[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 142 (Wednesday, November 1, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S11460]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     DECISIONS FOR THE NEW CONGRESS

  Mr. GRAMM. Mr. President, I want to comment on where we are. I am 
sure the American people are confused. They hear the President saying 
one thing, they hear Congress saying another. They see chaos, they see 
gridlock, they see politics as usual. I am sure they are wondering what 
is this all about. Let me try, in the remaining moments I have, to 
explain.
  We are at the end of an 8-year Presidency. Americans are going to the 
polls next Tuesday to make a fundamental decision. But we have a 
President in the White House now who would like to make the decision 
for the future while he is still President, by forcing Congress to 
spend far beyond the budget we wrote and far beyond the budget he 
wrote. The President has, in essence, said that if we will spend 30 
percent more on social programs in Health and Human Services than we 
spent last year, if we will then make some permanent changes in law in 
addition to that spending, such as giving amnesty to people who have 
broken the Nation's laws and come to the country illegally, he will 
sign this bill and let us go home.
  Let me tell you why we are not going to do that and why we are going 
to resist. First, I do not believe the American people want Bill 
Clinton, or this Congress for that matter, making decisions for the new 
President and the new Congress. It is time to have an election. It is 
time to move on. What we have is a President who almost is unhappy 
because the focus of attention is on the two men who are now running 
for President. And so, he believes that by vetoing bills he has agreed 
to sign and by demanding more and more spending, he gets his name back 
in the paper and gets on television.
  Let me tell you why we should say no. We should say no because the 
American people ought to decide. If we did what Bill Clinton is calling 
on us to do, before the new President ever took his hand off the Bible 
we would have spent between a third and a half of the budget surplus.
  I think the American people think they are deciding in this election. 
If people want to spend this money, they can vote for Al Gore. If they 
want to use the money to let working people have a tax cut and to 
invest it in rebuilding Social Security and Medicare, they can vote for 
George Bush. But however they are going to vote, Bill Clinton should 
not be making the decision to spend it before the American people can 
vote.
  Let me convert it down to a simple number. For every day that we 
simply fund at this year's level the remaining parts of Government that 
are not yet appropriated for, we save between $88 and $133 million a 
year. By just continuing to fund at this year's level and waiting for 
the next President to arrive, over a 12-month period we would spend $32 
billion less by not creating all these new programs, by not hiring all 
these new Government employees, by not making the President the 
president of every school board in America.
  Nobody knows what $132 billion is so let me convert it into something 
you know. As you know, you can buy a very nice pickup truck for 
$20,000. You can buy basically a loaded Chevrolet or Ford pickup, full-
size pickup, for $20,000. By simply saying no to Bill Clinton for 6 
more days and simply leaving spending at its current level, we could 
buy 1.6 million pickup trucks. I think the American people understand 
what 1.6 million pickup trucks are.
  I know there are some people who hope, even at this last minute, to 
cut a deal with Bill Clinton and bring to the floor of the Senate a 
bill that will spend $32 billion more on social programs. Let me tell 
you, today is Wednesday. We are going to have an election on Tuesday. 
They have never put an election off in American history. I just want to 
say to people, a deal is not going to happen. If a deal is cut today, 
spending $32 billion, basically taking 1.6 million pickup trucks right 
off people's driveways and out of their garages, I am going to object. 
We are not going to vote to spend that money before the people of 
America can vote in this election.

  They are going to decide, depending on how they vote. They may tell 
us to spend it and a lot more, or they may say give some of it back. We 
may create a wealth base for Social Security but that is going to be 
decided by voters. But what is not going to be decided by this 
President and what is not going to be decided by this Congress before 
the election is that we are going to go on a massive spending spree. 
That is not going to happen.
  How do I know it is not going to happen? Because today is Wednesday. 
Under the rules of the Senate, if a few people say no, it can't be 
done, it will not be done.
  I think what we ought to do on a bipartisan basis is to pass a 
resolution funding the Government through the election, let the 
American people speak, and let them say what they want to happen with 
this money. Not Bill Clinton because he is on the way out. Let them say 
through this election and whom they elect what they want done.
  It is not the time to be listening to the voices of the past. It is 
time to be looking to the future. Let's pass this CR through the 
election, keep spending where it is right now, and let the American 
people speak on Tuesday. Then we can come back here, we will have heard 
the message from back home, and we can respond to it.
  I think that is the rational thing to do, and that is what I am going 
to support. I also believe that is what is going to happen.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.

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