[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 180 (Tuesday, November 14, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H12232-H12238]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




ENFORCEMENT OF PUBLIC DEBT LIMIT AND PROTECTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND 
                 OTHER FEDERAL TRUST FUNDS AND ACCOUNTS

  Mr. ARCHER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2621) to enforce the public debt limit and to protect the 
Social Security trust funds and other Federal trust funds and accounts 
invested in public debt obligations.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2621

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. APPLICABILITY OF PUBLIC DEBT LIMIT TO FEDERAL 
                   TRUST FUNDS AND OTHER FEDERAL ACCOUNTS.

       (a) Protection of Federal Funds.--Notwithstanding any other 
     provision of law--
       (1) no officer or employee of the United States may--

[[Page H 12233]]

       (A) delay the deposit of any amount into (or delay the 
     credit of any amount to) any Federal fund or otherwise vary 
     from the normal terms, procedures, or timing for making such 
     deposits or credits, or
       (B) refrain from the investment in public debt obligations 
     of amounts in any Federal fund,

     if a purpose of such action or inaction is to not increase 
     the amount of outstanding public debt obligations, and
       (2) no officer or employee of the United States may 
     disinvest amounts in any Federal fund which are invested in 
     public debt obligations if a purpose of the disinvestment is 
     to reduce the amount of outstanding public debt obligations.
       (b) Protection of Benefits and Expenditures for 
     Administrative Expenses.--
       (1) In general.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), during any 
     period for which cash benefits or administrative expenses 
     would not otherwise be payable from a covered benefits fund 
     by reason of an inability to issue further public debt 
     obligations because of the applicable public debt limit, 
     public debt obligations held by such covered benefits fund 
     shall be sold or redeemed only for the purpose of making 
     payment of such benefits or administrative expenses and only 
     to the extent cash assets of the covered benefits fund are 
     not available from month to month for making payment of such 
     benefits or administrative expenses.
       (2) Issuance of corresponding debt.--For purposes of 
     undertaking the sale or redemption of public debt obligations 
     held by a covered benefits fund pursuant to paragraph (1), 
     the Secretary of the Treasury may issue corresponding public 
     debt obligations to the public, in order to obtain the cash 
     necessary for payment of benefits or administrative expenses 
     from such covered benefits fund, notwithstanding the public 
     debt limit.
       (3) Advance notice of sale or redemption.--Not less than 3 
     days prior to the date on which, by reason of the public debt 
     limit, the Secretary of the Treasury expects to undertake a 
     sale or redemption authorized under paragraph (1), the 
     Secretary of the Treasury shall report to each House of the 
     Congress and to the Comptroller General of the United States 
     regarding the expected sale or redemption. Upon receipt of 
     such report, the Comptroller General shall review the extent 
     of compliance with subsection (a) and paragraphs (1) and (2) 
     of this subsection and shall issue such findings and 
     recommendations to each House of the Congress as the 
     Comptroller General considers necessary and appropriate.
       (c) Public Debt Obligation.--For purposes of this section, 
     the term ``public debt obligation'' means any obligation 
     subject to the public debt limit established under section 
     3101 of title 31, United States Code.
       (d) Federal Fund.--For purposes of this section the term 
     ``Federal fund'' means any Federal trust fund or Government 
     account established pursuant to Federal law to which the 
     Secretary of the Treasury has issued or is expressly 
     authorized by law directly to issue obligations under chapter 
     31 of title 31, United States Code, in respect of public 
     money, money otherwise required to be deposited in the 
     Treasury, or amounts appropriated.
       (e) Covered Benefits Fund.--For purposes of subsection (b), 
     the term ``covered benefits fund'' means any Federal fund 
     from which cash benefits are payable by law in the form of 
     retirement benefits, separation payments, life or disability 
     insurance benefits, or dependent's or survivor's benefits, 
     including (but not limited to) the following:
       (1) the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund;
       (2) the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund;
       (3) the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund;
       (4) the Government Securities Investment Fund;
       (5) the Department of Defense Military Retirement Fund;
       (6) the Unemployment Trust Fund;
       (7) each of the railroad retirement funds and accounts;
       (8) the Department of Defense Education Benefits Fund and 
     the Post-Vietnam Era Veterans Education Fund; and
       (9) the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund.

