[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 24, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S331-S332]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE PRESIDENT'S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I want to compliment the President of the 
United States on his State of the Union Message last night. I think the 
reaction today is certainly an indication of the degree to which the 
President succeeded in articulating his message last night. He 
discussed, as he can so ably, his record for the last 3 years, 
reminding us that the economy is much stronger than it was when he took 
office, reminding us that we have reduced the Federal work force by 
200,000 personnel, reminding us that the growth in the economy itself 
is as strong as it has been in the past 30 years, and recognizing that 
we have made substantial progress in reducing the deficit.
  So, indeed, from the perspective of the Government, as well as from 
the point of view of the economy, America is strong and the State of 
the Union reflects that strength, as he reminded us last night.
  He also sought to challenge us in seven very specific ways. I think 
his challenge was appropriate. Indeed, our country expects us to meet 
the challenges of education, a stronger economy, the need for health 
care reform, and a whole range of issues that the President addressed 
so ably and articulately last night.
  Most importantly perhaps, he reminded us that the effort over the 
last several weeks to achieve meaningful deficit reduction has indeed, 
to at least a certain extent, succeeded. The fact is, as the President 
indicated last night, if you take the lesser of the amounts agreed to 
on either side in the most recent offers by both the Republicans and 
the Democrats, we could achieve deficit reduction totaling more than 
$700 billion.
  Mr. President, that is a very significant achievement. He challenged 
us last night, to continue the effort to find common ground, to reach 
out across the aisle to establish a meaningful dialog, to continue to 
build on what we have already achieved, and to continue to find ways in 
which to make the common ground more meaningful. In so doing we can 
realize a balanced Federal budget in 7 years using the Congressional 
Budget Office figures.
  In that regard, Mr. President, I was extremely pleased with the 
announcement this morning by the Speaker that he, too, felt that common 
ground efforts ought to be sought, and that we ought to continue to 
find ways in which to build upon the common agreement that we have 
reached thus far in achieving a meaningful balanced budget.
  In my view, that is a breakthrough. When you have the President of 
the United States and the Speaker of the House, the most prominent 
Democrat and one of the most prominent Republicans, agreeing in public 
that indeed 

[[Page S332]]
there is a real possibility of achieving meaningful progress in this 
effort to reach common agreement on a balanced budget, that is a 
breakthrough.
  This is no time to abolish or to abandon our goal of attempting to 
reach a balanced budget. A piecemeal approach, Mr. President, is 
unnecessary. We can do it now. We can take that $711 billion in 
mutually agreed to savings and find the kind of long-term resolution to 
this balanced budget challenge that we have now faced for many months.
  So it is our opportunity. Apparently the Speaker now agrees that 
achieving that in a meaningful way is possible, using the common ground 
approach. Let us not abandon that goal. Let us not take anything less 
than a balanced budget over that 7-year period. Let us do it now.
  I think it is very important that we also recognize that to do it in 
the context of either a debt limit or a continuing resolution is not 
practical. We recognize that by encumbering and perhaps endangering 
either the continuing resolution or the debt limit resolution we may 
again find ourselves in a complex series of difficulties and crises 
that neither side wants.
  We need a clean continuing resolution. We need a clean resolution on 
the debt limit. And we can work simultaneously in continuing our 
negotiations to find a clean budget agreement that achieves the 
meaningful deficit reduction that we want using the common ground 
proposals that both the Speaker and the President have now accepted.
  Mr. President, I think the last critical issue to recognize is the 
importance of the next several weeks. It is very important that we not 
let this opportunity slip, that we not wait until the last moment to 
resolve these issues. We cannot afford to wait until the 27th or 28th 
or 29th of February. We cannot wait until that very crisis moment to 
resolve all these issues relating to the debt limit.
  Let us use the 28th and 29th and 30th of January. Let us use the 
first few weeks of February to resolve these issues. Let us, in other 
words, stay here and do our work. Let us not take the chance that we 
will not be able to solve these problems at the end of February when 
the crisis truly looms.
  So let us stay here, let us do what we must, let us recognize the 
opportunity that is before us, let us accept the challenges the 
President has now laid out so articulately and so clearly last night. 
Let us do that, recognizing that there are common goals and much common 
ground upon which to base our progress. With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who seeks recognition?
  Mr. LOTT addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Brown). The Senator from Mississippi.

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