[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 207 (Friday, December 22, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H15620-H15621]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



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

  [Mr. POSHARD addressed the House. His remarks will appear hereafter 
in the Extensions of Remarks.]

[[Page H15621]]


              WHY I AM STANDING FIRM FOR A BALANCED BUDGET

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of this House, the 
gentleman from Kansas [Mr. Tiahrt] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Speaker, as a freshman Member of Congress, I wanted 
to take some time this afternoon to explain why this Member is standing 
firm for a balanced budget.
  We are attempting to carry out the will of the people. Eighty-six 
percent of Americans want to have a balanced budget, and we are intent 
on keeping our word.
  On September 27, 1994, many of us stood on the steps of the Capitol 
here and promised, through the Contract With America, to balance the 
budget within 7 years. This is nothing new to us. I know it is new for 
some people in America to actually expect people in Washington, DC, to 
keep their word, but for the freshman class that is the norm. That is 
what we expect.
  Recently we have been criticized by the President for shutting down 
negotiations. But if being criticized by the President means we will 
hold the President to his word, then, believe me, it is worth it. We 
have found that it is impossible to trust what the administration has 
told us or what the President has said.

  On November 20, 1995, the President signed into Law Public Law 104-
56, and I would like to read it briefly. It says, ``The President and 
Congress shall enact in the first session of the 104th Congress to 
achieve a balance budget not later than fiscal year 2002, as estimated 
by the Congressional Budget Office.'' That has not happened yet.
  As was pointed out in today's Wall Street Journal on page A8, the 
editorial page, under the heading ``Freshmen Hazing,'' I am going to 
read a paragraph from that. It says,

       More than a month ago President Clinton signed an agreement 
     to work with Congress to produce a 7-year balanced budget 
     using updated Congressional Budget Office numbers. Since then 
     the White House has done everything it could to slip out of 
     that deal. The topper came Tuesday, when Mr. Clinton met with 
     GOP leaders, and once again apparently agreed to use CBO 
     numbers and reach a 7-year balance budget deal by the end of 
     the year. Then Vice President Gore appeared before reporters 
     and, when asked about the agreement, said, ``Did the 
     President agree to put down an Administration-CBO plan 
     according to those assumptions? No, absolutely not.''

  Once again, this is a flipflop and shows why we cannot trust anything 
that comes out of the White House.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe I know why the President is so opposed to a 
balanced budget. It is because he has to protect the abuse, the blatant 
abuse of taxpayer dollars by the administration. Secretary O'Leary and 
the Department of Energy are very inefficient and wasteful in the way 
they spend tax dollars. Secretary O'Leary, although all her 
responsibilities are domestic, has traveled 16 international trips, 
some at a cost of over $800,000, each taking along as many as 50 
employees and 68 guests, and many of those guests have failed to pay 
their portion of the trip.
  She has also hired professional photographers and video crews. But 
she is very concerned about her image, and that is why she is trying to 
catch herself at her best.
  She hired a personal media consultant at a cost to taxpayers of $277 
a day.
  She employs over 500 public relations employees at a cost of 
approximately $25 million per year to the taxpayers.
  She has even hired a private investigative firm to develop a list of 
unfavorables, unfavorable reporters and Members of Congress. This is 
just the tip of the iceberg.
  According to the General Accounting Office, their reports and their 
audits say that the Department of Energy is ineffective as a Cabinet-
level agency. Vice President Gore himself, in his National Performance 
Review, has said parts of the Department of Energy are 40 percent 
inefficient and are going to cost taxpayers $70 billion over the next 
30 years if we do not do something.
  Well, the President has condoned this action by keeping Secretary 
O'Leary in office. He condones the waste, the abuse, and you cannot 
balance the budget unless you cull this deadwood out.
  We are not convinced the President or the administration means 
anything it says. That is why we are standing firm against waste and 
against abuse and for a balanced budget.

                          ____________________