     SEC. 2. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

       Subsections (j), (k), and (l) of section 8348 of title 5, 
     United States Code, and subsections (g) and (h) of section 
     8438 of such title are hereby repealed.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Texas [Mr. Archer] will be recognized for 20 minutes, and the gentleman 
from Florida [Mr. Gibbons] will be recognized for 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Archer].
  Mr. ARCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope we can limit the debate on the purpose of this 
bill. It is very specific. It relates to how we handle the management 
of our financial affairs during the time that the debt ceiling issue is 
not settled.
  Yesterday the President vetoed the temporary debt limit sent to him 
by the Congress. One of his stated reasons for rejecting that bill was 
that it limited the Treasury's statutory power to manage the Federal 
debt.
  That issue, however, is not about debt management. It is about 
avoiding the debt limit. Avoiding the debt limit is what the Clinton 
administration is preparing to do, and may intend to tap retiree trust 
funds to accomplish it.
  H.R. 2621 simply does one thing: It prohibits the kind of 
manipulation that Treasury is about to undertake, by requiring Federal 
trust funds and similar accounts to be fully invested in Government 
securities, and surplus income cannot be held in cash to avoid hitting 
the debt limit. Furthermore, funds cannot be disinvested unless it is 
done to pay authorized benefits.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill does not raise the debt limit level. It only 
provides protection of Social Security and other trust funds and 
assures that Social Security and other trust fund payments to 
individual beneficiaries will continue uninterrupted.
  If this bill were law today, Treasury would not be disinvesting the 
civil service retirement fund and failing to reinvest the G Fund in 
order to avoid exceeding the debt limit tomorrow. Ironically, Treasury 
has seized on a provision in current law designed to pay back lost 
interest to these funds as a license for raiding them. Furthermore, 
Treasury says that these funds are among other funds that could be 
affected, but that this week only the Federal retirement fund will be 
affected.
  What does that mean? What is the Treasury telling us when it says 
``among other funds''? What will the Treasury do next week? What about 
Social Security, which has no protections from disinvestment under 
current law? Are these funds next?
  Only this legislation will protect them. The debt games the 
administration is playing make the public angry and confused and 
frighten the retirees. They know the President is continuing to run up 
Federal debt while refusing to even talk about balancing the budget.
  We are determined, Mr. Speaker, to prevent increasing debt even in a 
backdoor way, such as the Treasury contemplates, without a balanced 
budget. We wish the President would negotiate with us on a balanced 
budget.
  The Social Security fund, as I mentioned, is not protected. The 43 
million Social Security recipients who paid their taxes and now rely on 
those benefits expect us to stand behind their investments. We need to 
pass this bill to assure those receiving benefits will be paid 
regardless of the status of the debt limit.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill should pass overwhelmingly if this Congress 
truly wishes to protect benefits, preserve trust funds, and enforce the 
lid on the Federal debt.
  When the President said ``no'' to protection for Social Security and 
other trust funds with his veto, most Americans probably wondered why a 
President would object to protecting their retirement and other benefit 
investments. Let us show today that we intend to shield those funds and 
the individuals who rely on those benefit payments from Treasury's debt 
limit games.
  I urge a vote for H.R. 2621 and the integrity of the trust funds.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, this is another charade that is being pulled today. It 
has nothing to do with the truth. I want to read a statement issued by 
the White House this morning that puts all of this to rest, if there is 
any reason to put it to rest.
  Frankly, I do not believe anybody has got the authority to invade the 
Social Security trust fund to pay anything other than Social Security 
benefits. That has been the law ever since I have been here. It has not 
been changed, and I have been here 33 years.
  In fact, Mr. Speaker, I do not think there is anybody in the sound of 
my voice that has got more money invested in the Social Security trust 
fund than do I. I have been paying for these benefits since 1937, and I 
have been fortunate enough to always pay at the maximum rate. I am 
interested in the Social Security trust fund, I do not want it 
squandered, and nobody has got a bigger investment in it than I have.
  This is a statement by the President dated today, issued from the 
White House. He says:


[[Page H 12234]]

       I want to assure the American people that the Social 
     Security Trust Fund will not be used for any purpose other 
     than to pay benefits to recipients. Under current law, the 
     Secretary of Treasury is not authorized to use the fund for 
     any purpose other than to pay benefits to recipients. There 
     will be no exceptions under my watch. None. Not ever.

