[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 25 (Tuesday, March 2, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H710-H711]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             TWELVE CONSENSUS PRINCIPLES TO REDUCE SPENDING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 20, 2004, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Kirk) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, with a $500 billion deficit, it is clear that 
Congress must cut spending and reform our budget process. Like our 
predecessors in the 1980s, we must come together not as Republicans or 
Democrats but as Americans to share equally in the cuts so that the 
Federal budget is brought back into balance.
  We all support a balanced budget. It is the right thing to do, and it 
is also the moral thing to do. Our Founding Fathers created the Federal 
Government as a limited institution whose mission was clearly defined. 
Some things the Federal Government was to do well. Many things were 
left up to the States. When the Federal budget is out of balance, it 
calls into question our ability to sustain core Federal functions: 
defense, Federal law enforcement, and the retirement security of 
Americans under Social Security and Medicare.
  I believe the Federal Government should fulfill its current promises 
to Americans currently in uniform and retirees before making any 
additional promises. Service in Congress is about making tough choices. 
For too long we have said, You get yours, I get mine and the kids get 
the bill. This must end.
  Recently, Republican moderates and conservatives joined together on 
12 budget principles. The Moderate Tuesday Group and the Conservative 
Action Team agreed on a surprising list of definitive budget proposals 
that will bring our budget back into balance even faster than the White 
House has proposed. What are these principles?
  First, that we have automatic spending reductions if spending exceeds 
the amount in the congressional budget resolution. If we find that 
there is an uncontrolled debt above that which is set by Congress, we 
will have across-the-board spending cuts for all discretionary and 
mandatory accounts except Social Security and Medicare. Second, we have 
numbers in the budget that are enforceable. The current budget 
identifies 20 separate budget functions that are not enforced. They 
should be replaced with enforceable, one-page budget numbers that set 
four levels of spending: mandatory spending, spending on defense and 
homeland security, nondefense discretionary spending, and emergency 
spending.
  Next, we should budget for emergency spending. Emergency spending 
requests should be included in a budget rainy-day account. Our budget 
should also have the force of law. The current budget resolution, which 
is not signed into law by the President, should be reformed into a 
joint budget resolution that is signed into law and enforceable under 
our code.
  Next, we should have the protection of earned benefits, such as 
Social Security and Medicare, so that the automatic cuts do not fall on 
our retirees who worked hard, played by the rules, and are depending on 
the support of this core Federal function. Next, we

[[Page H711]]

should show spending increases clearly. Under our current baseline 
budgeting, we automatically include inflation adjustments for Federal 
programs. This should be replaced by a straightforward comparison of 
last year's spending compared to proposed new spending.
  Our seventh principle would block spending outside the budget. We 
need to update the pay-as-you-go rules in the budget that would allow a 
point of order to lie so that any Member could prevent consideration of 
a proposal that did not also include offsetting cuts to pay for itself. 
Our eighth principle is that we would review government programs and 
set up another Grace Commission, which worked so effectively in the 
1980s, to eliminate wasteful and duplicative spending.

                              {time}  1245

  Our ninth proposal is to have an enhanced rescission power by the 
President so that he could identify critical programs, probably pork 
barrel programs, that he did not support spending on, send up a package 
to the Congress, which would then ensure a rapid up or down vote on the 
President's spending rescission proposal.
  Our 10th proposal is to have a clear presentation of the government's 
full debts and liabilities. The Federal Government must account for its 
full share of accrued costs of covering pensions, retired pay, and 
other health benefits so we make sure that we know exactly financially 
where we stand.
  Our 11th principle is that we should have a clear presentation of the 
debt owed to the public. An intergovernmental debt should be separated 
from other public debt in disclosures.
  And our final, 12th, principle is that we need to enforce the rules 
of Congress. Points of order raised against proposals intended to lift 
the uncontrolled deficit or to waive these restrictions should be 
unwaiverable as several other provisions in our rules allow. This would 
help us control the deficit. It would help us bring this problem 
together, and now it is our job to reach across the aisle to make this 
a bipartisan proposal.

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