[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 14 (Thursday, February 6, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S1050]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                THE PRESIDENT'S FISCAL YEAR 1998 BUDGET

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, just a few hours ago, President 
Clinton delivered his 5-year balanced budget to the Congress. For the 
first time in a long while, no one was singing a funeral dirge on 
budget day. The budget is alive and it is well and already has a sense 
of momentum and history to it. This is a budget that reflects 
mainstream America. It does not favor one special group at the expense 
of another. It does not pit generation against generation or rich 
against poor.
  The President's budget reflects the hopes and the desires of all of 
our citizens, whether it is one of our seniors on a fixed income 
worried about health care or a family concerned about the quality of 
education of their children or citizens fighting the pollution in the 
neighborhood in which they live. The budget moves ahead toward the 
future without leaving anyone behind.
  As the senior Democrat on the Budget Committee, I say to my 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle this is a credible budget. Do not 
just knock it. Look at it and see if you want to recommend adjustments 
or amendments to it. It will reach balance by the year 2002. There are 
safeguards built into this budget to ensure that promise.
  President Clinton deserves a lot of credit for presenting a real 
balanced budget that builds upon the deficit reduction of his first 
administration. Since the President first took office, that deficit has 
been reduced consistently and dramatically to last year's low of $107 
billion. I can remember when President Clinton took office that no one 
dreamed, no one thought it possible that we could have a budget deficit 
at that low level. It is now the lowest deficit as a percentage of GDP 
of any major industrialized country. There are no dark clouds on the 
horizon. The economy continues to grow and surpass most expectations. 
The Federal Reserve Board Chairman, Dr. Alan Greenspan, recently 
testified before the Senate Budget Committee: ``The economy has 
retained considerable vigor, with few signs of the imbalances and 
inflationary tensions that have disrupted past expansions.'' And last 
week we had more good news. The GDP grew at a 4.7 percent rate in the 
fourth quarter of 1996.
  The President has presented a forward-looking budget that not only 
demonstrates fiscal stewardship but is oriented toward the 21st century 
and its challenges and opportunities, what America needs to regain its 
full-time leadership across the face of the globe. It looks forward to 
the future but does not leave anyone behind.
  This budget protects Medicare. For example, rather than trying to 
impose radical and untested structural changes to Medicare, the 
President's budget ensures solvency through the year 2006 while at the 
same time crafting pilot and demonstration projects that will expand 
health choices for seniors without jeopardizing the quality of care.
  This budget also makes critical investments in education, 
transportation, environmental cleanup, investments that are necessary 
if we are going to have long-term economic growth and an improved 
standard of living.
  We must make sure, however, that any new caps on discretionary 
spending will allow these investments to continue, because if we do 
not, we will be forced to make deep cuts during this 5-year period in 
programs like computers in schools, highway modernization, safe 
drinking water grants, and community policing.
  I hope, too, that as this budget evolves, we will take a closer look 
at cutting special-interest tax breaks and subsidies to help offset the 
costs of making sound investments. The President has proposed about $34 
billion of savings in this area, and we should consider this number 
only a beginning. Since we will spend over $2.8 trillion for tax breaks 
over the next 5 years, I think we can identify even greater savings in 
this area. The President's budget also includes $98 billion of tax 
relief for middle-class Americans, and it is targeted toward child 
care, college tuition, and buying and owning a home.

  Mr. President, this budget is an excellent starting point, and I 
believe the Budget Committee markup is the appropriate venue for 
Republicans and Democrats alike to resolve their differences. The 
American people deserve to know and everybody within the sound of my 
voice deserves to know the changes that the Republicans would like to 
make to the President's budget. If they think they can do better, OK. 
Look at it and try to make some decision. But they have an obligation 
to the American people to show ``how,'' ``where,'' and ``when'' and not 
simply carp.
  Mr. President, Senate Majority Leader Lott has called for the so-
called regular order to produce a budget through the normal legislative 
process. I second that call. Regular order would be for the Budget 
Committee to conclude its hearings in a timely manner and then write a 
budget in early to mid March. At that point, either the Republicans 
would use the President's budget, or Chairman Domenici will have a 
chance to put down a budget of his own. Congress would then stand a 
chance of meeting the April 15 statutory deadline for producing a 
budget and the bipartisan goal of a balanced budget.
  Mr. President, as we move toward the balanced budget, we must also 
remember that we are Senators, not simply accountants. We have to look 
at any budget proposal and evaluate its impact on the American people, 
their lives and the economy. A budget--as the distinguished occupant of 
the chair knows from his professional background as a physician tending 
to people's needs --a budget is far more than numbers. A budget is 
programs like Medicare, Medicaid, educational opportunity, cleaner 
environment. A budget has to be a reflection of the American people, 
their needs, their dreams, their hopes. That is what this budget, 
frankly, is. I hope we will get to work quickly on a review of the 
budget if any changes are going to be recommended.
  As I said earlier, let's hear them. But I am encouraged by what I 
have heard to this point--not just those who want to hang a black drape 
and say it doesn't work, it won't go, it can't go, it shouldn't go, but 
rather a more reasoned approach, I think. We all know that we are on 
different sides of the aisle in terms of the parties, but I am talking 
about a more reasoned approach that says maybe this budget is one that 
we can work from, or work to, and we can get ourselves a budget that 
reflects the interests of both of our parties, our country, and our 
people.
  It is time for a reasoned discussion. It is time for a deliberate 
discussion for a serious review. And I am optimistic about the 
possibilities of being able to say to the American people that we did 
just what they wanted us to do. We got over the bipartisan squabbling. 
We are not fighting anymore. What we are trying to do is to do what our 
constituents sent us here to do, and that is solve the problems, folks, 
don't just argue about them.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, can I ask what the present proceedings are 
before the Senate?
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senate is currently in morning 
business, and Senators are to be recognized for up to 5 minutes. 
Several Senators, under a previous order, will be recognized for up to 
10 or 15 minutes.

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