[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 185 (Sunday, November 19, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S17476]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BALANCING THE BUDGET

  Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, I want to speak today on a couple of 
topics.
  First of all, I would like to lend my voice of support for the 
proposal that was earlier discussed by the Senator from Maine, Senator 
Snowe, in regard to legislation she introduced, legislation I am a 
cosponsor of, to treat the salaries and pay of the Members of Congress 
in the same fashion that other Federal employees are being treated 
during this period of Government shutdown.
  I share the opinion the Senator from Maine expressed very effectively 
earlier that it is important for the public to understand that those of 
us in Congress are no different than anybody else and that we should 
live by the same sets of rules that govern the rest of the people of 
similar status as we; and that is, the laws of the country should apply 
to us the way they apply to the rest of the country.

  We did that earlier this year. We ended a long period of time in 
which Congressmen and Senators were exempt from any laws which people 
back in our States were forced on a daily basis to adhere to. In the 
same vein as Federal employees ourselves, we should be required to be 
treated in the same fashion as the Federal employees whose families 
this week have been confronted with the issues surrounding the 
Government shutdown.
  Also, I am intrigued by and likely to support the amendment that 
Senator Brown discussed in his remarks. I have long felt, in fact, in 
my campaign I talked about the need for us to place some sort of 
incentive for the Members of Congress to bring about a balanced budget 
that they all campaigned on but went to Washington and somehow found 
very elusive.
  The notion of in some way treating us like the officers of a 
corporation that is running in the red intrigues me a lot, and it is 
very appealing, I think, to citizens across this country. If the 
country keeps running big deficits, it hurts the country. If a business 
runs big deficits, it hurts the business. When the business runs those 
deficits and is hurt, it is its owners, its managers who ultimately pay 
a price, and normally that comes in the form of seeing their salaries 
reduced.
  In the same vein, it strikes me perhaps we, as the Nation's stewards 
of our economy, should have the same kind of responsibility and the 
same sort of incentive that people running a company have to make sure 
that we do not run a deficit.
  So I look forward to working with the Senator from Colorado to try to 
come up with a proposal or a program or an amendment that could address 
that set of incentives as well.
  Finally, Mr. President, I would like to talk briefly about why at 
least those of us who supported the Balanced Budget Act Friday night, 
who have been so strongly keeping committed to the notion of balancing 
the budget in 7 years, adhere to this position, because I think those 
Americans who are watching us in Washington, probably from time to time 
are wondering why are the stakes so high, why is it so critical that 
this budget be balanced and the sooner the better, not in 10 years, 9 
or 8 years, but in the 7 years we have talked about?
  The answer is, a balanced budget means important things to virtually 
everybody in this country. To average working families, Mr. President, 
it means a chance to keep more of what they earn.
  Most families in our country pay interest on something, some pay 
interest on car loans that they have taken out; some pay interest on 
home mortgages, some pay interest on student loans, some pay interest 
on all of the above. Of course, there are many other items that people 
borrow money from lending institutions for today, and these interest 
rates are a big price that they pay along the way.
  Putting the Nation's budget into balance means those interest rates 
we pay are going to come down. It means average families who work hard 
in this country and want to keep more of what they earn will see rates 
come down and see more money in their own pockets, instead of sending 
those dollars along to the persons from whom they have borrowed the 
dollars. That means more money to pay for children's education, more 
money to spend on other family necessities. In short, average working 
families get to have more control over their destinies.
  Putting the budget into balance also means a lot for young people in 
this country. I mentioned already the impact of the student loans and 
interest rates paid on those loans. Let us talk about a young person 
who is looking forward to getting out of school in the near future and 
going to work and earning their own living and addressing their own 
needs, starting their own families, and so on. Considering the current 
rate of our national spending growth and the deficits we have been 
generating and projecting that on into the future, without restraint, 
means that young people today are confronting a debt burden that is 
incredibly large.
  Already, earlier the Senator from Arizona talked about the impact of 
these deficits on a child born in 1995. It is estimated that a child 
born this year, Mr. President, will, in their lifetime, pay $187,000 
just to pay their share of interest on the national debt that already 
exists and will grow during their lifetime. That would mean, Mr. 
President, that if we do not bring this spending spree, this sort of 
unlimited credit card type of Government operation under control, we 
will pass on to the children of our country a lot less opportunity than 
we inherited. It seems to me that all of us have a responsibility to 
take care of our own bills--not to pass them on to the next generation.
  The Senator from Vermont talked about these deficits, and I recognize 
that they are not just deficits that started today. They have been 
building over time. One of the reasons I ran for the Senate last year 
and I think a lot of the other people in the freshman class ran, was to 
come down here and end the way business had been conducted--no matter 
who was in the White House, no matter who controlled Congress, because 
our objective is to try and set the Nation on a new course.
  So as we continue this discussion, as we continue to strive to find 
common ground with regard to starting the Government, we should not 
lose sight of the overall objective--the objective for this Senator, at 
least, is to bring the budget into balance in 7 years so the families 
of this country will be able to keep more of what they earn, so that 
the children of this country will not grow up with a huge debt burden 
confronting them and spend too much of their time working to send money 
to Washington and to pay for their parent's bills, so that our Nation 
can compete even more effectively in a new century in which global 
competition will dominate even more than it does today.
  For those reasons, I am very proud of what we did Friday night, that 
for once, despite all the conversations and talk and claims, and so on, 
that have gone on for many years about balancing the budget, we 
actually did something about it. We ended the talk and put a bill 
before the House and before the House of Representatives which, if 
enacted, would balance the budget. I am proud to say I voted for that 
bill, and I am proud to say that the bill passed.

  For once, Mr. President, on Friday night, we took a stand that was 
more than just rhetoric. It was a commitment to a specific piece of 
legislation that would accomplish the balanced budget we all talk about 
in Washington, and that people have talked about here for a quarter 
century. After 25 years of rhetoric, Friday night, we did something 
about it.
  Mr. President, I am glad I was part of that effort.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. DORGAN addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.

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