[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 149 (Thursday, October 28, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H11070-H11071]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                REPUBLICAN PLAN PROTECTS SOCIAL SECURITY

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

[[Page H11071]]

  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, is there a single American who believes that 
government waste, fraud and abuse does not really exist? I do not think 
so. Examples of misuse of the taxpayers' hard-earned money are far too 
plentiful. Just ask the 26,000 dead people who received food stamps in 
a single year. Or ask the folks in Russia who got to enjoy Ben & 
Jerry's ice cream at the expense of the American taxpayer. Or ask the 
defense contractor who charged the Pentagon $714 for an electric bell 
that I could have bought at Lowe's hardware for $46. Mr. Speaker, I 
could go on, but my point is simple. The Republican plan to take one 
cent, this is one penny, one cent of every dollar of the Federal 
bureaucracy is not only responsible, it is necessary.

                              {time}  1015

  I find these misuses of taxpayer money outrageous. What makes them 
more outrageous is the Federal Government has been raiding Social 
Security for 30 years to pay for this kind of thing. One penny, 1 
percent. Believe me, there is at least that much fat in every 
bureaucracy that can be eliminated. It is minimal, it is fair, it is 
the right direction.

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