Date: 2007-06-12
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Chairman. I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman. 28 years ago I first took to this floor as a newly elected Member of Congress from the State of California. At that time we were spending more than we were taking in. At that time I was one of those who joined -others. oftentimes. in voting against appropriation bills because we were not taking seriously enough the direction of the people that we represented to. yes. spend money where necessary. but get our financial house in order. During those first 10 years I served in this House. many times I was on the short end of spending votes. I recall during the 8 years of Ronald Reagan supporting him oftentimes on vetoes. And we managed to bring some of the spending down that was presented to him on occasion. but we still didnt do a good enough job. I left this House for 16 years. and when I returned. I thought maybe we would see another day. Well. I was doubly disappointed because my party. then being in power. was not doing that .which I thought was necessary. again. to bring our financial house in order. And as much as I worked hard to ensure that my party would retain the majority status in both Houses. the people spoke otherwise. And I thought maybe this would give us an opportunity to finally get our fiscal house in order. because I had watched as we had dropped the banner of fiscal responsibility. .1 had watched. during the election. my friends on the -other side of the aisle picking it up and suggesting that if they were put in charge. they would do what we had promisedto do in the past. � And alas. I thought that we had some suggestion that that might be the case as the majority party took over and. in adopting the rules. took the rules that we had on some reform of earmarks and actually built upon them. suggesting to all of us and to the public at large that we would. in fact. be more transparent. that we would. in fact. be more accountable. that we would. in fact. have greater responsibility for all Members individually. and in this body. collectively. And then I look at the very first bill that is presented here for this -fiscal year from the Appropriations Committee. and I must register deep disappointment. In the first instance. this is an important bill. the appropriations for Homeland Security. There is probably no other appropriation bill that is more worthy of consideration. except perhaps the DOD. because. fundamentally. we are responsible for providing the security of the people who send us here. And yet. while the people tell us that is what they want us to do. they also suggest that we need to get our fiscal - house in order. So how do we balance that? It seems to me we have to be honest with ourselves. If we get rid of all waste. fraud and abuse. we still wont get our fiscal house in order. We have to have the courage to look at important bills such as this bill and say. are we spending wisely?- Is every dollar spent here necessary? Do we need to have .a 13.6 increase over nonemergency appropriations from the previous fiscal year? And I would suggest that unless we look carefully at bills such as these. which are the most important bills that we have before us. we will never do the peoples work appropriately. And Id just ask. how is it that we say we are going to be more faithful to our commitment to the people. to give them a sense of responsibility. when we are told that we wont know what earmarks there are when we vote on the bill because they wont be there then. but they will somehow be dropped in in the conference report? I dont understand how that increases transparency. \ Now. I was just a lowly English major. and so Im burdened by looking at the dictionary. And transparency means that you see better. that you see through things. that it is more obvious to you. not obscured. And for the life of me. I cant understand. if Im denied the list of appropriations that are going to be put -into that bill at the time Im voting for it. how that fits the simple dictionary definition of transparency. Perhaps I can be aided by the other side to explain this to mne. because I cannot understand it.