[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 206 (Thursday, December 21, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H15558-H15559]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 REEMPHASIZING THE DETERMINATION OF REPUBLICANS TO BALANCE THE FEDERAL 
                                 BUDGET

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Colorado [Mr. McInnis] is recognized for 5 minutes.

[[Page H15559]]

  Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, the issue that we have got to address is 
this deficit. This Government is accumulating a debt of $30 billion an 
hour more than it brings in. In other words, it is spending $30 million 
an hour more than it brings in. How, you would ask, is that done? It is 
done by using a credit card. The most misused credit card in the 
history of this country is right here in my hands.
  What is this misused credit card? It is the congressional voting 
card. For 40 years this card has been inserted in that slot and 
additional debt has been put onto the next generation. It is like any 
other credit card. You can go ahead and charge things without having 
the cash to pay for it. That is exactly what this country has done. The 
status quo in this country is not a pay as you go. The status quo is 
not to act like every other American family has to act; that is, they 
cannot spend any more than they bring in. The status quo in Washington, 
DC is to get more taxes and more taxes and spend more money and more 
money. If the money coming in does not match the money going out, that 
is okay, just spend more money, and periodically go back and get more 
taxes.
  We cannot continue to allow this society to run on a deficit. It does 
not work. No country in the history of this world has been able to run 
their country with deficit spending like some in this body would like 
this country to run.
  Mr. Speaker, we are up against the status quo. Anytime you take on 
the status quo--and frankly, there are a lot of us who have had enough 
guts, and there is the momentum this year to take it on--whenever you 
take on the status quo you are going to be criticized. They are going 
to blame everything they can on you. Tonight, earlier, I heard one of 
my colleagues even somehow associating the tragic plane crash last 
night in Colombia to the Republicans and the balanced budget idea. That 
is the kind of thing we are being blamed for. We are going to throw 
seniors out on the street. No more student loans. What a bunch of 
baloney. No more school lunches for the kids. What a bunch of garbage. 
That is not going to happen. A year from now the people of this country 
will be enjoying the fruits of a balanced budget. And you know what? 
None of these scare tactics being used by the protectors of the status 
quo will come true.
  We can all remember in our own history when Christopher Columbus 
sailed for the new world. Where was that criticism? ``What is the guy, 
crazy? The world is flat.'' He had to sail through some rough waters. 
He had to go through severe criticism, but he did it. Look what 
happened. He sailed into a new world. In this country, we can do the 
same thing.
  Sure, we get a lot of naysayers around here that say to us, ``You 
cannot balanced this budget,'' or ``Let us pretend we are balanced 
it,'' and continue to spend more and more and more. We are being 
criticized for everything you can imagine, but we are determined to 
sail through those rough waters. We are determined to deliver to the 
next generation a balanced budget. We are determined to force the 
Government in Washington, DC to behave just like every other family in 
America has to behave. That is that they cannot spend any more money 
than they bring in.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. McINNIS. I yield to the gentleman from Connecticut.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman's analogy of leaving the old 
world for the new world, I just want to make this point. We have left 
the old world for the new world, and we are not going back to the old 
world. We have burned our ships. We are in this new world, and we are 
determined to save this country from bankruptcy. I thank my colleague 
for yielding to me.

                              {time}  1930

  Mr. McINNIS. That is what we are going to do. That is the beauty. I 
know that right now the storm is out. A lot of people like to bring 
their ships into the harbor when the storm is out there. We are right 
in the center of it. We are willing and ready to do that, and I think 
that is the optimistic news for this country.
  Mr. Speaker, I will end on an optimistic note. No. 1, the spending 
and the spending and the spending of this government has to be brought 
under control. We are going to do it. For those young people in our 
country, let me tell you, there are so many more things that are going 
right with this country than are going wrong, and you have a great 
future. My colleague, the gentleman from Connecticut [Mr. Shays], 
myself, and most of the people, a majority in this body, will deliver 
to this next generation economic sensibility in the Nation's Capitol. 
We will deliver to that generation a credit care like the one I have 
that is not loaded with debt. We are going to do something about it. We 
are in the new world. We are ready to take the pot shots that people 
are making at us. We do it for the next generation.

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