[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 119 (Tuesday, September 14, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H8152]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H8152]]
CONGRESS' MOST IMPORTANT TASKS: TO BALANCE THE BUDGET AND PAY DOWN THE 
                                  DEBT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ballenger). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 19, 1999, the gentleman from Washington 
(Mr. Smith) is recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, as I went around my district 
during the August recess and listened to my constituents about what 
their primary concerns were, I heard the same statement, the same 
issue, over and over again in different forms but with the same 
message. That is that the single most important thing the Congress can 
do is balance the budget and pay down the debt.
  As we head into September and October, the last 2 months of our 
session, that should be our number one priority. The budget is on the 
table. It is up for us to negotiate it and figure out what we ought to 
do with it. But the top priority in that process ought to be balancing 
the budget and paying down the debt.
  We have an incredible opportunity to do this. When we think about 
where we were 5 or 6 years ago, the fact that deficits were over $200 
billion, approaching $300 billion, with projections that they would get 
as high as $500 billion, running the overall debt up over $7 or $8 
trillion, to have us down to the point where we are just this close to 
balancing the budget is a tremendous accomplishment.
  I rise today primarily to urge this body to not snatch defeat from 
the jaws of victory as we negotiate this issue and all of the issues 
that have to do with government spending over the course of the next 2 
months, let us stick to that goal of making sure that we balance this 
year's budget and get ourselves in a position to start paying down the 
debt.
  There are a couple of issues that always challenge us on that. I 
think the biggest one is the so-called surplus. I saw ads on television 
over the break brought to us from Washington, D.C. talking about how 
there is a surplus in Washington. I hear this conversation continually.
  One of the rules that I think we should pass in this body is to 
require all Members to accurately state the budget situation before 
they talk about any subject, any spending program, any tax cut. The 
budget situation is basically we have a $5 billion debt or deficit for 
the year, the fiscal year that will end on October 1. In fiscal year 
1999 we are looking at a $5 billion deficit.
  As I mentioned, that is a significant improvement, but it is still a 
deficit. All of those surpluses that we are talking about are projected 
out into the future. So let us not spend them before they actually show 
up, let us give an accurate picture of where we are at in the budget 
process, because if we go around telling people that we have some $6 
trillion in surpluses, there is going to be momentum built to spend 
money. I think we need to give an accurate picture of where we are at 
fiscally.
  Paying down the debt is the best thing we can do for this country. It 
can reduce interest rates, which will help business and individuals 
alike. All we need is the discipline to do it.
  What I am asking in the next couple of months is that we actually do 
something historic and change the culture of this place. For too long 
people have looked to Congresspeople, or Congresspeople have thought 
this, anyway, and thought, the way I please my constituents is by 
passing out something to them, a program, a check, a tax cut, 
something. Whereas I think the single best thing that a Member of 
Congress can give to his or her constituents is a fiscally responsible, 
efficient government.
  Let us make that the standard by which we judge our Members of 
Congress. Let us not do it program by program, check by check. Let us 
do it by the overall competence with which we run our government.
  I will tell the Members, after having talked to my district and 
listened to my district for the last 3 years, there is a hunger for 
that type of leadership in this country. People want a Congress that 
talks to them straight about the fiscal picture, that performs their 
job in a responsible and efficient manner, does not simply come along 
and promise big, grand, high things for all the years to come. They are 
looking for that efficiency, for that responsibility.
  As a Democrat and as a member of the New Democrat Coalition, I want 
my party, obviously, to be the one that gives it to them. But actually, 
my biggest hope is that both parties will recognize the desire for that 
and we will both give it to them, as we head towards the October 1 
deadline for the next budget.
  We have a great chance to get there. We have a strong economy, high 
growth, low unemployment, low inflation. We are headed in the right 
direction. I urge this body and my colleagues to do the work over the 
course of the next 2 months that gets us there, so we can all go back 
to our constituents and I think give them the most significant thing 
that any congressional body has given their delegation in years, and 
that is a balanced budget and a step towards paying down that huge 
Federal debt that many of us thought we would never have a chance to 
pay down.
  Let us seize this opportunity and do what is right for the American 
people: balance the budget and pay down the debt.

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