[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 186 (Monday, November 20, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H13353-H13354]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         GOVERNMENT OPENS AGAIN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Wicker] is recognized 
during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WICKER. Mr. Speaker, this is the Thanksgiving season, and 
certainly we have a lot to be thankful for today, particularly. We can 
be thankful that 800,000 furloughed Federal employees are returning to 
work. We can be thankful that there is a glimmer of bipartisanship here 
in this Congress. We can be thankful that today this House will vote on 
a bipartisan agreement, not only to end the Federal shutdown, but to 
balance the budget in 7 years with honest numbers. No back doors and no 
gimmicks.
  I believe this balanced budget will be the greatest legacy of this 
Congress. This Congress is committed to working with the administration 
to do what Congresses should do every year, and that is balance the 
Federal budget.
  Now, the next step on the road to fiscal sanity is just as important, 
and that is agreeing to a Balanced Budget Act of 1995. We need to 
balance the budget by agreeing to spend an additional $3 trillion over 
the next 7 years, rather than the projected $4 trillion we are on 
course to spend.

  As my friend, the gentleman from Ohio, Chairman Kasich, has said, the 
debate is not about cuts. It is about whether we can forgo that fourth 
trillion.
  I must admit, Mr. Speaker, that I am a bit confused today about the 
President's statement last night, as compared to the specific language 
of the continuing resolution which he says he will sign.
  Now, the continuing resolution, which the President has said he will 
sign tonight, agrees to protect future generations and to protect 
Medicare, education, Medicaid, agriculture, national defense, and the 
environment. But it says specifically, and I quote, ``The President and 
the Congress shall enact,''--shall enact--legislation in the first 
session of the 104th Congress to achieve a balanced budget, not later 
than the fiscal year 2002, as estimated by the Congressional Budget 
Office,'' a very flat commitment to balancing the budget within 7 
years, according to CBO scoring.
  However, in his statement last night, the President said, and I 
quote, ``And 

[[Page H 13354]]
you know I have expressed strong doubts that the budget can be balanced 
in 7 years, if we use the current Republican congressional budget 
assumptions. But I am nevertheless committed to working in the coming 
weeks to see if we can reach common ground on balancing the budget. The 
key is that nothing will be agreed to unless all elements are agreed 
to.'' Unquote.
  I must confess that I am concerned about that statement. The 
agreement, the specific language which we will vote on today, is not an 
agreement simply to see if we do it.
  So I call upon the President not to run from the language, from the 
specific language, that he has agreed to sign, even before he signs it. 
The majority of this House of Representatives has shown that we can 
balance the budget within 7 years using CBO scoring. Coalition 
Democrats have come forward and given their version of the balanced 
budget, within 7 years, using CBO scoring.
  I now call on my friends from the other side of the aisle to get with 
the President and to make sure that he comes forward with an honest 
budget using CBO scoring, and to tell the American people how he 
proposes to balance the budget within 7 years using the honest CBO 
figures that he has agreed to.
  The President so far has had it both ways. He has had the best of 
both worlds. On one hand, he has been for a balanced budget, and on the 
other hand, he has not wanted to make the difficult decisions to get us 
there.
  THe American people have told us that our days of having our cake and 
eating it too are over. I look forward to seeing where the President 
would reduce the growth of Government spending. Then we can reach a 
balanced budget in 7 years, show the American people that a promise 
made is a promise kept, and give our children the future they deserve.

                          ____________________