[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 104 (Wednesday, July 29, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H6515]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            SOCIAL SECURITY

  (Mr. SMITH of Michigan asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about Social 
Security.
  Mr. Speaker, when I first came here 5\1/2\ years ago, we were not 
only borrowing a great deal from the Social Security Trust Fund, but we 
had an additional deficit spending that approached $300 billion.
  Now, this year, we are not only going to have a zero deficit under 
the traditional way that we calculated deficit spending, but this year, 
if we have just a little bit of luck, we are going to have a real 
balanced budget. That means that we may have balance not considering 
the $80 billion that government is borrowing from the Social Security 
Trust Fund. This is one of the best years in the history of this 
country in terms of revenues exceeding expenditures. This year we might 
exceed $80 billion in terms of the unified budget. That means a real, 
honest balanced budget without the Social Security surplus.
  I think it is very important that in the future we start changing the 
way that we do business. We stop fooling people, we stop borrowing from 
the Social Security Trust Fund, and consider that revenue as a way to 
mask the deficit. A real balanced budget is when we reach balance, not 
including that amount borrowed from the trust fund. My bill HR 4033 
does that and I invite my colleagues to co-sponsor.

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