[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 149 (Thursday, October 28, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13348-S13351]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               THE BUDGET

  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, if there is one difficulty we have in 
this trade debate, it is credibility. If you believe the distinguished 
leaders, the President, the majority, minority leader, the 
distinguished chairman of our Finance Committee, you are bound to vote 
for this particular agreement with respect to the Caribbean Basin 
Initiative and the sub-Sahara. Then if you believe this Senator, who is 
in a dreadful minority at this point, you couldn't possibly vote for 
it.
  Trying to bolster my credibility, because I have spoken throughout 
the year with respect to the budget, the deficit and whether or not 
there is a surplus, I ask unanimous consent to print in the Record this 
morning's column entitled ``Hill Negotiators Agree to Delay Part of NIH 
Research Budget.''
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

               [From the Washington Post, Oct. 28, 1999]

      Hill Negotiators Agree to Delay Part of NIH Research Budget

                            (By Eric Pianin)

       House and Senate negotiators yesterday agreed to delay a 
     big chunk of the research budget to the National Institutes 
     of Health, as they struggled to find new ways to hold down 
     costs and stay within tight spending limits.
       With concerns rising over their plan to cut programs across 
     the board, Republican leaders are once again turning to 
     creative accounting tactics to make sure their spending bills 
     are lean enough to avoid tapping into Social Security payroll 
     taxes.
       The last of the 13 spending bills to be considered by 
     Congress, a giant $313 billion measure funding labor, health 
     and human service programs, would provide the NIH with $17.9 
     billion for fiscal 2000, a 15 percent increase that exceeds 
     the administration request by $2 billion.
       But the bill, which will be considered by the full Congress 
     today, would require the NIH to wait until the final days of 
     the fiscal year in September to use $7.5 billion of that 
     money. The tactic is aimed at limiting the actual amount of 
     money that the government will spend at NIH in the current 
     fiscal year; the plan would essentially roll over $2 billion 
     of spending to next year.
       The Clinton administration warned that the move would 
     seriously hamper research efforts and impose significant 
     administrative burdens on NIH, and congressional Democrats 
     complained that it was yet another step eroding GOP 
     credibility on budget matters.
       But Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens 
     (R-Alaska) said Congress was justified in is use of 
     accounting ``devices'' to cope with emergencies and pressing 
     budget priorities that exceeded what Congress had previously 
     set aside to spend this year.
       The various devices are crucial to the GOP's campaign to 
     pass all 13 spending bills for the fiscal year that began 
     Oct. 1 without appearing to dip into surplus revenue 
     generated by Social Security taxes. GOP leaders last night 
     put the finishing touches on an unwieldy package that 
     includes both the labor-health-education bill, the District 
     of Columbia spending bill and proposal for a roughly 1 
     percent across-the-board spending cut.
       Democrats maintain the ``mindless'' across-the-board cuts 
     would ``devastate'' some agencies, hurt programs for mothers 
     and children, and trigger large layoffs in the armed 
     services. But House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) said 
     accusations the cuts would hurt defense were ``nothing but 
     hogwash.'' He said the criticism was coming from ``the same 
     officials who have sat by idly as the president has hollowed 
     out the armed forces.''
       President Clinton has vowed to veto the huge package, as he 
     has three other bills, and there is no way the two sides can 
     reach agreement before a midnight Friday deadline. With 
     neither side willing to provoke a government shutdown, the 
     administration and Congress will agree on a third, short-term 
     continuing resolution to keep all the agencies afloat while 
     they continue negotiations.
       While the Republicans and the White House are relatively 
     close in negotiating overall spending levels, there are 
     serious differences over how to spend money to reduce class 
     sizes, hire additional police officers and meet a financial 
     obligation to the United Nations as well as disputes over 
     environmental provisions in the bills.
       Meanwhile, figures out yesterday showed that the federal 
     government ran a surplus of $122.7 billion in fiscal 1999 
     (which ended Sept. 30), the first time the government has 
     recorded back-to-back surpluses since the Eisenhower 
     administration in 1956-57.
       The 1999 surplus was almost double the 1998 surplus of 
     $69.2 billion, which was the first since 1969. Whil the 1999 
     surplus was the largest in the nation's history in strict 
     dollar terms, it was the biggest since 1951 when measured as 
     a percentage of the economy, a gauge that tends to factor out 
     the effects of inflation.
       All of the surplus came from the excess payroll taxes being 
     collected to provide for Social Security benefits in the next 
     century. Contrary to an earlier estimate by the Congressional 
     Budget Office, the non-Social Security side of the federal 
     government ran a deficit of $1 billion, money that was made 
     up from the Social Security surplus.
       The drafting of the labor-health-education spending measure 
     dominated the action behind the scenes on Capitol Hill 
     yesterday. The House has been unable to pass its own version, 
     so House and Senate negotiators worked out a final compromise 
     in conference.
       The $313 billion compromise exceeds last year's spending by 
     $11.3 billion and includes more money for education, Pell 
     Grants for college students, NIH, federal impact aid for 
     local communities, the Ryan White AIDS research program and 
     community services block grants than the administration had 
     requested.
       While the bill provides $1.2 billion for class size 
     reduction, the Republicans insist local school districts be 
     given the option for using the money for other purposes while 
     the White House would mandate the money for hiring additional 
     teachers.
       Republicans also were claiming $877 million in savings by 
     using a computer data-base of newly hired workers to track 
     down people who defaulted on student loans. The nonpartisan 
     CBO said the idea would only save $130 million, but 
     Republicans are using a more generous estimate used by 
     Clinton's White House budget office.

