[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 10 (Thursday, January 25, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H903-H904]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BALANCING THE BUDGET

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Greenwood] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Speaker, tonight I had longstanding plans to be 
with a very special group of my constituents from Bucks and Montgomery 
Counties. I was very much looking forward to being there. But tonight's 
business was far too important to miss.
  What we have done tonight is literally make a down payment on 
balancing America's budget, a project that this side of the aisle has 
worked on very hard for all of this year. We have not met our 
commitments. We have not reached the accord that we had hoped to reach 
with the White House. But what we have done tonight in a bipartisan 
fashion, with the agreement of the President, is to agree to agree on 
those things where we do not have a difference of opinion, and we have 
done that. But our work is still cut out for us.
  Mr. Speaker, we must reach accord, we must compromise, we must find a 
way to reform our entitlements, to reform our Medicare system, to save 
it 

[[Page H904]]
from the disastrous bankruptcy to which it is headed. We must transform 
our welfare system into one that offers not a handout, but a hand up. 
We must reform our Medicaid system, which is creating financial havoc 
for all of the States.
  I believe, Mr. Speaker, that we can do this. But it will take a 
spirit of compromise, the same bipartisan spirit that we evidenced 
tonight on the floor, Republicans and Democrats working, the Congress 
and the President, getting beyond their differences and becoming less 
entrenched and working in the spirit of compromise. I believe the 
American people expect that from us. I believe the American people 
deserve that, and I believe for our children's future we must do that.

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