[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 35 (Thursday, March 24, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
     UPCOMING LEGISLATION AND SUGGESTIONS FOR REDUCING THE DEFICIT.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia [Mr. KINGSTON] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, we are about to go home for a work recess. 
There are a lot of issues that Congress is dealing with, some that we 
have not addressed that I look forward to addressing when we get back, 
some of the environmental issues, the defense issues, GATT, private 
property rights issues, reapportionment.
  Reapportionment, right now there are many Southern States that are 
under the Voting Rights Act, that have lawsuits that have been filed or 
that are being appealed, and that at this point appears to be something 
a little bit more unique to the Southern States that are subject to the 
Voting Rights Act.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe when we get back that is going to spread all 
over the country, and it will probably be proper for Congress to 
address the issue about minority voting representation, because I was a 
member of the State legislature at the time when Georgia drew our 
lines, and I know at the time we worked under Justice Department 
guidelines.
  Now I understand that there are many people who believe that those 
guidelines were not poured in concrete, as we were led to believe. The 
lawsuits are indicating this. I think it is going to be something we 
will need to address.
  Mr. Speaker, what I want to talk about tonight, the centerpiece of 
all legislation is the cost, so I want to talk about the budget.
  As Members know, our national debt right now is $4.5 trillion. It is 
a bipartisan problem. During the period of time this debt was amassed 
there were certainly Democrats and Republicans on both sides of the 
aisle who participated in deficit spending, so let us put aside the 
partisanship.
  There are a lot of ways we can attack the budget. I will outline five 
of them that I think will help.
  Number one, Vice President Gore's Reinventing Government. At one time 
we thought and hoped that would save about $9 billion. Later it was 
scored a little less than that. Whether it is more than $9 billion or 
less, let us get behind the Vice President and try to reinvent 
government and save the taxpayer's dollars.
  A second way I believe we can save money to decrease our deficit is 
to reform welfare. Reforming welfare should not only save money and 
reduce the costs of our entitlement programs for public benefits, but 
it will also bring in more revenue, because ultimately we will have 
more people on the tax rolls. I think that is very important.
  We should have two major components in welfare: one is a work 
component, where people who are able to work are required to work, a 
carrot and a stick.
  At the same time, let use not push a woman out the door and not help 
her out with her day care problem for her children. Let us not push her 
out the door into the work world and expect her to give up those 
insurance benefits. Let us be practical about it.

                              {time}  2140

  I think we can work out the compromise so that those who are on 
welfare can have a smooth transition into total independence.
  The second part is we have to bring the dad back into the formula. We 
have a welfare system that lets fathers act like tomcats. They can go 
and basically impregnate a woman, and they are on their way, no more 
responsibility according to the government than a tomcat. And I think 
it is time to let the father get back into the formula. I believe there 
is a rent reform bill right now that will help this, which says if the 
dad lives at home and his income increases the family's total income, 
where they would ordinarily not be eligible to live in the housing 
project anymore, this would be waived so that he could still live 
there.
  It is so important to bring these family units back together. Let us 
help the folks by reuniting their family. I think these components 
should be in there.
  A third item we should address in a very serious manner to help bring 
down our deficit is that of illegal immigration. The cost to our Nation 
is about $14 billion a year, and many people are coming to our country 
because of the public assistance benefits. But not only is that costing 
us, but there is a big cost in our Federal penal system, and that is 
that about 22 percent of our prisoners are illegal immigrants, and 
these are, in many cases, I think 80 percent of the time, violent 
offenders. That is a tremendous cost for us. Let us as a Congress 
address this problem for deficit reduction if for no other reason.
  The fourth thing we can do to reduce the debt or the deficit is to 
address criminal justice. The average career criminal each year commits 
about $500,000 worth of property and damage and theft. And yet the 
price of incarceration is only about $20,000 a year. I do not like 
incarceration, but it isolates folks from society, and it is ultimately 
less expensive for society.
  I have a letter on my desk from a woman whose daughter was raped 
while bathing her child. She was at home and a man broke into her home, 
threatened to kill the baby if the woman did not cooperate, and being a 
loving mother she did what she felt was necessary for the survival of 
her child. But now that rapist is about to get out of jail, and it just 
horrifies her, and it horrifies all of her relatives and the children. 
We cannot live in a society where people are living in such fear. We 
need to keep folks behind bars who have committed such crimes.
  The fifth thing I believe we can do to bring down the deficit, Mr. 
Speaker, is to help the American family out. In the 1950s the American 
family paid as an average for income tax 2 percent. Today that same 
family is paying Federal income tax of 24 percent. We cannot do that to 
the family, Mr. Speaker, because during that period of time, in order 
to pay for higher taxes, the family had to work harder. As a result, 
the family is spending less time with each other, the family members 
and with the children, and less time to impart information, impart 
values, impart the difference between right and wrong, education, 
homework, a myriad of other things.
  In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I believe when we get back if we reinvent 
government, welfare, illegal immigration, crime, and help the family, 
that we will help reduce the deficit and then pay down the debt.

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