[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 2 (Thursday, January 4, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H133-H134]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     BALANCING THE BUDGET IN 7 YEARS IS NEITHER RADICAL OR EXTREME

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Duncan] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I have two things to say about the budget 
debate: First, the overwhelming majority of the American people do not 
believe it is radical or extreme, in any way, to require the Federal 
Government to balance its budget in 7 years; and second, if this was a 
Republican President in office, the national media would be pointing 
out every day and in fact harping on the fact that the President has 
still not submitted a balanced budget plan some 6 or 7 weeks after he 
promised to do so.
  Apparently he is keeping the Government shut down because he sees 
partisan political advantage in doing so.
  Now on the something else, also related to the budget, and that is 
the spending of billions and billions of our tax dollars in Rwanda, 
Haiti, Somalia, and now Bosnia.
  Anyone who opposed all this waste has been insulted with the 
description of isolationist, even if that description was totally 
inaccurate and even if they wanted trade and friendly relations with 
all nations. It is just not politically correct or fashionable today to 
be an isolationist.
  That is why I read with such great interest a syndicated column this 
past Tuesday by Charley Reese, which I include for the Record.
  Mr. Reese does not live inside the beltway, and he frequently writes 
with such great commonsense that he is about as plain spoken and 
politically incorrect as you can get these days.
  Time will not permit me to read all of his column, but I would like 
to read most of it. These are words you do not often hear in 
Washington, at least in polite company.
  The column previously referred to is as follows:

                   [From The Sentinel, Jan. 2, 1996]

                           (By Charley Reese)

       Those of us who oppose squandering American flesh and 
     treasure in foreign places where we have no national 
     interests are called isolationists by the internationalists.
       That's OK. It is intended as an insult, as when Alan Ladd 
     called Jack Palance a ``low-down lying Yankee dog'' in Shane. 
     We Americans understand that because the internationalists 
     are too embarrassed (or afraid of prosecution) to tell the 
     truth, they have no choice but to resort to name-calling and 
     wind-bagging to rationalize these misadventures.
       Wind-bagging is when you toss out a lot of undefinable 
     words and phrases such as ``saving America's soul,'' 
     ``maintaining American leadership,'' ``preserving 
     stability,'' or ``moral obligation.''
       It would be embarrassing indeed if the internationalists 
     were forced to explain why they have a moral obligation to 
     intervene in a foreign civil war while they feel no moral 
     obligation at all to tell the American people the truth, 
     rebuild their infrastructure or balance their budget.
     
[[Page H134]]

       . . . Washington said ``It is our policy to steer clear of 
     permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world. 
     The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign 
     nations, is in extending commercial relations to have with 
     them as little political connection as possible.''
       America prospered under that policy and could prosper under 
     it again. Why do Americans have to defend 300 million 
     Europeans from 150 million bankrupt Russians? That's the 
     question Pat Buchanan asks, and it's a question Americans 
     ought to ask of every internationalist politician. Why do 
     Americans have to enforce peace in Bosnia? Why do Americans 
     have to finance peace treaties in the Middle East? Why do 
     Americans have to rebuild Bosnia when (a) we didn't tear it 
     up, and (b) our own cities need rebuilding?
       Medal of Honor winner and Marine Gen. Smedley Butler, who 
     became an isolationist, said, ``I spent 33 years [in the 
     Marines] * * * most of my time being a high-class muscleman 
     for big business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, 
     I was a racketeer for capitalism.''
       What we isolationists are in favor of are: peace, friendly 
     relations with all countries, trade, independence and respect 
     for the independence of others, American prosperity, American 
     liberty and American security. We are also in favor of sound 
     war-making capability to defend America, and no place else.

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