[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 42 (Monday, March 25, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2795-S2797]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE VOID IN MORAL LEADERSHIP--PART III

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, President Clinton has once again failed 
to demonstrate leadership to the American people in the budget crisis.

[[Page S2796]]

  The newspaper stories last week, reporting on the President's budget 
submission, missed the point. Like a straight man, the media dutifully 
reported on the budget using the standard White House spin--and with a 
straight face.
  They reported that the budget would balance by 2002, just as the 
White House claims. Instead, they should have challenged its integrity. 
The balance part is all smoke and mirrors. Underneath, it is a brandnew 
box of steroids for big Government.
  The media should have cried, ``Stop the presses. Extra, extra, the 
era of big Government has returned. You see, the President pronounced 
in his State of the Union Address that the era of big Government is 
over.
  That was 2 months ago. In other words, 2 short months after big 
Government was pronounced dead, it has miraculously resurrected.
  Just look at this budget, Mr. President. Not a single government 
program terminated. They are all worthwhile--every last one of them, 
according to the President. Meanwhile, the Federal debt rises from $4.9 
to $6.5 trillion in 6 years. Spending rises from $1.6 to $1.9 trillion.
  How is it that the era of big Government can be pronounced over with 
this kind of a budget?
  We have all heard the saying, ``Put your money where your mouth is.'' 
We have also all heard the quote of former Attorney General John 
Mitchell: ``You will be better advised to watch what we do instead of 
what we say.'' The budget is the fundamental statement of policy of any 
administration. In it, an administration puts its money where its mouth 
is. Except this administration. Its mouth is in shrinking Government; 
but, its money is in big Government.
  With a discrepancy like this, which do we believe? The money or the 
mouth? Most insiders in this town, like John Mitchell did, know the 
answer. They know you will be better advised to watch what we do 
instead of what we say. I would submit, Mr. President, that that is why 
the presses did not stop when the President submitted his budget. The 
return of big Government was not big news.
  The media must have been pretty skeptical 2 months ago of the 
President's pronouncement of the end of big government. They did not 
fall for the old soft shoe routine. They know well enough that, in this 
town, you watch what we do, not what we say. I have to hand it to 
fourth estate. They really know politicians.
  Of course, they did have some clues about what to expect from the 
President. On June 4, 1992, Candidate Clinton told the country he would 
end deficit spending as we know it. He said ``I would present a 5-year 
plan to balance the budget.'' Since then, he submitted three no-year 
balanced budgets. Each one had rising deficits as far as the eye could 
see, usually around the figure of $200 billion.
  Even this budget--balanced in name only--will never balance in the 
real world. It lacks the integrity of true deficit reduction 
decisionmaking. It is the manana budget. It puts everything off until 
manana. A chimpanzee, banging away at a typewriter, would type out the 
entire Encyclopedia Britannica before the Clinton budget balances.
  There are other clues of the old soft shoe routine. In September 
1992, the President wrote, in ``Putting People First,'' the following:

       Middle class taxpayers will have a choice between a 
     children's tax credit or a significant reduction in their 
     income tax rate.

  Yet, he just vetoed a children's tax credit. He did not even propose 
one until Republicans took control of the Congress.
  Instead, he increased taxes more than any other President in the 
history of the Nation. He raised taxes too much. But do not take my 
word for it. Here is what the President himself said. At a fundraiser 
in Houston on October 17, 1995, Mr. Clinton said,

       Probably there are people in this room still mad at me at 
     that budget because you think I raised your taxes too much. 
     It might surprise you that I think I raised them too much, 
     too.

  Mr. President, saying one thing and doing the opposite undermines 
one's moral authority to lead. That is the case with this President. 
There is a void in moral leadership in this White House. A good example 
for the Nation cannot be set when the President--any President--says 
one thing and does the opposite so consistently.
  It is significant that such leadership has fallen to Congress which, 
as a body, is generally unsuited for moral leadership. Usually, it is 
the individual of the President who can hear the discordant voices of 
the Congress and the country, and unite them into harmony, into a 
single melody.
  But in the absence of moral leadership in this White House, it was 
Congress--this Congress--that passed a balanced budget. The first 
balanced budget to be passed by any Congress in 27 years.
  It was Congress that passed a children's tax credit. It was Congress 
that passed welfare reform. It was Congress that passed Medicare and 
Medicaid reform. It was Congress that passed a budget to end the era of 
big Government. These are all the items that the President pledged to 
do, but he did not do them. We did them.
  Yet, what did he do in reality? He vetoed them. Balanced budget? 
Vetoed. Welfare reform? Vetoed. Medicare reform? Vetoed. Medicaid 
reform? Vetoed. Children's tax credits? Vetoed. This is the ``Veto 
President.'' His policy is ``Just Say No.'' This is the ``Do-Nothing 
Presidency.'' The reason is simple--there is no moral leadership coming 
from the White House.
  Some of us have tried to work with the President. I have found that, 
when he does what he says, we can work together. An example of that is 
the President's national service program, AmeriCorps. I have been 
warning the administration for 2 years that AmeriCorps needed to be 
reinvented. Arrogance appeared to be in the way. For 2 years, the 
administration resisted the obvious need for reform.
  But any program that pays close to $30,000 for a volunteer is in bad 
need of reinvention. AmeriCorps was giving boondoggles at the Pentagon 
a run for their money.
  Under the new leadership of Harris Wofford--a former colleague of 
ours in the Senate--AmeriCorps is finally being reinvented. Two weeks 
ago, we held a joint press conference to announce the reinvention, and 
I pledged my support for their budget this year. We have heard lots 
about reinventing Government from this administration. They have done 
some good things. But they are just tinkering around the edges.
  The Balanced Budget Act, passed last fall by this Congress, was a 
blueprint to reinvent the whole Federal Government. It did not have to 
be done our way. We would have worked with the White House on an 
alternative. But the White House refused to work for a real, credible 
balanced budget. There was a battle royale in the White House over the 
mind and soul of the President. The budget wonks lost out to the 
political operators.
  The politicos argued that doing nothing would allow them to fund 
their special interests and maintain their voting base. Forget what is 
good for the country. They simply put reelection over reform. So the 
President followed the advice of the political operatives. The bloated 
ship of state steams along, on a rising tide of debt. Special interests 
are at the helm.
  One of our colleagues in this body, Mr. President, understood this 
leadership problem in the White House last year. On October 21 of last 
year, he is quoted in the New York Times saying of President Clinton,

       What troubles me is that after three years as president, he 
     doesn't appear to know where he wants to lead America.

  That quote is from a member of our President's own party, Mr. 
President. It is a quote from Senator Bob Kerrey of Nebraska. I agree 
with him.
  Even more to the point is the inability of the President to lead. And 
every time says one thing and does the opposite, he further erodes it.
  It should have come as no surprise that politics would win out over 
fiscal sanity with this administration. Many of us had hoped a balanced 
budget was possible. We could have saved ourselves the trouble if we 
were not quite so optimistic. We should have done what the fourth 
estate did. We should have watched the President's actions, not his 
words.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who seeks recognition?
  Mr. GRAMS addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota is recognized.

[[Page S2797]]



                            MORNING BUSINESS

  Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be a 
period for the transaction of morning business with Senators permitted 
to speak for up to 5 minutes each.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is 
so ordered.
  The Senator from Minnesota has the floor.
  Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, I thank you very much. On the heels of that 
request, I also ask unanimous consent I be allowed to speak in morning 
business for up to 20 minutes to give two statements for the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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