[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 136 (Thursday, October 26, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11045-S11048]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BUDGET FRUSTRATIONS

  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I am going to go into my frustration 
that, I take it, is well known. I am back almost like George Wallace 
some 30 years ago when he said there wasn't a dime's worth of 
difference. Both Republicans and Democrats pass these trade bills on 
the premise that they are going to create jobs in America, when the 
truth of the matter is they are going to create jobs outside of 
America. We are going to transfer the fine, good manufacturing jobs 
from the United States--more or less the middle class of the country--
to countries offshore and to Mexico and the Caribbean. Otherwise, we 
constantly talk of saving Social Security--both Republicans and 
Democrats--when the truth of the matter is we are squandering Social 
Security.
  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record ``Trust Funds 
Looted to Balance Budget.''
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                  TRUST FUNDS LOOTED TO BALANCE BUDGET
                      [By fiscal year, in billions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 1999     2000     2001
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Social Security..............................      855    1,009    1,175
Medicare:
  HI.........................................      154      176      198
  SMI........................................       27       34       35
Military Retirement..........................      141      149      157
Civilian Retirement..........................      492      522      553
Unemployment.................................       77       85       94
Highway......................................       28       31       34
Airport......................................       12       13       14
Railroad Retirement..........................       24       25       26
Other........................................       59       62       64
                                              --------------------------
      Total..................................    1,869    2,106    2,350
------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, it shows that last year--the year 2000--
we owed Social Security some $l.009 trillion. That is a significant 
figure. The year before that--1999--we owed $855 billion. But you can 
see it is jumping in increments of $150 billion.
  These are the trust funds that we are borrowing from when they talk 
about surplus, because both Republicans and Democrats are talking about 
the surplus. Governor Bush and Vice President Gore are out on the 
campaign trail talking about how we are going to spend the money.
  Yesterday, in USA Today, the headline was ``Clinton announces record 
$237 billion surplus.''
  I ask unanimous consent that this article and headline be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 Clinton Announces Record $237B Surplus

                          (By Jeannine Aversa)

       Washington.--Flush with tax revenue from a booming economy, 
     the federal government posted a record $237 billion surplus 
     for the budget year that ended Sept. 30, the Clinton 
     administration announced Tuesday.
       It marked the third straight year of surpluses, something 
     that hasn't happened since the late 1940s. Social Security 
     taxes provided nearly $150 billion of the surplus.
       ``This is the third surplus in a row--the first time our 
     nation has done that in 51 years, since 1949, when Harry 
     Truman was president,'' Clinton said on the White House South 
     Lawn during an event to push his education initiatives.
       Clinton said that in 1993, the federal deficit was $290 
     billion, the national debt had quadrupled in 12 years and 
     economists predicted that this year, instead of a $237 
     billion surplus, the United States would have a $455 billion 
     deficit.
       Clinton then used the new surplus numbers to plug Vice 
     President Gore's bid for the presidency. ``Working together, 
     we turned that around--not by chance, but by choice,'' he 
     said. ``I believe we have to first stay with what got us 
     here--pay down the debt, strengthen the Social Security and 
     Medicare systems . . . and we need to then seize this 
     opportunity to take the money that's left to invest in our 
     future, especially education.''
       The official announcement of the surplus came two weeks 
     before voters elect a new president. A major point of 
     contention between Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the 
     Republican nominee, has been what should be done with 
     surpluses that are projected to total $4.6 trillion over the 
     next decade.
       Bush has proposed a $1.3 trillion across-the-board tax cut; 
     Gore has proposed smaller, targeted tax cuts and more 
     government spending.

[[Page S11046]]

       The government's surplus for 2000 surpassed the record of 
     $124 billion for fiscal year 1999 and came on top of a $69.2 
     billion surplus in fiscal year 1998.
       The surplus in 1998 marked the first time the government 
     had managed to finish in the black since 1969.
       The last time the government reported three consecutive 
     years of surpluses was in 1947, 1948 and 1949. The record-
     breaking economy is in its longest-ever streak of 
     uninterrupted growth.
       Americans are enjoying plentiful jobs, low inflation--
     outside of the recent burst in energy prices--and rising 
     incomes. That prosperity also is helping to generate more tax 
     revenue, thanks to increases in both personal and corporate 
     incomes.
       Economists say low unemployment has been one of the 
     cornerstones to the prosperity. The surging economy pulled 
     the nation's unemployment rate back down to a three-decade 
     low of 3.9% in September from an already low 4.1% in August.
       Last month, Clinton had estimated a surplus of around $230 
     billion for the recently ended fiscal year, and the 
     Congressional Budget Office was predicting $232 billion.
       Revenue for fiscal year 2000 totaled $2.03 trillion, while 
     expenditures came to $1.79 trillion, the Treasury Department 
     and the Office of Management and Budget said.
       Tax payments from individuals totaled $1 trillion, compared 
     with $879 billion in fiscal year 1999. Payments from 
     corporate taxes came to $207.3 billion, up from $184.7 
     billion.
       The biggest spending categories in fiscal 2000 were:
       Social Security, $441.8 billion, up from $419.8 billion in 
     fiscal 1999.
       Programs of the Health and Human Services Department, 
     including Medicare and Medicaid, $382.6 billion, compared 
     with $359.7 billion.
       Interest on public debt, $362.1 billion, up from $353.5 
     billion.
       Military spending, $281.2 billion, up from $261.4 billion.

