[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 206 (Thursday, December 21, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H15560-H15561]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    AMERICA DESERVES BALANCED BUDGET

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Chrysler] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CHRYSLER. Mr. Speaker, let's be serious about this debate. 
Despite the rhetoric we're hearing from the White House and my 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle, there is only one man 
standing between the American people and the benefits of a balanced 
Federal budget.
  The President signed a contract with us that said he agreed that a 
balanced budget over the next 7 years, as determined by honest 
Congressional Budget Office numbers, would be enacted before the end of 
this year.
  Yet the President has dodged and diverted attention for the last 
month since he signed that agreement and refused to negotiate in good 
faith toward a balanced budget.
  By standing in the way of a balanced budget, the President is denying 
every American family the benefits of a balanced budget.
  Mr. Speaker, a balanced budget will mean a tremendous bonus for every 
American. According to Americans for Tax Reform, if we balance our 
budget today:
  Over 4.25 million more jobs will be created over the next 10 years.
  Per capita incomes will increase by over 16 percent.
  Families would save as much as $37,000 off the cost of an average 30-
year mortgage of $75,000.
  Students would save $2,160 on the cost of an $11,000 student loan.
  An average family would save $900 on the cost of a $15,000 car loan.
  The Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, in testimony before this 
Congress, stated that interest rates would come down at least 2 full 
percentage points.
  Mr. Speaker, our balanced budget plan will also save Medicare from 
bankruptcy, preserving and strengthening this program for our Nation's 
seniors. In fact, our plan would increase per beneficiary spending on 
Medicare from $4,800 this year to $7,100 in the year 2002--that's an 
increase of $2,300. Only in Washington would anyone try to call that a 
cut.
  A balanced budget is good for America. The country deserves a 
balanced budget. The President should stop standing in the way of a 
balanced budget and let Americans see the benefits that will result 
from putting our country back on sound financial footing.

[[Page H15561]]

  If we do nothing to balance our budget today, we put every Federal 
program at risk for tomorrow. In just a matter of years, if we do not 
balance our budget, every dollar paid by every American in taxes will 
be used just to pay for entitlement programs and interest on the 
national debt.
  That means no money for education, the environment, roads, bridges, 
the national defense, and countless other programs.
  Already, the debt that we have run up will cost every baby born today 
over $187,000 over the course of her lifetime just to pay for interest. 
And that number is only getting higher the longer we wait to balance 
the budget. This year, the interest we pay on the debt is more than we 
will spend on the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines, the FBI, 
the CIA, and the Pentagon combined.
  It is not fair to leave our children this crushing burden of debt. I 
do not want to leave my children Rick, Phil, and Christie, and my 
grandchildren Chloe and Heather, with this debt on their shoulders. 
They don't deserve it. They at least deserve the same opportunities 
many of us have had when its their turn.
  We have got to turn this situation around. We have got to stop 
spending more than we take in and start living within our means. It is 
only fair for our children and grandchildren.
  If we balance our budget today, we will begin reversing the trend of 
piling up debt that our children will have to pay and begin to create a 
brighter future for them.
  Mr. Speaker, the American people should know that they are being 
denied these benefits because the President of the United States 
refuses to negotiate in good faith toward a balanced budget, and 
created and bought TV ads nationwide the day before he came to the 
table to allegedly negotiate.
  And last, it is an insult to the intelligence of the American people 
for the President or the Minority Whip to blame 73 freshmen Members of 
Congress for the budget impasse.
  Just this Monday, this House voted for a 7 year, CBO-scored balanced 
budget. That's not just the freshmen position. That's the position that 
351 Members voted for, Republicans and Democrats.
  The only way the freshmen are extreme, is that we are extremely in 
touch with the American people, who want us to keep our word and 
balance the budget.

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