[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 29, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8208-S8210]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          THE BUDGET AGREEMENT

  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, today, we learned that last evening the 
White House and congressional leaders reached agreement on a budget and 
tax cut proposal. I think that will be good news for the American 
people.
  I have been in Congress for some long while, as has been the 
Presiding Officer, and we have seen budgets and more budgets. We have 
seen claims and counterclaims. We have seen good times and bad times. 
We have seen economies that are expanding and economies that are 
contracting.
  I remember the action taken in 1993 by this Congress, at a point in 
time in 1993 when the budget deficit was swelling in an almost 
uncontrolled manner and the budget deficit was, in the unified budget, 
over $290 billion--if you count all the money the way you ought to, it 
was well over $300 billion--and then in 1993, with that deficit out of 
control, this Congress took action. By one vote here in the Senate and 
one vote in the other body, this Congress passed what should be called 
the Balanced Budget Act. We then called it a deficit reduction bill. 
And it has worked.
  From 1993 until now, we have seen the budget deficit go down, down, 
down and way down. That has allowed, I think, the American people to be 
more

[[Page S8209]]

confident about this Congress' willingness and ability to deal with 
fiscal policy in a responsible way. The economy has blossomed and 
provided more economic growth, and because of that, unemployment has 
gone down, way down; inflation is down, way, way down; and because all 
the economic indicators are good and because economic growth has been 
up, we have seen the budget deficit now nearly disappear.
  As a result of this economic boom, Members of Congress, working with 
the President, have reached a budget accord on not only spending issues 
for the coming 5 years, but also the question of what kind of tax 
reductions should be made available.
  The one thing that is certain about all of us is that none of us will 
be around here 100 years from now; 100 years from now, we will all be 
gone. We will be faint memories. And 100 years from now, if someone 
wanted to look and evaluate what was this Congress about, what were the 
American people about, what did they hold dear and what did they think 
was important, they could look back a century at the budget of the 
United States of America 100 years prior to that time and evaluate what 
that Congress and the American people felt they should spend their 
money on, what they felt they should invest in. So 100 years from now, 
if they look back and evaluate what it is we held most dear, what we 
thought was most important, they could look into this budget agreement 
and evaluate what, in July 1997, motivated these men and women, what 
did they think was important.

  The reason I came to the floor this morning is I think a number of 
the impulses in this budget agreement and the tax agreement are 
precisely the right kind of impulses for this Congress and for the 
American people to act on. First of all, I have, over time, tended to 
categorize the policy issues as kids, jobs and values; working on the 
issues of kids, jobs and values. Somehow the threading of those issues 
together in providing the right kinds of policy initiatives gives us 
the right direction.
  Well, let's take a look at what's in this budget agreement and the 
proposal on tax reductions relative to kids, jobs and values.
  First of all, what has happened in this agreement is the President 
pushed, and we pushed, and we pushed some more, and we have in an 
agreement a substantial new investment in education, $35 billion worth 
of tax relief targeted for education. This agreement says to the 
American people that when you send your kids to college, you are going 
to get a tax credit that is an inviting and important tax credit for 
you.
  Why is that important? Because there is no substitute for education. 
A society, a country that is not educated is not going to improve and 
advance. Thomas Jefferson once said, ``Those who believe a country can 
be both ignorant and free believe in something that never was and never 
could be.''
  So this agreement, thanks to the President, thanks to many of us in 
Congress who pushed and pushed and pushed and would not quit, says to 
parents who are going to send their kids to school, there is $35 
billion for investment in education in the form of tax credits, a 100 
percent tax credit for the first $1,000 you spend in sending your child 
to college, and 50 percent of the second $1,000 in the first 2 years of 
postsecondary education. This agreement says education is important. 
That is the one that says kids and their future represent the future of 
this country.
  Also, child health. Twenty-four billion dollars in this agreement is 
dedicated to insure more children in this country who are now 
uninsured. Of the 10 million children who have no health insurance and 
no health coverage, 5 million of those children will be able to see the 
benefits of health insurance under this piece of legislation. That is a 
priority. That represents the kids portion of what we deem important 
here in this Congress and in our country. For poor children, 5 million 
poor children, the question of whether they get health care will no 
longer be a function of whether their parents have money. Health care 
for those sick children ought to be a right. And this budget 
agreement--again, thanks to this President and to many of us in 
Congress who pushed very hard to say children's health is important; 
when we have 10 million children without health coverage, we had to do 
something about it--moves a giant step in that direction.
  Jobs, values. Well, this proposal on the budget and on taxes also is 
a proposal that says that saving is important. Savings and investment 
are important. It manifests that by the tax incentives; it says that we 
want the American people to have the incentives to save and to invest 
by providing tax incentives for that purpose. My grandmother, who is 
gone now, bless her soul, once said to me, ``You know, Byron, I never 
hear anybody talking about saving up to buy anything anymore because 
the whole economy is to say, `Come over here and buy this, we will give 
you a rebate and give you the product, and you don't have to make the 
first payment for 6 months.''' That is the whole economy these days.
  But the fact is, our economic strength and future economic growth 
rests on the ability to promote savings and, therefore, investment. 
Savings is critically important, and this budget agreement provides 
incentives, more tax incentives, for savings.
  Home ownership. This tax agreement provides substantial tax help for 
those who sell their home and who now will no longer be paying any kind 
of capital gains tax on the value of that home sale.

