Rep. Mike Rogers: House GOP Weekly Radio Address

Transcript:

Hello, I'm Congressman Mike Rogers from Michigan 's 8th District. I am the top Republican on the House Terrorism and Human Intelligence Subcommittee.

I want to talk to you today about a troubling development that occurred in the U.S. House of Representatives this past week – it’s an issue that every hardworking American taxpayer ought to be concerned about.

Last Friday, House Republicans discovered that a Member of Congress had hidden a wasteful earmark -- or pet pork project -- worth tens of millions of dollars into a bill designed to fund America 's Intelligence operations.

The hidden earmark was slipped into a bill by Pennsylvania Congressman Jack Murtha; it would have directed tens of millions of dollars toward a government facility in his district that the House Government Reform Committee concluded was both wasteful and unnecessary.

This past week, Republicans put the spotlight on that earmark and called on Democrats to remove it from the Intelligence funding bill.

It comes down to a choice between spies catching terrorists or pork barrel spending in a Congressional District. We are a nation at war, and when we find wasteful spending, we must stop it.

While many of us expected Congressman Murtha to try to defend his earmark, none of us could have predicted what happened next:

Murtha, who has enormous power over defense projects as Chairman of the Defense Subcommittee on Appropriations, came to me on the House floor and said: “You don’t have any earmarks in the appropriations bills now or forever.”

I replied to him that threatening retribution is not the way we do business in Congress.

To which he replied: “That’s the way I do it.”

No Member of Congress should ever be threatened because of his or her efforts to crack down on wasteful spending and protect the interests of taxpayers.

This is exactly why Americans are disgusted with the United States Congress and its out of control spending.

Mr. Murtha’s threat violated more than the House rules – it violated the public’s trust.

As lawmakers, we must have an obligation to shine a spotlight on earmarks and eliminate wasteful spending, as Mr. Murtha’s pet project surely is.

As a former FBI agent who pursued cases of organized crime and public corruption, it is disappointing to see such behavior in the People’s House.

Next week I will be introducing a resolution calling Congressman Murtha to account, and the whole House will have to vote on whether to reprimand him.

This is yet another example of the Democrats abusing the rules of the House and breaking the commitments they made to the American people.

In fact, over the last four months they have not led, nor have they delivered anything remotely close to an open, deliberative, and results-oriented House.

Not surprisingly, not a single substantive piece of House legislation has been enacted into law since January.

Congress’ reputation is at an historic low. And its up to us, and up to you, to insist that Congress must do better by the American people.

I’m Congressman Mike Rogers. Thank you for listening.

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