[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 49 (Wednesday, April 23, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H1718]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 PRESENT TO AMERICAN PEOPLE AN HONEST AND RESPONSIBLE BALANCED BUDGET 
                                  PLAN

  (Mr. GUTKNECHT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, we talk about the 104th Congress as being 
a historic Congress. Well, we have an opportunity in this Congress to 
do something historic as well: to present the American people with an 
honest and responsible balanced budget plan.
  The President and the Congress are having important budget 
negotiations right now. We have an opportunity. We can balance the 
budget by the year 2002. We can show decreasing deficits as we move 
toward that balanced budget. We can provide permanent tax relief for 
hard-working American families. We can solve the problem of the Social 
Security and the Medicare trust funds. And finally, and most 
importantly, we can lay the foundations for eliminating the national 
debt and leave our kids a debt-free future.
  Mr. Speaker, these are principles and issues that are worth fighting 
for, and I think they are principles we can all agree to. This is a 
chance for us to set a higher standard, to make good on our promises of 
actually changing the way Washington does business, and simply do the 
right thing for our seniors, for our children, for everyone. Let us 
seize the day.

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