[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 152 (Wednesday, November 16, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H10377-H10383]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           THE NATIONAL DEBT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Jindal). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 4, 2005, the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Ross) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to visit with the Members 
of this body about the national debt. I am one of 37 members of the 
fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition, 37 Members of Congress from 
all over these United States who share a common concern, and that is 
the amount of our national debt and the amount of our national deficit 
as it continues to rise each day.
  As visitors walk the Halls of the House office buildings, they will 
occasionally spot one of these posters, which clearly marks that it is 
a Blue Dog member. What we are trying to do with the American people, 
as members of the Blue Dog Coalition, is point out that the U.S. 
national debt today is $8.053 trillion and some change.
  If we were to divide the national debt today by the 292 million 
people that live in America, including the children born today, 
everyone in America would have to write a check for $27,000 to pay off 
this national debt. This is a tragedy. And it is time we restore some 
common sense and fiscal discipline to our Nation's government.
  There are some within the Republican leadership that are trying to 
make us think that that is what they are trying to do, and what I mean 
by that is this week, we are going to be voting on what they call a 
budget reconciliation package. The Republican leadership is going to 
talk about how it is $53.9 billion in reduced spending. That sounds 
good. What they do not tell us is what programs are going to be cut. 
They will try to convince us that these cuts are happening to pay for 
the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. They will try to convince us that 
these cuts are being made to pay for the war in Iraq. Not so. These 
cuts are being proposed by the Republican leadership in this Congress 
to help offset $70 billion in new tax cuts, new tax cuts that are being 
proposed in the aftermath of the most costly natural disaster in our 
Nation's history and, yes, at a time when America is at war, tax cuts 
that benefit those earning over $400,000 a year.
  How are they going to pay for that? By cutting Federal student loans 
$14 billion; by cutting Medicaid, the only health insurance plan for 
the poor, the disabled, and the elderly, by $11.9 billion; by reducing 
child support enforcement, $5 billion; by cutting our farm families, 
$3.7 billion.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time we restore some common sense and fiscal 
discipline to our Nation's government. And we can do it and we can do 
it in a humane way, and we can do it in a way that reflects our values, 
which reminds me of Matthew, chapter 25, verse 40: ``I tell you the 
truth. Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, 
you did it for me.''
  Do we really want to cut Medicaid, health insurance for the poor, the 
disabled, the elderly; student loans for our children; farm programs 
including school lunch programs and food stamps to pay for tax cuts for 
those earning over $400,000 a year? I can tell the Members that does 
not reflect the kind of values I learned growing up at Midway United 
Methodist Church just outside of Prescott, Arkansas.
  So tonight we want to visit with the Members of this body and talk 
about why this budget reconciliation bill is bad. We want to address 
this. And here to do it with me are some of my colleagues in the Blue 
Dog Coalition. Not only will people find us tonight being critical of 
cutting programs for the most vulnerable people in America, but they 
will also find us offering up a solution, an alternative, what we refer 
to as our 12-point budget plan. And I am pleased to have a number of 
Blue Dogs join me tonight, including the co-chairman of the Blue Dog 
Coalition, Dennis Cardoza; Stephanie Herseth of South Dakota; David 
Scott of Georgia; and Ben Chandler of Kentucky.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Chandler).
  Mr. CHANDLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Ross for yielding to me. I 
appreciate my fellow Blue Dog from Arkansas putting this very important 
time together for us to talk to the country about what we all believe 
is a very important matter.
  Mr. Ross's grandparents, I am sure, just the same as my grandparents, 
grew up in the Great Depression. And I am sure that they had 
experiences very similar to mine, and those experiences instilled in 
them a great sense of fiscal responsibility. My grandfather, in fact, 
always used to tell me, and I cannot even count the times that he told 
me, ``If you spent more than you took in, you would go broke.'' Wise 
words. Too bad that the leadership of the Republican-controlled 
Congress seems to have forgotten this most basic rule of fiscal 
management. By all accounts, the mentality of our grandparents and 
their generation has been lost.
  As the gentleman said, later this week, maybe as early as tomorrow, 
the House will consider the first of two bills the Republican 
leadership will bring to the floor under the auspices of reducing the 
deficit. The only problem is that this so-called deficit reduction 
package actually adds billions to the deficit, hastening a fiscal 
crisis brought on by the systematic mismanagement of our country's 
finances.
  Our deficit has now passed $8 trillion, and we see right there on 
that sign that the gentleman has got next to him, that poster, the 
number 8 trillion. I am surprised we can even breathe a number that 
big, all those zeros. I did not even know what 8 trillion was until I 
came up to Congress and I saw that number. And I am sure the American 
people would be astonished if they realized just how much in debt they 
were now. And, incredibly, something I heard from the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Tanner), who I think is with us tonight, earlier this 
week he told me that this administration has now borrowed more money 
from foreign governments and banks than the previous 42 United States 
Presidents combined. Even using the projections from the budgets 
adopted by this Republican-controlled Congress, the deficit will grow 
by over $167 billion over the next 5 years. Bottom line, this 
Republican-controlled Congress has proven itself utterly incapable of 
responsibly managing the Federal Treasury.
  Rather than use what little funds we have to pay down the deficit and 
help those in need, many of my Republican colleagues seek another round 
of tax cuts for the wealthiest of Americans that will drive our country 
even deeper into debt. This budget package that is being offered is 
nothing more than

