[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 23, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H1481]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    REPUBLICAN BUDGET PROPOSAL, RECIPE FOR COMPLETE FISCAL DISASTER

  (Mr. SMITH of Washington asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I rise, too, to talk about the 
budget that is coming to the floor this week, and I have some grave 
concerns about that budget in terms of fiscal discipline.
  The budget the majority party is proposing has several elements to 
it. Massive tax cuts. At the same time, it also has massive spending 
increases. And unrelated to the budget, but at the same time related to 
the budget, there is no plan on the table for any sort of structural 
reform of our existing entitlement programs, so they will simply go on 
spending at their current rate.
  Those three items, put together, are a recipe for complete fiscal 
disaster. We are so close to a balanced budget, we are so close to 
finally having a legitimate claim on being fiscally responsible, that I 
hate to see us lose it now.
  One of the biggest problems, in response to the comments of the 
previous gentleman, yes, the existing trust funds, the money that is 
going into Social Security and Medicare, are protected. The problem is 
those trust funds will not last long under the current system. The 
spending will go way beyond those existing trust funds and place us 
into grave financial difficulties.
  Medicare is scheduled to be bankrupt in 2008. Social Security is 
scheduled to go bankrupt in 2032. It is time to be fiscally 
responsible, and the Republican budget does not get us there.

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