[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 117 (Friday, August 2, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9478-S9479]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           THE 104TH CONGRESS

  Mr. PRESSLER. Mr. President, I was pleased to participate in an event 
this morning which summarized the events of the 104th Congress up to 
this date. It has been a very productive Congress.
  This Congress is near the end of passing a major health reform bill 
which will provide for portability of insurance. It will also provide 
that a person with a preexisting condition gets certain considerations.
  This Congress passed the first major welfare reform legislation since 
1963 to initiate ``workfare'' and to help both the taxpayers and truly 
deserving welfare recipients.
  This Congress also passed a major telecommunications reform bill--a 
sweeping bill that will creates jobs and moves us into the wireless 
age.
  In addition, this Congress passed the freedom to farm bill which will 
end some of the bureaucracy and costliness of the farm program, helping 
both taxpayers and farmers, and will usher us into a new age of 
deregulated agriculture.
  The 104th Congress also passed several other bills of great note 
making the last 18 or 19 months probably the most productive of any 18 
or 19 months that I have seen in the recent history of Congress.
  I think that this fiscally responsible approach this Congress has 
taken has resulted in a prosperity and a confidence in the business 
community across the country. The business community knows that there 
is an effort to balance the budget, and we are moving closer to it. The 
business community knows that we have a Congress that is deregulatory 
in its intentions in legislation and that it wants to have a balanced 
budget and a sound fiscal policy.
  But there is one more step that this Congress must take, and that is 
to pass legislation that will fully achieve a balanced budget.
  I have been very proud to be associated with the Domenici budget here 
in the Senate. I proudly voted for it last year. It is a fair budget. 
It saves Medicare and Medicaid for our senior citizens. It move us to a 
real balanced budget with real numbers by the year 2002.
  Mr. President, the national debt has spiraled upward to more than $5 
trillion. Twenty years ago it was $524 billion--only about one-tenth of 
what it is today. The annual interest on the debt now exceeds $340 
billion. It is unfair to us and especially to the future generations of 
taxpayers to allow the debt to continue on this course.
  While the Congressional Budget Office recently revised its deficit 
estimate for fiscal year 1996 downward to $130 billion, one needs to be 
careful to note the true sources of this deficit reduction. As pointed 
out by the distinguished chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, 
Senator Domenici, a large part of the decline was a result of greater 
fiscal restraint by Congress, which blocked a number of White House 
spending proposals. Further, the deficit is expected to be lower due to 
revised technical assumptions and revisions in economic forecasts.
  Though this represents progress, let us not kid ourselves. We 
certainly do not have a settled fiscal policy that will bring an era of 
unceasing deficits to an end. As the Congressional Budget Office has 
warned,

       . . . the retirement of the baby-boom population starting 
     about 2010 will put severe pressure on the budget. CBO 
     projects that, if spending and revenue policies are not 
     changed, deficits and debt will soar to unprecedented levels 
     in the following 20 years.

  In response to this situation, Mr. President, I have supported and 
voted for measures that slow the growth of Government across the board. 
I also voted for the constitutional amendment to balance the budget and 
line-item veto authority for the President. I am pleased the line-item 
veto is now law. Yet the most important vote I cast in this Congress 
was for the Balanced Budget Act of 1995. This bill would achieve a 
balanced budget in 7 years, reform the costly welfare program, preserve 
Medicare for seniors, and reduce the tax burden on American families 
and small businesses. Regrettably, President Clinton vetoed the 
Balanced Budget Act. This is unfortunate. Each day we fail to pass a 
balanced budget, we add the cost of doing so on the next generation.
  Mr. President, despite last year's veto, I am proud that the Senate 
continues to move forward in our efforts to achieve a balanced budget. 
Just a few months ago, we adopted a budget resolution for fiscal year 
1997 that maintains our commitment to balance the budget by 2002. If we 
stick to this plan, we will achieve a $5 billion budget surplus in the 
year 2002 and, for the first time in decades, bring about a reduction 
in the national debt.
  In addition, this resolution calls for much-needed reforms in the 
areas of welfare and Medicaid while continuing to allow the programs to 
grow at a fiscally responsible pace. This budget plan would maintain 
our commitment to low-income families, seniors, college students, and 
small businesses.
  I am especially concerned with preserving and strengthening the 
Medicare Program. My mother is a senior citizen. I will be a senior 
citizen as well in the not-too-distant future. Under the Senate plan, 
Medicare would increase at an annual rate of about 6.2 percent--nearly 
twice the rate of inflation. Spending for each Medicare beneficiary 
would increase from $5,200 per person today to $7,000 per person in 
2002. Just as important, we would preserve Medicare for years to come, 
and quality health care would continue to be provided to those seniors 
who need it.

[[Page S9479]]

  Finally, our budget plan calls for tax relief in the form of a 
permanent, $500-per-child tax credit for families. Millions of middle-
class families across the Nation would benefit from this measure. A 
family with two children, for example, would be given the opportunity 
to invest or spend as they see fit the $1,000 that otherwise would have 
been paid to the Federal Government. This is the way it ought to be. 
This is a true middle-class tax cut. In fact, the tax credit would be 
phased out for unmarried individuals with incomes over $75,000 and 
couples with incomes over $110,000.
  Mr. President, not many days remain in the 104th Congress. I 
sincerely hope that before we adjourn, this Congress and the President 
will be able to agree on legislation to assure a balanced budget by 
2002. Our Nation's economic future and the quality of life for the next 
generation depend on a balanced budget. We must not lose sight of this 
goal and we must not delay. I urge my colleagues to give their full 
support for legislation to implement this budget and to push forward in 
our efforts to ensure economic growth, more job opportunities, a higher 
standard of living, better opportunities for our children, and a 
country free from ever-increasing debt.

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