[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 10 (Tuesday, February 8, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H247-H248]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         DEALING WITH THE BUDGET SURPLUS AND THE NATIONAL DEBT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ganske). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Green) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring to your 
attention a very important issue facing the American public, something 
that we dealt with today in the Committee on the Budget and something I 
talked about with the constituents I represent in the First 
Congressional District of Wisconsin throughout the past 2 months during 
the Christmas recess, and that is this: What are we going to do about 
our Social Security surplus, what are we going to do about our non-
Social Security surplus, and what are we going to do about our national 
debt? These are the issues that are driving our Federal budget process 
now. In doing so, the President, as he is required by the Constitution, 
sent the budget that he is proposing to pass into law to Congress 
yesterday.
  This morning we had a hearing in the Committee on the Budget where 
the President's budget director outlined the budget. I would like to 
share a few of those details with the viewing public tonight and my 
colleagues.
  First, we finally have agreement, we have progress on the fact that 
all Social Security money should go to Social Security in paying off 
the debt we owe to the program.
  If you recall, Mr. Speaker, last year in this well, before the Nation 
and before Congress, the President in his State of the Union address 
said he wanted to dedicate 62 percent of the Social Security trust fund 
to Social Security, thereby spending 38 percent on other government 
programs.
  Last year this Congress said no, that is not enough. I actually 
authored the Social Security lockbox bill with the gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Kasich) which requires that from now on, if you are going to pay 
Social Security taxes, it goes to Social Security; that 100 percent of 
the Social Security taxes we pay, 100 percent of the Social Security 
surpluses actually go to the program, go to the trust fund and go to 
pay off our national debt so we can create more solvency in the Social 
Security trust fund.
  So there was a difference last year. Congress was for protecting 100 
percent of the Social Security trust fund last year; the President was 
for protecting 62 percent of the Social Security trust fund.
  Now we have good news. The President has finally come around and 
agreed that, finally, for the first time in 30 years, we should pass 
legislation to protect 100 percent of the Social Security trust fund. I 
am very encouraged by this news.
  However, I am a little concerned at what Jack Lew, the OMB Director, 
the President's chief budget writer, said this morning, and that was 
this: They support the idea of putting 100 percent of the Social 
Security surpluses back into Social Security and paying off our debt, 
but they are not in support of legislation to ensure that this happens. 
That is a little odd, I think. So I would like to see this 
administration walk the walk and not just talk the talk.
  But then what happens when we look at the non-Social Security 
surpluses? Today in America people are overpaying their taxes. They are 
overpaying their taxes in two very fundamental ways: They are 
overpaying their taxes with Social Security taxes. That spending of the 
surplus has occurred for years. We have actually raided that fund for 
30 years, this government has, to spend on other government programs.
  For the first time in 30 years, last year this Congress stopped the 
raid on the Social Security trust fund. I am seeking to pass our 
lockbox legislation which will make sure we never go back to the days 
of raiding the Social Security trust fund.
  But on the other side of the Federal Government ledger book, the non-
Social Security part, millions of American taxpayers, hard-working 
families, are overpaying their income taxes. So we now have a non-
Social Security surplus approaching $2 trillion over the next 10 years. 
That is astounding.
  We were looking at deficits as far as the eye could see just a few 
years ago. Now we have the opportunity, now we have the good fortune, 
based on good discipline in spending and based on a great economy, to 
have a $4 trillion surplus; $2 trillion for Social Security, $2 
trillion from an overpayment of income taxes.
  Here is what the President is proposing to do. He is finally agreeing 
with Congress that we take the $2 trillion from the Social Security 
surplus and apply that back to Social Security, towards shoring up the 
program and paying off our National debt, which consequently is some 
money we owe back to Social Security.
  But on this non-Social Security part, the income tax overpayment, the 
President in this budget is proposing to spend $1.3 trillion of that 
surplus. He is proposing to spend 70 percent of the non-Social Security 
surplus on new government programs in Washington.
  Specifically, as we analyzed this budget in the Committee on the 
Budget as we did so this morning, the President is calling forth 
creation of 84 new Federal spending programs to be launched this year 
by the Federal Government, to be paid for by the income tax 
overpayments of the American taxpayer.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, I held over 60 town hall meetings in the district I 
serve in southern Wisconsin, the First Congressional District, where I 
posed a lot of questions to my constituents to ask them about this. 
They said that if they are given a choice between tax reduction and 
debt reduction with this money, they were evenly split. But if they 
were given a choice between spending their income tax overpayments on 
new spending in Washington or reducing our national debt further

[[Page H248]]

and reducing our tax burden on families, they would clearly side with 
reducing taxes and reducing the national debt.
  Mr. Speaker, this budget will probably fall to a similar fate as last 
year's budget, which was a vote of 422 opposed and 2 in favor of the 
President's budget.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge this administration to come back to the table, 
save these surpluses for paying down our national debt, shoring up 
Social Security and giving people their money back if they still 
overpay their taxes, instead of using it to spend $1.3 trillion on the 
creation of 84 new Federal Government programs.

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