[[Page H10378]]

smoke and mirrors. It is not about making sacrifices to reduce the 
deficit. It is about carving out space for ever-larger tax cuts for the 
wealthiest Americans by cutting programs that help seniors, students, 
and low-income families. The very principles that our men and women are 
fighting for in Iraq and Afghanistan, defending the ideals of our 
country and helping those in need are on the chopping block this week.
  The message from the Republican-controlled Congress is clear: under 
our leadership the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle 
class shrinks all the while.
  Low-income families in my home State of Kentucky depend on Medicaid 
for health care. Thousands of children in Kentucky schools depend on 
school lunch programs for their only hot meal of the day.

                              {time}  2000

  And over 50 percent of college students in Kentucky rely on some type 
of financial aid to pay for their college expenses. It is simply 
immoral to turn our backs on those families in need and students 
striving to get ahead. Not to mention the cuts to child support 
programs that will hurt families across our country, and the fact that 
at a time when the USDA must turn away three-fourths of farmers wanting 
to participate in conservation programs, cutting Federal funds is going 
to put an even larger strain on our farm families, certainly the farm 
families in Kentucky who are doing everything they can just to make a 
living.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this misguided and 
immoral budget reconciliation package and instead use this as an 
opportunity to step back and examine the financial state of our 
country. Instead of leaning on the poor as a means of cutting taxes for 
the rich, we need to get serious about addressing the deficit.
  Foreign lenders such as China own 40 percent of our total debt. At 
some point, America must pay back the money it owes. The Republican 
leaders on the other side of the aisle pride themselves in cutting 
taxes for the American people. But their irresponsible budget practices 
now are nothing more than a tax increase later. Continuing to make 
irresponsible financial decisions now only adds to the burden we are 
leaving to the coming generations.
  This Congress must take immediate action to put our fiscal house in 
order, and I commend you, Mr. Ross, and I commend the other Blue Dogs 
for your steadfast efforts to ensure that the American people 
understand what is happening to them and the fact that their fiscal 
house is not in order. You are doing a great service for this country, 
and I urge my colleagues to join with the Blue Dogs and examine the 
budget reforms that we have proposed.
  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Kentucky for his 
words this evening. He reminds me, growing up at the Midway Methodist 
Church just outside of Prescott, I heard many a sermon about being a 
good steward. When I came to Congress, it did not take me long to 
reflect back on not only the values I learned growing up, being the son 
of public school educators, but also I started thinking back to those 
sermons I heard growing up about being a good steward. I think it is 
important.
  As Members of Congress, I think we have a duty and a responsibility 
and an obligation to be a good steward of the public's money. I thank 
the gentleman from Kentucky for joining us this evening.
  I mentioned that the Blue Dog Coalition has a 12-point plan for 
curing our Nation's deficit spending. Throughout the evening, we are 
going to bring some of them up. Let me point out that number one is to 
require a balanced budget.
  At the Ross household in Prescott, Arkansas, we have to have a 
balanced budget in our family. The family pharmacy my wife and I own, 
we have to have a balanced budget. For 10 years I was serving in the 
State Senate in Arkansas, one of 49 States that requires a balanced 
budget. Blue Dog Coalition members believe that we, as a Nation, should 
have a balanced budget, and that is one of our 12 points requiring a 
balanced budget.
  At this time I would like to yield to the co-chair of the Blue Dog 
Coalition, the gentleman from California (Mr. Cardoza).
  Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Ross. He is a fabulous Member 
who has led this effort in the House for a number of years, and I am 
very pleased he is leading this discussion here tonight. I am pleased 
he brought down a copy of our debt clock that sits in front of our 
offices. It truly outlines the fiscal irresponsibility that the current 
administration is engaged in.
  I would also like to highlight one of the points Mr. Ross mentioned 
and ask a question. I know that in Arkansas you all are pretty proud of 
your university there and the Razorbacks. And if you are anything like 
the folks where I am from, we are building a brand new university, and 
we have the first class going through right now. And so you know how 
important it is for young people, especially first-generation Americans 
who need a start in life, trying to get themselves established to do 
better for themselves and their families.
  I am the first member to go to college, and I can say without a doubt 
that I would not be standing here in the halls of Congress today had I 
not gotten the great education that I got at both the CSU schools I 
went to in California and the University of Maryland just down the 
street.
  This past week when I was flying out here from San Francisco, I 
happened on the president of the University of Maryland, Dan Mote. He 
was on my plane. He came up to me on the plane, and he said, Mr. 
Cardoza, I know you are a supporter of education, but what you are 
folks doing to higher education, and these cuts to student aid? He 
said, This is going to devastate the young people that attend my 
college and the people that are going to attend the college in your 
hometown.
  I said, President Mote, you are absolutely right. I cannot think of 
one Democrat who is going to vote in support of these cuts to student 
aid.
  In fact, I told him a story about the legislature in California. When 
I served in the legislature, we actually lowered student fees, with the 
help of the Republican leadership there, because they felt that was one 
of the most important middle and upper income tax cuts that they could 
possibly do because most of the folks that were not on financial aid 
already due to need were their constituents.
  Yet here in Congress, we see what they are proposing, and I believe 
it is a $1.4 billion student fee increase or the cuts in the student 
loans. Does the gentleman have that number?
  Mr. ROSS. Out of these $50 billion in cuts, and Mr. Chandler from 
Kentucky hit the nail on the head when he pointed out that they are 
talking about cutting spending $50 billion, but they are really 
increasing spending. That is true because they are proposing $70 
billion in tax cuts, $50 billion in cuts in spending which leaves $20 
billion not paid for but which will have to be borrowed from foreign 
banks and foreign governments to fund this tax cut to those earning 
over $400,000 a year.

