[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 188 (Tuesday, November 28, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H13659-H13660]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                WHAT IS AT STAKE IN BALANCING THE BUDGET

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Goss] is recognized during 
morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, much has been said on this floor and on TV 
screens in American households--and much has been written in newspapers 
across the country--about the alleged dangers of shrinking Government 
and cutting spending. The rhetorical warfare playing itself out among 
the partisan politics and the Presidential ambitions understandably has 
many Americans concerned. Big changes can be scary--and that fact has 
given comfort to those whose mission it is to preserve the status quo, 
whether the status quo is working or not, whether status quo is 
affordable or not. But I am convinced that most Americans are ready for 
the big changes we need to bring our Federal budget into balance. I am 
also convinced that most Americans see the real danger before us--the 
danger of doing nothing. Americans understand what is at stake in this 
debate. The facts are indisputable: We are on an unsustainable trend, 
spending more than we have. We are more than $5 trillion in debt. 
Seventy years ago, at his inaugural, Calvin Coolidge said:

       The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who 
     bear the cost of the Government. Every dollar that we 
     carelessly waste means that their life will be so much the 
     more meager. Every dollar that we prudently save means that 
     their life will be so much the more abundant. Economy is 
     idealism in its most practical form.

  I am mindful of my new grandchild, born just a few weeks ago. Because 
we failed to heed the advice of Coolidge and so many of our Nation's 
greatest leaders, that baby already carries on his tiny shoulders a 
lifetime share of the interest payment on the national debt totaling 
$187,000. That's the bill we are sending to every baby born this year 
just to pay the debt service for our failure to bring spending into 
line. Spending is the problem. We spend too much. Looking at it from 
another view, think about this: If we don't take the steps necessary to 
make annual deficits a thing of the past by 2002, as we are trying to 
do, we will be paying more every year for interest on our debt than we 
spend for our national defense.
  The President of the United States went on television last night to 
talk to us about what a tough place the world is, and we are having a 
great debate about how we spend, but nobody denies we need moneys for 
national defense and we are spending more on interest payments than we 
are on national defense. The new leadership in this Congress has 
signaled that enough is enough. We must control spending. We have gone 
to the mat in order to implement the big changes needed to bring the 
budget into balance within 7 years. Balancing the budget will mean that 
Americans will see lower interest rates--making homes and cars and 
higher education more affordable. Unshackling the economy from its 
massive debt will boost productivity--creating millions of new jobs. 
Per capita incomes will rise and Federal revenues will increase as a 
result. There should be no need for tax increases--in fact, we will 
have more opportunities to reduce the Federal tax bite so that 
Americans can keep more of their hard earned tax dollars.
  Mr. Speaker, no one enjoyed the partial Federal shutdown we saw 
before Thanksgiving. All agree that we must settle our major 
philosophical disagreements before the next major deadline of December 
15, so we can avoid a repeat of that anxious time. But we cannot paper 
over the very real differences that exist between those of us who 
believe we must balance the budget within 7 years and those who do not 
see any urgency about reaching that goal. It is something like the 
irresistible force of reform hitting up against the immovable object of 
status quo. Given the tendency of this administration to watch the 
public opinion polls, the best way to bring about the right conclusion 
is for the American people to make their voices heard about their 
commitment to balancing the budget.

  Certainly the cards, the letters, the calls that are coming into my 
office are overwhelmingly in support of the concept of getting our 
spending under control and balancing our budget in 7 years. I think 
that is probably true in 

[[Page H 13660]]
every congressional office. I hope it is true at the White House, and I 
hope Americans will not lose patience and will keep sending those 
messages, because now is the time we are going to balance the budget 
for the United States of America and get spending under control so 
every baby is not born with the prospect of $187,000 of interest 
payments alone in his or her lifetime.

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