[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 34 (Tuesday, March 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H1386]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           THE MORAL DEFICIT

  (Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, in 1993 when I decided to run for 
Congress, there were many reasons why I felt I should get involved in 
the political campaign. One of the main reasons was my concern over the 
national debt and deficit spending. My wife and I did not want to see 
our two children faced with a mountain of debt that would eventually 
destroy their future.
  Now, just 5 years later, it is with a lot of relief and thankfulness 
that Congress has been able to balance the Federal budget. But today we 
are faced with a problem that is even greater and more destructive than 
runaway debt.
  My children and the children of this Nation are faced with a society 
that is experiencing a moral deficit. Eighty-four percent of the 
American people say their biggest concern is the decline in the 
traditional moral values.
  Mr. Speaker, if we give our children the richest economy in the world 
but a society that is morally bankrupt, what have we gained? Some would 
say, but it is the economy, stupid. But I disagree, because good 
economies come and go, but for a Nation to survive as history has 
proven over and over again, patriotism, courage, fidelity, honesty, and 
public and personal character must be the foundation on which it 
stands.

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