  Out of the $50 billion in cuts, nearly $8 billion of the $14.3 
billion in student loan cuts fall directly on students and parents. I 
am beginning to really understand this because I have a daughter who is 
17 and a son who is 13, both getting ready before too long to go off to 
college.
  Like every other parent in America, I spend a lot of time these days 
thinking I wish I had started saving sooner, and I wish I had saved 
enough to be able to provide for them the way I want to, and I will 
find a way to do it. We all do as parents, but at a time when parents 
are struggling to meet the needs of college tuition, the Republican 
leadership is proposing $14.3 billion in cuts to student loans. The 
CBO, not some Democrat or Republican organization, the Congressional 
Budget Office, has estimated that under the Republican bill there are 
nearly $8 billion in new charges to students and families that will 
raise the cost of student loans. The cost to the average student 
borrower will be increased by $5,800.
  Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, that is incredible. That is an unbelievable 
number. Really we could call this not the Reconciliation Act but the 
college student tax act because that is what we are going to be doing, 
we are going to be increasing the tax on those who can least afford it, 
those who are trying to

[[Page H10379]]

do better and increase their opportunity.
  I would like to add that, under Bush, we have seen absolute record 
deficits. We have seen $2.5 trillion added to the debt. As the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Tanner) is fond of saying, we have 
borrowed more from foreign countries than all previous presidents 
combined under President Bush. And we are borrowing about 80 or 90 
percent, the new borrowing that is taking place, is coming from China 
and countries that are competing with us in trade, and they are using 
that leverage to make our dollar less strong against their currency. It 
is just a shame what has been happening here.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Ross for participating in this tonight and 
being such a great leader within the Blue Dog Coalition.
  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California for 
being a part of this this evening.
  The 12 points to reform this out-of-control Republican leadership 
that continues to increase our debt and our deficit, point number 2 
that the Blue Dogs are offering up to restore common sense and fiscal 
discipline to our Nation's government: Do not let Congress buy on 
credit.
  Under President Clinton, we had the first balanced budget in 40 
years. It was largely due to the fact that this House at the time had 
what is called pay-as-you-go rules in effect, which means if you want 
to increase spending somewhere or pay for a new program, you have to 
cut spending somewhere else. It makes sense. That is called pay-as-you-
go or PAYGO rules. The Republican leadership has ended the PAYGO rule 
in this Chamber. Point number 2 of the Blue Dog Coalition: Do not let 
Congress buy on credit. Restore the pay-as-you-go budgeting concept to 
the rules of the U.S. House of Representatives.
  Mr. Speaker, at this time, it gives me real pleasure to introduce a 
leader in this Congress and a real leader in the Blue Dog Coalition, an 
outstanding Member, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott).
  Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I feel very privileged and honored 
to be here with my fellow Blue Dogs.
  Our debate is going out across the country thanks to C-SPAN, and I 
think it is very important that we understand that the American people 
have awakened. All of the polls show it. The American people are glued 
in to what is happening here in Washington, and right they should be.
  I want to start off by saying that so that individuals who are tuning 
in who would like to know just what are the Blue Dogs, more than 
anything else, we pride ourselves on being, first and foremost, good 
stewards of the taxpayers' dollars. We provide the sterling leadership 
in the Democratic Party for responsible fiscal responsibility.
  For 5 years, we in the Blue Dog Coalition have been begging and 
pleading that this Congress develop a plan to pay as you go. Mr. 
Speaker, 5 years ago when the Clinton administration left office, we 
had a surplus. Billions and billions and billions of dollars were left 
in surplus. Now 5 years later, under the Bush administration, we are 
trillions and trillions and trillions of dollars in debt. Make no 
mistake about it, our debt and our deficit is the number one problem 
and issue facing the survival and the future of our democracy. And we 
are concerned about this national debt.
  But at a time when we are expressly concerned about it and pushing 
forward for responsible measures on the Democratic side, it is the 
height of hypocrisy, it is the height of being insensitive, it is the 
height of indeed smoke and mirrors for this Republican-led Congress and 
this Republican President to, under the guise of giving a tax cut for 
billionaires and millionaires across this country, say he wants to cut 
spending.

