[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 97 (Wednesday, June 14, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H5979-H5980]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


         WELCOMING THE PRESIDENT TO THE BUDGET BALANCING ARENA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Smith] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, last night President Clinton 
unveiled his second budget this year. The first budget actually 
increased deficit spending by $200 billion each year and grew our 
national debt from the current $4.9 trillion up to $7 trillion in 5 
years. [[Page H5980]] 
  This budget from last night aims to balance the Federal budget in 10 
years. Well, we welcome the President to the arena, admitting that we 
should be balancing this budget. However, 10 years? This means that 
during the next 10 years, the Federal debt, which is now $5 trillion, 
will still be growing. It means that we hope that a decade from now 
when children who are now in the third grade, they will be graduating 
from high school, the budget will still not be balanced.
  Remember, the President did not say the debt would be paid off. He 
said that if all goes well, we will stop adding to the debt a decade 
from now. That does not count what we are borrowing from social 
security and everything else.
  Now, does not this all sound a little ludicrous? Do we really think 
that Congress will balance the budget 10 years from now, putting it off 
that long? We just cannot do it today?
  There are some of us out there who remember the character Wimpy in 
the Popeye cartoons. Wimpy made the famous line, ``I will gladly pay 
you Tuesday for a hamburger today.'' Of course, everyone knew Wimpy did 
not intend to pay for that hamburger.
  President Clinton is saying, ``We will not pay you back in 10 years, 
but we will stop getting an advance on those, if you will, hamburgers 
at that time.'' The President has said that it would be too painful to 
bring the budget into balance in less than 10 years.
  Now, remember Thomas Jefferson, while President, introduced a plan to 
pay back the Federal debt over 16 years and then start paying off that 
debt and getting it done with. He thought it prudent not just to 
balance the budget, but to run up a surplus to pay off the debt and 
have a little extra in reserve.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. SMITH of Michigan. I yield to the gentleman from Georgia.
  Mr. KINGSTON. I want to ask about this because if the President is 
not reelected, that would mean that the budget that he is proposing 
will actually not be balanced until 9 years after he leaves office. Is 
that correct?
  Mr. SMITH of Michigan. You mean, if everything worked out perfectly 
for the President and he stayed in the full 8 years that is allowed 
under law, he still would not have a balanced budget? That is what it 
means.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Then at what level will the national debt be? Because 
that would be 9 more years of deficit spending on top of a $4.8 
trillion debt. Did he project what the debt would be?
  Mr. SMITH of Michigan. He did not project. But if the CBO projection, 
and you really cannot tell whether what he said was a political 
statement or whether he is serious about balancing the budget, we will 
not know that until we see the details. But we are looking at a growing 
budget, and if it is consistent with the spending that he suggested 
when he gave us his budget in February, that is at least $200 billion a 
year, times 10, times 10 years. We are looking at a budget that cannot 
possibly be paid back by our kids and our grandkids.
  It is going to ruin their chances for a standard of living.
  I think it is good to mention; he said it is going to be too painful 
to pay back this debt in just 7 years, but the pain we are talking 
about is political pain, admitting reality. So we have a problem here. 
We are spending money we do not have now. We are asking our kids and 
our grandkids to pick up that bill years from now, and you just cannot 
do it.
  I think the President has got to come to this table, and if he 
expects to have any credibility in terms of input in the best way 
possible to cut spending and balance the budget, then he has got to 
come to the table seriously.
  Mr. KINGSTON. If the gentleman will yield further, one thing that is 
interesting, I usually speak to two or three schools each month. I talk 
a lot to the high school juniors and seniors, and I always remind them, 
when they graduate and get in the work world, their percentage of 
income that goes to taxes is going to be far higher than their 
teachers, parents, grandparents, or any other generation of Americans 
that has ever entered the workplace.
  We talked about postponing pain. Tell that to an 18- or 19-year-old 
who is about to get his or her first job. They will tell you, ``I 
cannot believe how much of my paycheck Uncle Sam gets,'' and, as you 
know, the third largest expenditure of the national budget now is 
interest on the debt. Think how much greater it will be if we wait 10 
years.
  Mr. SMITH of Michigan. The projection is that these kids today, if we 
continue to spend like we have been spending, are going to have to pay 
taxes that amount to over $180,000 during their lifetime just to pay 
their share of the interest on the national debt.
  You know, this little card is what Congressmen use to vote with. It 
is sort of like a credit card, but really the Federal Government, these 
435 Members of Congress here, do not have money to give away. They have 
got to take money away from the citizens all across this country, 
taxpayers, and we are giving away taxpayers' money. The way you hear 
some people talk, you would think it is government's money that they 
are giving away. We are taking away this money from individuals by 
increasing taxes.
  I would invite the President to come seriously to the negotiating 
table, admit that it is right to balance the budget, come legitimately 
and say, ``Yes, I agree, we should be balancing in 5 years, 7 if 
necessary, and let us get on with making a better future for our 
kids.''


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