Floor Speeches

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who is said to be mulling a challenge to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) in next year's Senate race, said Thursday he would vote in favor of a resolution instructing President Obama to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

Chaffetz, a Tea Party supporter who has declined to join the Tea Party Caucus, said on the floor that Obama has failed to define the goals of U.S. military activity in Afghanistan, and that he opposes what he sees as nation-building efforts.

After being interrupted by protesters in the House gallery, Chaffetz choked back tears and read the names of a handful of soldiers killed in Afghanistan in his brief remarks Thursday. "I honor them, I thank them," he said.

House Republicans on Thursday were forced to clarify that one of their self-imposed rules, which says legislation will not be considered until it has been publicly available for 72 hours, does in fact allow for bills to be taken up in less than 72 hours in certain circumstances.

The clarification came after Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) raised a point of order saying the House cannot yet consider H.R. 1076, which would end federal funding for NPR. Weiner said that bill was posted on line at 1:42 p.m. on Tuesday, and that the House should not yet be able to take up the bill.

House Democrats on Thursday strenuously objected to Republican efforts to end federal funding for National Public Radio, and argued that if Republicans get to terminate programs they disagree with, Democrats should have the same chance.

House Rules Committee Ranking Member Louise Slaughter (D-NY) said Republicans told her on Wednesday that taxpayers should not have to pay for items they disagree with, a reply she bristled at on Thursday morning.

"Well, that's an interesting theory but democracies don't work that way," Slaughter said. "If they could, my husband and I and two-thirds of people in America would gladly be excused from paying the $8 billion a month that we pay for a war that we profoundly disagree with."

Rep. Baca implied on Wednesday that the Republican push to end a federal housing aid program is racially motivated.

House Democrats on Wednesday afternoon argued that Republicans should fix a federal mortgage aid bill rather than repeal it, but Republicans nonetheless were on track to vote on repealing the program by the end of the day.

At issue is H.R. 861, which would prevent another $1 billion from being spent on the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), which funds the purchase and upkeep of foreclosed homes. This is one of three mortgage programs Republicans have already moved to terminate, and the GOP plans to terminate a fourth later this month.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) signaled agreement with a Rolling Stone editor who likened the general's performance to that of the troubled actor.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Wednesday argued that Congress should eliminate the $1.1 trillion in tax "loopholes and preferences" as a way of reducing the deficit because focusing only on spending cuts to discretionary spending will require cuts that go too deep for people who rely on these discretionary programs.

"Our tax code is a monumental collection of rules and regulations, riddled with loopholes and preferences which are a drain on job creation and frankly exacerbate the deficit," Hoyer said on the floor. Hoyer said these so-called "tax expenditures" exact a high price on U.S. productivity because businesses and families spend millions of hours working to minimize their taxes. He said ending these tax breaks and imposing lower tax rates overall would be more efficient.

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) on Tuesday said he would soon introduce the Free Competition in Currency Act, which would dismantle what he described as the federal government's self-proclaimed monopoly on legal tender in the U.S. and allow states and private enterprises to issue their own currency.

Paul made it clear that his intention is to end the ability of the federal government to control the supply of money and spend it as it sees fit, including on wars that Paul has consistently opposed.

Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) argued on the House floor Tuesday night that while women have a legal right to abortion in the U.S., women should reject this decision and bear all babies to term.

"Every one of us has the right to life, born and unborn, and it is the women who have the responsibility to make sure that that baby is born," Schmidt said.

"Unfortunately our courts, over 33 years ago, decided to change that, and decided that women have the right to end that life," she said. "But Mr. Speaker, we don't have that right. It is our responsibility to bear those children."

House Republicans and Democrats began debate on a three-week spending resolution shortly after noon, but the focus of the debate was H.R. 1, the complete FY 2011 spending bill approved by the House but rejected by the Senate. The debate was on the rule for the resolution, and debate and vote on the resolution itself will take place later in the afternoon.

Rep. Rob Woodall (R-Ga.) led the debate by saying the purpose of the three-week spending bill is to give the Senate more time to consider H.R. 1 and establish its own budget position so the House and Senate can negotiate.

"I rise today … to support this rule that will bring to the floor a continuing resolution that will give the Senate three more weeks to get its house in order to do the business that the American people sent the Senate here to do, to join us in doing the good work that we have done, and to move a bill to the president's desk," Woodall said.