                              {time}  2015

  Cut spending of the most vital services, the most important needs in 
this country, as a matter of fact, in the history of this country, in 
this 20th century. We have just been hit with the worst hurricane 
season in modern times. Katrina was the worst that anybody can 
remember. Billions and billions and billions of dollars worth of 
damage, an entire city, entire region almost totally destroyed. Over 
250,000 American citizens without homes. We all remember those 
pictures, down in New Orleans, in the flood. Our hearts went out to 
those people. Well, our hearts must continue to go out to those people.
  And the reason it is the height of hypocrisy is here is the President 
of the United States and this Republican controlled Congress, who says 
that they want to offset a $70 billion tax cut for the wealthiest 
people in this country on the backs of those poor victims of this 
hurricane.
  On the front page of the Washington Post this morning, the answer 
from FEMA is to throw 150,000 American citizens who have become 
homeless on the street. The answer from The White House and the answer 
from this Congress has been to cut the very programs that will help 
these victims the most. The most effective programs that have helped 
them has been the food stamp program. And under this budget, this 
Republican held Congress, and this President proposes to cut food 
stamps by $850 million. Not only at a time when we have people who are 
homeless, without jobs, without hope, but according to the Agriculture 
Department, just this year alone, we have added 2 million more citizens 
to the hunger roles. The Republicans answer, cut the very program that 
has been designed to help them by $850 billion.
  Medicaid. Under this budget planned by the Republicans and President 
Bush, they want to cut Medicaid by $12 billion, when 45 million 
Americans, mostly senior elderly citizens, are going without any kind 
of health insurance.
  And our farmers? Cut them by $2 billion. Farmers who have been 
devastated by the flood, who have been hurt by the flood. Now is not 
the time to cut the farmers.
  And our veterans, $3 billion. Lord knows. We have not been doing 
right by our veterans. We have cut them. We have cut them. We have cut 
them. And the President's answer is, cut the veterans. This Republican 
Congress's is to cut the veterans. Is that not a reason why they have 
had difficulty in getting the votes? Why they have had to pull the bill 
last week?
  And the American people need to wake up and understand and put the 
calls in to your Republican congressman to let them know that America 
does not want to cut the basic services for the needy while trying to 
add a $70 billion tax cut for the millionaires and the billionaires. 
They do not need the money. But the children do.
  This budget will cut children's nutrition by $2 billion and $5 
billion in child support. Heating oil is cut at a time when the oil 
companies are getting record profits, and their executives are sitting 
fast.
  Student loans, $14 billion at a time when going to college costs so 
much. There will be tens of thousands of American children who will not 
go to college if this Republican budget reconciliation bill passes. 
That is why this is so important. That is why it is important.
  Listen to me, America. And if you know other people, tell them to 
tune in. We are here to tell you the facts. This Blue Dog coalition is 
one of the most influential groups on Capitol Hill, and the reason why 
is because people trust us. We have earned that. We have earned that 
distinction. Folks like Charlie Stenholm, John Tanner, they have 
pioneered and set the curve. Respect across party lines. Respect across 
this country, the Blue Dog coalition. We are speaking the truth 
tonight.
  William Shakespeare said it well when he wrote that great play, 
Julius Caesar, when he said, et tu Brutus? Yours is the meanest cut of 
all. And that is what these Republicans are doing in this bill. It is 
mean. It is cold, and it is wrong. And the American people deserve 
better. And we are going to give them better.
  So Mr. Ross and my fellow Blue Dogs, we are here tonight to speak the 
truth. We are here tonight to let the American people know, and we hope 
and we pray that we will be successful in stopping this budget 
reconciliation bill from being devastating to the American people.
  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for his 
insight and wisdom that he has shared with us this evening on this 
issue, this so-called Republican budget reconciliation bill that they 
say will be brought

[[Page H10380]]

up for a vote either some time late Friday night or perhaps early 
Saturday morning. We know all about that, you know, on the Medicare 
drug bill, for example, they waited until 3 a.m. They wanted to make 
sure seniors were fast asleep. And then they held a 15-minute vote open 
for 3 hours, until they finally got those final two votes they needed 
to pass it.
  I challenge the Republican leadership to give us a vote on this in 
the middle of the day on Friday, when the sun is still up, and let the 
American people see how democracy should work in this country.
  I talked about the Blue Dog Coalition having 12 points for budget 
reform to really get a handle on this debt, to stop deficit spending 
and to restore common sense and fiscal discipline to our Nation's 
government. Number one was, require a balanced budget.
  Number two was, do not let Congress buy on credit. Restore PAYGO, 
pay-as-you-go rules, to the floor of the United States House, meaning, 
if you want to spend money on one program, you have got to cut spending 
on another program.
  Number three is, put a lid on spending. Ever since I was a small 
child growing up, I have heard it was the Democrats that spent the 
money. And yet, you know it is a Democratic President, President 
Clinton, that gave us the first balanced budget in this country in 40 
years, from 1998 through 2001. Then what happened? For the first time 
in 50 years, the Republicans now control the White House, the House and 
the Senate, and from 2001 to 2003, total government spending soared by 
16 percent. The Blue Dogs propose putting a lid on spending. The Blue 
Dogs propose holding the line on discretionary spending for the next 
three fiscal years at 2.1 percent. That is point number three to our 12 
point plan for budget reform.