  Most importantly, with respect to children again, is the children's 
tax credit, a $500 tax credit. It is phased in in different ways. But 
the fact is, for those families who have children and who are 
struggling to make ends meet and pay bills and go to work every day and 
provide for their children's needs and send their kids to school, this 
provides a $500 child tax credit. The President pushed for that, the 
Congress pushed for that. That is also part of this agreement.
  Now, we had a big fight about who is going to get that and should 
some children be left out because their parents don't make enough 
money--both parents working, both at minimum wage, neither of which pay 
much income taxes, but both of which pay a substantial payroll tax, and 
the payroll tax is the tax that has been increasing.
  This agreement, as I understand it from last evening, does move in 
the direction of saying, yes, you are a taxpayer, if you make $25,000 a 
year and don't pay much in income tax but if you are paying a payroll 
tax, we consider you a taxpayer, and we think you deserve some tax 
reduction as well. So this $500 per child tax credit is going to be 
very beneficial to a good number of families who feel the pinch of the 
burden of taxes that they would like to be relieved of if they could in 
order to better provide for themselves and their families.
  Now, I happen to think that the first goal and the first objective of 
eliminating the budget deficit is the important one. I want to go back 
to 1993, which is where I started this discussion. In 1993, when we 
passed on the floor of this Senate a budget agreement which we thought 
of as the Deficit Reduction Act. I voted for it. It wasn't the popular 
thing to do and certainly wasn't the political thing to do. There was 
nothing but political heartache and headache as a result of voting for 
that. It passed by only one vote. Some of my colleagues are no longer 
in this Chamber because they voted for it. They were defeated or they 
left.
  I think, in retrospect, that history will show that, in 1993, this 
Congress turned the corner and made a U-turn and said to the American 
people: we want to tell you something. We are committed to deficit 
reduction and we are willing to make the tough choices and demonstrate 
that to you. And we passed the Deficit Reduction Act, which should 
really be called the Balanced Budget Act, because that is what has 
created the confidence in this country by the American people that 
Congress was willing to head in the right direction.
  We have all these economists in the country who explain to us what 
has happened and what will happen. Most of them don't have the foggiest 
notion of either what happened or what will happen. I used to teach 
economics for a couple of years in college. I think economics is 
principally psychology pumped up with a little helium. All these 
economists tell us what is going to happen. Well, in 1993, we had this 
what I call the Balanced Budget Act, which I voted for. We had people 
here,

