[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 96 (Tuesday, June 13, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H5899]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   MORE ON THE PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Arizona [Mr. Hayworth] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, we will continue the colloquy, as I enjoy 
the comments of the gentleman from Georgia and appreciate the 
enlightening nature of the same.
  It is curious tonight, again, to see this sea change from the White 
House. And again, reminiscent of that children's song----
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield, does the 
gentleman think that maybe since the marriage of James Carville and 
Mary Matalin there will be cross winds going on at the White House 
weather vane?
  Mr. HAYWORTH. I would not care to speculate on the society status or 
where one might go on in terms of policy formulation at the White 
House, but I do find it curious that those members of the former 
majority, those guardians of the old order who would accuse the new 
majority of governance by polls find themselves tonight foisted upon a 
new pole, the Chief Executive finding now that the American public does 
want to see a semblance of fiscal responsibility. The reason I use the 
term ``semblance'' is because, once again, the President says, well, it 
would be nice to have a balanced budget but let us not do it in 7 
years, no, no, let us stretch it out over a decade, over 10 years.
  Now, by my calendar, as I check it, and the gentleman from Georgia 
perhaps can bear me out on this, that would be the year 2005. In the 
interim, according to the Medicare trustees report, which three of the 
President's own cabinet officers signed, Secretaries Reich and Rubin 
and Shalala, the Medicare trust fund goes broke in 6 years.
  The fear I have, even as I welcome the President, albeit late to the 
table and to the recognition of the necessity of reducing the growth of 
the size of government, is, again, an inability to own up to the stark 
reality we face. And I cannot fathom why that is.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, one of the interesting things that I find, 
and I am sure you do in Arizona when you go home, is that people are 
saying, stay the course, cut the budget, and I am sick and tired of it. 
Get the Government out of my life. Reduce the
 regulations, reduce my taxes, make it work and stay out of Washington 
as much as possible.

  With that in mind, what has happened here, suddenly somebody over at 
the administration has figured, wait, they did not tick off people when 
they actually carried through with their campaign promise of balancing 
the budget. Let us get in on this bandwagon. So now they are going to 
join the fray. But to do something a little differently, they have to 
say, let us do it in 10 years.
  If you look back at the Grace commission, the Gramm-Rudman, the 
balanced budget amendment, every time we do something, it is always far 
off, it is not this year, not this budget. We did pass a budget that 
puts us having a balanced budget in 7 years, but even that is a long 
time.
  And I think what the American people want is yesterday, not 10 years. 
And they are not even real happy with 7.
  Mr. HAYWORTH. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Speaker, what I believe the 
American people want is not only civility in political discourse but 
straight answers. It is borne out in the frustration of an unrepentent 
liberal, the ranking member on the minority side of appropriations, who 
says of his party's own standard-bearer, and again this bears 
repeating, for those who have just joined us, according to the 
Associated Press, the gentleman from Wisconsin, Dave Obey, ``I think 
most of us learned some time ago that if you don't like the President's 
position on a particular issue, you simply need to wait a few weeks.''
  That is reflective of a frustration born of a failure of this 
administration to rest comfortably with the mantle of leadership upon 
its shoulders.
  Now, good people can change their minds from time to time on the 
issues. But I believe my friend from Georgia will bear me out, as he 
visits his district there along the beautiful Georgia coast, the fact 
is that people are highly suspicious when public policy is predicated 
on the prevailing winds akin to a weather vane.
  Mr. KINGSTON. However, if the President of the United States is 
serious and wants to balance the budget, as we can only hope that he 
is, the Republican Party welcomes him and his administration, open 
arms, let us get in the arena, let us figure it out together and let us 
work for the good of America.
  Mr. HAYWORTH. Reclaiming my time, we can say this tonight in the wake 
of the President's speech. He says now he wants a balanced budget. Let 
him work with us to achieve it in 7 years instead of a decade hence.


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