[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 206 (Thursday, December 21, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H15492-H15493]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      SUPPORT THE COALITION BUDGET

  (Mr. PAYNE of Virginia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PAYNE of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, sometimes the answers to our 
problems are so obvious that we miss them entirely. That is exactly 
what is happening right now with this budget stalemate. The 
conservative Democratic coalition has created a budget that is simple. 
It eliminates the major stumbling blocks to a 7-year balanced budget. 
It asks each of us to do exactly what the American people want us to 
do, that is to compromise, to work together, to get the job done. It 
asks my Republican colleagues and the American people to forego tax 
cuts until we get at this balanced budget. It asks Medicare 
beneficiaries and their champions in Congress to recognize that 
Medicare has grown at an unsustainable rate and we must curb the growth 
of this and other entitlement programs. Yet it does not contain the 
kind of large Medicare cuts that have sparked so much partisan rancor 
here in Congress. It cuts the deficit faster and deeper than the 
Republican budget and it is the one budget that is balanced in 7 years 
according to CBO and occupies a sensible middle ground.
  Mr. Speaker, that is where the American people are. So let us end 
this business as usual. Let us summon the political courage to do the 
right thing. Let us take some risks for a balanced budget. Let us pass 
this coalition budget.

[[Page H15493]]


   APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS TO THE FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT MEMORIAL 
                               COMMISSION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Chambliss). Without objection, pursuant 
to the provisions of Public Law 84-372, the Chair announces the 
Speaker's appointment to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial 
Commission the following Members of the House:
  Mr. English of Pennsylvania and Mr. Hinchey of New York.
  There was no objection.

                          ____________________