[[Page S8210]]

some of whom were economists, stand up and say, ``If you pass this 
legislation, this economy is going to go in the tank. We are going to 
have a recession, or a depression, and joblessness.'' I mean, the 
predictions were very dire.
  In fact we passed that legislation and we have had unemployment go 
straight down, new jobs go straight up, inflation go straight down, and 
the deficit go straight down. The unified budget deficit was $290 
billion in 1992. This year it may end up at less than $40 billion. The 
economy is on better footing. Why? Because it is not the economists 
that understand what is going on.
  This economy rests on a cushion of confidence. If the American people 
are confident about what we are doing and the direction in which this 
country is heading, then they make the right decisions. ``We are 
confident about the future,'' they say, so they buy the next washer and 
dryer or the next car and make the decision to purchase a home.
  If they are not confident, they make the other decision. ``We will 
defer the purchase. We will not buy the car. We won't buy the home. We 
won't buy the washer and dryer. We won't buy the refrigerator.'' And, 
as a result, the economy contracts.
  But this economy is expanding. Why? Because in 1993 this Congress 
made the right decision--the tough decision--to put this country on the 
right course. It allows us now, in 1997, to make some other decisions. 
Yes, to make budget choices that are the right choices in many cases 
and to make tax reduction decisions that will be good decisions for 
many families in this country.
  Are there some things in this piece of legislation that I don't like? 
Sure. There are probably some of them I don't yet know about.
  Watching this crowd work on budget issues is a lot like taking your 
car to a garage. Once they lift your hood and tell you what they are 
charging you for, you do not have the foggiest idea what they are 
talking about. Some of that same mentality can certainly be true about 
the budget negotiations here in Congress because they are down there 
outside the regular committee process making deals. And I am sure that 
I will discover things that give me heartburn and stomach ache with 
respect to what they have put in this legislation. So, will there be 
some things that I don't like? Yes.
  But, in the main, have we succeeded in pushing and pushing the kind 
of agenda that is important for this country? Have we expanded health 
insurance for 5 million kids? Have we provided a $500 tax credit that 
goes to working families--yes, all working families? Have we improved 
your ability to pass on a family farm or a small business to your sons 
and daughters who want to run it with the estate tax changes that are 
in this piece of legislation that Senator Daschle from South Dakota 
worked on and that I worked and others have worked on? Have we helped 
you to more easily send your kid to college and get tax credit for 
doing so, helped working families so that their kids have the 
opportunity to go to college? Have we done all of these things? The 
answer is: yes, we have.
  Are they going to be helpful? I think so.
  So I come to the floor today feeling that we are moving in the right 
direction and we are making the right decisions. Frankly, I am one who 
believes that the ability for the Republicans and Democrats to get 
together and work together and have common goals together for the 
future of this country is good for this country. Sometimes we should 
fight over things, and we do. We fought, for example, over the question 
of whether a family that is going to make $25,000 a year working full 
time should have access to the $500-per-child tax credit. Some in 
Congress said, absolutely not, because they are not paying much of an 
income tax. We said absolutely that they should get it, because they 
are paying taxes--significant payroll taxes. So we fight about those 
things.
  But I am pleased to say that in the main much, much more of what we 
fought for is going to be in this conference agreement. I think the 
joining of the issues today on these range of issues in this budget 
agreement will spell good news for this country.
  Let me finally mention one additional point. As we proceed to do 
these things on both the spending side and the tax side of this budget 
reconciliation agreement, it is very, very important that all of us 
decide that the budget deficit still matters, and at the first sign of 
ratcheting up a budget deficit once again, this Congress must take 
action. What we hope will happen is that this agreement will continue 
the economic growth we have had, and to the extent it does, that we 
will have a balanced budget not only in the year 2002 and perhaps even 
before, but also in subsequent years thereafter.
  But when and if it appears that expenditures will exceed revenues--
that we will run a deficit--then this Congress must be prepared to take 
action to stop it, because balanced budgets are important.
  Now we have some room to provide some capability of tax cuts and some 
other things in the budget agreement that makes some sense for the 
American families. But American families most of all understand that 
balancing the budget is what will give them confidence in this economy. 
They know that balancing the budget is what will give this country the 
chance to grow and to provide jobs and to provide hope for all 
Americans, now and in the years to come.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I make a point of order that a 
quorum is not present.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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