[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 194 (Thursday, December 7, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H14178]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        LET US NOT PLAY POLITICS BUT BALANCE THE BUDGET BY 2002

  (Mr. SMITH of Michigan asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I thought today with the 
President's budget coming out it would be a new sort of ``Honesty In 
Congress Day,'' but I see the rhetoric has shifted from facts and 
figures and how we achieve a balanced budget to character 
assassination.
  Mr. Speaker, I think it is a joyous day for some of us, as we see the 
President's budget that is going to turn out very close to what the 
Republicans have proposed, if we are going to reach that balanced 
budget in 7 years. I look at Jim Glassman's column today. It says it is 
scandalous how close Congress and President Clinton actually are on the 
key elements of the Federal budget. If Americans understood these 
numbers, they would be outraged.
  I look at the New York Times article that says White House documents 
reveal similarities in the GOP plans for Medicare. Mr. Glassman says, 
``In my own judgment, it is,'' that lack of the deal, is Clinton's 
fault.
  Mr. Speaker, there is closeness to this agreement. Let us get 
together. Let us forget partisan politics. Let us get a balanced budget 
by 2002.

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