[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 35 (Tuesday, March 18, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H1047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     A BALANCED BUDGET CANNOT WAIT

  (Mrs. TAUSCHER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. TAUSCHER. Mr. Speaker, last week more than 100 members of the 
Democratic Caucus signed the Tauscher-Stenholm-Minge letter that called 
on both the President and the Republican majority to present a CBO-
scored balanced budget proposal. This letter was an attempt to move the 
stalled budget process forward in a bipartisan manner.
  As a former investment banker who spent 14 years on Wall Street, I 
find it is inconceivable that we could go yet another year without 
coming to a resolution on a balanced budget.
  Today, I am encouraged to hear Speaker Gingrich has suggested 
delaying tax cuts until a balanced budget is reached.
  If the Speaker or any of our colleagues would like a blueprint for 
balancing the budget without raising or cutting taxes, I ask them to 
take a close look at the Blue Dog Coalition budget. Our budget deals 
with tax cuts outside the scope of the balanced budget plan while 
keeping them consistent with a balanced budget.
  The coalition budget is a plan that can help us move forward toward 
achieving a truly bipartisan balanced budget. I implore my colleagues 
to listen to the American people who sent us here. Let us go to work on 
balancing the budget. We cannot wait any longer.

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