  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I see our distinguished chairman of the 
Budget Committee here.
  I ask unanimous consent to have the morning's editorial of the 
Washington Post entitled ``Say Goodbye to the Surplus'' printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                       Say Goodbye to the Surplus

       Congressional Republicans reached agreement yesterday on 
     the contents of the tax cut bill they intend to send the 
     president before adjourning. They suggest it's a relatively 
     minor measure, but it's not. If it becomes law atop all the 
     spending increases also agreed to in this session, Congress 
     and the president will have used up, before the election, 
     well over a third of the projected budget surplus--the $2.2 
     trillion over 10 years in other than Social Security funds--
     that the presidential candidates are so busily dispensing on 
     the campaign trail. It's an astonishing display of lack of 
     discipline and misplaced priorities.
       The president sent a letter implying that he might sign the 
     tax bill even while objecting to major parts. He ought 
     instead to veto it if congressional Democrats won't block it 
     first. As with the other Republican tax cuts he vetoed 
     earlier in the year, this would cost too much--an estimated 
     quarter-trillion dollars over the 10 years--and too much of 
     the money would go to the part of the population least in 
     need.
       In the name of increasing access to health care, the 
     legislation would grant a new tax deduction to people who buy 
     their own insurance. The deduction would mainly benefit those 
     in the top tax brackets who tend already to be insured. The 
     president observed that, far from increasing access, it could 
     have the perverse effect of inducing employers to drop 
     insurance they now maintain for their employees. Among much 
     else, the bill would also increase the amounts that can be 
     contributed annually to tax-favored retirement accounts, a 
     step that by definition benefits only those who can afford to 
     save the maximum now.
       The health insurance deduction was part of the Republicans' 
     price for the $1-an-hour increase in the minimum wage that 
     the bill also contains. The price is too high. Also in the 
     bill will be so-called Medicare givebacks, increases in 
     payments to providers that the president earlier objected 
     were tilted in favor of managed care companies already 
     overpaid. This is on balance a bad bill dusted with 
     confectioner's sugar and offered up at year's end on a take-
     it-or-leave-it basis. The right response would be to vote it 
     down.

  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, it is not goodbye to the surplus. We 
never had it.
  I promised the distinguished Senator from New Mexico, Mr. Domenici, 
that I would jump off the Capitol dome if the so-called Balanced Budget 
Act balanced the budget by this year. I came close to having to buy a 
parachute and getting ready to jump. I really did.
  There was an inordinate collection of revenues, including personal 
income taxes and corporate returns throughout the year. I was extremely 
worried and was going to have to face up to the truth to my good 
friend, the distinguished chairman of our Budget Committee. But I was 
saved by the bell with the reality that we never had a surplus.
  There is no better document than this one. The Treasury news ``For 
Immediate Release'' of October 24 entitled ``Joint Statements of 
Lawrence H. Summers, Secretary of the Treasury, and Jacob J. Lew, 
Director of the Office of Management and Budget on budget results for 
the fiscal year 2000.''
  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, you can see the total Federal 
securities, and the net transactions at the beginning of this year were 
$5,606.1 trillion. At the close of the month, September 30, the end of 
fiscal year 2000, the debt was $5,629.0 trillion. The debt increased 
$22.9 billion. That is not a surplus.
  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the table of 
budget realities.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                           HOLLINGS' BUDGET REALITIES
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                        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:
  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  ...........
  1954............................         70.9          3.6         -1.2         -4.8        270.8  ...........
Eisenhower:
  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        292.6  ...........
  1962............................        106.8          3.2         -7.1        -10.3        302.9          9.1
Kennedy:
  1963............................        111.3          2.6         -4.8         -7.4        310.3          9.9
  1964............................        118.5         -0.1         -5.9         -5.8        316.1         10.7
Johnson:
  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
  1970............................        195.6         12.3         -2.8        -15.1        380.9         19.3
Nixon:
  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
  1975............................        332.3          4.8        -53.2        -58.0        541.9         32.7

[[Page S11047]]

