[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 34 (Thursday, March 4, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H961]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H961]]
                            SOCIAL SECURITY

  (Mr. BALLENGER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Speaker, the same people who told us again and 
again and again just 2 years ago that Congress could not cut taxes and 
balance the budget were wrong. Congress cut taxes, and the budget is 
actually now in surplus.
  Well, the same people now are telling us that we cannot cut taxes and 
strengthen Social Security at the same time. Well, of course we can.
  The same people who are defending the President's budget, which loots 
the Social Security trust fund to the tune of $30 billion on new 
Washington-based social programs and double counts $2.4 trillion in 
Social Security, are criticizing the Republican plan to strengthen 
Social Security, cut taxes and pay down the debt.
  Well, the naysayers are wrong. The Republican plan will accomplish 
three important goals. It will strengthen Social Security, it will 
refund middle-class taxpayers some of the government overcharge, and it 
will start to chip away at the national debt, which means lower 
interest rates and good economic times for people trying to make ends 
meet.

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