[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 162 (Thursday, October 19, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15331-S15332]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BALANCING THE BUDGET

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, when we have an arrangement to speak for 
10 minutes, it seems to me that is what we should do.
  I want to talk a little bit about the opportunity and the time that 
we now have to come to a decision. We have been talking this whole year 
about budgets, about balanced budgets. We started out in the beginning 
of the year with a vote on balanced budgets, which lost by one vote. We 
have worked the whole year long, and now we are down to the place where 
it begins to count. We are down to where we are going to make a 
decision as to what we do.
  Mr. President, I listened to my colleague on the other side, and I 
have heard that speech for 25 years. For 25 years, we have not balanced 
the budget in this place. Every year we have the same litany of reasons 
why we cannot do that. For the first time in that period of time, we 
have a dedication to doing it. For the first time, we have a pattern to 
do that. We can balance the budget.
  The real question is, is it reasonable, is it morally and fiscally 
responsible to go for 25 years without balancing the amount of money 
you take in with the amount of money you take out? How long could you 
do that in your family or in your business? We are beginning to have 
the same repercussions that you would have there--the repercussion 
being that we have a $5 trillion debt, and we will have to vote on that 
this month, or early next month; that the interest on that debt will 
now amount to probably the largest single-line item in the budget. So 
we hear, year after year, the same litany of reasons why we cannot do 
this, basically, frankly, from the same people who have been here for 
25 years. I do not mean to be critical. It is a tough decision. But 
people sent us here, this year particularly, to deal with that issue. 
It is time to do that. We hear the talk about the Reagan years, when we 
reduced taxes and the promise that it would increase the economy. It 
did in fact increase the economy markedly. The problem was, we did not 
reduce or hold down spending. The constitutional responsibility for 
doing that lies right here in this Congress. Right here. It is our 
responsibility to do that.
  We hear about capital gains tax cuts. These are tax cuts that provide 
an opportunity for investment to create jobs, that give us a prosperous 
economy and give us a chance for people to work and take care of their 
families. That is what that is about. The earned income tax credit. 
That will continue to grow. It has been the fastest growing program in 
the entire budget. It started out, I believe, at about $1.5 billion. It 
has gone to $25 billion in less than 10 years and is scheduled to go to 
$32 billion. That is a cut? Give me a break. It is not a cut. It is 
also one of the programs that has been most filled with 
inconsistencies, and indeed fraud in many cases, payments going to 
people that did not qualify for them.
  So, Mr. President, it is really time that we take a little look at 
what we are doing here. If we do not balance the budget, what happens? 
If we do not do something about Medicare, what happens? Medicare in the 
trust fund, in part A, goes broke in 2002. That is the way it is. So we 
have to do something about it. A child born today owes $187,000 in 
interest on the Federal debt. That is where we are. That is why we have 
to do something about it. By the year 2015, all of our spending will be 
on entitlements and the national debt interest. All of our tax revenues 
will be taken for that reason. 

[[Page S 15332]]

  So what do we need to do? Obviously, we need to balance the budget. 
We need to preserve, protect and strengthen Medicare. We need to reform 
welfare. And we need to--to the extent that we can do it after the 
budget is balanced--reduce the taxes on American families so they can 
spend more of their own money.
  In this proposition, the tax cutting comes after the balanced budget 
is certified. That is the system. That is the plan that we have here. 
The benefits include lower interest rates for businesses, for families, 
and less expensive homes, cars, and student loans. The Senator talked 
about education. Student loans will be at a lower interest rate. There 
will be a higher standard of living. Some estimate there will be as 
many as 6 million more jobs. So we have to do this.
  The best opportunity that we have had will be before us in the next 2 
weeks. That is what the voters said to us last November. That is their 
expectation. That is our expectation--those of us, particularly, who 
have just come this year. We came with the commitment to fundamentally 
change the direction in which we are going. We came with a commitment 
to change the things the Senator was talking about--deficits for 25 
years. The administration does not have a budget that will give us a 
balanced budget. The first budget was defeated 99-0. The second was not 
voted on. By CBO's own estimates, at the end of 10 years, it will still 
have a $200 billion deficit.
  So we can talk about the same things we have talked about forever. We 
can talk about all the reasons why this cannot be done. We can make 
excuses. But the real question is, is it fiscally and morally 
responsible to move toward a balanced budget in 7 years? If the answer 
is yes, then the opportunity arises before us in this next 2-week 
period.
  Mr. President, I hope that my colleagues will take advantage of this 
opportunity and that, for the first time in a very long time, we will 
have changed the course of irresponsible spending and moved into a time 
of a responsible balanced budget.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. GRAMS addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.

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