[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 24, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H1674-H1675]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           BUDGET BLUEPRINT KEEPS FAITH WITH ALL GENERATIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, President Lincoln said, ``You may fool 
all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people 
all the time; but you can't fool all of the people all the time.'' That 
observation is still true today. As complicated as our Federal budget 
is, most Americans know that the budget is not truly balanced until we 
take all of those extra Social Security taxes and no longer use them to 
make the deficit look smaller. The Republican budget which we will 
announce tomorrow and debate on this floor stops the practice of 
cooking the books with Social Security money and it does a lot more. I 
would like to present some of the highlights:
  First, our budget blueprint ensures that every penny of Social 
Security taxes will be spent only for Social Security. For years, the 
conventional wisdom in Washington was that Social Security money in 
excess of current benefit payments could be used to finance deficit 
spending. So, while the baby boomers inched closer to retirement, folks 
in Washington were spending dollars borrowed from Social Security on 
other programs. And, worse, they were still running up big deficits, 
even counting Social Security money.
  This has to stop. Under the Republican budget plan, it would. The 
President has promised to reserve 62 percent of the surplus for Social 
Security. This means that for a time, Social Security money would be 
spent on things other than Social Security. For example, the 
President's 30 new programs. In contrast, the Republican budget seals 
away every bit of the Social Security surplus.
  Second, our budget blueprint keeps faith with the spending caps set 
in the Balanced Budget Agreement of 1997. When I came to Congress, 
forecasters were predicting $200 billion deficits growing to $600 
billion by the year 2009. Now, strong economic growth and spending 
discipline mandated by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 are projected to 
create ever-increasing surpluses, at least under the old way of keeping 
the books. But this is no time to let up. We must protect those 
surpluses by restraining the growth of Washington spending. The 
administration has been talking lately about a new virtuous cycle of 
surpluses and declining interest rates. There is no quicker way to 
return to a vicious cycle of deficit spending and higher interest rates 
than to abandon the hard-won spending caps from 1997. The Republican 
budget maintains our commitment to fiscal restraint.

[[Page H1675]]

  Third, our budget blueprint begins the process of actually paying 
down the debt we are passing on to our children. Everyone would agree 
that we have a moral obligation to take care of our children. Part of 
this obligation is relieving our kids of the nearly $6 trillion Federal 
debt. This is what I call generational fairness. The Republican budget 
plan would maintain our commitment to generational fairness by 
continuing the start we made last year on paying down some of the debt.
  How would this work? Under our plan, Social Security taxes would be 
collected and locked away until a reform plan was enacted that would 
actually preserve the Social Security system. Until a specific fix is 
worked out, those excess funds would be used to pay off bonds owned by 
the public. This means it would be easier to meet future obligations to 
Social Security. And, Alan Greenspan tells us, it means lower interest 
rates.
  Fourth, our budget blueprint makes possible reductions in the tax 
burden on American families as additional revenues become available. 
Americans are overtaxed. The average American family pays more in taxes 
than they do for food, clothing, shelter and transportation combined. 
That is wrong. The Republican budget plan makes strengthening Social 
Security our first priority. Then, as more surplus dollars become 
available, we believe Americans should start getting some of their 
excess taxes back. They should be given back as an overpayment, because 
that is what they are. Our plan recognizes that extra taxes left in 
Washington will get spent on new government programs that most folks 
neither want nor need. When we allowed Washington to start taking taxes 
out of our paycheck, we never said to Washington, ``You can keep the 
change.''
  In sum, our budget plan reflects the priorities of the American 
people. It safeguards 100 percent of the Social Security money, unlike 
the President's plan, and keeps faith with our Nation's seniors. Then, 
by preserving fiscal discipline, paying down debt and offering tax 
relief, this budget ensures lower interest rates and a stronger economy 
well into the 21st century. This keeps faith with our children. It is a 
budget I am proud to support.

                          ____________________