[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 74 (Thursday, May 20, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1053]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 1141, 1999 EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL 
                           APPROPRIATIONS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. BARON P. HILL

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 18, 1999

  Mr. HILL of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, today the House voted on the 
Conference Report of H.R. 1141, the 1999 Emergency Supplemental 
Appropriations Bill. I voted against this bill and would like to 
explain my vote.
  Some of the spending items in this bill were bona fide emergencies. 
One emergency is supporting our troops currently deployed overseas in 
Kosovo. I have voted several times to support our troops and the NATO 
operation in Kosovo. When our generals say they need 6 billion dollars 
to support our troops in Kosovo, I believe that is legitimate emergency 
spending.
  I spoke recently on the floor of this House about the emergency many 
American farmers are facing at this moment. Farmers need credit right 
now to plant their crops and pay their bills. I am a member of the 
Agriculture Committee and represent thousands of southern Indiana 
farmers. I believe that getting our farmers adequate loans and credit 
should be one of our top priorities. I believe helping farmers stay 
afloat is also legitimate emergency spending.
  But this bill spends billions of dollars on items that are not 
emergencies. For example, today's bill spends almost twice what our 
generals say they need to meet our troops' needs in Kosovo. I am a 
member of the House Armed Services Committee and understand that our 
military has many pressing needs. One of our military's most urgent 
needs is giving our soldiers pay and retirement increases. I will 
support increases in defense spending during the regular budget 
process. I believe that fiscal responsibility requires us to consider 
measures such as these during the normal budget process, where we make 
the often difficult decisions about how we spend our limited resources.
  It is not fiscally responsible to reach into the surpluses in the 
Social Security Trust Fund to pay for government projects that we 
should be finding ways to pay for in the normal budget process. We only 
have a budget surplus this year if we count the surpluses generated by 
the Social Security Trust Fund. We should not be using the money in the 
Social Security Trust Fund to pay for needs that are not emergencies.
  One of my top priorities in Congress is making sure that the Social 
Security program will be solid and solvent for future generations. Our 
government does not have many more pressing needs than saving Social 
Security. I will not vote for spending our Social Security funds on 
items that are not emergencies.
  Mr. Speaker, I did not vote for the Supplemental Appropriations bill 
because the original purpose of this so-called ``Emergency'' bill was 
lost somewhere in the process. It became a way to spend billions of 
dollars outside of the budget process we have set up to control our 
spending. The final version of this bill was not fiscally responsible 
and I could not vote for it.

                          ____________________