Speeches
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Tom McClintock (CA-04) made the following remarks during a debate in the House of Representatives today about H.R. 3534 (Clear Act). In his remarks the Congressman discussed the response to the oil spill in the Gulf:
“Before we add more bureaucracies to the equation, shouldn’t we ask how the existing ones did?
“The administration ignored the contingency plan that NOAA’s former Oil Spill Response Coordinator says could have burned off 95 percent of the oil spill from day one. It took them eight days to do a test burn.
House Chamber, Washington, D.C.
July 22, 2010
M. Speaker:
Anyone who has experienced firsthand the quiet panic that stalks every waking hour of an unemployed family knows how frightening and debilitating is chronic unemployment. You watch your savings evaporate, you see your children going without the material things their friends enjoy, and you count down the months or even weeks until you won’t be able to make that crucial rent or house payment.
Repeating the Lesson
House Chamber, Washington, D.C.
July 20, 2010
Mr. Speaker:
When the stimulus bill became law, unemployment stood at 8.2 percent. Today, eighteen months and hundreds of billions of dollars later, unemployment is 9.5 percent.
House Chamber, Washington, D.C. M. Speaker:
The proponents tell us that this bill will increase lending to small businesses. To do so they are creating a $30 billion slush fund to make loans to smaller banks, therefore encouraging smaller banks to make loans to small businesses. Or so they say.
It is a splendid example of what I like to call McClintock’s Second Law of Political Physics: the more we invest in our mistakes, the less willing we are to correct them.
House Chamber, Washington, D.C. M. Speaker:
Suppose your family is deeply in debt, bills are piling up, your credit cards are eating you alive. Finally, you seek the help of a financial counselor.
What’s the first thing that counselor is going to say? He’s going to say, “the very first thing we’ve got to do is sit down and sketch out a family budget.”
We all know that.
It’s hard work. It’s painful. But it’s absolutely necessary if you’re going to get control of your finances.
Our national debt is fast approaching the size of our entire economy.
House Chamber, Washington, D.C. May 25, 2010. M. Speaker:
The failure of this House to pass a budget at a time of unprecedented deficit spending speaks volumes about the house majority.
In order to resolve a crisis you must first be willing to face it. If you can’t face the problem, you can’t deal with it.
That’s what the budget process is: the painful but necessary assessment of our financial affairs. Without it, there cannot be even a theoretical solution.
House Chamber, Washington, D.C. May 20, 2010. M. Speaker:
I rise to take strong exception to the speech of the President of Mexico while in this chamber today.
The Mexican government has made it very clear for many years that it holds American sovereignty in contempt and President Calderon’s behavior as a guest of the Congress confirms and underscores this attitude.
It is highly inappropriate for the President of Mexico to lecture Americans on American immigration policy, just as it would be for Americans to lecture Mexico on its laws.
WASHINGTON, DC – Representative Tom McClintock (R – Granite Bay) delivered the following remarks on the House floor today in opposition to the costly “Cash for Caulkers” weatherization program:
Learning from Experience (NOT)
House Chamber, Washington, D.C.
May 6, 2010
M. Speaker:
Since “Cash for Caulkers” is based on the “Cash for Clunkers” program maybe somebody ought to ask, “How did that one work out?”
House Chamber, Washington D.C.
April 29, 2010
Mr. Speaker:
Proponents have a problem. They want statehood for Puerto Rico. But in 1998, the majority voted no.
What to do?
Replace a straight-forward up or down vote with a two-step process.
If 40 percent support the Commonwealth, and 20 percent favor each of three alternatives, the overwhelming plurality is defeated on the first ballot and left only to chose among three options they do not support.
House Chamber, Washington, D.C. April 27, 2010. M. Speaker:
During the recent health debate, the Speaker ominously said, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.”
They passed it. And now we’re finding out what’s in it.
They told us it would keep costs down. Now they admit health costs will soar by $311 billion, increasing to 21 percent of GDP by 2019.