[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 11, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H3667-H3668]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           A BALANCED BUDGET AND PAYING OFF THE FEDERAL DEBT

  (Mr. NEUMANN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. NEUMANN. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning and I would like to use 
my 1 minute to provide a positive vision for the future of this great 
country that we live in. The first part of that vision would include 
the Republican-led Congress working with their counterparts on the 
other side of the aisle to fulfill our promises of 1995.
  We promised the American people a balanced budget so our children 
could look forward to living the American dream in this great country. 
But the promise cannot end there and the vision cannot end there. After 
we get to a balanced budget, we still have a $5 trillion debt, which 
means our families are paying $500 a month to do nothing but pay the 
interest on that debt.
  So this vision, it needs to be bigger than just balancing the budget, 
it needs to go to the point of paying off that Federal debt so our 
families no longer need to send $500 a month to Washington; they can 
keep it in their own households instead. When we pay down that debt, 
the money goes back into the Social Security trust fund as well so our 
seniors can rest assured the money is there.

[[Page H3668]]

  So I rise this morning to bring our vision for the future of this 
great country to the American people. Our vision includes a balanced 
budget, fulfilling our promises of 1995, and it also includes paying 
off the Federal debt so that our families do not have to send $500 a 
month to Washington and our seniors can rest assured with Social 
Security.

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