  Mr. HOLLINGS. Right in the middle is the headline: The Government has 
recorded its first back-to-back surpluses since 1956-57. Within the 
text, reaffirming that:

       Meanwhile, figures out yesterday showed that the federal 
     government ran a surplus of $122.7 billion in fiscal 1999 
     (which ended Sept. 30), the first time the government has 
     recorded back-to-back surpluses since the Eisenhower 
     administration in 1956-57.


[[Page S13349]]


  That is totally false. Mark Twain said it best: The truth is such a 
precious thing, it should be used very sparingly. That has been the 
credo around the Government in Washington, particularly with respect to 
our fiscal condition.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to print in the Record table 6 
on page 20 of the U.S. Treasury Report, issued yesterday.
  There being no objection, the table was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

  TABLE 6.--MEANS OF FINANCING THE DEFICIT OR DISPOSITION OF SURPLUS BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT, SEPTEMBER 1999 AND
                                                  OTHER PERIODS
                                              [Dollars in millions]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  Net transactions (-) denotes net        Account balances current fiscal year
                               reduction of either liability or asset  -----------------------------------------
   Assets and liabilities                     accounts                         Beginning of
 directly related to budget  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
     off-budget activity                        Fiscal year to date                                   Close of
                               This month  ----------------------------   This year    This month    this month
                                              This year    Prior year
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Liability accounts:
  Borrowing from the public:
    Public debt securities,
     issued under general
     Financing authorities:
      Obligations of the
       United States, issued
       by:
        United States              -16,115       130,078       113,047     5,511,193     5,657,386     5,641,271
         Treasury...........
        Federal Financing     ............  ............  ............        15,000        15,000        15,000
         Bank...............
                             -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Total, public debt       -16,115       130,078       113,047     5,526,193     5,672,386     5,656,271
           securities.......
                             ===================================================================================
            Plus premium on            -16          -200           648         2,202         2,018         2,002
             public debt
             securities.....
            Less discount on           534         1,648           864        79,051        80,165        80,698
             public debt
             securities.....
                             ===================================================================================
              Total public         -16,665       128,230       112,831     5,449,345     5,594,241     5,577,575
               debt
               securities
               net of
               Premium and
               discount.....
                             ===================================================================================
Agency securities, issued              283          -449        -3,814    \1\ 29,359        28,627        28,910
 under special financing
 authorities (see Schedule
 B. For other Agency
 borrowing, see Schedule C).
                             ===================================================================================
    Total federal securities       -16,383       127,782       109,017     5,478,704     5,622,868     5,606,486
                             ===================================================================================
      Deduct:
        Federal securities          31,747   \2\ 221,927       163,915  \2\ 1,767,77     1,957,959     1,989,705
         held as investments                                                       8
         of government
         accounts (see
         Schedule D)........
        Less discount on               411         5,822         3,687        10,687        16,098        16,510
         federal securities
         held as investments
         of government
         accounts...........
                             -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Net federal             31,335       216,105       160,228     1,757,090     1,941,860     1,973,196
             securities held
             as investments
             of government
             accounts.......
                             ===================================================================================
              Total                -47,718       -88,323       -51,211     3,721,613     3,681,008     3,633,290
               borrowing
               from the
               public.......
                             ===================================================================================
Accrued interest payable to          8,729        -2,845          -635        45,448        33,874        42,603
 the public.................
Allocations of special                -346            80            30         6,719         7,145         6,799
 drawing rights.............
Deposit funds...............          -719           188          -824         4,280         5,188         4,469
Miscellaneous liability              4,054           498           -15         3,923           366         4,420