  With us this evening from the State of Tennessee is one of the 
founders of the Blue Dog Coalition, former cochair of the organization 
and a real leader, a founding father for the Blue Dog Coalition, John 
Tanner from Tennessee. And just to expand on what Mr. Scott from 
Georgia said, I mean, look, like so many people in this country, many 
of us in the Blue Dog Coalition, we are sick and tired of all the 
partisan bickering that goes on in our Nation's Capital. We are not 
standing here tonight to beat up the Republicans. We are here tonight 
to try and hold them accountable for this spending and offer up a 
solution on how we can restore common sense and fiscal discipline to 
our Nation's government. Like so many people across this country, I am 
sick and tired of all the partisan bickering that goes on at our 
Nation's Capitol. It should not be about whether it is a Democratic 
idea or a Republican idea. It ought to be about is a commonsense idea 
and does it make sense for the people that send us here to be their 
voice and their representative. That is what the Blue Dog Coalition is 
all about, as Mr. Scott indicated. That is why we have earned the 
respect of so many across this Nation and here on Capitol Hill.
  At this time, I would like to turn this over to one of the founding 
fathers of the Blue Dog Coalition, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. 
Tanner).
  Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I think that means I am old. I appreciate 
the gentleman having this special order tonight and inviting us down 
here. Mr. Scott, many of you may know, but his brother-in-law is the 
homerun king of baseball, Hank Aaron, and he was nice enough to invite 
me down to an event where Hank was here. And I appreciate that. I got a 
picture of me and Hammering Hank Aaron that I cherish very much.
  Mr. ROSS. We were glad to have you.
  Mr. TANNER. I really enjoyed that. But I want to thank you all for 
being here tonight. I want to talk about this financial picture of our 
country maybe in a little different way. And the way I want to talk 
about it is not as a Democrat or as a Republican, but as an American. 
We only have one dollar. We only have one balance sheet. We only have 
one military. We only have one economic opportunity in our lives here. 
And folks, I have got to tell you, we are in deep, deep trouble. And 
the financial picture of this country is deteriorating as we speak. I 
do not know how else to say this. It is not fun to talk about the 
financial morass that we are in. You know, there are not many 
politicians that go before the American people and get elected and say, 
folks we have got a problem. We do not have enough revenue, or we have 
too much spending. And we have got to do something about it. You do not 
hear that. You do not hear people saying we have got problems. We have 
to fix them together. And yet, that is what I think the Blue Dog 
Coalition is all about. We have done everything we can to reach out to 
the administration and the Republicans. We have asked the President for 
a budget summit. We got a letter back saying that would not be the 
case. We have asked the Republican leadership to consider our 12-point 
plan, balanced budget amendment to try to get PAYGO back, which is just 
common sense. If you are going to spend money, you need to pay for it 
somehow. That has been refused. So we have tried every way we can, and 
I will tell you, quite frankly, until the President of the United 
States and the leadership here in Congress, the Republican leadership 
here in Congress at the moment, levels with the American people about 
the deterioration of their country's balance sheet, it is going to be 
awfully difficult, quite frankly, for us here on the floor as blue dogs 
or any other Member of Congress to convince the American people about 
how dramatic and how drastically our collective financial deterioration 
has occurred.
  Let me just try to put it very briefly in a context. Since 2001, when 
we embarked on a different economic program, this Nation has gone into 
debt another $2.3 trillion; $1.3 trillion of that has been borrowed 
from private sources and, you know, what is so bad about this is that 
85 percent of this money has come from people who have loaned us this 
money who do not live in the United States. I did some figuring today. 
Just based on what President Bush and the Republican Congress has done 
in the last 4 years, and again, this is not partisan. You go to 
www.treasury.gov, the U.S. Treasury Web site. What I am telling you is 
fact. It is not a political argument. I wish it were. But it is not. 
You go to the treasury Web site. What has happened to us is that, by 
these deficits, $157 billion in 2002, we are paying interest at that 
year at 4.3 percent--2003, $377; 2004, $412, the largest in history. 
Last year, $319. Anyway, you add all that up, we are now paying $50-
plus billion dollars a year in interest that we were not paying before 
President Bush changed the economic game plan of our country with this 
compliant Congress--$50 billion a year. What I tell people is, quite 
frankly, what we have done is we have increased taxes on the American 
people $500 billion over the next 10 years, and that is on interest.

                              {time}  2030

  Interest is a tax that cannot be repealed. Everybody out there knows 
that when you run that credit card through, you do not have to pay for 
it today; but you know at the end of the month you are going to get a 
bill, and the bill is going to have interest on it. And where people 
get in trouble when the bill runs up so high, all they can pay is 
interest, and when that happens, that is when they get in trouble.
  The United States Treasury announced the other day that for the first 
quarter of 2006, they are going to have to borrow a record $171 
billion. This is just to finance our government for the first quarter 
of this fiscal year. On February 9, we need to mark that down on our 
calendars, for the first time in 5 years, the Treasury will have to 
offer a 30-year bond. Do you know why they are bringing that back? We 
did not have it in 2001. We could discontinue it then because we were 
on the road to some sort of semblance of financial sanity.
  February 9, 5 years later, we are going to bring back the 30-year 
bond. Do we know what that means? It means we are borrowing so much 
money, we have to long-term it, because we cannot afford it in the 
short term. That is what the economic plan that we have been following 
for the last 4 or 5 years is doing to this country.
  Now, if you do not think that is bad enough, consider the fact that 
we now owe 44 percent of our privately held debt to people who do not 
even live in America. Said another way, we are writing $185 billion 
worth of checks every year for interest. We get nothing.