 
Ford:
  1976............................        371.8         13.4        -73.7        -87.1        629.0         37.1
  1977............................        409.2         23.7        -53.7        -77.4        706.4         41.9
Carter:
  1978............................        458.7         11.0        -59.2        -70.2        776.6         48.7
  1979............................        504.0         12.2        -40.7        -52.9        829.5         59.9
  1980............................        590.9          5.8        -73.8        -79.6        909.1         74.8
  1981............................        678.2          6.7        -79.0        -85.7        994.8         95.5
Reagan:
  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............................        851.9          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............................        990.5         81.9       -221.2       -303.1      2,120.6        190.3
  1987............................      1,004.1         75.7       -149.8       -225.5      2,346.1        195.3
  1988............................      1,064.5        100.0       -155.2       -255.2      2,601.3        214.1
  1989............................      1,143.7        114.2       -152.5       -266.7      2,868.3        240.9
Bush:
  1990............................      1,253.2        117.4       -221.2       -338.6      3,206.6        264.7
  1991............................      1,324.4        122.5       -269.4       -391.9      3,598.5        285.5
  1992............................      1,381.7        113.2       -290.4       -403.6      4,002.1        292.3
  1993............................      1,409.5         94.2       -255.1       -349.3      4,351.4        292.5
Clinton:
  1994............................      1,461.9         89.0       -203.3       -292.3      4,643.7        296.3
  1995............................      1,515.8        113.3       -164.0       -277.3      4,921.0        332.4
  1996............................      1,560.6        153.4       -107.5       -260.9      5,181.9        344.0
  1997............................      1,601.3        165.8        -22.0       -187.8      5,369.7        355.8
  1998............................      1,652.6        178.2         69.2       -109.0      5,478.7        363.8
  1999............................      1,703.0        251.8        124.4       -127.4      5,606.1        353.5
  2000............................      1,788.0        259.9        237.0        -22.9      5,629.0        361.9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, as you can see, during 1968-1969, when 
President Lyndon Johnson last balanced the budget, we had at that 
particular time a $2.9 billion surplus. We have been running deficits 
ever since.
  I heard the litany in the debates why we had not done anything.
  When this Congress started 8 years ago, as the Record shows, in 1992, 
there was a deficit of $403.6 billion. We were spending $403.6 more 
than we were taking in.
  Under the 1993 provisions, whereby we not only cut spending but we 
increased taxes, including the tax on Social Security and the tax on 
gasoline. We reduced the Federal workforce by 300,000 employees. That 
got us on the road to reducing the deficit from $403.6 billion to $22.9 
billion. But the debt has continued to increase, and there is no 
surplus. That is the point I am trying to make.
  Only on last evening, in trying to renegotiate the State-Justice-
Commerce bill--I don't know whether it will be included--but they 
wanted the statement that $240 billion shall be used to pay down the 
debt. Absolutely false. They transfer the debt to these trust funds 
that I have already listed in the Record with respect to Social 
Security, Medicare, military retirement, civilian retirement, 
unemployment compensation, and on down the list. They are really 
transferring. They are not paying down anything. There is no surplus. 
We have increased the debt.
  The reality is that we have just created the biggest waste in the 
history of government.
  I served on the Grace Commission against waste, fraud, and abuse. We 
worked very diligently and carried out about 85 percent of the 
recommendations of the Commission. In spite of our efforts, however, 
under President Reagan's so-called ``voodoo'' economics, the debt 
increased. We kept going, first under President Reagan, with a $1 
trillion debt, and then a second trillion dollars, a third trillion 
dollars, a fourth trillion, a fifth trillion, and now the debt has 
grown to $5.7 trillion.
  Along with that is the interest cost. Under President Johnson, when 
we balanced that budget, it was $16 billion. That is 200 years of 
history including the cost of all the wars, from the Revolutionary War, 
World Wars I and II, Korea, and Vietnam. It has gone from $16 billion 
up to $362 billion.
  I ask unanimous consent that this document entitled ``The Public Debt 
To the Penny'' be printed in the Record and the list of interest costs 
be printed in the Record as of the day before yesterday, which is the 
most recent.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                      The public debt to the penny
 
