[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 145 (Tuesday, October 13, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H10809-H10810]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THE DO-NOTHING LIBERAL CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Thune) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. Speaker, this evening I would like to associate myself 
with the remarks of my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Kansas 
(Mr. Moran) earlier about the crisis that we are facing in agriculture. 
It would certainly be my hope as well that as we conclude the waning 
days of this Congressional session that we will be able to fashion a 
disaster relief package that will bring some much needed relief and 
immediate assistance to those who are trying to make a living by 
producing food and fiber in this country.
  I would certainly hope that we can reach an agreement on that, on a 
number of issues that are still outstanding. Before we go home, we have 
to act, we have to act now.
  Mr. Speaker, I would also like to answer this evening some of the 
accusations, the partisan accusations that have been filling this 
chamber from our friends on the other side. There is the accusation 
that somehow since we have not moved their liberal agenda, that we are 
a do-nothing Congress. I suppose by their definition, that is true.
  We have not raised taxes. I know that drives them crazy. We have not 
created new programs or built new Federal bureaucracies here in 
Washington. In other words, we have not done anything liberal. We are a 
do-nothing liberal Congress.
  Now, that probably should not come as any surprise to the American 
people who elected a conservative Congress because they have grown 
weary of having their pockets picked for a liberal agenda that flatly 
was not working.
  The American people need to ignore a lot of the partisan rhetoric 
that is filling this chamber and coming from our friends on the left. 
It is more smoke, it is more mirrors, and it is an effort on their part 
to distract attention from the significant and historic accomplishments 
of this 105th Congress.
  I would like to just note a couple of those, if I might, this 
evening. The first is the balanced budget agreement. For the first time 
since 1969, for the first time since I was 8 years old, we actually are 
operating this Federal Government in the black. I think that is a 
historic accomplishment. We did it at the same time that we lowered 
taxes on working families, on farmers and ranchers and small businesses 
in this country for the first time since 1981.
  We made reforms that saved Medicare for another generation, reformed 
the IRS to make it more user friendly and responsive to the taxpayers 
of this country.
  Let us talk about the surplus. In 1994 it was projected, as far as 
the eye could see, $3 trillion in deficits way out into the future. 
Just last July, the Congressional Budget Office revised that estimate. 
It is now projecting a $1.6 trillion surplus for the next 10 years.
  How did that happen? Well, maybe part of it is because there are 3.3 
million more Americans working today as a result of welfare reform. 
That was something that our liberal friends did not want to see happen.
  Maybe it is really hard for them to acknowledge that when we cut 
taxes last year, it is actually generating more revenue for the 
government. We are seeing more realizations. People actually are paying 
more in taxes as a result of having cut taxes last year, and it has 
gotten us to a point where we have to make a decision about how to use 
a $1.6 trillion surplus.
  There are a lot of us on our side who want to make sure that that 
money

[[Page H10810]]

gets back home to the folks in our home communities before it stays 
here in Washington, because if it stays here very long it is going to 
get spent. We are committed to seeing that it goes back to the people 
of this country.
  We have also accomplished with the Higher Education Reauthorization 
Act the lowest student loan rate in 17 years. We have increased to 
historically high levels the Pell grant to make college more 
affordable.
  Let us talk about secondary education. We have increased, by the 
President's request, on special ed, funding by about half a billion 
dollars. Think of all the schools that could be rebuilt in this country 
if we would fully fund special ed and free up those dollars that they 
can use for school construction.
  How about dollars to the classroom? We passed that because we believe 
that we ought to get more dollars back to the classroom, back to our 
children, back to our teachers. Maybe we could afford to pay our 
teachers higher salaries. Maybe we could invest in technology and buy 
more computers, get those dollars back to the classroom and out of the 
Washington bureaucracy.

  That is a fundamental difference. It is an honest difference with our 
friends on the left, but when they talk about the things that have not 
been done here I think the American people need to know about the 
things that have been done; things that are historic, things that are 
changing the way that this city operates.
  There are a lot of challenges ahead of us. As we look down the road, 
we want to continue on the path. We have to win the war on drugs to 
make sure that our schools are safe and drug free, and that our 
children's minds and ambitions are not ruined by the scourge of illegal 
drugs.
  We need to continue to improve our schools by getting more of that 
Federal money back home, back into the classroom, and seeing that those 
dollars are spent in the way that the local communities determine.
  We need to save Social Security. We have made a commitment to spend 
90 percent of the surplus, any surplus projected, to save Social 
Security not only for those who are receiving benefits today but for 
those who are paying in and expecting benefits in the future.
  We are going to continue our fight to make government smaller and 
more efficient and improve the take-home pay of every working American.
  These are honest differences that we have with our friends on the 
left, and they can get up and they can rant and rave about a do-nothing 
Congress but I want the American people to know, this may be a do-
nothing liberal Congress but this is a Congress which has done a lot 
for the future of the American people.

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