[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 57 (Tuesday, May 6, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H2176-H2177]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONGRAULATIONS TO THE PRESIDENT AND HOUSE AND SENATE LEADERS FOR BUDGET 
                               AGREEMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Moran] is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate all the 
parties that were involved in the budget agreement reached over the 
weekend. While

[[Page H2177]]

many of the details still have to be worked out, and of course many 
will say the devil is in the details. I think Members of this body 
would be hard-pressed to speak against a budget agreement that for the 
first time since 1969 gives us a real chance to balance the budget, to 
get our fiscal house in order.
  I would have preferred that we postpone some of the tax cuts pay for 
more of them through savings in the tax Code. We are doing much of 
that. Each of us may find, as I say, particulars in programs that we 
think may be more endangered than before the budget agreement, but that 
is a product of compromise. Politics is the art of compromise, and it 
is about time we were able to get together to work in a constructive, 
cooperative spirit.
  I congratulate the President and I congratulate the leaders of the 
House and Senate on both sides for coming forward with that spirit and 
getting the kinds of results they have.
  If we oppose this, we invite far more harmful consequences to 
ourselves and particularly to future generations than any of those 
items we specifically object to could ever cause. Let us not blow this 
opportunity to do what is in everyone's best long-term interests. The 
bipartisan budget agreement will allow us to reach balance in the year 
2002 without wreaking any havoc on the most important domestic 
discretionary programs, nor will it wreak havoc on the Defense 
Department budget.
  We as Democrats can be proud of this agreement, since it will allow 
the Federal Government to continue to be an agent of positive change. 
We will be able to expand health care coverage to 5 million more needy 
underinsured children. We will be able to restore the safety net to 
legal resident aliens who were disenfracthised under last year's 
welfare bill, and we will be able to go home and justify our actions to 
a public that is too often skeptical that we are not doing anything 
that is in their best interests.
  This agreement builds on the accomplishments of past deficit 
reduction efforts, most notably the 1993 deficit reduction package. 
Since adoption of that 1993 budget package, the deficit has been 
reduced 4 consecutive years to where it is now the lowest since 1981. 
It is down to $74 billion. This past year it was $107 billion; now we 
are talking about $74 billion. That is phenomenal, given where we 
started, from $290 billion in 1992.
  The tax increases and the spending cuts enacted in 1993, contrary to 
much criticism at the time, has kept interest rates and unemployment 
low and the economy booming. The stock market has gone through the 
ceiling because they have to put their money on their analysis of where 
the future of this economy is going. That is why the stock market is 
booming. They see a rosy outlook. They know that our budget is in 
control.
  Now, we hope that this agreement will also lay the foundation for 
more fundamental entitlement program reforms that must be dealt with 
before us baby boomers begin to retire. But this agreement deserves our 
support. The President and the leaders of the House and Senate deserve 
our support. We congratulate them.
  At this point I would like to yield to my colleague and good friend, 
the gentleman from California [Mr. Dooley].
  Mr. DOOLEY of California. Mr. Speaker, I would like to join the 
gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Moran] in congratulating the President and 
the Republican leadership and the Democratic leadership that played 
such an instrumental role in negotiating what is a very responsible 
budget that is going to benefit all American families. It is going to 
build upon the good work that has happened in this House in the last 4 
years, when we have been able to reduce the deficit from what was $290 
billion to what might be $75 billion this year. It is almost one-
quarter of what it was 4 years ago.
  This is not an achievement that belongs solely to the President; it 
is an achievement that also belongs to some of the Democrats who had 
the majority in the first 2 years of his Presidency, and also the 
Republicans who had control in the second 2 years. We have a package 
now that I think gives the promise and the hope to American families 
that we are going to eliminate the deficit in the next 5 years; that we 
will be able to start repaying the national debt while still protecting 
the priorities of our families in education and health care, as well as 
providing some much-needed tax relief with capital gains and 
inheritance tax.
  I thank the gentleman for coming to the floor today and honoring some 
of the leaders of this country who have put us on the right track.
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his very fine words 
and his message that needs to be listened to by everyone.

 President Clinton Delivers the First Balanced Budget in a Generation--
          Historic Agreement Promotes the Country's Priorities

       President Clinton has achieved a balanced budget agreement 
     that includes critical investments in education, health care, 
     and the environment while strengthening and modernizing 
     Medicare and Medicaid--just as he promised last year. We have 
     cut the deficit 63%--from $290 billion in 1992 to $107 
     billion last year. This historic achievement will finish the 
     job, giving the American people the first balanced budget in 
     a generation, while meeting the President's goals.


 goal: to ensure that every 8-year-old can read, every 12-year-old can 
    log on to the internet, and every 18-year-old can go to college

       Largest Pell Grant Increase in Two Decades--4 million 
     students will receive a grant of up to $3,000, an increase of 
     $300 in the maximum grant.
       Tax cuts targeted to higher education to make college more 
     affordable for America's families.
       An America Reads initiative to mobilize a million tutors to 
     help three million children learn to read by the end of the 
     third grade.
       Expansion of Head Start--to achieve goal of one million 
     kids in 2002.
       Doubles funding to help schools integrate innovative 
     technology into the curriculum.


    goal: expand health coverage for as many as 5 million uncovered 
                                children

       Medicaid improvements and added Medicaid investments.
       A new capped mandatory grant program that provides 
     additional dollars to supplement states efforts to cover 
     uninsured children in working families.


           goal: secure and strengthen medicare and medicaid

       Extends the solvency of Medicare Trust Fund to at least 
     2007 through long overdue structural reforms.
       Expands coverage of critical preventive treatments of 
     diseases such as diabetes and breast cancer.
       Preserves the federal Medicaid guarantee of coverage to our 
     nation's most vulnerable people.


       goal: strengthen environmental protection and enforcement

       Accelerates Superfund cleanups by almost 500 sites by the 
     year 2000.
       Expands the Brownfield Redevelopment Initiative to help 
     communities cleanup and redevelop contaminated areas.
       Boosts environmental enforcement to protect public health 
     from environmental threats.


   goal: move people from welfare to work and treat legal immigrants 
                                 fairly

       A Welfare-to-Work tax credit to help long-term welfare 
     recipients get jobs.
       Restores disability and health benefits for legal 
     immigrants.
       Restores Medicaid coverage for poor legal immigrant 
     children.
       Preserves food stamp benefits for people willing to work.
       Provides States and cities with additional resources to 
     move disadvantaged recipients into jobs.


          goal: cuts taxes for America's hard working families

       A Child Tax Credit to make it easier for families to raise 
     their kids.
       Tax cuts targeted to higher education to make college more 
     affordable for America's families.
       A Welfare-to-Work tax credit to help long-term welfare 
     recipients get jobs.
       Establishes additional Empowerment Zones and Enterprise 
     Communities.

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