[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 113 (Thursday, September 21, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H7938]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 REPUBLICANS WANT TO PAY DOWN THE DEBT

  (Mr. CHABOT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, would we go on a huge credit card spending 
spree if we knew that once the bill came we would leave it to our 
children; that they would be responsible for paying it off? Of course 
not. Most responsible Americans work hard to make sure they can give 
their kids a good life. They want to leave their children something 
when they die. Most responsible Americans would never dream of leaving 
their children a pile of debt for their inheritance.
  That is exactly what the Federal Government has been doing for years. 
For 40 years, Democrats here in Washington spent money on bigger and 
bigger government and created a bigger and bigger debt. They knew our 
children would be the ones saddled with the bill, but they just kept 
spending. That was wrong.
  Republicans are putting an end to that kind of spending spree and 
that kind of spend now and pay later mentality. That is why we want to 
pay down the debt. We want to pay off those bills so our children do 
not have to.
  Let us work together to make sure our legacy to our children is a 
sound economy, lower taxes, safe neighborhoods and quality schools, 
instead of decades worth of bad debt.

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