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“THE PRESIDENT SHOULD BE HONEST ABOUT THE BUDGET, AND SECRETARY O'LEARY SHOULD RESIGN” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Energy was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H15067 on Dec. 18, 1995.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE PRESIDENT SHOULD BE HONEST ABOUT THE BUDGET, AND SECRETARY O'LEARY
SHOULD RESIGN
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Kansas [Mr. Tiahrt] is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Speaker, there seems to be some confusion tonight about what is going on here in Washington. Let me clear up some of the confusion. What we are about is fulfilling the promise to balance the Federal budget and restore hope for this great Nation, because it is the right thing to do.
Let us for a moment set aside the fact that on November 19, the President signed into law that the Government would balance the budget in 7 years in CBO numbers in the first session of the 104th Congress. So far, the President has failed to keep his word and the public law.
Instead, let us look at the President's recent speech on Friday, December 15. In that speech the President attempted to mislead the people of America, I think, 13 different times. I just want to focus on 1 of those 13 different statements and explain why the President never would or could balance the budget without the honest help of Americans across this great land.
Let me quote from the President in his December 15 speech. ``You know, I do not agree with their very large tax cuts for wealthy Americans and for all the special interests that get their help in the bill.''
Mr. Speaker, we are trying to get a $500-per-child tax credit for every family in America. American families are of special interest to me and others, and I think it would help their pocketbooks. But I do not think most American families consider themselves wealthy.
But the irony of this is that the President does not want to give the average working family consideration, but he will allow members of his Cabinet to live lavish lifestyles at the expense of our working families.
Secretary O'Leary, whose responsibilities as Secretary of the Department of Energy have domestic responsibilities, but yet she has been overseas 16 times. She has leased the very same luxury jet liner that Madonna uses and these trips cost a minimum of a half a million dollars each.
She takes as many as 50 members of her staff and over 60 corporate CEO's and other corporate officers, many of whom have not covered their own expenses for these trips. But do not worry, because the American taxpayers will pick up the bill.
Secretary O'Leary is also mismanaging dollars to protect and enhance her image. Her image is very important to her. She employs 529 public relations employees at a cost of $25 million a year. She has a personal media consultant at a cost of $75,000 per year. She hires photographers and video crews to go with her on these international trips at taxpayers' expense to catch her looking at her best.
She even hired a private investigative firm to rate members of the press and Congress and develop a list of unfavorables so that she could
``work on them a little.''
But that is not the worst. The worst is that according to Vice President Gore in his National Performance Review, even the environmental management department of her Department is 40 percent inefficient. It is going to cost taxpayers $70 billion over the next 30 years.
Mr. Speaker, it will be impossible to balance the budget if the President cannot be honest about the budget and we cannot balance the budget if we do not get shed, as they say in Missouri, get shed of the arrogant and wasteful spending by the Secretary of the Department of Energy.
Secretary O'Leary should resign and the President should be honest about the budget. I believe the negotiations should be open to the public. Let us come to the table in front of the cameras and let everyone know which side is presenting which budget. I think that would enhance the process and we would, in fact, get a balanced budget in 7 years, scored by CBO numbers as the public law reads.
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