[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 145 (Friday, October 7, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 7, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                              A TO Z LIVES

                                 ______


                      HON. WILLIAM H. ZELIFF, JR.

                            of new hampshire

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 7, 1994

  Mr. ZELIFF. Mr. Speaker, respect for Congress is at an all time low. 
Long-term members including some of the leadership are in difficulty at 
the polls. Only used car salesmen are rated below Members of Congress 
in the eyes of the public.
  The Orton sense of Congress legislation is one of the many reasons 
that Congress is held in such low repute. The people of America thought 
that majority rule prevails in the people's house. This legislation is 
proof positive of how the House leadership has repeatedly thwarted the 
will of the majority.
  The people of America clearly wanted the Members of the House to cut 
wasteful Government spending. The Members of this House clearly wanted 
to cut spending.
  In August 1993 Rob Andrews a Democrat from New Jersey and I created 
what we called the A to Z spending cut plan. We sensed that many 
members of both political parties felt strongly that the President's 
tax plan did not cut wasteful Federal spending enough.
  The President's tax plan raised the debt from $4.7 trillion dollars 
to $6 trillion dollars in his 5-year plan. Entitlement spending was on 
automatic pilot. Spending programs were seldom cut. Something had to be 
done.
  We circulated a letter to the Speaker. We simply asked for a 10-day 
period when any Member could propose a spending cut in any program. The 
Members would be able to debate each proposal. There would be a 
rollcall vote on each spending cut proposal. The spending cuts enacted 
would reduce the deficit. It's called accountability.
  It is a common concept in the business world which I come from. It is 
alien concept to the leadership of this House. This is why we have a 
$4.7 trillion dollar debt. That is why we will spend over $200 billion 
dollars in interest payments this year.
  Some 234 Members from both political parties, a majority of this 
House agreed with us, and co-signed our letter. The leadership ignored 
this letter from a majority of their Members. Nothing happened.
  So in October 1993, Rob Andrews and I introduced legislation to 
implement this A to Z spending cut plan. Some 232 Members from both 
political parties, a clear majority of this House, cosponsored this 
legislation.
  Again nothing happened. No public hearings. No action by either 
committee. For the second time a clear majority of the elected 
membership of the House was ignored by their leadership. Is it any 
wonder that American people have so little respect for this Congress?
  We took the path that the Member from Oklahoma had opened for us. In 
May 1994, we filed a discharge petition to force this spending cut 
concept to the floor.
  We met with our cosponsors. All agreed to allow more involvement for 
freshman Members from both sides of the aisle. We agreed to start with 
entitlement cuts.
  Members totaling 204 signed our discharge petition. We were on our 
way. Real spending cuts were about to happen.
  The leadership swung into action. There was no way that the 
leadership would actually let the elected membership vote on individual 
spending cuts.
  Their pork barrel projects would be in jeopardy. They would not let 
that happen. Speaker Foley claimed that ``it would be a three ring 
circus.''
  The leadership drew a line in the sand. They stationed sentinels to 
guard the discharge petition. Members were threatened with the loss of 
choice committee assignments.
  The majority leader promised a deal to a group of Members who had 
cosponsored A to Z, but had not yet signed the discharge petition.
  He told them, if you don't sign the A to Z discharge petition, you 
will get a vote on entitlement spending cuts, and a vote on the deficit 
lock box, assuring that a cut is a cut.
  Today's entitlement sense of Congress resolution is how the 
leadership keeps their word. There is no vote on entitlement spending 
cuts. Not one red cent will be cut by our action today. The gentleman 
from Utah and his cohorts traded every Member's chance to make real 
spending cuts for this charade, called a sense of Congress resolution.
  The gentleman from Utah should be embarrassed. His deal did not cut 
even one pork riddled program.
  There will be no vote on deficit lock box either.
  What a deal the gentleman from Utah got.
  The so-called deficit hawks did the leadership's bidding. They killed 
the A to Z spending cut plan.
  The people of America will not be fooled by the leadership's unkept 
promise, even if the deficit hawks were fooled.
  Today we will vote on a clever sense of Congress resolution. On 
November 8 the authors of this clever ploy to kill the A to Z spending 
cut plan, will get a sense of the American people message.
  It will be loud and clear. The American people want us to cut 
spending now. The American people are fed up with politics as usual. 
The American people want Members of Congress to stop spending our 
children's money. We will return with a new A to Z spending cut plan in 
January.
  You can have your sense of the Congress resolutions. A to Z is the 
sense of American people. The people's voice will be heard. A to Z will 
pass next year.
  After A to Z passes and the concept is proven we will then use the A 
to Z process to eliminate oppressive Government regulations; to cut out 
unfunded mandates; and to wipe out tax loopholes.
  A to Z lives, Mr. Speaker, despite the Orton charade that will not 
cut one red cent from the deficit.

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