[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 91 (Thursday, July 14, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 14, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
        ENTITLEMENT EXPENDITURES EX- PLODING THROUGH THE CEILING

  (Mr. COBLE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COBLE. I thank the Speaker.
  Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. COBLE. I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. WALKER. I thank the gentleman for yielding to me.
  I just think a couple of points probably need to be made, based upon 
the Democratic leadership effort to try to defend the President's 
economic program.
  They suggest, for example, that discretionary spending is going down. 
What they fail to point out is the fact that they have converted a lot 
of discretionary spending over the years into welfare entitlement 
spending. Food stamps used to be discretionary spending; they have made 
that now into an entitlement program. So naturally they can show 
discretionary spending going down but entitlement expenditures are 
exploding through the ceiling.
  So the charts are a little bit misleading.
  Second, they are bragging about the fact that they have brought down 
the deficit numbers. The fact is that the deficit numbers that they are 
bragging about are higher than the highest point of the Reagan 
administration. That is not exactly success, in this gentleman's book. 
I thank the gentleman for yielding.

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