[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 135 (Thursday, October 1, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S11304]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   FIRST BALANCED BUDGET IN 30 YEARS

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I would also like to offer remarks that 
I have prepared as we celebrate today the first balanced budget in 30 
years. I had occasion to be elected to the Senate on a number of 
issues, but none more important than a commitment to work for that goal 
just 2 years ago.
  I remember when I first got here, Secretary of Treasury Rubin was 
testifying before the Judiciary Committee on the question of whether we 
needed a balanced budget constitutional amendment that would mandate 
that we balance the budget. He said we did not. He said they had a plan 
that would balance the budget by 2002.
  I was new. I had been told that Secretary Rubin was quite a skillful 
witness and that I should be careful. I said, ``Mr. Secretary, that is 
a nice promise you made. But the truth is you won't be here in 2002 as 
Secretary of the Treasury, will you?'' Without hesitating, he said, 
``Well, I haven't talked to the Vice President yet.'' But I was left 
with a thought that, well, President Clinton would not be here 
constitutionally as President past his two full terms, and that he 
could not make a promise that we could balance the budget long after he 
left office.
  So I just say that to say that less than 2 years ago there was great 
doubt in our country and among our public policy leaders that we would, 
in fact, be able to balance the budget.
  This Congress has stepped forward and has made some tough decisions. 
It has worked with the administration. It has put caps on spending that 
are holding. And we have now produced a balanced budget amendment with 
maybe a $70 billion surplus.
  When I traveled across the state two years ago during my campaign for 
the Senate, I learned that foremost in the minds of Alabamians 
regarding the future of our country was the economic legacy we as 
taxpayers were creating for our children. At the time, that legacy 
meant budget deficits as far as the eye could see. I believe that part 
of the reason why I was elected to the Senate was because of my promise 
to change that legacy by supporting a balanced budget, and to do so by 
cutting spending and eliminating fraud and abuse.
  Today, I am proud to witness as a Member of Congress, the first 
balanced budget in thirty years. It is an historic event much as Neil 
Armstrong's first steps taken on the Moon in 1969--the last year there 
was no budget deficit.
  As a result of this achievement, the American taxpayer is enjoying 
historically low interest rates on mortgages, car loans, and students 
loans. Those who could only dream of buying a home are becoming 
homeowners. Automobiles are more affordable than ever. And students 
with college loans are finding the burden of their debt lessened as 
they graduate and enter the workforce.
  Businesses are benefitting as well. Lower interest rates mean more 
money to invest in capital, and expanded capital means more jobs. The 
unemployment rate is at an historic low of 4.5 percent. The effects of 
this tight labor market combined with such low interest rates has meant 
returns to workers in the form of higher wages. Indeed, income for the 
typical American household rose at nearly twice the rate of inflation 
in 1997.
  There are many people that deserve credit for this historic 
achievement, but none more than the American people. It is the American 
people that created a mandate for a balanced budget by electing those 
of us to office who would make it their number one priority to put the 
country's books in the black. I am proud to be part of that mandate. It 
is a Republican Congress who responded to this mandate by producing a 
balanced budget and doing it ahead of schedule. If this responsibility 
had been left to the President, today we would have a $196 billion 
deficit, which he called for in his 1996 budget.
  But it is not enough to balance the budget just once. Now that we 
have achieved a balance, we need to maintain it. Interest rates don't 
respond to what the deficit is today. They respond to what people think 
the deficit is going to be in the future, and big hurdles remain before 
a future of balanced budgets can be assured. Today, we begin a new 
fiscal year with a surplus of $63 billion. Yet, hard choices regarding 
spending must still be made in order to preserve Social Security and 
Medicare, as well as cut taxes in order to keep the economy and 
families strong.
  It is a time to celebrate, and I think we should pause and be 
grateful.
  I thank the Chair. I yield the floor.

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