[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 125 (Monday, September 30, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1708]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      RESTORING BUDGET DISCIPLINES

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JOHN M. SPRATT, JR.

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 30, 2002

  Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, the end of September marks not only the end 
of fiscal year 2002, but also the expiration date for crucial 
mechanisms of budget discipline. I rise today to inform my colleagues 
that I have introduced the Restoring Budget Disciplines Act of 2002, a 
bill designed to extend budget enforcement mechanisms and get us back 
on the path of balanced budgets. I invite all members, from both sides 
of the aisle, to co-sponsor this legislation.
  The 1990s were a decade of great fiscal progress, as we converted 
chronic deficits into hard-won surpluses. There is widespread agreement 
that the discretionary spending caps and the pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) 
rules--which were originally established in 1990 and which expire 
today--played a critical role in achieving this progress. Indeed, in 
his recent appearance before the House Budget Committee, Federal 
Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan testified that the spending caps and 
PAYGO rules have been effective, and noted that ``[lsqb]f[rsqb]ailing 
to preserve them would be a grave mistake.''
  The bill I have introduced extends the PAYGO rules through fiscal 
year 2007. As you know, the PAYGO rules require that the cost of all 
mandatory spending increases and all tax cuts enacted during a session 
be fully offset. If this condition is not met and the net effect of all 
tax legislation and mandatory spending legislation enacted during a 
session reduces the surpluses or increases the deficit, then the rules 
provide for a sequestration of resources by the Office of Management 
and Budget.
  The bill also takes important steps toward extending the 
discretionary spending caps. The precise levels at which these caps 
should be extended can emerge only from bipartisan negotiations. But 
this bill puts the Congress on record as supporting a renewal of the 
caps, and it provides for the extension of key provisions of the Budget 
Act pertaining to the caps once such levels are set.
  The fiscal progress of the last decade was achieved largely as a 
result of budget agreements between the White House and Congress. Now 
is the time for bipartisan action to renew the budget enforcement 
mechanisms that were created and extended in those landmark agreements.

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