[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 6 (Tuesday, February 1, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H95]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PAYING DOWN THE DEBT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Cooksey). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 19, 1999, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Smith) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to suggest that 
today is an important day up in the New England States. We are looking 
at the presidential candidates speaking before many listening groups, 
trying to express what the best course for our future is going to be. I 
hope the American people understand, Mr. Speaker, the consequences of 
fiscal irresponsibility in the United States Government.
  I bring this chart to demonstrate that we are approaching a fiscal 
challenge trying to make the decision whether we will start paying down 
the federal debt or simply continue to spend more. The national debt of 
the United States, which is the debt subject to the debt limit 
continues to increase. Right now Congress has passed a budget for this 
year demanding we not borrow more money from Social Security and spend 
it on other programs. That's good! However, we still won't have a real 
balanced budget because we are spending $70 billion borrowed from the 
other 112 trust funds. Right now our public debt as defined in law is 
$5.72 trillion. If we stick to the budget caps that we set in 1997, by 
2002 we could have a real balanced budget that does not use the surplus 
from any of the trust funds. We would start paying down the total 
public debt.
  Wait a minute, you say, I heard on T.V. that we already have a 
balanced budget and that Washington is paying off the public debt, and 
we can do that in 12 or 13 or 15 years. That is not correct. It is 
dangerous ground because there is a certain degree of dishonesty that 
is going on, trying to tell the American people that we are paying down 
the public debt when we are not. There is a certain amount of 
hoodwinking in suggesting that we really have a balanced budget when we 
do not. It seems reasonable that we could define a balanced budget as a 
budget when the total public debt does not continue to increase.
  Let me suggest that during the good times it is reasonable to start 
having a rainy day fund. But a rainy day fund for a government that now 
owes $5.72 trillion is starting to pay down that debt. I am a farmer 
from Michigan. We have always felt that one of our goals would be to 
try to pay off the mortgage or at least pay down the mortgage so there 
is a smaller debt load when we pass that farm on to our kids. But here 
at the Federal Government level we are doing just the opposite. We 
continue to increase that debt load that future generations are going 
to have to pay off one way or the other.
  Allow me to review the last several years of the federal budget. When 
Republicans took the majority in 1995, there was a deficit, or 
overspending, every year between $200 billion to $300 billion.
  Well, the good news is we have come a long ways. This year, for the 
first time, we are at least going to have a balanced budget without 
using the Social Security surplus. That is the good news. We have 
turned the corner. We have started slowing down the growth of 
government.
  Here is the bad news. The total public debt is continuing to 
increase. There are 112 trust funds that the government has. In most of 
those trust funds we overtax or have higher fees so that there is more 
money coming into those trust funds than is needed to pay out the 
particular benefits or expenses in any one particular year right now. 
So what do we do with that extra money? What government has done and 
continues to do with that extra money is to spend it for other 
government programs and write out an IOU to those trust funds. The 
biggest trust fund is Social Security. We are looking at a surplus, or 
what is really overtaxation of the payroll tax, to bring in 
approximately $153 billion more than what is needed to pay Social 
Security benefits this year.
  The other big trust fund, of course, is the Medicare, civil service 
pension, military retirement and other trust funds. These 112 other 
trust funds will bring in an extra $60 billion. So we are using all 
that extra money and spending it for other programs and writing an IOU.
  So what does government do when those trust funds start needing more 
money than is coming in from those taxes? We do one of three things: 
first, we cut out other spending. That is pretty unlikely. We have 
never been able to do that. We have continued to expand the size of 
government. Second, we increase taxes. And we have done that all the 
time. Or we increase borrowing and of course Washington has been doing 
a lot of that.
  I say let us be honest with the American people. Let us hold the line 
on spending and let us really start paying down this debt. Thank you.

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