[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 110 (Wednesday, July 24, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H8253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE GOP IS CUTTING THE DEFICIT

  (Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, both the White House and my 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle have been patting themselves 
on the back so hard they've been wrenching their shoulders, all to 
claim credit for deficit reduction which wasn't their doing. The facts 
are these: The deficit would be at least $56 billion higher today if we 
had followed the President's budget, but instead, we Republicans did 
the hard work of finding the savings the Democrats didn't have the guts 
to make.
  The rest of the deficit reduction came from three places: First, cuts 
in defense as a result of the peace dividend which occurred because 
Ronald Reagan killed communism; second, sales of assets from the S&L 
cleanup already in place before Clinton took office; and third, the one 
thing that was the Democrats' doing; namely, tax hikes on gasoline, 
social security recipients, and small businessmen.
  Republicans want to cut those Democratic taxes and create jobs as a 
result. More jobs would mean a stronger economy, which would mean a 
smaller deficit--no thanks at all to the Democrats.

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