[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 2 (Thursday, January 4, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H159-H160]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  IT IS TIME TO STOP POLITICAL RHETORIC AND ACCEPT COMMON-SENSE REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Collins] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, in 1993, President Clinton and 
the Democrat-controlled 103d Congress thought they could reduce or end 
the Government's deficit by passage of the President's budget bill. 
That bill dramatically increased taxes on working Americans, but it 
will not end the deficit or balance the budget.
  President Clinton was wrong. He has even admitted publicly he was 
wrong to have raised taxes. But his actions have not matched his words. 
President Clinton vetoed the congressionally passed Balanced Budget Act 
of 1995. The Balanced Budget Act of 1995 would have balanced the 
Federal budget in 7 years while reducing taxes on working Americans. 
The bill would have saved Medicare from bankruptcy and preserved this 
vital health care program for our nation's senior citizens, and the 
bill would have reformed the welfare system that has created a 
generation of Americans trapped in poverty and dependent on Government 
handouts.
  President Clinton also vetoed several appropriation bills, including 
the Departments of Justice, State, and Commerce, and others. The 
President closed the doors of many Federal Agencies and Departments. 
The President has idled thousands of Federal workers, and the President 
has inconvenienced millions of Americans who are trying 

[[Page H160]]
to secure home mortgage loans, passports, financial aid and other 
important Government services.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time for the President to go beyond just an 
admission he was wrong. It is time for the President to stop the 
political rhetoric and accept common sense reform.
  Mr. Speaker, there is an old saying that goes like this: ``A wise man 
will change his mind, but a fool never does.'' In the current debate, 
it remains to be seen who will or will not change their mind.
  The President and the 103d Congress passed a budget bill that raised 
taxes on working Americans in an effort to lower the deficit and 
balance the budget. It did not work. That can be seen in the fact that 
today we are spending $500 million-a-day more than we take in in taxes 
and revenues. Yet the President has refused to change his mind and 
consider a new course, a course that will provide a balanced budget by 
the year 2002.
  The President and the 103d Congress initiated the COPS Program. The 
President's program promised to lower crime rates and make our streets 
safer by providing Federal funds to State and local governments to hire 
100,000 more police officers. Two years later, less than a third of the 
new police officers promised by the President are on our Nation's 
streets, and when the Federal funds run out, the State and local 
governments will have to foot the bill for these new officers. The 
President's plan is costly. It is another unfunded Federal mandate 
forced on the backs of States and local governments. This, too, is 
clearly a failed policy, and again the President has refused to change 
his mind and consider a new course.
  Republicans in the Congress passed an appropriations bill for the 
Department of Justice. That bill provided some $2 billion in trust fund 
money for State and local law enforcement block grants. Those funds 
would have been used to employ additional law enforcement officers; 
those funds would have provided additional compensation, equipment, or 
other necessary materials related to basic law enforcement services. 
Those funds would have enhanced security measures in and around our 
schools, and those funds would have established multijurisdictional 
task forces, particularly in rural areas that work with Federal 
officials for crime prevention and control.

  Mr. Speaker, in short, that bill would have done what the President's 
bill failed to do. The bill would have returned money and 
decisionmaking to local police departments. The bill would have allowed 
them to make decisions on how to reduce crime in their communities, but 
again the President has refused to change his mind over a failed 
policy. He vetoed that bill.
  There is another old saying that you can fool some of the people some 
of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.
  The American people are not fooled by the press conferences and 
political rhetoric being put forth by the President. Every day that 
this impasse continues, the public becomes more angry at the President 
and the Congress.
  In December, the public was leaning towards placing blame at the feet 
of Congress. Now, however, the American people are dividing the blame 
between the President and the Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, often political leaders will govern by poll numbers. The 
President peaked and missed his highwater mark in the polls by 3 days. 
With the President's failure to agree on a balanced budget concept that 
we as a Congress could have voted on this past Wednesday, it is now 
apparent to the public that the President is not sincere about 
balancing the budget.
  This is not a situation where the President is winning or losing some 
political game. There are no points to be scored here. From now on, 
everybody loses.
  Mr. Speaker, I say again, it is time for the President to stop the 
political rhetoric and accept commonsense reform.

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