[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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