  That is the statement the President issued today. It is not 
necessary, but in the hysteria that is being generated here trying to 
cover the Republicans' inability to govern and their squandering of 
time and of effort, you can expect almost anything to happen.
  The only thing that really affects the Social Security trust fund is 
the legislation that the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Archer] is proposing 
here. He would tie the hands of the President so that he could not pay 
the Social Security benefits because he would have no employees to pay 
the benefits. He would not be able to redeem the bonds that are in the 
Social Security trust fund. He could not do anything.
  Mr. Speaker, the legislation of the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Archer] 
is dangerous. It is just a part of the charade to try to force the 
President into default.
  Mr. Speaker, the thing that is important here to understand is that 
the Republicans are trying to force the President to agree to their 
agenda. Their agenda calls for a balanced budget and a big tax cut at 
the expense of the sick, the old, the infants, the children, and the 
working poor, and that is not an acceptable plan for balancing the 
budget.
  Mr. ARCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, 
simply to correct the record as to what the gentleman said.
  Mr. Speaker, he is well aware that in this bill there is a provision 
for the administrative costs so that the checks can be issued to Social 
Security recipients and a guarantee that they will continue to go out. 
He just flat misstated that. I am disappointed in the gentleman from 
Florida.
  Second, as to whether we can rely on the President, it was this 
President who said he would end welfare as we know it and did nothing 
to push it. It was this President that said he would give American 
middle-income taxpayers relief and he did not do it. We never know 
where this President is going to be, and the country knows that you 
cannot rely on what he says to being operative at any time in the 
future.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. 
Portman].
  Mr. PORTMAN. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I am glad to see we are talking about the facts. As you 
know, last Saturday we sent the President a bill that would extend the 
debt limit, and at the same time protect the Social Security, Medicare, 
and civil service trust funds. The bill says that the funds cannot be 
disinvested during this debt crisis period.
  Unfortunately, the President decided to veto the bill. Among the 
reasons for vetoing it was because it would have prevented the 
Secretary of the Treasury from using these trust funds to artificially 
extend the debt limit. I think this is unacceptable.
  That is why we are here today with this legislation, H.R. 2621, a 
bill to enforce the debt limit and to protect the trust funds. It 
focuses on that issue.
  Among other things, this bill tells the 43 million Americans who get 
Social Security and the 140 million workers that pay into it that it is 
not OK to play games with the $483 billion in assets of the trust 
funds. It tells the President that it is not OK to play games with the 
$30 billion in payroll taxes that workers pay each month and that 
retirees rely on to finance their benefit checks.
  It is helpful to review history here. What we do not want, Mr. 
Speaker, is a repeat of 1985, when in fact there was a gaming of the 
trust funds. As a result, the Social Security trust funds lost $382 
million in interest, and long-term bonds were cashed in early.
  It is correct that Congress did pass legislation to restore the lost 
interest and to reconstruct the bond portfolio, but no legislation 
could ever restore the public confidence that was lost during that 
period. What we are considering today is not just about protecting the 
trust funds. It is also about protecting public confidence in those 
trust funds.
  Simply put, without this bill, there are no laws to prevent a repeat 
of what happened in 1985.
  It was difficult for many of us to vote to extend the debt limit last 
week. But, having done that, Congress should also take action to 
restore public confidence in these trust funds. We have a chance to do 
that today.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Connecticut [Mrs. Kennelly].
  Mrs. KENNELLY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to reply to the gentleman 
from Ohio. He was right part of the way.
  In 1985 this situation was faced. The Secretary of the Treasury then 
did take money out of the Social Security funds, and we passed a law so 
he could not do it anymore. What this bill before us does, it does away 
with that law that we passed to protect Social Security.
  Mr. Speaker, I would think this was so clever, to bring this bill 
here before us today under suspension. If you raise the danger of 
hurting the Social Security fund, of course people rush to the floor to 
vote fore it.

                              {time}  1230

  But the second half of this bill is dangerous, and it is wrong to do 
it in this fashion. The Social Security Trust Fund is not in jeopardy 
now at this moment, because Social Security is an entitlement. 
Beneficiaries will get their benefits.
  The bill does not change that. Withdrawals are made from the Social 
Security Trust Fund to pay Social Security benefits, period.
  What this bill does in the second half, because that is a spurious 
argument, in the second half, what the bill does is take away the trust 
fund's, or the ability of the Secretary of the Treasury, to deal with 
the cash of these United States, our whole reputation at stake.
  It is absolutely wrong to bring this forward today, say Social 
Security is going to be hurt. It is not.
  What is going to be hurt is the possibility that we lose the full 
faith and credit of this country because this bill in front of us today 
means default would happen even more than it would happen under these 
awful circumstances we are dealing with.
  Mr. Speaker, I have to tell you this is dangerous. This is wrong, and 
I am surprised at the majority for bringing it forward under this 
fashion, under this guise.
  Mr. ARCHER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?
  Mrs. KENNELLY. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. ARCHER. Mr. Speaker, I say to the gentlewoman I also thought the 
Social Security trust funds were protected before we got into this 
issue several weeks ago, but they are not protected under the law. That 
has been carefully researched. There is nothing that prohibits the 
Secretary of the Treasury from either failing to invest or disinvesting 
the Social Security trust funds under law today, and that is the reason 
why this bill is before us.
  Mrs. KENNELLY. I would first say, under technical legislative facts 
of life we deal with, there is no authorization. I do think we still 
can believe when the President says, ``There will be no exceptions 
under my watch, none, not ever. I will for no purpose take from the 
Social Security fund.'' I would hope we have faith in the President of 
the United States.
  Mr. ARCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to 
say to the gentlewoman I wish we could accept this President's word at 
face value also, but we know from experience that we cannot.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Michigan 
[Mr. Smith].
  Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, let me say first of all that this 
bill has everything to do with the truth. You know, despite its 
importance, the debt held by the public is not the most familiar 
measure that we have in the Federal debt. That distinction belongs to 
the debt subject to the debt limit often referred to as the gross 
Federal debt. The gross Federal debt is now $4.9 trillion--$3.5 
trillion is debt, marketable debt, that we owe to the public and $1.4 
trillion is the debt owed to the trust funds.

