[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 106 (Tuesday, June 27, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H6313-H6314]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  WHAT NEW BUDGET FROM THE PRESIDENT?

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, as our colleagues are aware, the House and 
Senate budget committees reached a resolution of the differences 
between the House budget resolution and the budget resolution of the 
other body, and we may get their conference report on the future budget 
as soon as this week, and I want to say that they have had to make a 
number of hard choices, just as each body, the House and the other 
body, had to make hard choices within their own budget resolutions.
  Nevertheless, I have noticed a great deal of media discussion again 
comparing the President's new budget that he talked about in his 
televised presentation to the Nation a couple of weeks ago with the 
proposed united congressional budget, and by united congressional 
budget, I mean the House-Senate conference report which is coming to 
us.
  Now, I have to say with the utmost respect: ``What new budget from 
the President of the United States?''
  Now, Mr. Speaker and colleagues, this is a budget. In fact, this is 
the President's budget
 submitted to the Congress in February of this year, which, as you can 
see by its size, goes through each agency and each program and point by 
point proposes spending in the next fiscal year and beyond. There is no 
such document from the White House, at least as of this time, which 
gives comparable point-by-point proposals for spending.

  There is, if one contacts the White House, available some talking 
points about the President's new budget goals. But talking points are 
not by themselves a budget. A budget is program-by-program 
recommendations on spending.
  The fact of the matter is in most respects we do not know what is in 
the President's new budget and, therefore, when the media compares the 
President's budget with the congressional budget, they are comparing 
our real budget with the President's talking points, and, as such, 
there cannot be a point-by-point comparison.
  We do not know how the President's new budget will affect so many 
programs that are federally funded. We have a brief reference in the 
President's televised address to the Nation referring to a 20-percent 
cut in funding for discretionary programs except for the military and 
except for education, and the President stated he wanted to boost 
spending on education. But what does that 20-percent cut mean? First of 
all, is it a 20-percent real cut? Did the President mean that Federal 
agencies will have 20 percent less budget or did he mean it will be a 
Washington cut, there will be a 20 percent decrease in the amount of 
new spending? I think that is a reasonable question, but there is no 
answer to it.
  Further, does that mean a 20-percent cut across the board? That 
means, however you define a cut, will every single agency except for 
the military and except for the agency, have a 20 percent reduced 
budget, or does it mean an average 20 percent reduction so that some 
agencies and some programs will, say, remain the same and other 
agencies and programs will be reduced by 40 percent? We do not know any 
of that either.
  So, to give some specific examples, we do not know what the 
congressional proposal is being compared to. Let me give three examples 
very briefly. First of all, to start with, my home State of New Mexico, 
there has been a great deal of discussion about how the future funding 
of the Federal Government will affect the two national laboratories in 
New Mexico and there
 has been a good deal of debate about what the congressional figures 
will mean in various programs. I want to say that all of this is fair 
commentary, that the national laboratories, I think, are important 
programs, but they understand, as everyone understands, that they will 
be affected as all Federal programs will, in the goal to reach the 
balanced budget. But the evaluation of how they are being treated by 
Congress cannot be made in a vacuum.

  How will all the national laboratories fare in the President's new 
budget if the President's new budget is adopted as the spending 
blueprint for the Congress? Well, we just do not know because we have 
not seen those figures. Nobody thus far can answer that question.

[[Page H 6314]]

  Just this morning, just to show this applies anywhere, as I was 
leaving my apartment to come here, I saw one of the national morning 
news programs. They were centered around the national park system, and 
one of the comments I heard is they said we will be talking about how 
proposed congressional cuts will affect the National Park Service.
  I just wanted to say, to be a full player, Mr. Speaker, the President 
has to provide a full proposed budget.


                          ____________________