[[Page H10381]]

We get no health care, no veterans benefits, no anything. We write 
checks, and 44 percent of those checks do not even stay in this 
country.
  This has literally happened in about the last 50 months. It did not 
used to be this way. In fact, when they got here, we had a $5 trillion 
surplus. We do not need a surplus, but we need to pay our bills; and we 
are not doing that.
  Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman raises such a great 
point on the interest, and I think the American people need to know 
that just on the money that we are paying these other countries, just 
on the interest, it amounts to more than what we are paying for our own 
homeland security.
  Mr. TANNER. That is correct. This recklessness has got to be stopped. 
The Blue Dogs will work with anybody. But until the President and the 
United States Congress level with the American people and say we do not 
just have a deficit that is cyclical that the country is experiencing, 
until they will tell the American people the truth, we have a 
structural, institutionalized built-in deficit that is going to sink 
all of us collectively as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, 
as Americans, and rob our kids and really our citizens of any hope of a 
better way of life.
  That is what is at stake here. Until they level with us, we can come 
down here and do these Special Orders, and I thank Mr. Ross and Mr. 
Scott and Ms. Herseth and the others, but I tell my colleagues, this is 
not a Democrat or Republican problem. This is an American problem; and 
until they face up to it, we have a terrible situation here in 
Washington. I commend the gentleman again for having this Special 
Order.
  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee, one of 
the Founding Fathers of the Blue Dog Coalition, for sharing with us 
this evening his thoughts on this issue. He is so right: Our Nation, 
just on this debt, our Nation is spending nearly a half a billion 
dollars a day. Our Nation is spending nearly a half a billion dollars 
every 24 hours, simply paying interest on the national debt. Our Nation 
is spending nearly a half a billion dollars, that is with a B, nearly a 
half a billion dollars a day simply paying interest on the national 
debt.
  A half a billion dollars, how much is that? We could build 100 brand-
new elementary schools every single day in America simply with the 
interest we are paying on the national debt. I have Interstate 49 and 
Interstate 69 and Interstate 530 under construction in my congressional 
district. Give me about a week's worth of interest on the national debt 
and I could finish all three of them. So projects and priorities in 
this country will continue to go unmet as long as we have this $8.53 
trillion debt hanging over our heads that is growing every day. That is 
the debt.
  The other part of this the gentleman from Tennessee was talking about 
is the deficit. Our Nation is borrowing $907 million every single day. 
We are sending $188 million every day to Iraq and $33 million every day 
to Afghanistan. At a time when America is at war, the Republican 
leaders in this Congress are proposing an additional $70 billion in tax 
cuts. Never in the history of this Nation has America cut taxes when it 
is at war. And not only are we at war, but we are also coming off the 
most costly natural disaster in our Nation's history; and they are 
proposing $50 billion in cuts.
  Mr. Tanner talked about how this is an American issue, and he is 
right. It is also an issue that as a father concerns me. Cutting 
student loans at a time when so many of us have children getting ready 
to go off to college; cutting Medicaid, health insurance for the 
poorest among us so we can pay for tax cuts for those earning over 
$400,000 a year, these are not the kinds of values I was taught growing 
up at the Midway United Methodist Church just outside Prescott, 
Arkansas.
  Mr. Tanner mentioned how we have so much money that is being borrowed 
to run our government from foreigners. We owe Japan $714.9 billion; 
China, $191.1 billion; the United Kingdom, $152.5 billion; the 
Caribbean Banking Center, $76.2 billion; Korea, $69.3 billion; OPEC 
nations, and we wonder by gasoline is so high, OPEC nations, we have 
borrowed as a Nation $66.6 billion from them. The list goes on and on. 
In fact, we have borrowed, this administration has borrowed more money 
from foreign governments and foreign banks in less than 5 years than 
the previous 42 Presidents combined. It is time to restore common sense 
and fiscal discipline to our Nation's government.
  Also joining us this evening is a relatively new Member of Congress, 
a new member to the Blue Dog Coalition in her second term, someone who 
has really made her mark here in Washington as a fiscal conservative, 
someone who speaks with a lot of credibility on this issue, and that is 
the gentlewoman from South Dakota (Ms. Herseth).

