[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 194 (Thursday, December 7, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H14209]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  PRESIDENT CLINTON'S VETO OF THE BALANCED BUDGET ACT PURELY A PUBLIC 
                            RELATIONS STUNT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. Lewis] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, as we all know, the President 
vetoed the Balanced Budget Act of 1995. I am not surprised, but I am 
disappointed. I want to talk about why I believe the President vetoed 
what I think was a very good budget for this country. It was a bad veto 
for all of us. First of all, it was purely a public relations stunt, as 
full of irony as hypocrisy. The President had the pen Lyndon Johnson 
used to sign Great Society into law flown into Washington, DC from 
Texas.
  After his speech, the President quickly left the room before he had 
to answer questions about his balanced budget, but there were plenty of 
questions Mr. Clinton should have answered for the American people. The 
President criticized the House-Senate plan to save Medicare for the 
long term, but has failed to offer his own. Perhaps worse, 1994's 
Clinton health care plan contained major spending reductions in the 
growth of Medicare.
  Mr. Speaker, I wonder why it was OK for the President to control 
spending on Medicare but not for the Republicans to do the same. He 
also should have spoken further about the Great Society programs Lyndon 
Johnson used that pen for. For instance, most Americans consider LBJ's 
war on poverty a terrible failure. Today, one child in three is 
illegitimate, drug use is up, education scores are down, and 
generations of families have depended on welfare instead of work. We 
have the highest crime rate in the world, and many of our inner cities 
are devastated.
  Is the President endorsing LBJ's war on poverty that has cost $5 
trillion and left this country's poor in worse shape that before? One 
more question, Mr. Speaker. When Bill Clinton was running for 
President, he promised to balance the budget in 5 years. In his first 
State of the Union address he promised to use economic projections of 
the Congressional Budget Office. Now he not only refuses to offer a 
real 7-year balanced budget plan, but he uses economic figures cooked 
up by his own economists so he does not have to make tough choices. 
Then he stands on the sidelines and demagogues honest efforts to 
balance the budget. Why does the President consistently say one thing 
and do another?
  I realize that this may sound more than a little partisan, but 
frankly, I am upset about a veto of the first balanced budget we have 
had in more than a generation, our first and perhaps last chance to 
stop robbing our children and grandchildren.
  My daughter, 13 years old, my son, 24 years old, what kind of future 
are they going to have unless we get realistic about balancing the 
budget? I call on the President to do just that. The President's LBJ 
pen did not work at first. After trying a new inkwell he was finally 
able to sign his name. If there was any justice, the ink would have 
been red.

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