 accounts (includes checks
 outstanding etc.)..........
                             ===================================================================================
    Total liability accounts       -36,000       -90,402       -52,655     3,781,983     3,727,582     3,691,581
                             ===================================================================================
Asset accounts (deduct)
  Cash and monetary assets:
    U.S. Treasury operating
     cash: \3\
      Federal Reserve                1,082         1,689        -2,740         4,952         5,559         6,641
       account..............
      Tax and loan note             18,986        15,891        -2,003        33,926        30,831        49,817
       accounts.............
                             -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Balance.............        20,069        17,580        -4,743        38,878        36,389        56,458
                             ===================================================================================
    Special drawing rights:
      Total holdings........          -512           178           108        10,106        10,796        10,284
      SDR certificates               1,000         2,000  ............        -9,200        -8,200        -7,200
       issued to Federal
       Reserve Banks........
                             -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Balance.............           488         2,178           108           906         2,596         3,084
                             ===================================================================================
    Reserve position on the
     U.S. quota in the IMF:
      U.S. subscription to
       International
       Monetary Fund:
        Direct quota          ............        14,763  ............        31,762        46,525        46,525
         payments...........
        Maintenance of value           663           412           162         4,615         4,364         5,027
         adjustments........
      Letter of credit                -166       -15,750         7,204       -14,884       -30,467       -30,633
       issued to IMF........
      Dollar deposits with               4           -36             6           -85          -126          -121
       the IMF..............
      Receivable/Payable (-)          -406          -562          -262          -253          -409          -815
       for interim
       maintenance of value
       adjustments..........
                             -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Balance.............            94        -1,173         7,110        21,155        19,887        19,982
                             ===================================================================================
    Loans to International    ............          -495           495           495  ............  ............
     Monetary Fund..........
    Other cash and monetary         -1,513           887         3,375        26,153        28,552        27,040
     assets.................
                             ===================================================================================
      Total cash and                19,139        18,977         6,344        87,586        87,425       106,563
       monetary assets......
                             ===================================================================================
  Net Activity, Guaranteed          -5,500        -5,240          -457       -14,362       -14,102       -19,603
   Loan Financing...........
  Net Activity, Direct Loan          5,280    \4\ 18,124        11,472        65,289        78,133        83,413
   Financing................
  Miscellaneous asset                2,012         1,486          -203           -83          -610         1,403
   accounts.................
                             ===================================================================================
      Total asset accounts..        20,930        33,347        17,157       138,430       150,846       171,776
                             ===================================================================================
Excess of liabilities (+) or       -56,931      -123,749       -69,811     3,643,554     3,576,736     3,519,805
 assets (-).................
                             ===================================================================================
Transactions not applied to            500         1,009           569  ............           508         1,009
 current year's surplus or
 deficit (see Schedule A for
 Details)...................
                             ===================================================================================
Total budget and off-budget        -56,430      -122,740       -69,242    +3,643,554     3,577,244    +3,520,813
 federal entities (financing
 of deficit (+) or
 disposition of surplus (-))
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Includes a prior period adjustment to record securities previously redeemed.
\2\ Includes an opening balance adjustment of -$1,763 million and an adjustment for year to date activity of $24
  million to reflect the reclassification of securities held by government accounts in deposit funds.
\3\ Major sources of Information used to determine Treasury's operating cash income include Federal Reserve
  Banks, the Treasury Regional Finance Centers, the Internal Revenue Service Centers, the Bureau of the Public
  Debt and various electronic systems. Deposits are reflected as received and withdrawals are reflected as
  processed.
\4\ Includes an adjustment for -$289 million in August 1999 for the Small Business Administration.
 