[[Page H 12235]]

  Now, the President has effectively declared that he will not abide by 
congressional oversight of how much the Federal Government can borrow. 
Since the founding of this country, Congress has had the authority over 
this Government's ability to issue more debt. Prior to the First World 
War, Congress approved every debt issuance. Since that time, the Second 
Liberty Bond Act has allowed Treasury to borrow up to a certain limit 
set by Congress.
  Tomorrow, Treasury will effectively overcome the statutory limit, 
making a mockery of the people's control over the Federal borrowing 
and, in large, the Federal debt.
  The manner in which this has been done, I think, is insidious. 
Treasury will now begin to disinvest the trust funds. This means they 
will begin to tear up the IOU's that bear interest.
  But here is the point I am trying to make: In taking such action, the 
President is increasing the public debt of this country without the 
authority of Congress. The first to go is going to be the thrift 
savings of Federal employees. Next will be the retirement trust fund. 
The precedent that is now being set by this President would allow a 
future President to say that the precedent was set in 1995 and now we 
can go into the Medicare trust fund, now we can go into the Social 
Security trust fund.
  The fact is that from now on, if we allow this to happen and do not 
pass this bill, Presidents will be able to add more than $1 trillion to 
our existing debt without the review or consent of Congress.
  There is only one way to stop this scheme and return to the Congress 
and the citizens of this country authority over the debt issuance of 
this Government. That is to pass H.R. 2621, which will make it against 
the law for the Treasury to further destroy the trust funds through 
this disinvestment process. In fact, we need to develop policies to 
have the major trust funds invest in marketable Treasury securities. If 
we stand by, then the President can add $200 billion per year to our 
national debt for the next 5 years. I have spoken many times of the 
need to rein in our national debt. This bill is vital to accomplishing 
our goal of returning America to fiscal stability. I urge support of 
H.R. 2621.
  I hope this Congress will do it. We need to develop policies that 
protect those trust funds.
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from 
Connecticut [Mrs. Kennelly].
  Mrs. KENNELLY. Mr. Speaker, I made reference to a statement by the 
President of the United States made this morning, and I really feel, to 
question the integrity of the President of the United States at a time 
when workers are being furloughed and worrying about their mortgages, 
at a time when the world markets are looking at us whether we can pay 
our bills, really is a disservice to the United States of America and 
should end at this moment.
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Michigan [Mr. Bonior], the Democratic whip.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, this bill does exactly, exactly the opposite 
of what the Republicans say it does. This bill makes it more likely 
that the U.S. Government would default for the first time in history.
  Nothing could be more damaging to the Social Security Trust Fund and 
the protection of those benefits for our senior citizens than the 
Gingrich Government default that is projected here if this bill 
happens.
  Social Security benefits are already guaranteed by law, and I would 
disagree with my friend from Texas who says he disputes that. They are 
already protected by law, and the President has stated very clearly, 
and I quote him, ``Under current law, the Secretary of the Treasury is 
not authorized to use the funds for any purpose other than to pay 
benefits to recipients. There will be no exceptions under my watch, 
none, none not whatever.''
  Mr. Speaker, in addition, this bill repeals the current law to 
authorize the automatic payback of interest on any money borrowed from 
Federal pensions. There they go again; they are into the pensions of 
workers. They are doing it again.
  The same people who are doubling your Medicare premiums are now 
trying to say that they are trying to save Social Security. Do not 
believe it.
  The Republicans are playing the most dangerous of all games by 
threatening a Gingrich Government default, and such a default would put 
at risk the Social Security Trust Fund, it would raise interest rates 
on working families and it would undermine the credibility of our 
Government for years to come.
  I would tell my colleagues on this side of the aisle, do your work. 
You have got one done out of 13 appropriation bills. Do your work. Do 
your work. Pass a continuing resolution so we can get on with operating 
this Government and so people all over this country who are not going 
to work today can go to work and we can do the business that we were 
elected to do.
  Mr. McCRERY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  Once again, the law has been misstated by the other side. We have 
clear testimony before the Committee on Ways and Means that, in fact, 
the administration has the ability under current law to utilize the 
trust funds in times of exigent circumstances, and, in fact, we have 
already seen examples of this this very week with the administration 
using other trust funds to get around the debt ceiling.
  So it is just not so that the administration does not have this 
power. They do, and that is what this bill would correct. It would 
protect the Social Security Trust Fund and other trust funds from being 
rate raided by the administration in order to circumvent the debt 
ceiling.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Sam 
Johnson.
  Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, you have probably heard the 
President using senior citizens over the past few days as his excuse to 
veto the debt limit bill.
  Well don't for a minute think that he wants to protect America's 
seniors. He has his own interests in mind.
  You see--the debt limit bill included a provision that prevented the 
Treasury Secretary from stealing from the Social Security Trust Fund in 
order to spend more money.
  We knew that this provision was the only way to protect the seniors' 
trust fund from President Clinton's careless spending habits.
  And he proved that he has no self discipline when he vetoed the bill.
  We owe it to our seniors to protect the money they have paid into 
Social Security. And the President owes seniors more than a game of 
scare tactics and misinformation.
  So once again today we are going to pass this bill to protect our 
Federal trust funds.
  I urge everyone to take a real and meaningful stand for our Nation's 
seniors--and send a message to the administration--you cannot steal 
from Social Security to keep supporting big Government.
  Support this bill.
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Virginia [Mr. Moran].
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, while we are all entitled to our own set of 
opinions, we are not entitled to our own set of facts.
  Let me share with you some facts: If this bill before us is passed, 
the payroll tax that is intended for the Social Security system that 
comes into the Government and is about $30 billion a month, about a 
billion dollars a day, it will not earn interest for Social Security 
recipients, because if the debt ceiling is not extended, and this will 
not extend the debt ceiling, then Social Security trust funds will lose 
about $37,000 tomorrow, and over the course of this debate it will lose 
millions of dollars. That payroll tax will not earn interest.
  Second fact: Since the Government has shut down and there is no money 
to pay people within the Social Security Administration to process 
applications, new people, eligible, applying for Social Security, will 
not be able to get their benefits. There is no money to pay for the 
processing of their applications.
  Third fact: Because this bill repeals provisions put into law by the 
Reagan administration, the thrift savings plan that Government 
employees have contributed to will lose about $3.5 million each day, 
beginning tomorrow. But the civil service retirement trust fund that 

