[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 62 (Tuesday, May 13, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H2496]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 BALANCED BUDGET AGREEMENT IS GOOD NEWS

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, when politicians get together and tell me 
what a wonderful job they are doing, I start to get nervous. But every 
once in a while, people on both sides of the aisle do manage to arrive 
at a good agreement.
  Now, of course, the media will be annoyed; they need conflict. In 
fact, it is great fun watching the media desperately search for 
conflict in the balanced budget agreement that was reached between 
President Clinton and Congress. Even though the media hates good news, 
the good news needs to be reported.
  The story that must be reported is that this balanced budget 
agreement is a win for every American family. It contains permanent tax 
relief, it contains the largest entitlement reform in history, it 
expands Medicare choices for seniors, it balances the budget for the 
first time since 1969. In a town where good news is sometimes hard to 
find, let us go forward and pass this historic agreement and send a 
little good news to American families.

                          ____________________