... No Transactions.
(* *) Less than $500,000.
Note: Details may not add to totals due to rounding.

  Mr. HOLLINGS. What I want to refer to is the line that says ``Total 
federal securities.'' That is the borrowing. You issued the securities 
to cover your backside. You have to do that by Friday, tomorrow, at 
midnight. I take it we will close down the Government unless we pass 
another continuing resolution. The U.S. Treasury report shows that at 
the beginning of this year we had a national debt of 
$5,478,704,000,000.
  Now, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to print this table in 
the Record entitled ``Hollings Budget Realities.''
  There being no objection, the table was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

[[Page S13350]]



                                    HOLLINGS' BUDGET REALITIES, JUNE 30, 1999
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                        Annual
                                    U.S. budget                 Unified       Actual                  increases
                                     (outlays)     Borrowed     deficit      deficit      National   in spending
        President and year              (In      trust funds   with trust    without        debt         for
                                     billions)    (billions)     funds     trust funds   (billions)    interest
                                                               (billions)   (billions)                (billions)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Truman:
    1945..........................         92.7          5.4        -47.6  ...........        260.1  ...........
    1946..........................         55.2         -5.0        -15.9        -10.9        271.0  ...........
    1947..........................         34.5         -9.9          4.0        +13.9        257.1  ...........
    1948..........................         29.8          6.7         11.8         +5.1        252.0  ...........
    1949..........................         38.8          1.2          0.6         -0.6        252.6  ...........
    1950..........................         42.6          1.2         -3.1         -4.3        256.9  ...........
    1951..........................         45.5          4.5          6.1         +1.6        255.3  ...........
    1952..........................         67.7          2.3         -1.5         -3.8        259.1  ...........
    1953..........................         76.1          0.4         -6.5         -6.9        266.0  ...........
Eisenhower:
    1954..........................         70.9          3.6         -1.2         -4.8        270.8  ...........
    1955..........................         68.4          0.6         -3.0         -3.6        274.4  ...........
    1956..........................         70.6          2.2          3.9         +1.7        272.7  ...........
    1957..........................         76.6          3.0          3.4         +0.4        272.3  ...........
    1958..........................         82.4          4.6         -2.8         -7.4        279.7  ...........
    1959..........................         92.1         -5.0        -12.8         -7.8        287.5  ...........
    1960..........................         92.2          3.3          0.3         -3.0        290.5  ...........
    1961..........................         97.7         -1.2         -3.3         -2.1        292.5  ...........
Kennedy:
    1962..........................        106.8          3.2         -7.1        -10.3        302.9          9.1
    1963..........................        111.3          2.6         -4.8         -7.4        310.3          9.9
Johnson:
    1964..........................        118.5         -0.1         -5.9         -5.8        316.1         10.7
    1965..........................        118.2          4.8         -1.4         -6.2        322.3         11.3
    1966..........................        134.5          2.5         -3.7         -6.2        328.5         12.0
    1967..........................        157.5          3.3         -8.6        -11.9        340.4         13.4
    1968..........................        178.1          3.1        -25.2        -28.3        368.7         14.6
    1969..........................        183.6          0.3          3.2         +2.9        365.8         16.6
Nixon:
    1970..........................        195.6         12.3         -2.8        -15.1        380.9         19.3
    1971..........................        210.2          4.3        -23.0        -27.3        408.2         21.0
    1972..........................        230.7          4.3        -23.4        -27.7        435.9         21.8
    1973..........................        245.7         15.5        -14.9        -30.4        466.3         24.2
    1974..........................        269.4         11.5         -6.1        -17.6        483.9         29.3
Ford:
    1975..........................        332.3          4.8        -53.2        -58.0        541.9         32.7
    1976..........................        371.8         13.4        -73.7        -87.1        629.0         37.1
Carter:
    1977..........................        409.2         23.7        -53.7        -77.4        706.4         41.9
    1978..........................        458.7         11.0        -59.2        -70.2        776.6         48.7
    1979..........................        503.5         12.2        -40.7        -52.9        829.5         59.9
    1980..........................        500.9          5.8        -73.8        -79.6        909.1         74.8
Reagan:
    1981..........................        678.2          6.7        -79.0        -85.7        994.8         95.5
    1982..........................        745.8         14.5       -128.0       -142.5      1,137.3        117.2
    1983..........................        808.4         26.6       -207.8       -234.4      1,371.7        128.7
    1984..........................        851.8          7.6       -185.4       -193.0      1,564.7        153.9
    1985..........................        946.4         40.5       -212.3       -252.8      1,817.5        178.9
    1986..........................        990.3         81.9       -221.2       -303.1      2,120.6        190.3
    1987..........................      1,003.9         75.7       -149.8       -225.5      2,346.1        195.3
    1988..........................      1,064.1        100.0       -155.2       -255.2      2,601.3        214.1
Bush:
    1989..........................      1,143.2        114.2       -152.5       -266.7      2,868.3        240.9
    1990..........................      1,252.7        117.4       -221.2       -338.6      3,206.6        264.7
    1991..........................      1,323.8        122.5       -269.4       -391.9      3,598.5        285.5
    1992..........................      1,380.9        113.2       -290.4       -403.6      4,002.1        292.3
Clinton:
    1993..........................      1,408.2         94.3       -255.0       -349.3      4,351.4        292.5
    1994..........................      1,460.6         89.2       -203.1       -292.3      4,643.7        296.3
    1995..........................      1,514.6        113.4       -163.9       -277.3      4,921.0        332.4
    1996..........................      1,453.1        153.5       -107.4       -260.9      5,181.9        344.0
    1997..........................      1,601.2        165.9        -21.9       -187.8      5,369.7        355.8
    1998..........................      1,651.4        179.0         70.0       -109.0      5,478.7        363.8
    1999..........................      1,701.0        223.0        120.0       -103.0      5,582.0        356.0
    2000..........................      1,744.0        243.0        161.0        -82.0      5,664.0        358.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Historical Tables, Budget of the US Government FY 1998; Beginning in 1962 CBO's 2000 Economic and Budget
  Outlook.