[[Page H 12236]]
millions of employees have contributed to will lose $10 million 
tomorrow and $10 million every day this is extended, because this law 
makes it illegal to reimburse that civil service retirement trust fund 
and to give it any interest for the money that you take out.
  We cannot do this to Federal employees. We cannot do this to this 
country.
  The last fact you need to know: That the credit watch, the European 
credit rating agency, just now put the United States on a rating watch 
for possible downgrade that will increase the interest on all of our 
Treasury bills for years to come. Do not pass this bill.
  Mr. McCRERY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  I think the gentleman from Virginia has emphatically stated the gist 
of the situation. The fact is that without specific authority from the 
Congress to extend more debt, the President frankly will be between a 
rock and a hard place, and I think the gentleman is correct there, and 
that is part of what this debate is all about.
  Those of us on this side, frankly, want the President to have to 
choose between more and more debt on the backs of our children and 
grandchildren or finally facing up to the fact that we cannot afford 
any longer to spend more than we take in and finally get this Nation's 
fisc in order.
  So I think the gentleman from Virginia stated it very clearly and 
succinctly and emotionally and did a good job, and that is part of this 
debate. So, frankly, we are ready to put the President between that 
rock and a hard place so he will have to choose clearly for the 
American people to see. We hope that he choose on the side of fiscal 
responsibility. We hope he chooses on the side of preserving a future 
not only for today's seniors but for tomorrow's seniors and future 
generations of this country.
  I thank the gentleman from Virginia for making that clear.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. 
Kingston].
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, it seems unbelievable to me that we are 
sitting here debating whether the President can tap into Social 
Security trust fund and the civil service retirement fund. I find that 
almost unbelievable that the Democrat Party, who has been using the 
senior citizens all over America as their chief pawn, as their shield, 
to ram or resist any kind of legislation that comes up, now they want 
to take the money out of the senior citizens' trust fund.

