[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 20 (Wednesday, March 4, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H762]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                BEING TRUTHFUL ABOUT THE BALANCED BUDGET

  (Mr. BLUNT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, we did get good news yesterday, and that good 
news was that for the first time in 30 years, the Federal Government is 
about to pay its bills. For the first time in 30 years, we are about to 
run a surplus, not a deficit.
  But we also need to remember that we run two sets of books here in 
Washington. One is the external set of books, the books that reflect 
the money that comes in and the money that goes out into all funds, and 
the second set of books reflects what we are doing to continue to 
borrow from the Social Security Trust Fund and from the Highway Trust 
Fund.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to not only balance the budget on that one set 
of books, but we need to balance the budget on the second set of books 
as well. Do not continue to increase the debt; do not spend this new 
money, this external surplus, on new programs; stop borrowing from the 
Social Security Trust Fund and stop borrowing from the Highway Trust 
Fund. Pay all the bills and be truthful with the American people, and 
treat the trust funds like they are truly trust funds.

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