Economy & Budget

We all know about the tens of billions of dollars in contract overruns that Halliburton's Kellogg, Brown, and Root unit has deferred to the American taxpayer in Iraq.

But few know about the fly-by night startup firm, Custer Battles, who somehow managed to win a $13 million contract to provide security at Baghdad airport, despite having no security industry experience at all. This firm was so corrupt, that when contracted to provide trucks to the military, Custer Battles scrounged up any and every truck they could - even if most of them weren't operable. One Army general called it the worst case of fraud he'd seen in thirty years.

So it is of little surprise to anyone here, that neither the Coalition Provisional Authority nor the Pentagon, nor the State Department nor U.S. AID, which all rely heavily on these firms, have any idea what these security firms are actually doing in Iraq.

In this wild, wild West atmosphere, millions of dollars worth of security related contracts are awarded overnight, many of them without competition or cost controls. There simply needs to be greater transparency and accountability over private military contractors.

It is the worst kind of hypocrisy for Congress to vote itself another pay increase this year while continuing to ignore the hardworking families struggling to survive on the minimum wage. With this proposed increase, Congress will have increased its own salary by more than $34,000 in the last nine years, while minimum wage workers have not seen another cent in their paychecks. How can Congress keep saying yes to itself, and no to these millions of deserving working families? It’s long past time for Congress to give these hardworking Americans a raise.

In May, while I was doing meetings around my Ohio district, I realized that the penalty system in the Medicare Prescription Drug plan was pretty misleading.  We have been telling seniors that if they chose not to enroll before May 15th, they would face a 1% per month late penalty.  But seniors actually can't sign up until the open enrollment in November.  So, even if you wanted to enroll in June and pay a 1% penalty, you have to wait until November and pay 7%.  That seemed unfair to me so I introduced the TIME Act yesterday which opens enrollment again for the remainder of 2006 and charges a true 1% per month penalty.

I know there are over 100 proposals to change Medicare and I'm not here to add another log to the fire.  My bill is a compromise to the proposals to waive the late penalty altogether.  Because the program is brand new and the penalty stays with you for the rest of your life, we need to make sure seniors understand the late penalty and get a fair shake at participating.

Unless the Republican leadership gets in the way, the House is now poised to vote to increase the national minimum wage for the first time in a decade, after a crucial vote in the Appropriations Committee yesterday on an amendment offered by Congressman Steny Hoyer to increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25. For the almost 8 million American workers who struggle to survive on minimum wages, this potential raise is long overdue.

Congress has not raised the national minimum wage from $5.15 per hour since 1997, despite Democrats’ repeated efforts to do so. But the price of basic goods, like food and gasoline, have been rising, making it even harder for minimum wage workers to meet even the most basic needs. In fact, the national minimum wage is now at its lowest level in 50 years when adjusted for inflation, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

At $5.15 per hour – which comes to about $10,712 per year for a full-time worker – it is impossible to afford health care, enough nutritious food to eat, or safe and decent housing.

All Americans should get a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. It would be immoral for any members of Congress to stand in the way of this important vote.  

   

This is a fiscally responsible bill, funding high priority programs and eliminating Federal funds for other programs that are duplicative or ineffective.

To continue my committee's commitment to reform, this bill funds member projects at $986 billion - $2.1 billion below last year's level. This is a 70 percent reduction from the previous year. In addition, for the first time ever, the bill requires a 40 percent matching requirement for grantees receiving Economic Development Initiative funding.

All in all, after much hard work and discussion, I believe we have a balanced bill before us. No, we didn't fund every program, but we did fund the higher priorities under our jurisdiction that will deliver the best results to the most people, and that is our responsibility.

Our troops in Iraq continue to serve with courage and bravery and I remain proud of them. Their successful mission to eliminate the terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was a great victory. However, al-Zarqawi's death does not change the fact that the President's failed policy in Iraq has cost too many American lives, tarnished America's image abroad, nearly exhausted our military, and taken our attention away from the Global War on Terrorism.

Today, I again sent a clear message to President Bush that he cannot count on me to continue paying for his stay-the-course policy in Iraq. We must re-deploy all our troops out of Iraq, returning most of them home and leaving a quick-reaction force in the region. It is time to change course and bring our troops home within six months.

U.S. involvement in Iraq has now claimed 2,497 lives and cost nearly $350 billion dollars. Our people would willingly bear the human and economic cost of the war in Iraq if it would actually save American lives in the long-run. It will not. Given the President's lost credibility and ever-changing excuses for taking our country to war, we can no longer justify the egregious loss of American life and hundreds of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars spent in Iraq.

Nineteen of 24 federal agencies cannot produce full audits that show how they are spending the taxpayer money they get from Congress every year, according to the Government Accountability Office's review of the books for 2005. The legislative branch isn't adequately examining where taxpayer money is going and whether it's being spent properly, even when istances of waste, fraud and abuse are identified by GAO, the White House's Office of Management and Budget, or the Inspectors General who work in each agency. This unchecked overspending has contributed to four record-high budget deficits in a row and a federal debt that has reached $8.3 trillion and is growing. American taxpayers, including the future generations who will have to pay back that debt with interest -- much of it to foreign coutries -- deserve to know how Washington is spending their money. Congress is letting them down.

The Securing America's Future Economy (SAFE) Commission Act establishes a national commission to examine these systems and present long-term solutions to place the United States on a fiscally sustainable course and ensure the solvency of entitlement programs for future generations. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) has introduced a similar bill in the House.Last week I voted against the fiscally irresponsible repeal of the estate tax and called on Congress to heed Americans' demand for fundamental tax and entitlement reform. This legislation shows that I am serious about that call. Read more...

As a nation we are too dependent on foreign sources for energy, and we must begin to become more self-sufficient through increased domestic production, conservation, and reliance on alternative and renewable energy sources. My bill provides incentives for more domestic production, allows states to have more control over energy activity off their coasts, and encourages production from new energy sources. My bill helps to lower energy costs, begins to reduce dependence on foreign sources, and allows states like Louisiana to share in the benefits from energy production. Louisiana's coastlines have borne the brunt of the consequences of energy exploration for decades, and this legislation will help restore our coastlines for generations to come.

The Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit is a huge cost-saver for our seniors and I do not want people who listened to political criticism of the program to be penalized.