[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 25, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: January 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         REINVENTING GOVERNMENT

                                 ______


                            HON. ALAN WHEAT

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 25, 1994

  Mr. WHEAT. Mr. Speaker, I rise to add my strong support to the Frank-
Shays amendment and to urge my colleagues to vote for this responsible 
effort to significantly cut Federal spending.
  I commend Mr. Frank and Mr. Shays for their leadership, and I'm proud 
to be involved in efforts to move this legislation forward.
  Mr. Speaker, our constituents are demanding that we end wasteful and 
unnecessary spending.
  They are demanding that we reinvent our spending priorities as we 
reinvent government.
  The Frank-Shays amendment answers that call.
  Each of the provisions contained in this amendment have been 
considered by the House in the recent past.
  Each has been reviewed by relevant committees and subcommittees. Each 
has been debated. Each has been voted on. Everything here has 
appropriately gone through the normal legislative process.
  Some of the provisions have been approved by this body, none has 
received less than 200 votes.
  Mr. Speaker, there is nothing new here. Except that today, we are 
asking the House to consider these reforms together--at one time and in 
one package--with the goal of substantially reducing our national 
deficit.
  The Frank-Shays amendment takes a responsible approach toward real 
deficit reduction--without undermining the promise of national health 
care reform, without imposing billions of dollars in unfunded mandates 
to States, without cutting back on vital health care research, without 
denying critically needed assistance to the young and the elderly.
  The Frank-Shays amendment acknowledges that in this post-cold war 
era, we must take serious steps toward burden-sharing.
  This amendment sends a clear and overdue message to our wealthy 
Western European allies: The American people are fed up with picking up 
your tab.
  Our wealthy allies simply must begin to pay their fair share of U.S. 
defense costs abroad.
  This amendment goes beyond the rhetoric and ends the free ride for 
our friends who can well afford to pay their own way.
  The amendment also recognizes that we must stop spending billions of 
dollars for big-ticket items like the space station which we either do 
not need or cannot afford.
  Mr. Speaker, together with the cuts already proposed, the Frank-Shays 
amendment will reduce spending by over $51 billion in the next 4 years.
  It does so without any budgetary grandstanding, and without stealing 
from the account that we have set aside for national health care 
reform.
  The Frank-Shays amendment is a responsible continuation of our 
earlier efforts to achieve true deficit reduction, and I urge my 
colleagues to support this important amendment.

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