  Mr. HOLLINGS. I will show we agree that at the beginning of the year 
we have exactly that figure, 5 trillion 478 billion 7-some-odd-million 
dollars. Now, referring to U.S. Treasury Report table, you will find, 
under the column Close of This Month, the figure $5,606,486,000,000. So 
the table itself, according to the figures issued yesterday, showed the 
Federal Government ran a surplus. Absolutely false. This reporter ought 
to do his work. This crowd never has asked for or kept up with or 
checked the facts. Eric Planin--all he has to do is not spread rumors 
or get into the political message. Both Democrats and Republicans are 
all running this year and next and saying surplus, surplus. Look what 
we have done.
  It is false. The actual figures show that from the beginning of the 
fiscal year until now we had to borrow $127,800,000,000.
  That is increasing the national debt. That is the deficit, $127 
billion. I checked this with the Congressional Budget Office. They 
haven't done their interpolation of the various records. I had been 
reporting, as you will find on the table inserted, a $103 billion 
deficit for this fiscal year, as of the CBO June 30 figure. I said: 
Wait a minute, it is way more than what we thought, if it is 127 rather 
than 103. They said there were some unaccounted balances carried 
forward, some $16 billion. So it might be, instead of 103, 112. 
Conscientiously, we are trying to give the truth to the American 
people.
  We have those figures in this particular table. We can enlarge it for 
the viewing Senators here. That is exactly what I have said. We have a 
$5,487,700,000,000 debt. Now it has gone up. Instead of 
$5,582,000,000,000, it has gone to $5,606,000,000,000. So you can see, 
when we got to the end of the fiscal year, not the projections, not the 
guesses, or whatever else--we had a deficit of $127.8 billion. That is 
going up, up and away, because if you look at the previous year, we did 
better. Well, we didn't do better in 1997, the previous year, but I 
should say the deficits have been coming down. And they had projected, 
for example, next year, a $82 billion deficit coming down from the 
127.8 billion. I should say 103 billion, as is shown on this particular 
chart.
  Now, if instead of $103 billion deficit, it is going to $127.8 
billion, you can see at a glance it is going to be another $100 billion 
deficit next year. Looking at the facts, you can find the editorial in 
the Washington Post to show we have already spent 30 billion of the 
Social Security monies. We are all running around in a circle saying, 
``I don't want to touch it. No, I will not touch it.'' They have 
already touched it to the tune of 30 billion bucks, this Congress, the 
House and Senate, Republicans and Democrats, all of us.
  We have to get the truth out. Even then, to create a surplus, they 
are

