[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 184 (Saturday, November 18, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S17455-S17456]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          CHANGING THE COURSE

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I have been listening all day, as most of 
us have. I suppose one could say that most everything has been said. 
Perhaps it has not been said by everyone, so it will go on. And it 
should.
  We are talking, of course, about a difficult decision. I think the 
Senator who is presiding now said we are trustees here for the American 
people. That is really what we are--trustees.
  We are faced with one of the most difficult decisions that has ever 
been made here, and that is taking a fundamentally different course 
with the Federal Government than we have had for the past 30 years.
  We talk a lot about the cuts. Our friends talk a lot about the cuts. 
Let me share a couple of things with you. Social Security spending will 
increase each and every year from $336 billion in 1995 to $482 billion 
in 7 years, a 44-percent increase.
  Mandatory Medicare spending will increase in each and every year from 
$178 to $289 billion, a 62-percent increase in 7 years.
  Medicaid spending will increase each and every year from $89 to $122 
billion, a 37-percent increase.
  Mr. President, what we are seeking to do is to preserve these kinds 
of programs that we all believe in--health care programs for the 
elderly, health care programs for the poor. In order to preserve them, 
you have to have some kind of control on expenditures. Medicare 
expenditures have gone up three times as fast as inflation, twice as 
fast as health care in general.
  So we can do some things about that and I am pleased, frankly, to 
hear our friends on the other side say that they are interested in 
cooperating in seeking a balanced budget. Frankly, there was not much 
evidence of that interest in balancing the budget prior to today. Most 
of the folks we listen to who decry the balanced budget and now embrace 
it have been here for 20 years. We have not balanced a budget one time 
in 30 years. Hopefully there now is some commitment to it.
  I understand and I think as we listen to these things we should all 
understand that there are different philosophical political points of 
view about how you approach it.
  There are people who genuinely believe that more Government is 
better, more spending is better, that you should, indeed, extract more 
money into the public pot so it can be spent that way. I happen not to 
agree with that.
  I think that is not the majority view. But it is a view and I 
understand that.
  It is also interesting to me, my friend from North Dakota and the 
Senator from Massachusetts get up at least several times daily and talk 
about how bad things are, therefore, we need to help, but are not 
willing to change the programs that have made things as bad as they 
are.
  It seems to me there is a principle there. If you do not like the 
results of what has been happening, you ought not to continue to do the 
same thing. 

[[Page S 17456]]
 You ought not to continue to do the same thing and expect that the 
results will be different, because likely they will not.
  I think, too, it is interesting that we ought to examine for a moment 
what it is we are seeking to do in this country. We are trying to 
provide an economy in a private enterprise system, in a free market 
economy, in a democracy, so that you and I can have jobs and earn a 
living for our families. That is the basis of this country.
  I get a little weary, frankly, of constant talk about greedy business 
men and women because I do not understand where those folks think jobs 
come from. Jobs come from people willing to put capital--either theirs 
or someone else's--and risk that capital and create businesses, 
generally small businesses, to create jobs. That is what makes this 
country work.
  It is sort of interesting, we are spending a great deal of energy, 
properly, in helping countries throughout the world change their form 
of government to a democracy, change their form of economy to a free-
market economy, a private-sector economy and we constantly make it more 
and more difficult for us to succeed doing the very same thing.

  It is always popular to talk about the rich and how the rich are 
getting the breaks. I frankly do not know as much about the rich, I 
suspect, as the Senator from Massachusetts does or others, but I do 
know a little bit about small business. I do know that it takes some 
incentive for you to put your money in there at risk.
  I do know that it is awful easy to be regulated to the extent that 
you say, why should I fool with it at all? Why should I create jobs, 
because I am overregulated. You have to have some incentives to cause 
people to do that.
  We ought to take just a little time and review, I suppose, what are 
our own values, what we think has made this country great, keeping in 
mind it is indeed the greatest country in the world.
  I had a chance, with Senator Glenn, to go to Bosnia a while back and 
see other countries, a chance to go to the Balkans, a chance to go to 
Nicaragua several years ago, and I can tell you, as you know, this is 
the greatest country in the world. We have more freedom. We have more 
things than anyone else.
  We ought to examine what it is that has caused us to be able to have 
those. It has to do with freedom, with less Government rather than 
more. It has to do with personal responsibility that each of us must 
take in a democracy. It has to do with compassion for the helpless and 
the needy, but to help them get back to help themselves. It has to do 
with incentives to invest so that we can create jobs.
  So this ought to be our goal, to preserve those personal freedoms, to 
help strengthen the economy so that we can have jobs, to maintain those 
programs that do help the needy. You cannot keep them going if you do 
not control the costs, with the possibility we are going to go broke in 
Medicare--we all know that. So we can cheat.

  So I hope, Mr. President, each of us will challenge ourselves to 
perform during these next few months, indeed years, and take the tough 
role of leadership. It is fairly easy to poll. It is fairly easy to 
have little groups that you talk to, little focus groups, and sort of 
decide what is best for your political future. It is much tougher to 
decide what you think we need to do to be a leader. And it is 
uncomfortable, from time to time. And this is the time when we have the 
opportunity to stand up and express at least our heartfelt beliefs as 
to where to go.
  Mr. President, I am just excited by the opportunity to do that. I 
think yesterday's vote was a fundamental change and the most important 
vote that any of us will make for a very long time.
  I yield the floor.

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