[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 39 (Thursday, March 25, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H1486]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          UNFUNDED LIABILITIES

  (Mr. SMITH of Michigan asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, today is going to be a good 
debate on the budget. We are going to hear suggestions, maybe from both 
sides of the aisle, certainly from the Democrats, that we do not spend 
enough in this budget.
  The reason I am supporting this budget is because it is probably the 
most frugal budget spending increase we have had since 1996. There is a 
weakness in this budget that some day we are going to have to face up 
to, and that is unfunded liabilities. The day before yesterday, the 
Medicare and Social Security trustees estimated that the unfunded 
liabilities for those programs are $71 trillion. What that means is, in 
15 years, we are going to have to use 28 percent of the general fund 
revenue to make up the difference between our promises and the tax 
funds coming in for Social Security and Medicare.
  Mr. Speaker, we have got to deal with the entitlement programs if we 
are not going to leave our kids and our grandkids with a huge debt.

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