[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 26, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H226]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          THE NATIONAL DEFICIT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Barrow) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BARROW. Mr. Speaker, I think it is appropriate that my first 
address to this body should be on a large subject, and there are few 
subjects larger than our national deficit.
  The latest reports are forecasting a record $427 billion deficit, the 
largest budget deficit in our Nation's history. $427 billion is an 
amount so enormous that it is practically impossible for many to put it 
in context.
  The simple fact is that we are spending more money than we are 
bringing in, and this is digging a hole that we are going to have a 
hard time getting out of.
  This financial irresponsibility is punishing the prosperity for our 
future generations. When we are unable to pay our bills, we pass that 
burden on to our children and grandchildren, strapping them with a 
deficit that grows higher each day.
  Mr. Speaker, continuing to run record deficits is dangerous, it is 
irresponsible, it is reckless; and we have a solemn responsibility to 
do better than this.
  Every time we spend more money than we have or every time we borrow 
some record amount, we are trading short-term gains for long-term pain.
  Before I was elected to Congress, I served 14 years on the Athens-
Clarke County Commission. During that time I never once voted to 
increase taxes, and that is a record I am proud of. Not only that, I 
put together a perfect record of voting for balanced budgets, year 
after year; and that is also a record I am proud of.
  On the commission, we kept taxes low, we kept the budget balanced, 
and we made the most out of the people's money. We treated the people's 
money the same way that working families and small businesses manage 
their money, we lived within our means.
  We always kept one eye on the bottom line and one eye on the road 
ahead. When we made investments, we invested in the long-term future. 
When we borrowed money, we borrowed for long-term interests, not simply 
to pay that month's light bill.
  Mr. Speaker, if working families can live within their means, or if a 
small city council of just 10 members can find a way not to spend more 
than they have, then the United States Congress ought to be able to do 
the same thing. It is not rocket science. It is just fiscal common 
sense and good government public service.
  We have many commitments: we must continue to support our troops in 
the war on terror; we must keep the promise of Social Security; we must 
find ways to lower the tax burden for all of our working families. But 
we have to start keeping those commitments by using only the money that 
we have, without raising taxes and without forcing our children and 
grandchildren to pay our bills.
  As we settle into the 109th Congress, we must commit ourselves to a 
sound policy of deficit reduction. I hope that my colleagues in the 
House will join me in working together to bring a new era of fiscal 
responsibility to this legislative body.

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