                              {time}  1345

  I think it is appalling to me. It is unbelievable. The Treasury 
Department has announced it intends to divest the civil service 
retirement trust fund and fail to invest the G fund in order to create 
room under the debt limit and raise cash to make interest tomorrow, 
starting November 15. That is to me unbelievable. Those funds, among 
others, are to be tapped for at least $25 billion. But on November 30, 
the Treasury Department will again need about $13 billion in cash, so 
the divesting of this retirement fund could even go on even to a higher 
limit than that. Well, with Social Security holding $483 billion in 
Federal securities, and civil service holding $366 billion, the 
Treasury can tap into these funds and use it to run up more public 
debt.
  Now, this is totally out of hand. What we are debating here should 
not be the President's or the Treasury Department's intention and 
ability to tap into these sacred trust funds. What we should be 
debating is are we going to balance the budget.
  When the President was running for office in 1992, June 4 on ``Larry 
King Live,'' he said, ``I am going to balance the budget in 5 years.'' 
His only balanced budget proposal is a 10-year plan that does not even 
balance the budget. In fact, in the year 2002, when the Republican plan 
has a zero deficit, the Clinton plan has a $209 billion deficit.
  Mr. Speaker, the debate here is about balancing the budget. I hope 
the President does not steal money from the senior citizens for the 
Federal retirees, and I urge Members to vote for this bill.
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Texas [Mr. Bentsen].
  Mr. BENTSEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill is a childish charade, and the sponsors should 
be ashamed of themselves. This bill does not protect Social Security; 
it puts it at risk, along with Medicare and veterans benefits. This 
bill enhances the chance of default by the U.S. Government, which, if 
it occurred, would result in eventually no Medicare, no veterans 
benefits, and no Social Security benefits.
  That is right, in a default, we would not make good on our 
obligations to the Social Security benefits and this bill leads to a 
default.
  Furthermore, this bill calls into question our willingness to pay our 
debts, because it brings to the U.S. Government the same fiscal 
insanity of the Orange County, CA, default. It will raise interest 
rates, home mortgage rates, credit card rates, and all loan rates. It 
will destroy the quality of credit. It will destroy the quality of U.S. 
credit as Moody's and Standard & Poor have publicly stated. It is a 
dangerous political ploy with dire economic consequences for which we 
will all pay.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill is not about protecting Social Security. It is 
about politics, so Members can go home and say they protected Social 
Security. But in fact, the opposite will occur, because in a default, 
we will also default on our obligations to the Social Security system, 
which is invested in treasury obligations. Since Social Security 
benefits are invested in these Treasury securities, they carry the 
force of the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. That is a 
guarantee which, in a default, we would violate, and therefore violate 
that obligation to the Social Security system.
  If one wants to protect Social Security, vote no, because a yes vote 
will ultimately lead to a default on Social Security. Let us put 
politics aside when it comes to our faith in our Nation's 
creditworthiness and our commitment to Social Security. Let us defeat 
this ridiculous bill. Let us get down to business like the American 
people sent us here for. Let us put some sanity into our fiscal 
practice, because this, my friends, is not sanity.
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Virginia [Mr. Payne].
  Mr. PAYNE of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for yielding 
me time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this bill. The 
administration has stated unconditionally that the Social Security 
trust fund will not be touched in dealing with debt crisis.
  This bill would prohibit Treasury from utilizing the few remaining 
tools available for managing our debt, virtually guaranteeing an 
unprecedented default. This is wrong and it is irresponsible.
  Both Standard & Poor's and Moody's, two of the world's leading 
credit-rating agencies, have issued warnings that our Government's 
triple-A credit rating is at risk, due to the threat of default. IBCA, 
the European credit rating agency, has placed the United States on 
rating watch for a possible downgrade of its triple-A foreign and local 
currency long-term credit ratings.
  If these downgradings go into effect, the impact would place a huge 
additional financial burden on our taxpayers, and would last well 
beyond the current controversy many years into the future.
  Let's defeat the bad bill, pass a clean temporary debt ceiling 
extension, and get on with the important business of balancing our 
budget without tax increases in a bipartisan manner.
  I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Michigan [Mr. Levin].
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I say to the Republican majority, you are 
really playing games, and it is time to blow the whistle. I want to 
repeat, there is no authorization under law for the President of the 
United States to use Social Security funds. None. And he has said in no 
event would he use Social Security funds.
  So, why are you doing this? The gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. 
McCrery] says to put the President between a rock and a hard place. But 
trying to do that, you are going to put the American economy on the 
rocks, default, and it is going to hurt everybody in this country, 
those who use credit cards, those who have adjustable rate mortgages.

[[Page H 12237]]

