[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 183 (Friday, November 17, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H13278-H13279]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            BALANCED BUDGET

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Royce] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, this is a historic debate that we are having 
about balancing the budget, however I am disappointed by the words from 
the White House today that there will be no commitment to balance the 
budget in 7 years and that our attempt to continue funding for the 
Government will be vetoed even though it received bi-partisan support.
  That we have come this far in putting forward a plan to balance the 
budget is a great achievement, but we must not let up. The future of 
our children and grandchildren is literally at stake in the actions 
that this Congress and the President take in the interest of bringing 
fiscal responsibility to Washington.
  The citizens of my district and I'm sure many others recognize this 
and they have been calling in record numbers to tell us not to back 
down. These folks recognize that the Balanced Budget Act of 1995 is the 
single most important piece of legislation that we will work on this 
session.
  They know this because the benefits of getting the Government out of 
the red are painfully obvious--lower interest rates, greater savings--
we have a negative savings rate--and by lessening the burden that we 
pass along to our future generations. But the President says he won't 
budge--he says he won't work to balance this budget in 7 years--and he 
won't accept what the Congressional Budget Office says is a real and 
viable plan to balance the budget. So what do we do?
  We listen to the people back home and we stay here to work to deliver 
a balanced budget. We don't listen to some phony, half-baked platitudes 
about the advantages of deficit spending. Not when the calls are coming 
in from the districts, 9-1 in favor of saving America's future. 
American's are asking us to do what is right for the country and their 
children.
  They know that the interest in the 5 trillion dollar debt will cost 
every baby born today over one hundred and eighty thousand dollars and 
if we continue along this path the country we leave behind won't even 
be recognizable as the America that we inherited from our parents.
  So we've got to start taking some initial, honest steps to bring 
fiscal sanity to Washington. The Balanced Budget Act of 1995 does just 
that. With this budget plan we eliminate the budget deficit in 7 
years--we do not leave our country with chronic $200 billion deficits 
per year, with no end in sight, as the President's out of balance 
budget does.
  We save Medicare from bankruptcy and increase, yes Mr. President 
increase, what each Medicare beneficiary receives from $4,800 to $6,700 
while allowing for more choice in the types of health care people 
receive. But saving Medicare isn't the only benefit we get from 
balancing the budget.
  In fact, all Americans will benefit in the form of lower interest 
rates--this will save individuals and families hundreds of dollars per 
month in home mortgage payments and car loans. With lower interest 
rates this will result in more money being put into our economy to 
drive production and create over six million new American jobs.
  That's right--a balanced budget will create over six-million new jobs 
here in America.
  Mr. Speaker, the future of the country is at a crossroads. We can 
take the path that Americans historically have when there is a crisis--
they look the problem in the eye and tackle it head on. Or we can 
succumb to the demagoguery, half written budgets and phoney numbers 
that the White House is peddling and continue to plunge the country 
deeper into debt.
  The American people have spoken to us--they want a balanced budget 
and 

[[Page H 13279]]
they want it now. For their sake and our children's sake--we should 
override a Presidential veto of a 7-year balanced budget.
  Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. ROYCE. I yield to the gentleman from Missouri.
  Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the gentleman a question. 
There has been a lot of discussion about the government shutdown. My 
understanding is that the minute the President agrees to balance the 
budget in 7 years according to the reasonable numbers of the 
Congressional Budget Office, a strong bipartisan majority of this body 
and the Senate will send him a continuing resolution and open up the 
government. Is that not your understanding?
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, that is correct, as I recall, the vote on 
this floor was 277 to 151.
  Mr. TALENT. All the President has to do is indicate he will agree to 
a balanced budget in 7 years according to the budget numbers of the 
Congressional Budget Office.
  Mr. ROYCE. That is correct.

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