  Ms. HERSETH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arkansas for his 
kind words and for his extraordinary leadership on this important issue 
within the Blue Dog Coalition and within the Congress on highlighting 
the impact of budget decisions over the last 5 years that have created 
perils, dangerous situations for the country now and into the future.
  I would like to just share, if I might, and read from some quotes 
that have come out, quoting individuals recently within the last week 
or two, to highlight what Mr. Scott, Mr. Tanner, and Mr. Ross have 
already noted, that this is not a partisan issue. There are those on 
both sides of the aisle and those who do not have any affiliation with 
either political party that are expressing the concerns with the budget 
reconciliation package offered by the majority.
  Let me first quote Robert Bixby, the executive director of the 
Concord Coalition, from a statement he made just 2 days ago: ``This 
year's budget resolution calls for two reconciliation bills, a spending 
cut bill of $35 billion and a tax cut bill of $70 billion.'' He is 
referring here to Senate numbers. ``Simple arithmetic dispels the 
notion that this combination is aimed at deficit reduction. It is hard 
to rally support for a spending cut labeled the Deficit Reduction Act 
of 2005 when it will be followed by a tax cut that, by the same logic, 
should be labeled the Deficit Increase Act of 2005.''
  Or take a quote from our colleague on the other side of the Capitol, 
Senator George Voinovich, a Republican from Ohio, a statement made just 
last week: ``I do not know how anyone can say with a straight face that 
when we voted to cut spending last week to help achieve deficit 
reductions, we can now then turn around 2 weeks later to provide tax 
cuts that exceed the reduction in spending. That is beyond me, and I am 
sure the American people.''
  Or let us take a statement from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan 
Greenspan from 2 weeks ago: ``We should not be cutting taxes by 
borrowing. We do not have the capability of having both productive tax 
cuts and large expenditure increases, and presume that the deficit 
doesn't matter.''
  Or take a quote from the editorial boards across the country, 
including one from the Des Moines Register: ``As a deficit reduction 
strategy, the House GOP plan is ludicrous. After passing the budget 
cuts, next on Congress's agenda is passing further tax cuts for the 
wealthy at a cost to the Treasury of $70 billion over 5 years. Cutting 
spending by $55 billion while cutting taxes by $70 billion will make 
the deficits worse, not better.''
  The New York Times editorial board stated: ``An additional $70 
billion worth of upper bracket tax cuts heavily backed by the White 
House are waiting in the wings and will drive the deficit even deeper 
across generations of taxpayers. The administration and congressional 
leaders arranged to separate votes on the two halves of the budget to 
obscure the full picture.''
  Finally, from the Atlanta Journal and Constitution from last week: 
``This proposed belt-tightening by Congress is not being driven by 
national security, deficit reduction, or hurricane relief. Instead, it 
has been proposed as a way to finance a $70 billion tax holiday for the 
wealthiest Americans. Congress can't tell the public one week that a 
dooming deficit is forcing it to cut food stamps and Medicaid, then 
turn around the next week and award the wealthiest Americans a generous 
tax cut.''
  Mr. Speaker, that is really the bottom line here tonight, is it not? 
And what we are trying to share with our colleagues and our 
constituents is that if you do that, say one thing one week and turn 
around the next week and do something that obliterates the savings that 
you claimed that you were trying to achieve, that damages your 
credibility, it damages the credibility of the

[[Page H10382]]

work we do in this Congress. It damages the credibility of the budget 
process, which is why the Blue Dogs have offered the 12 points to 
reform the budget process.
  Mr. Speaker, I agree with many back home in South Dakota that budget 
cuts take courage. They do. They take a lot of political courage. 
Decisions to cut spending, especially from popular programs, certainly 
are not easy decisions. But I contend that it is cowardly not to be 
straightforward with the American people about the priorities reflected 
in the entirety of the reconciliation process.
  As my colleagues have noted here earlier this evening, we can 
question legitimately the priorities within the spending cut bill, the 
spending side of the ledger in this reconciliation process. Take higher 
education, over $14 billion worth of cuts out of the 50 to $55 billion 
overall on the spending cut side of the package. This is a double 
whammy on our younger generation, because not only do they have to pay 
thousands more to finance their higher education, but they also have to 
pay the interest tax on our national debt that increases.
  Mr. Speaker, our knowledge base has been this country's way of 
staying ahead of the rest of the world and maintaining our 
competitiveness in a fast-changing global economy. But yet they take 
student loan programs that represent 1 percent of the overall Federal 
budget and make it 30 percent, roughly 30 percent of the spending cuts 
that they targeted in the spending cut side of the reconciliation 
equation.
  Then take agriculture and rural development. We cut all of these 
programs out of agriculture and rural development that not only go back 
on the deal we cut with farmers and ranchers in the farm bill in 2002 
which, by the way, has saved billions more than what was projected at 
the time it was passed; but then we leave rural America behind at a 
time of skyrocketing fuel costs, cutting value-added marketing 
programs, cutting programs intended to expand broadband technology in 
rural America.
  Then, take Medicaid. Medicaid, a program designed to help children, 
pregnant women, people with disabilities, and the elderly. Now claims 
that the growth of Medicaid spending is out of control cannot be 
supported when you compare the growth in spending in the private 
sector. It is about half in Medicaid as to what it is in premiums paid 
out and the growth of the spending in the private sector for health 
care insurance.
  So when you look at the number of people who are eligible for 
Medicaid, that really requires a different approach and different 
solution, like making it easier, not harder, to finance a higher 
education and making it easier to get a higher-paying job. These cuts 
also in Medicaid affect long-term care facilities, the residents, the 
staff, the communities; and it affects the workforce, health and 
productivity issues that we face in this country.

