[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 79 (Friday, May 12, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H4902]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     PRESERVING THE AMERICAN DREAM

  (Mr. RIGGS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RIGGS. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, yesterday House Republicans 
offered a plan to balance the Federal budget by the year 2002. Our plan 
allocates $11 trillion for Federal spending over the next 7 years. It 
protects Social Security. It eliminates three Cabinet-level 
departments, 13 agencies and 284 Federal programs, and it provides the 
much needed tax relief for families, as promised in our Contract With 
America.
  Now, let us look at what will happen if we take the House Democrats' 
approach and do nothing but maintain the status quo. A child born this 
year can expect to pay $187,000 over the course of his or her lifetime 
as a wage earner and taxpayer just in interest on the national debt, 
and in 2 years, interest on the national debt will exceed defense 
spending as the single largest item in the Federal budget.
  Mr. Speaker, which alternative would the House choose next week: the 
status quo or a plan to balance the budget by limiting the growth in 
Federal spending and eliminating wasteful spending and programs that 
simply have outlived their usefulness?
  The answer is clear. We have to balance the Federal budget. We have a 
moral imperative to preserve the American dream for our children and 
our grandchildren.


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