour of the Capitol. I am sorry. his name escapes me at this point. This vet was there with involuntary jerking of his right arm. As a matter of fact. I am shocked that they were even able to save his arm. It was so twisted with cuts and stitches and all those things. But he was happy to walk into this Capitol of great democracy. But guess what? He had a child. too. So we get all excited about. we are for the troops. and I am for the troops. and you are soft and I am hard and all that kind of stuff. That is rhetoric. The real bottom line comes down to. what are you going to do as a Members of Congress? Not as some sort of speech giver or note reader or whatever the case may be. What are you going to do as it relates to being a Member of Congress? Are you going to go down and stand with the President and say. "Im with the President"? Or are you going to be with the children of the United States of America?