                              {time}  2045

  I also think we can raise serious questions as well about the 
priorities within the preferential tax treatment portion of the 
reconciliation bill, which extends provisions that are now secure until 
2008, rather than providing a fix for the alternative minimum tax, 
which is affecting more and more middle-income taxpayers.
  The final point here, we need to seriously question, as we have done 
tonight, with our colleagues in the next couple of days, with the 
American people, the overall result of this reconciliation package, 
which makes the deficit worse, as we have demonstrated, which increases 
the country's level of borrowing further, as Congressman Tanner pointed 
out with the statistics of the foreign ownership of our national debt, 
and the increasing percentages of that. The Treasury is set to borrow 
$151 billion in the first quarter of 2006 alone, not to mention that 
this is simply an interest tax on my generation, the generation 
following me, and future generations of Americans.
  Let me conclude by saying, let us stop the recklessness. I think the 
American public wants us to stop the recklessness, to reform the budget 
process as the Blue Dogs have proposed, restore the credibility in 
managing the Nation's finances by taking action that reduces the 
deficit and puts us back on track towards balanced budgets.
  I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote no, oppose 
these reconciliation proposals for both sides of the Federal 
Government's ledger, for which the bottom line is even more red ink.
  Mr. ROSS. I want to thank the gentlewoman from South Dakota (Ms. 
Herseth) for her comments this evening, and I can assure you I join you 
in opposing cuts to student aid programs. I join you in opposing cuts 
to Medicaid, health insurance for the poor, for the disabled and the 
elderly. I join you in opposing cuts to child support enforcement, and 
I join you in opposing $3.4 billion cuts to agricultural programs, 
including $844 million to food stamps, the elimination of school 
lunches and breakfast benefits for 40,000 children, $1 billion in cuts 
to farm commodity programs, and, yes, $1 billion in cuts to rural 
development conservation and energy programs.
  The gentlewoman from South Dakota is a real leader on the House 
Agriculture Committee. I want to thank her for standing up and fighting 
those cuts in that committee.
  I promised you we would go over the 12 points to the Blue Dog budget 
reform. The gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott) is still here with me, 
and we are going to try to get through these before we run out of time.
  Quickly, number four, require agencies, these are our solutions, how 
we fix the problem, restore common sense, fiscal discipline to our 
Nation's government. Require agencies to put their fiscal year houses 
in order. According to the Government Accounting Office, not some 
political party group, according to the Government Accounting Office, 
16 of 23 major Federal agencies cannot issue a simple audit of their 
books. Worse, the Federal Government cannot account for $24.5 billion 
it spent in 2003. The Blue Dog proposal is simple, put a budget freeze 
for any Federal agency that cannot properly balance its books.
  Number five, make Congress tell taxpayers how much they are spending.
  Number six, set aside a rainy day fund.
  Number seven, do not hide votes to raise the debt limit. If the 
gentleman would continue with a list, I think you have number 8 through 
12 of the Blue Dog plan for a meaningful budget reform.
  Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Absolutely, our plan, the Blue Dog plan number 
eight, is to justify spending for pet projects, that while we have many 
projects that may be worthy, it is very important that we have written 
justification available to the public so the public can see, and it 
strengthens our credibility to make sure we are spending the taxpayer's 
money in an efficient effective manner, justify the spending for pet 
projects.
  Number nine, ensure that Congress reads the bills it is voting on. So 
many times, we do not even have the time to read the bills we are 
voting on. How can you vote intelligently on an issue if you are not 
even given the time? The Blue Dogs will recommend that we at least be 
given a minimum of 3 days to finally look at the legislation, to make 
sure that we understand and have all the information for a vote.
  Number ten, require honest cost estimates for every bill that 
Congress votes on, most important. Get the right amount of money that 
it is going to cost.
  Number 11, make sure new bills fit the budget, pay-as-you-go, make 
sure that we are not putting in more than we have to spend.
  Number 12, make sure that Congress does a better job of keeping tabs 
on government programs. The Blue Dogs propose that each committee be 
required to submit a report at least twice a year, available again to 
the public, which is very important that we make known that we want to 
make sure the public is a working, participating partner in our 12 
points.
  Mr. Speaker, those are our 12 points. We are very proud of them. I 
think they make sense. It gives vision. It gives direction. It gives 
purpose.
  I want to just conclude, because I know our time is short, before I 
hand it back to the gentleman from Arkansas, we are at Thanksgiving. 
What an extraordinary time. Families all over this country a week from 
tomorrow will be gathering together. We have got to make sure that we 
give them a

[[Page H10383]]

Thanksgiving that they will appreciate, and I assure you that they will 
not appreciate cutting Medicaid. They will not appreciate cutting the 
farmers' programs. The veterans are not going to have a good 
Thanksgiving if they know that their benefits are cut by $2 billion. 
Our students are not going to have a good Thanksgiving if they know 
that the student loan program is being cut by $14 billion; our 
children, child support $5 billion, child nutrition, food stamps.
  We have got to make sure that our people have a wonderful 
Thanksgiving holiday. The way to do that is if they bring that budget 
reconciliation bill up before we leave, in the name of the American 
people, we must vote it down.
  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, members of the Blue Dog Coalition have come 
tonight, not only to point out our Nation's debt and deficit, but to 
offer a solution with our 12-point plan. We look forward to other 
opportunity in the future to further discuss our 12-point plan for 
meaningful budget reform.

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