[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 65 (Friday, April 7, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5534-S5535]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             PROMISES KEPT

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I think it is a phenomenal thing that 
happened in America. In the last 3 months, the people asked for 
something different. And in the last 3 months, we have done exactly 
what the people asked.
  If you ask a person to bring down to one or two words what the last 3 
months mean, I would say ``promises kept.'' I think the people of 
America were despairing that ever again, a politician would promise 
something and deliver.
  That is what is happening right now in the Congress of the United 
States. I commend the House of Representatives for giving themselves a 
very heavy load and then succeeding in doing what they said they would 
do.
  There are those who disagree with what the House did. Probably no one 
agrees totally with what the House did. But if you look at the spirit 
and the intent and the strain of what they did, I think the people of 
America agree that they did what they said they were going to do, and I 
think the Senate of the United States will agree with many of the 
concepts that the House has put forward.
  If we are going to let the people of this country know that in fact 
their voices did make a difference in 1994, that the signal was 
received in Washington, DC, that the people want a different Congress 
and a different Government, then I think we are going to have to 
continue into the second and third 100 days going in the same direction 
that we are now going.
  What does that mean? First and foremost, Mr. President, it is what 
you just talked about on the floor of the Senate a minute ago, a 
balanced budget. First and foremost, we have to start showing that we 
are serious about balancing the budget. Last night, we started on that 
road. We took some very serious and tough steps right in this 1995 
budget, and we cut almost $16 billion that will not be able to be spent 
between now and October 1 of this year.
  So that is a beginning. It is a very small beginning when you look at 
what we really must do. We must get on a track that says between now 
and the year 2002 we are going to go toward a balanced budget, that the 
$5 trillion debt that is sitting out there will not be increased but in 
fact we will start whittling away at the deficit so that in the year 
2002 we can start looking at the long-term solutions to bringing down 
the actual debt.
  A lot of people do not realize that when we get to the balanced 
budget in 2002, we still have the massive debt that we have to decide 
exactly how much of which we are going to pay down. But that is for the 
second phase. The first phase is to come to a balanced budget every 
year, and that is our first commitment.
  The second commitment is a reform of Congress. If we are going to 
look at the long term, if we are going to look at the future, we are 
going to have to look at the reforms of Congress that will keep from 
happening what we have seen over the last 30 years, which is a buildup 
of this massive intrusion of the Federal Government on our States, on 
our local governments, and on the lives of our people, especially our 
small business people. If we are going to do that, it is going to be 
not only bringing down the bigness and vastness of Government, not only 
bringing down the arrogance of Washington, DC, but it is bringing down 
the power base of Congress.
  I think the most important first step that was made by the House of 
Representatives was on the first day--hardly any press about it, but 
the reform of their leadership when they voluntarily voted themselves 
term limitations on chairmanships and the Speaker of the House himself. 
That began the process of bringing down the vast power that has 
accumulated in these Halls and really caused the massive increases in 
spending in the Federal bureaucracy. So when the Speaker says 
voluntarily I am not going to serve more than 8 years, and when 
committee chairs say I am not going to serve more than 6 years, you 
have really taken away a lot of the incentive to do things that build 
power bases and instead have given the incentive to do what is right 
from the public policy standpoint.
  The Senate is now looking at just such changes, and I think it is 
going to be healthy for us to also in this body look at ways that we 
can pass the leadership around. It is a very important reform. It is 
internal. It will not be that well known outside the beltway. But it is 
a very important internal reform that will have far-reaching 
consequences.
  The third area that I think is most important to get our country back 
on track is regulatory reform. If we are going to free our businesses 
to compete in this new global marketplace, we must have the harassment 
of Federal regulatory excesses stopped now. Stop right now. By every 
standard, the cost of complying with Federal regulations is holding 
down our small business and our large business from growing and 
expanding and creating the new jobs that will get this economy going 
again.
   [[Page S5535]] By conservative estimates, they say that business 
costs of regulatory compliance are about $430 billion a year. If you 
add the cost of regulatory compliance of States and local governments, 
it is about $900 billion a year.
  To put that in perspective, Mr. President, the income tax brings in 
just under $800 billion a year. So as you are getting ready on April 15 
to send your tax bill in, when you sign that tax bill, you should 
remember that what you are giving to the Federal Government is less 
than the stealth tax of regulatory compliance. That is the cost that is 
holding our business down, from growing and creating the new jobs. So 
if we are going to free our business to compete, we must take off those 
regulatory excesses.
  Does that mean we are going to stop striving for clean air, clean 
water, protection of endangered species, safety in the workplace? 
Heavens no. Of course, not. What we must put in the equation is common 
sense. We are getting horror stories every day about some silly, stupid 
thing a regulator does that is unnecessary, that does not help the 
Government and most certainly hurts business. And it is the business 
that is the economic engine of America. So if we can stop that 
regulatory excess, that will be the most important thing we can do to 
get this economy going once again.
  So these are the areas that I think we must address in the second 100 
days. These are the areas that I think are going to be very difficult 
as we go forward. I have heard Democrats in the Chamber here, I have 
heard Democrats on radio programs talk about starving the children. The 
people of America are smarter than that. The people of America 
understand that we are not starving children when we give the States 
the responsibility for school lunch programs instead of running it from 
the Federal Government. The people of America are tired of silly, 
ridiculous statements like that that underestimate their intelligence, 
because I think the people of America who are raising our children 
understand that if our children are going to have a future at all, it 
is only if we begin to act responsibly in getting this huge Federal 
debt off the backs of those very children.
  If they are going to have jobs in their future, if they are going to 
have education in their future, it is going to be only if we get this 
economy going again. We cannot do it if we have a program of spend now 
and pay later. That is what our program has been for the last 30 years 
in this country, save 1 or 2 years of responsibility.
  Mr. President, I think the people of America need to listen very 
carefully. As we are going home for the next 2 weeks in the Senate, 3 
weeks in the House, I hope that the people of America will listen 
carefully to what their elected representatives are saying because the 
messages could not be more different. Our message is one of providing 
for the future, of trying to make sure that there is a healthy America 
for our children, of trying to get the 10th amendment back in place, 
which says the powers not specifically given to the Federal Government 
will be left to the States and to the people. We must return the 10th 
amendment and we must let the States do what they know best, which is 
the needs of their people, rather than somebody in Washington sitting 
in an office who may not have ever been to Iowa or New Hampshire or 
Texas or California or Utah deciding what the priorities in that State 
should be.
  My Governor, a Yale graduate, said, ``You know, I'm beginning to be a 
little offended by those people up in Washington. Do they think I'm 
going to serve potato chips to the children of Texas? Come on. I think 
the people are smarter than that.''
  So, Mr. President, I think we have had a very exciting beginning. I 
think the people of America can say one thing right now and that is: 
things are changing in Washington. Their voices are being heard.
  Is it easy? No. It is going to be very tough. But is it a commitment 
on our part to do what is right, not necessarily for tomorrow but for 
the long-term, for 3 years, for 5 years, for 10 years? That is the 
commitment that the people of America must see and that is what we must 
talk about as we go home and get the input from our constituents.
  I hope that every one of us will take this opportunity to do that, 
because I think we have had a great beginning. I think the people of 
America should be assured that things are changing inside the beltway. 
And, with their support, we are going to keep right on plugging and try 
to make sure that the small business people of this country are able to 
grow and create the jobs that will let every American family see a 
better future for their children.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  (Mr. CRAIG assumed the chair).
  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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