[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 27 (Friday, March 11, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 11, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]


                              {time}  1040
 
         IN SUPPORT OF THE KASICH REPUBLICAN BUDGET ALTERNATIVE

  (Mrs. ROUKEMA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Kasich budget 
resolution--it moves this Nation in the right direction, and for the 
most part, is consistent with the pressing need for our Nation to 
regain its prominence in the global economy.
  And in this respect, I would commend to my colleagues attention a 
series of articles in the New York Times this week on ``Staying Afloat 
in the 1990's.'' It is an excellent analysis of the fears and 
frustrations facing the American middle class. They are the stories of 
young college graduates who cannot find jobs, let alone good ones, and 
of hard-working Americans who see their jobs evaporating, next week or 
next year. These people rightfully see themselves falling, ever more 
rapidly, from the middle class. We must take action to reverse these 
trends.
  The Kasich budget moves to get our fiscal house in order so that this 
generation of Americans and the next can confidently look toward a 
future of good jobs at good pay, and a rightful place in a growing and 
economically secure middle class.
  No, I don't agree with every detail of this budget. For example, I 
strongly oppose the $500 tax credit per child, for those with $200,000 
per year incomes. If a deduction is included at all, there should be an 
income cap to target the deductions for middle-income families. But 
this can be taken up in the tax bill and appropriately targeted.
  I also do not agree that cuts and adjusted means testing of higher 
income seniors and Medicare should be defined today. This needs much 
more work, and a much more thorough examination. Moreover, it 
should only be done, if at all, in the context of health are reform 
that preserves Medicare, and expands coverage for prescription drugs 
and extended care.

  Nevertheless, the Kasich budget has great merit. It puts into 
concrete responsible spending and tax policies, and an economic 
blueprint for the country.
  Our deficit and profligate spending ways are undermining our economy, 
both short-term and long-term. In other words, as I have repeated time 
after time over recent years like a mantra: We need to save and invest 
in America.
  Mr. Speaker, I think the Kasich budget focuses in on that course. 
What we need to do is have a budget that forces us to save and invest 
in America. The Kasich budget moves us onto that course.

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