Speeches
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) made the following remarks on the House floor in support of H.R. 5652, the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) made the following remarks on the House floor in support of HR 4970, the Violence Against Women Act:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) made the following remarks on the House floor in support of HR 205, the Hearth Act
I rise to support the Ryan budget. I do so with a great deal of pride. It's the only serious plan either party has put forward that deals with the looming debt crisis we face. It cuts $5.3 trillion dollars over the next decade. It reforms Medicare and Medicaid -- something everybody in this House knows needs to happen. It lays out the blueprint for tax reform.
This legislation makes really significant reforms in the way the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) decides baseline calculations. The CBO automatically budgets for inflation and discretionary spending. This process runs completely counter to what every American does with their own budget.
This bill spends less --$70 billion less-- than the president requested and $6 billion less than we spent last year, the second year in a row we have actually cut discretionary funding.
The legislation before us actually does three important things. First, it eliminates an antiquated, outdated system of public financing. Second, it terminates an obsolete commission, and finally, and not incidentally, it actually saves money -- something we talk a lot about around here but seldom actually do.
There are certainly members on this floor that are a lot more knowledgeable about this particular piece of legislation than I am. I don't serve on any of the relevant subcommittees on Appropriations, and so they're going to talk about it in more depth and detail than I ever could. But I tell you what -- and I certainly would be the first to say -- that we did not have a perfect process.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Tom Cole (OK-04) made the following remarks on the House floor in support of the Budget Control Act:
"There's no question this isn't a perfect bill.