House Proceeding 02-06-07 on Feb 6th, 2007 :: 4:09:13 to 4:18:13
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4:01:50 to 4:09:13( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Mike Ross

4:08:59 to 4:09:13( Edit History Discussion )

Mike Ross: i yield to the gentleman from kentucky, mr. chandler. mr. chandler: thank you, mr. ross, i appreciate all that the gentleman from arkansas is doing to bring these issues to the american people,

4:09:13 to 4:09:29( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: because i believe they're extremely important and i know all members of the blue dog coalition believe that accountability and responsibility to the people of our nation is of the utmost importance.

4:09:13 to 4:18:13( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Ben Chandler

4:09:29 to 4:09:45( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: mr. speaker, the president sent a $2.9 trillion budget to congress yesterday. that's quite a lot of money. and you would think that among those trillions of hard earned tax dollars, the president

4:09:45 to 4:10:05( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: would find resources for the most essential services, like education for our kids and health care for our veterans. but once again, those who need our help the most are the very people who have

4:10:05 to 4:10:26( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: been pushed aside. if we follow this budget, medicaid and medicare will be cut by $101 billion over the next five years. health care for our veterans will be slashed by $3.5 billion over five

4:10:26 to 4:10:41( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: years. perkins loans funds for our college students will be recalled. and no child left behind will be underfunded by some $15 billion. the president, in addition, would have us cut state preparedness

4:10:41 to 4:10:57( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: training programs and firefighter and law enforcement grants, depriving our first responders of the funds necessary to operate in this post-9/11 world. these policies make no sense. they rob

4:10:57 to 4:11:17( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: our children of opportunity, make our communities less safe and dishonor those who have sacrificed while wearing our nation's uniform. i could understand some of these cuts if they were being

4:11:17 to 4:11:30( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: made in the name of fiscal responsibility. but they are not. if we were truly making an effort to reduce our public debt, i could and i believe the american people could accept some pain.

4:11:30 to 4:11:50( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: because the cause we would be fighting in that case would be a good one, and it would be our future. but that's not the case. this budget is not trying to reduce the debt. the president's

4:11:50 to 4:12:10( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: budget will drag us even deeper into debt to the tune of $3.2 trillion over the next 10 years. trillion. that's a lot of money. burdening future generations with mountains of debt not of their own making.

4:12:10 to 4:12:30( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: mr. speaker, when i talk with my constituents back home in communities rich in values and common sense, they ask me a simple question over and over again. where is their tax money going? if we're

4:12:30 to 4:12:48( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: cutting all of these programs yet going deeper into debt, what value are we getting for our tax dollar? we owe it to our constituents to answer these questions, and it starts with ending the black

4:12:48 to 4:13:04( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: hole of waste, fraud and abuse that is plaguing our reconstruction efforts in iraq. here are the facts -- we've already budgeted some $108 billion on reconstruction, yet the inspector general

4:13:04 to 4:13:26( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: for iraq reconstruction is telling us that we haven't come close to recovering the level of basic services that iraqis enjoyed under saddam hussein. here's the return americans are getting

4:13:26 to 4:13:50( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: on their over $100 billion tax investment. only 25% of iraqis have access to clean water, access to modern sewer facilities remains an incredible problem for most iraqi families. iraqis

4:13:50 to 4:14:08( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: now have electricity for only 4.3 hours per day. and oil production is down almost 1 million -- one million barrels a day since before the war. how long are we going to let this farce continue? we

4:14:08 to 4:14:26( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: can argue all day about spending priorities, but can we not at least agree to make sure that our tax dollars are being efficiently spent to accomplish good? because right now the only thing i see

4:14:26 to 4:14:40( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: these tax dollars are doing efficiently is lining the pockets of government contractors. how many reports of jobs being billed that were never authorized, jobs being started without permission,

4:14:40 to 4:14:58( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: individuals admitting to stealing millions of reconstruction dollars and private contractors, such as halliburton, being awarded unprecedented numbers of no-bid government contracts do we have

4:14:58 to 4:15:15( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: to put up with before we do something about it? well, mr. speaker, it is my belief and the belief of the blue dog coalition that we must demand accountability. the president with his proposed

4:15:15 to 4:15:31( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: budget is telling our seniors, our students, our veterans and our working families that our country doesn't have the money to help pay for their health care or for their education. i

4:15:31 to 4:15:44( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: say we'll come closer to having the money for health care and education if we stop mismanaging funds in iraq and greezing the pockets of contractors who are failing -- greasing the pockets

4:15:44 to 4:16:00( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: of contractors who are failing to get the job done. that's why our coalition, the blue dog coalition, has introduced the house resolution for the operation iraqi freedom cost accountability.

4:16:00 to 4:16:18( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: in the spirit of the truman committee, which defeated so much corruption and saved our country in excess of $15 billion during world war ii, this resolution outlines the critical steps this

4:16:18 to 4:16:35( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: body must take to hold the administration accountable for its neglect of taxpayer dollars. it's our constitutional obligation as members of this body to provide oversight for war spending,

4:16:35 to 4:16:52( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: and congress has neglected this duty for far too long. we owe it to the taxpayers of this country, to the troops who are fighting this war, and, yes, we owe it to future generations who are going

4:16:52 to 4:17:05( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: to be financing this war for many, many, many years to come to stop the wasteful spending of this administration and war profiteering by contractors. we need a modern-day truman committee and we need

4:17:05 to 4:17:23( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: transparency on how iraq war funds are being spent. the days of offering the president a blank check are over. we need to ask the tough questions and we need to send a message that waste,

4:17:23 to 4:17:40( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: fraud and abuse in iraq reconstruction just simply will not be tolerated. i thank all of my fellow blue dogs for the work that they're doing on this issue, for continuing to raise awareness,

4:17:40 to 4:17:57( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: and i hope that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join forces to restore fiscal integrity to this war. thank you, mr. ross. i appreciate the time, i appreciate the job that you're

4:17:57 to 4:18:13( Edit History Discussion )

Ben Chandler: doing, and i yield back. mr. ross: i thank the gentleman from kentucky for his valued insight into h.r. 97, which is the blue dog endorsed house resolution to demand accountability and fiscal

4:18:13 to 4:18:28( Edit History Discussion )

Mike Ross: responsibility in how tax money is being spent in iraq, some $9 billion a month. put another way, some $12 million an hour. let me be clear that as members of the blue dawley coalition, we support

4:18:13 to 4:19:59( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Mike Ross