[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 21 (Thursday, March 5, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S1386]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             THE CREDIBILITY OF THE PRESIDENT ON THE BUDGET

  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, questions have been raised about the 
credibility of this President on the budget. If anybody in this town 
has credibility on the budget, it is this President. When he came to 
office, the deficit was $290 billion, and under the plan that was 
passed in 1993, the deficit is now down, on a unified basis, to zero or 
very close to that. That has been a dramatic improvement and a dramatic 
record of deficit reduction by this President.
  Now they raise questions about a new CBO score of the President's 
budget. The President did not have that available to him when he 
submitted his budget. He submitted his budget based on the Office of 
Management and Budget projections. By the way, both OMB and CBO have 
been overly conservative with respect to their projections. Neither of 
them have been close to right in projecting the dramatic decline in the 
deficit. The President used the numbers in his budget that were 
available to him at the time he submitted his budget, and his budget 
projections have proved to be far more accurate in terms of deficit 
reduction than some others.
  So I just say with respect to credibility on the budget, this 
President has a demonstrated record. He has done the heavy lifting. He 
has gotten the results that have put this country in such a strong 
position.
  Now we have a question of a difference of projections. Both of the 
projections of OMB and CBO have been off the mark. They have 
underestimated what a good job we have done in reducing the deficit. So 
when the President's credibility is called into question, I think in 
fairness we ought to say he based his budget on the projections that 
were available to him at the time he submitted his budget and he has a 
record and the record stands clearly as one that has produced the most 
dramatic deficit reduction we have ever seen.
  I hope when we start talking about people's credibility, we do not do 
it in a loose fashion on the floor of the Senate.
  I thank the Chair and yield the floor.

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