                                                         Amount
 
Current:
  10/24/2000..................................     $5,674,018,471,636.91
Current month:
  10/23/2000..................................      5,670,684,446,983.21
  10/20/2000..................................      5,671,113,923,599.68
  10/19/2000..................................      5,670,716,361,031.21
  10/18/2000..................................      5,664,293,307,225.32
  10/17/2000..................................      5,664,975,939,816.81
  10/16/2000..................................      5,660,152,346,828.33
  10/13/2000..................................      5,654,691,872,296.28
  10/12/2000..................................      5,652,782,594,061.86
  10/11/2000..................................      5,660,113,029,266.52
  10/10/2000..................................      5,658,397,995,719.35
  10/06/2000..................................      5,660,786,987,693.59
  10/05/2000..................................      5,662,225,814,331.71
  10/04/2000..................................      5,653,380,479,214.62
  10/03/2000..................................      5,653,358,623,363.58
  10/02/2000..................................      5,661,548,045,674.53
Prior months:
  09/29/2000..................................      5,674,178,209,886.86
  08/31/2000..................................      5,677,822,307,077.83
  07/31/2000..................................      5,658,807,449,906.68
  06/30/2000..................................      5,685,938,087,296.66
  05/31/2000..................................      5,647,169,888,532.25
  04/28/2000..................................      5,685,108,228,594.76
  03/31/2000..................................      5,773,391,634,682.91
  02/29/2000..................................      5,735,333,348,132.58
  01/31/2000..................................      5,711,285,168,951.46
  12/31/1999..................................      5,776,091,314,225.33
  11/30/1999..................................      5,693,600,157,029.08
  10/29/1999..................................      5,679,726,662,904.06
Prior fiscal years:
  09/29/2000..................................      5,674,178,209,886.86
  09/30/1999..................................      5,656,270,901,615.43
  09/30/1998..................................      5,526,193,008,897.62
  09/30/1997..................................      5,413,146,011,397.34
  09/30/1996..................................      5,224,810,939,135.73
  09/29/1995..................................      4,973,982,900,709.39
  09/30/1994..................................      4,692,749,910,013.32
  09/30/1993..................................      4,411,488,883,139.38
  09/30/1992..................................      4,064,620,655,521.66
  09/30/1991..................................      3,665,303,351,697.03
  09/28/1990..................................      3,233,313,451,777.25
  09/29/1989..................................      2,857,430,960,187.32
  09/30/1988..................................      2,602,337,712,041.16
  09/30/1987..................................      2,350,276,890,953.00
 
Source: Bureau of the Public Debt.


                                  ____
            Interest Expense on the Public Debt Outstanding

       The monthly Interest Expense represents the interest 
     expense on the Public Debt Outstanding as of each month end. 
     The interest expense on the Public Debt includes interest for 
     Treasury notes and bonds; foreign and domestic series 
     certificates of indebtedness, notes and bonds; Savings Bonds; 
     as well as Government Account Series (GAS), State and Local 
     Government series (SLGs), and other special purpose 
     securities. Amortized discount or premium on bills, notes and 
     bonds is also included in interest expense.
       The fiscal year Interest Expense represents the total 
     interest expense on the Public Debt Outstanding for a given 
     fiscal year. This includes the months of October through 
     September.

        Interest Expense--Fiscal Year 2000
 
September.........................................    $18,230,568,576.64
August............................................     22,180,621,064.98
July..............................................     19,332,594,012.00
June..............................................     75,884,057,388.85
May...............................................     26,802,350,934.54
April.............................................     19,878,902,328.72
March.............................................     20,889,017,596.95
February..........................................     20,778,646,308.19
January...........................................     19,689,955,250.71

[[Page S11048]]

 
December..........................................     73,267,794,917.58
November..........................................     25,690,033,589.51
October...........................................     19,373,192,333.69
                                                   ---------------------
      Fiscal Year Total...........................    361,997,734,302.36
                                                   =====================
    Available Historical Data--Fiscal Year End
 
2000..............................................    361,997,734,302.36
1999..............................................    353,511,471,722.87
1998..............................................    363,823,722,920.26
1997..............................................    355,795,834,214.66
1996..............................................    343,955,076,695.15
1995..............................................    332,413,555,030.62
1994..............................................    296,277,764,246.26
1993..............................................    292,502,219,848.25
1992..............................................    292,361,073,070.74
1991..............................................    286,021,921,181.04
1990..............................................    264,852,544,615.90
1989..............................................    240,863,231,535.71
 

  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, you can see the interest cost of 
$361,997,734,302.36, and on down the list.
  At $1 billion a day--I will never forget the comments made by the 
distinguished majority leader at the time President Clinton was making 
his address to the joint session of Congress at the beginning of the 
year. He said that gentleman is costing us $1 billion a minute. The 
President talked for 90 minutes. Governor Bush wants to cut taxes some 
$90 billion. So the two of them--the Bush program and the Clinton 
program--are $180 billion. We are spending $362 billion on interest 
costs alone.
  That leaves $182 billion that you can use to increase research for 
cancer, increase defense--defense is stretched now--and everything 
else.
  The point is we are spending a fortune on absolutely nothing. With 
the profligacy of these past Congresses, the lack of awareness of the 
American people, and the media's failure to deliver the truth to the 
American public, I wanted the record to be cleared.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico is recognized.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, do I understand I have a half hour?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Thank you, Senator Hollings, for your kind remarks. I 
don't agree with your theory or your conclusions, but I appreciate 
working with you over the years. Your dedication to getting the debt 
under control has not gone unnoticed over the years. We had an unusual 
recovery with huge amounts of new taxes coming in that neither you or I 
expected. Society has changed, no doubt about that.

                          ____________________