  Why are you doing this? It is because you look vulnerable on Social 
Security and Medicare, so you are looking for cover. And to do that, 
you are going to blow the lid and cause a default? You are trying to 
cover your fingerprints on legislation that will weaken Medicare and 
the Social Security COLA. And to do that you are going to tie the hands 
of the President?
  I say to the American people, this cannot happen. We are going to 
defeat this bill.
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Massachusetts [Mr. Neal].
  Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I think that the gentleman 
from Louisiana [Mr. McCrery], who is my friend, summed the issue up 
very well. He said that their role is to put the President between a 
rock and a hard place. The truth is today this debate is about the 
American people; it is not about putting the President between a rock 
and a hard place. That is the political solution, and that is what 
makes this option so unpalatable to all of us.
  Mr. Speaker, once again we are here on the House floor debating the 
debt ceiling. And once again, we are not debating the right solution. 
We ought to be debating a clean debt ceiling extension.
  Instead, we are debating legislation that contains provisions that 
already have been vetoed by the President. We should be using this time 
to send a bill that the President can sign.
  Last week, the Treasury Department issued a statement assuring that 
the Treasury will not use Social Security trust fund for any purpose 
other than to assure the payment of benefits to Social Security 
recipients. These funds will only be used for Social Security.
  Treasury has acted responsibly and has taken options to avoid 
default, because of Congress' failure to act on a clean debt extension. 
This legislation will make it harder for payments to be made. This bill 
would stop payments under Medicare, stops payments, under SSI, stop 
payments to military personnel, and stop payments to other Federal 
beneficiaries.
  Any prioritization scheme would necessarily imply that other 
obligations of the United States might be defaulted upon. By repealing 
the debt management provision of current law relating to the civil 
service retirement and disability fund, this bill would increase the 
risk of default by severely limiting the ability of the Secretary of 
the Treasury to assure that crucial Government payments including 
benefit payments such as Social Security.
  A Republican administration was in charge when debt management 
provisions were enacted into law. The Secretary should always have 
options to relieve pressure and avert default.
  The bottom line is this legislation would push us closer to a 
default. It is time to stop this game and vote on a clean debt ceiling 
extension.
  Mr. McCRERY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Massachusetts [Mr. Torkildsen].
  Mr. TORKILDSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the resolution. I 
find it interesting the arguments that have been going back and forth 
about what is a clean debt extension bill, what is a clean continuing 
resolution.
  If we look back in the last 10 years, virtually every continuing 
resolution, and I believe most the debt extensions as well, have had 
extraneous matters attached to them. Yet at the time none of the 
Members who are now in the minority objected. All of a sudden they 
think there has to be a clean bill.
  In reality, if we are going to extend the debt, we should have 
certain restrictions on that debt extension. One of those should be to 
prevent the President from raiding the Social Security trust fund. For 
me it is a very basic issue. We do have to borrow some money for short-
term needs of the Government. However, it should not be a blank check 
to the White House. We need to pass the extension, but we need to do it 
with the restrictions there so we do not have runaway spending and we 
do not have a raid on the Federal trust fund.
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New 
York [Mr. Schumer].
  (Mr. SCHUMER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. Speaker, when someone is in a corner, what do they 
do? They lash back. The Republican majority is in a corner, and they 
are trying to come up with the bogus issue of the Social Security trust 
fund.
  Here is a quote from the President:

       I want to assure the American people that the Social 
     Security Trust Fund will not be used for any purpose other 
     than to pay the benefits to recipients. Under current law, 
     the Secretary of Treasury is not authorized to use the fund 
     for any purpose other than to pay benefits to recipients. 
     There will be no exceptions under my watch. None, not ever.

  Now, who do you trust more to save your Social Security? Bill Clinton 
or Newt Gingrich?
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds.
  Mr. Speaker, the last statement really hit the nail on the head. We 
are here today going through this charade, because the present Speaker 
has just totally mismanaged this place. This is business that should 
have been taken care of in July. Here it is 5 months later, with no 
budget passed and only 2 of the 13 appropriations bills passed, and he 
is trying to shut down the Government. All of this problem is brought 
about by the Speaker's mismanagement of this House and this Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. 
Gephardt], the Democrat leader.
  Mr. GEPHARDT. Mr. Speaker, let me first say that a vote for this bill 
is a vote to bring about default of the Government for the first time 
in its history. If we take away from the Secretary of the Treasury all 
of the management opportunities that are now existent in the law, which 
this bill would do, we simply bring about the greatest possibility that 
the unthinkable would happen, and that is that we would have a default 
for the first time in our history.
  The result of that is catastrophic for the American people. 
Adjustable rate mortgage interest will go up, over the years, not just 
for 6 months or a year. It will go up over the years, more than it 
ordinarily would or should.
  If you are worried about Social Security, as we all are and should 
be, the worst thing we could do to Social Security would be to bring 
about a default on the part of the U.S. Government. They would be 
unable to make payments. Under the Social Security system, they would 
be unable to invest the money coming in in interest bearing accounts as 
a result of what would take place under this bill.
  Let us talk about the converse. What is being argued is that this 
bill is needed in order to make sure that the Social Security fund is 
not disinvested. It is a red herring. It is simply not true. If that 
were the real intent of the bill, why does the bill not just deal with 
that issue alone, even though we do not need to deal with that issue?
  It is because the real agenda is to put leverage on the President to 
sign the budget that has a big increase in Medicare premiums and a big 
tax break for the wealthy. That is the real agenda that is going on 
here. That is really what is happening. That is why this bill is being 
presented, to gain more leverage on the President.
  So I urge Members not to be taken in, not to be fooled. The best 
policy is to not vote for this bill, to not bring about default and 
make default more certain, to not increase leverage on the President, 
so that a budget goes through here that hurts Medicare recipients, 
increases their premium, closes 25 percent of the hospitals in the 
country, cuts back dramatically on medical education and all the other 
things bad that will happen to the Medicare system that we have been 
fighting so hard to try to preserve. This is a bad idea, it is a wrong 
idea, it is an unneeded idea.
  Finally, if you want to make sure that Social Security is secure, 
vote against this legislation and let us get the budget done, so that 
we will not have to worry about the debt ceiling anymore, and make sure 
that all of our Social Security recipients will receive their checks on 
time, as we have promised through the years.

