Restoring Honest Leadership, Civility, and Fiscal Responsibility

RESTORING HONEST LEADERSHIP, CIVILITY, AND FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

WASHINGTON, D.C.–Madame Speaker, I rise today in support of H.Res. 6, the House Rules Package for the 110th Congress. With the passage of this resolution, we are committing ourselves to restore honest leadership, civility, and fiscal responsibility to the U.S. House of Representatives. It is a commitment that we owe to our constituents and to our nation.

Unfortunately, over the past several years, the House of Representatives was transformed from the people's House into a legislative body where those who could afford to make their influence felt far too often held sway. Legislation was enacted that benefited the wealthy few instead of the vast majority. Legislation was enacted — often in the middle of the night — without time for review or careful consideration. Legislation was enacted to benefit those who could afford to pay for fancy meals and golf vacations while legislation that would improve wages and the qualify of life for working Americans was ignored. The process was abused, votes were held open, and amendments were prohibited from being offered. The losers have been the American public.

Perhaps the single best example of these abuses is the Medicare Modernization Act, a law which actually prohibits Medicare from negotiating for drug savings, as the VA and large employers do today, and by doing so guarantees that senior citizens and persons with disabilities will pay more than they should for the drugs that they need. This law would not have been enacted if pharmaceutical companies had not been allowed to use undue influence, if Democratic conferees had not been locked out of the negotiations, if members had not been intimidated on the House floor, and if the final vote had not been held open for nearly three hours to change the outcome.

During the first 100 hours of the 110th Congress, we will eliminate this prohibition and require that Medicare use its bargaining clout on behalf of consumers. Today, we are taking steps to make sure that the procedural abuses that were used to enact that prohibition will become a relic of the past.

We also begin the 110th Congress by putting our financial house in order. The past six years of fiscal mismanagement has turned a $5.6 trillion surplus into an over $3 trillion deficit. The passage of H.Res. 6 will help us get our current debt and financial crisis under control while allowing us to make the investments needed for American families and our economic future.

With the restoration of pay-as-you-go budgeting, Congress will not be able to increase the deficit and make future generations of Americans carry a debt load so that today's wealthy can get tax cuts like the ones passed over the past few years. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, those tax cuts, which primarily benefit the very rich, are the main cause of our country's fiscal reversal. Reining in the spiraling debt will give us a chance to invest in our communities, create jobs, provide retirement security, and stimulate our economy.

Transparency requirements for earmarks will also help us make certain that taxpayers' dollars are put to good use while eliminating wasteful spending. I believe that district-specific earmarks on appropriations or other legislation should not be provided unless they directly improve our communities. Requiring better disclosure of sponsorship of earmarks and ensuring that Members have no personal financial interest in the request will help us guarantee that the funding is targeted to essential infrastructure improvements, community development, vital research, and other important programs. Congress has a long history of providing earmarks for such projects, and I support their continued funding and eliminating the abuses of earmarks like the "Bridge to Nowhere....

H.Res. 6 is the first action of the 110th Congress. By its passage, we are demonstrating to the American public that we are going to return the House of Representatives to its rightful role as being the People's House — not just in procedures but also in policy.