[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 63 (Friday, May 13, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E975-E976]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        THE FISCAL YEAR 2006 BUDGET RESOLUTION CONFERENCE REPORT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DENNIS MOORE

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 12, 2005

  Mr. MOORE of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, on February 17, 2004, the national 
debt of the United States exceeded $7 trillion for the first time in 
our country's history. One year later, our national debt is $7.7 
trillion. In the past year, our country has added $700 billion to our 
national debt.
  The conference report for the FY06 budget resolution that is before 
us today would increase the statutory debt limit by $781 billion to a 
record $9 trillion. Mr. Speaker, enough is

[[Page E976]]

enough. The out-of-control rise in our national debt over the last year 
and the rise in our debt envisioned in this conference report are 
further signs of the terrible fiscal position in which we now find 
ourselves.
  In 2001, we had ten-year projected surpluses of $5.6 trillion [2002-
2011]. Now, over that same time period, we have likely ten-year 
deficits of $3.9 trillion. That's a $9.5 trillion reversal in our ten-
year fiscal outlook.
  Whether intentional or otherwise, our country's current fiscal 
policies are depriving the Federal government of future revenue at a 
time when we ought to be preparing for an unprecedented demographic 
shift that will strain Social Security and Medicare. Our current fiscal 
irresponsibility will eventually land squarely on the shoulders of our 
children and grandchildren, who will be forced to pay back the debt we 
are accumulating today. The ``debt tax'' that we are imposing on our 
children and grandchildren cannot be repealed. It can only be reduced 
if we take responsible steps now to improve our situation.
  Both parties need to work together in a bipartisan fashion to bring 
our budget back into balance so we can avoid the higher long-term 
interest rates and weakened dollar that are the inevitable consequences 
of rising deficits and a high national debt. We are witnessing on a 
daily basis the reaction of the global financial markets to our fiscal 
irresponsibility, and as we can see in this conference report, Congress 
has not yet gotten the message that deficits and debt matter.

  For starters, Congress needs to reinstate PAYGO rules for the entire 
budget, including spending and revenue measures. Budget enforcement 
rules that apply to only certain parts of the budget will not have a 
significant impact on our rising deficits, as Federal Reserve Chairman 
Alan Greenspan mentioned in his recent testimony before the Budget 
Committee.
  This fiscal year alone, interest on the national debt is expected to 
rise to $178 billion, and the administration projects that that figure 
will increase to $211 billion during the next fiscal year. To put that 
figure in perspective, projected interest on our national debt next 
year will be $75 billion more than projected spending on education, 
public health, health research, and veterans' benefits combined [$138 
billion].
  Further, the budget conference report before us today, which was 
filed only three hours before the House began to consider it, would 
require the House to cut Medicaid funding by as much as $15 billion 
over the next five years. Just two days ago the House voted, by a vote 
of 348-72, to reject harmful cuts to the Medicaid program, and this 
conference report blatantly ignores the will of the House.
  In addition to assuming an ever-larger share of our annual budgets, 
the interest on our debt, and the debt itself, are increasing our 
reliance on foreign borrowers, which will weaken our position in the 
world and increase the risk that another nation will be able to assert 
greater leverage over America. Over the last year, our country has 
borrowed nearly $400 billion [$389 billion] from foreign countries, and 
almost half [44 percent] of our publicly-held debt is held by foreign 
creditors [$1.96 trillion, out of $4.4 trillion of publicly held debt].
  Finally, our deficits and debt threaten the Social Security and 
Medicare programs that have raised so many of our seniors out of 
poverty and helped sustain the strongest middle class in history. With 
a projected 75-year unfunded liability of $3.7 trillion, both parties 
in Congress need to work together to address Social Security's solvency 
problem, and this conference report does nothing to protect Social 
Security. In fact, it continues the practice of raiding the Social 
Security trust funds to pay for other expenses of the Federal 
Government.
  It is time for Congress to stop playing games with our national debt, 
with Social Security, and with our kids and grandkids' futures and take 
a commonsense, bipartisan approach to solve our budget problems.

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