                              {time}  1300

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kolbe). The gentleman from Louisiana 
[Mr. McCrery] has 3\1/2\ minutes remaining and is entitled to close the 
debate.
  Mr. McCRERY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself my remaining time. Mr. 
Speaker, let me just clear up a couple of 

[[Page H 12238]]
things that have been said by the last few speakers.
  My good friend from Massachusetts, Mr. Neal, said if this bill is 
passed, Social Security checks will not be able to be paid. Well, that 
is simply not the case, and if the gentleman would read the bill, which 
I have right here, he would see very clearly, on page 3 of the printed 
text of the bill, it is clear that payment of such benefits or 
administrative expenses may be, in fact, paid.
  So my good friend from Massachusetts is just incorrect in asserting 
that Social Security benefits would not be paid.
  Second, my friend, the gentleman from New York [Mr. Schumer], asked 
rhetorically I presume from his perspective who do we trust to protect 
Social Security, the President or Newt Gingrich? While that got a good 
laugh from his Democratic colleagues, the fact is what we are trying to 
do today is make it so that we do not have to trust anybody. It will be 
the law that the President, no matter who he is, cannot violate the 
Social Security trust fund.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. McCRERY. I yield to the gentleman from New York.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. Speaker, my question is, if the Republicans felt so 
strongly about it, why did they attach all the other provisions to the 
bill? A simple line that they would just deal with Social Security 
would pass this place 435 to nothing. In my judgment, there is a game 
going on here.
  Mr. McCRERY. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I would submit to the 
gentleman that the Social Security and Medicare trust funds account for 
fully half of the total value of the Federal Government's trust funds. 
So it is very important that we recognize that these two trust funds 
will be critical in any exigent circumstance if the President wishes to 
get around the debt ceiling.
  So the fact that we have contained in this bill other trust funds 
should not obscure the fact that in order to protect all of them, 
including the Civil Service trust fund which the President intends to 
tap today and the Social Security trust fund, this bill must be passed.
  I would say to the gentleman that we do not need to trust the 
President or Newt Gingrich, we need to pass this bill in order to make 
it law that the President cannot tap the Social Security trust fund.
  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. McCRERY. I yield to the gentleman from Georgia.
  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask my friend, the gentleman 
from Louisiana, is it not true that what we are trying to do is to make 
sure that those taxes are deducted from payroll collection and are 
deposited into the Treasury and that they then, further, are invested 
into the trust fund and the trust fund can actually invest them into 
Government securities? But we want to make sure, once deposited into 
the Treasury, they do not stay in the Treasury, that they are then 
further transferred into the Social Security trust fund?
  The President's statement is actually factual. He will not deal with 
the trust fund, but he wants to deal with the Treasury while the money 
is in the Treasury prior to going to the trust fund.
  Mr. McCRERY. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is correct.
  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Spaker, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding.
  Mr. McCRERY. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, the minority leader 
tried to couch this argument in terms of giving tax breaks for the rich 
and all the like. That is once again trying to obscure the issue. The 
issue is, do we want to protect the Social Security trust fund, the 
Medicare trust fund from being raided by the executive branch in order 
to circumvent the debt ceiling, which under the Constitution must be 
raised by the Congress, by the legislative branch?
  I urge all my colleagues to protect the Social Security trust fund 
and the Medicare trust fund and vote ``aye'' on this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose H.R. 2621, a transparent 
political gesture by the Republic leadership. This is nothing more than 
Speaker Newt Gingrich and other House Republican leaders trying to 
blackmail the President into accepting their Medicare premium increase 
as part of a temporary Government funding bill. Congress under its new 
leadership has utterly failed to complete its constitutional 
responsibility to fund the Federal Government this year. Instead of 
playing high stakes political games with the hopes and fears of Federal 
employees, retirees, and Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries, 
Republican leaders would be well advised to finish the work they should 
have finished more than 1 month ago.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time has expired.
  The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Texas 
[Mr. Archer] that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 
2621.
  The question was taken.
  Mr. McCRERY. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 5 of rule I and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.


                         parliamentary inquiry

  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry. Why are we 
postponing this vote? Can we not vote now?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will postpone the vote until after 
the veto message is disposed of. It is at the discretion of the Chair 
to do so, and this vote will be postponed.
  Mr. GIBBONS. But, Mr. Speaker, we are all here. It is 1 o'clock in 
the afternoon.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has not stated a parliamentary 
inquiry.
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, it is an inquiry so that people will know 
what is going on.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The vote will be postponed until after the 
veto message from the President is disposed of.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

                          ____________________