[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 16, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S599-S600]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. VOINOVICH:
  S. 304. A bill to establish a commission to develop legislation 
designed to reform tax policy and entitlement benefit programs and to 
ensure a sound fiscal future for the United States, and

[[Page S600]]

for other purposes; to the Committee on the Budget.
  Mr. VOINOVICH. Mr. President, a fiscal crisis looms on the horizon. 
As the Nation's demographic tide begins to shift, a fiscal tidal wave 
threatens to overwhelm our economy if we do not act now. Our 
irresponsible fiscal policies have created a grave situation that more 
and more people--Republicans and Democrats--are coming to recognize. We 
can no longer sit back and hope things will work themselves out. A 
potential national disaster threatens to devastate our way of life, and 
we have a moral responsibility to do something about it.
  In the simplest of terms, the Federal Government continues to spend 
more than it brings in. But, running the credit card for today's needs 
and leaving the bill for future generations should not be the policy of 
this Congress.
  An historical perspective helps to highlight the gravity of our 
current situation.
  The Fiscal Year 2006 budget deficit was $248 billion--the seventh 
largest deficit in our Nation's history. However, if we don't include 
the money we're borrowing from the Social Security Trust Fund, the 
Fiscal Year 2006 budget deficit was $434 billion.
  I arrived in Washington in 1999, and in the 8 short years since, our 
national debt has increased by over 50 percent from $5.6 trillion to a 
staggering $8.6 trillion. It represents 67 percent of the GDP--the 
worst number in 50 years. This means that each man, woman, and child in 
the United States owes $29,000 of the Federal Government's debt.
  And yet, these numbers pale in comparison with the budget problems 
looming in our future as the Baby Boom generation begins to retire less 
than a year from now, on January 1, 2008. Our long-term fiscal 
imbalance is $50 trillion. That's hard to even grasp, but it translates 
into $440,000 of future government debt for every American household--
up from a mere $175,000 per household just 6 years ago.
  If we do not sharply curb entitlement spending, the continual growth 
of these programs--especially in healthcare--will crowd out all our 
other spending obligations and collide with historic, long-term level 
of taxes. To put it in perspective, balancing the budget without 
reforming entitlement programs will require raising taxes to European 
levels. And, that would cripple our ingenuity and economy.
  So, what must be done?
  Congress must view our tax code, entitlement programs, and budget 
process as the three components--or pillars--of the nation's fiscal 
foundation, and not as separate entities. Each is intricately linked to 
the other two pillars. We must reform all three areas to raise the 
necessary revenue to ensure effective and responsible behavior by 
Congress and federal agencies, to keep our obligations to future 
generations, and to keep our nation strong.
  First, we need fundamental tax reform to help make the tax code 
simple, fair, transparent, and economically efficient. According to the 
President's tax panel and the Mack-Breaux report, only 13 percent of 
taxpayers file without the help of either a tax preparer or computer 
software program--a function of the complexity of the system. Since 
enacting the Tax Reform Act of 1986--legislation intended to simplify 
the filing process for taxpayers--15,000 additions have been made to 
the Internal Revenue Code.
  We cannot consider tax reform, however, without reforming our growing 
entitlement programs. Our already massive debt will spike yet higher as 
entitlements such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid witness a 
surge of beneficiaries in the form of retiring Baby Boomers. This 
mounting debt will soon become a burden our children cannot bear, 
dragging down our standard of living and our standing in the world.
  Finally, we must restore the third pillar of our fiscal foundation--
the budget process. Together we can streamline the system to help lock 
in long term tax and entitlement reforms. In the past, every major 
deficit reduction package has included a series of budget process 
reforms and enforcement mechanisms designed to prevent Congress from 
undoing tough choices in future years. By transforming the budget 
process, we can fight back against the all-too-common practice of 
gaming the system.
  While some of our colleagues claim we need tax reform, others claim 
we need entitlement reform. The bill I am introducing today, however, 
is the only bill that does it all--because you can't reform one without 
the other, or it's doomed to fail.
  The Securing America's Future Economy Commission Act establishes a 
national, bipartisan commission to examine these broken systems and to 
present solutions to place the nation on a fiscally sustainable course 
and ensure the solvency of entitlement programs for future generations.
  The Commission will be comprised of 16 voting members--an equal 
number of members from each party, with some seats reserved for sitting 
members of Congress. The Treasury Secretary and the OMB Director will 
be members, and the other 14 will be appointed by congressional 
leaders.
  The Commission will hold town hall meetings throughout the country to 
determine the scope of the problem and consider possible policy 
options. The Commission will present a report--and, if a three-fourths 
majority of the Commission agrees, they will present actual legislation 
to Congress.
  The administration and Congress will each have 90 days to review the 
proposal and develop an alternative package of reforms if they believe 
it's necessary. The most important point is that this legislation uses 
a fast-track procedure to guarantee a vote in Congress on the 
Commission's legislation and the congressional and presidential 
alternatives.
  Outside groups across the political spectrum have shown support for 
our efforts, as have business executives--who view our efforts as an 
economic necessity--and religious leaders--who view our efforts as a 
moral necessity. And, when you look at the numbers, it is clear why. We 
have a moral obligation to improve the fiscal health of our Nation. 
Otherwise, our children and grandchildren are going to celebrate 
America's past and the good old days, rather than the future and the 
good new days.
  Restoring our Nation's fiscal health will require hard, bipartisan 
work and tough decisions. That work, however, must begin immediately. 
We cannot afford to put it off any longer.
                                 ______