[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 2 (Friday, January 5, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H61]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

  (Mr. SALAZAR asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SALAZAR. Madam Speaker, the administration has turned a projected 
10-year, $5.6 billion surplus into a nearly $3 trillion deficit. Over 
the past 6 years, America's debt has climbed 50 percent to more than 
$28,000 per person. It is so bad that this administration has borrowed 
more money from foreign nations than all previous 42 U.S. Presidents 
combined. That is the fiscal mess that we inherit from the 109th 
Congress.
  We believe it is time that we finally get our fiscal house in order. 
Today, we will restore the pay-as-you-go rules that were instrumental 
to the budget surpluses we experienced in the early 1990s. Pay-as-you-
go budgeting with no new deficit spending is a key first step. This 
will reverse the budget deficits that are currently passing billions of 
dollars in debt to our children and our grandchildren.
  It was wrong to eliminate pay-as-you-go in 2002. We need to begin to 
treat our Federal budget in the way that working families treat their 
budgets, and pay-as-you-go is a good first step.
  Madam Speaker, I hope that this House can act in a bipartisan fashion 
to restore fiscal responsibility to Washington.

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