[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 24, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H1604]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




MORE GOVERNMENT SPENDING OR RESPONSIBLE APPROACH TO SOCIAL SECURITY AND 
                            MEDICARE CRISES

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, remember in 1996 when the President stood 
right up there and he said the era of big government is over? Remember 
that? Well, he proposed this year 80 new spending programs.
  There are a number of folks, Democrats on this side of the aisle, who 
would like to take the Social Security money and use it to increase 
government spending, make the government bigger and more intrusive more 
than ever; and that is why Republicans are taking 100 percent of the 
retirement surplus and putting it into a safe deposit box for Social 
Security and Medicare.
  If my colleagues look at this chart, again, the President's budget 
cuts $9 billion from Medicare. It busts the budget caps by $30 billion 
and raises taxes by $172 billion.
  Republicans are trying to take 100 percent of the retirement surplus 
and put it into a safe deposit box for Medicare and Social Security. 
The choice is clear. More Washington spending or a responsible approach 
to the coming Social Security and Medicare crisis.

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