[[Page S13351]]

using these particular figures--we are discussing in another conference 
ongoing right at the minute--the airport trust fund. We have all kinds 
of dangers with respect to the airports. It is getting unsafe to fly. 
We need better radar. We need more runways. We need more airports. We 
need better controls, better control towers, everything else of that 
kind. We are being taxed for it. We all fly, and we pay the taxes as 
airline travelers. But $11 billion has been spent on any and everything 
other than airports. It shows that it is going up, under the budget, to 
$23 billion in 2004. We have the money, but we don't spend it on the 
airports or the highways. Reporters across this country have been 
writing these editorials to the effect that it doesn't make any 
difference whether we borrowed from it or not; these are just IOUs.

  I don't want to be around here in the year 2012 when we don't bring 
in enough to cover our costs and we are going to have to raise taxes in 
order to make payments. That crowd in New York working the market, they 
could care less. They think in quarterly amounts, in the quarter of 
each year. If you don't do it by the third quarter, out you go. That is 
the CEO/Wall Street mentality. Ours should be the long-range. You have 
in the desk drawer right now $1.859 trillion in IOUs not only in 
Medicare but in military retirement, civilian retirement, and you don't 
want to talk Social Security. I don't want to touch the military 
retirement fund or borrow from the unemployment compensation fund, the 
highways, and the airports.
  So we just bring that up for a moment of truth in the Senate. I want 
to show you this because there is another headline story in the paper 
about a one percent cut across the board, or 1.5 percent. They are 
looking for a way to cut $5 billion. Now we have the House, the Senate, 
the leadership, the White House, and we are trying to get out of here 
in the next 10 days--if we can only agree on how we are going to find 
$5 billion--either cut $5 billion in spending, or raise $5 billion in 
taxes, or do whatever we have to do to find a cut across the board. 
That is $5 billion.
  Here is what happens. Right now the estimated interest cost is $356 
billion. I don't have an updated figure on that. I know since we have 
had two interest rate increases by Mr. Greenspan this year, it is going 
to be more than that $356 billion. But going back to when we last 
balanced the budget, we had a surplus under President Johnson. They 
don't have to go back to Eisenhower when they kept a different set of 
books. Under President Johnson, when we were here and we had a surplus, 
the interest cost on the national debt was only $16 billion. Here, the 
interest cost on the national debt is $356 billion. If we just held the 
line and paid for what we got, we would have had, and would have this 
morning, not $5 billion, we would have $340 billion to increase the 
airports, to increase Medicare, to save Social Security, to increase 
defense. We could have a tax cut and we could pay down the debt if we 
had the $340 billion.
  The headline ought to read: Last year we increased taxes. Why? We 
increased the interest costs because we increased the debt. When you 
increase the debt some $127 billion, you increase your interest costs, 
which are running right now at a billion dollars a day. You have to pay 
it. Worse than the regular taxes, such as sales taxes, for which you 
can get a school, or gasoline tax, for which you can get a highway--we 
get absolutely nothing for it.
  Last year, this Government increased taxes, and they are determined 
to increase taxes today, this year, in the next two weeks--all the time 
talking about surpluses and about cutting spending, and all the time 
talking about cutting taxes.
  Now, Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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