[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 9 (Thursday, January 15, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H372-H373]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  WHEN THE WELL RUNS DRY: A BIPARTISAN APPROACH TO ENTITLEMENT REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, our financial situation is at a critical 
mass. Everywhere you look, everything you read, more bad news, no end 
in sight. Of massive budget shortfalls President-elect Obama has said, 
``If we do nothing, we will continue to see red ink as far as we can 
see.''
  Last week, the Congressional Budget Office projected the Federal 
budget deficit will balloon to $1.2 trillion this fiscal year, and that 
does not include the economic stimulus package proposed by the incoming 
administration. These staggering numbers are deeply troubling today and 
pose a dire choice for our children and our grandchildren.
  Simply put, our Nation is slowly going broke. Without a change of 
course initiated by Congress, we will follow what Comptroller General 
David Walker characterized as a financial ``tsunami strong enough to 
swamp the ship of state.'' It will sweep our children and our 
grandchildren off their feet, leaving far less opportunity for future 
generations.
  Out-of-control spending is not just an economic issue, it is a moral 
issue also. Is it right for our generation to live very well, knowing 
that future generations of Americans will inherit a broken system in 
the form of massive debt, Social Security and Medicare obligations, 
unsustainable spending and commitments that cannot be kept?
  Entitlement spending has such a tight grip on the rest of the Federal 
Government that every day the 111th Congress waits to act is another 
day that vital discretionary programs, domestic and international, are 
in jeopardy. That is what we are facing today.
  Everyone, whether you are a Republican or Democrat, should be 
alarmed. As parents and grandparents, we should care that without 
adequate resources our children won't receive the first-class education 
they need to compete in the global market. Already the tests show that 
one-third of U.S. students lack the competency to perform the most 
basic mathematical computations.
  People should care that scientists at the National Institutes of 
Health who

[[Page H373]]

are so close to finding cures for devastating disease might not have 
the funding they need for medical research and breakthrough clinical 
trials that will change the way we live. Cancer, Alzheimer's, autism 
will all remain shortchanged if we do not have the discretionary 
funding necessary to put together the pieces.
  Think about the roads, the highways, the bridges. Our children and 
grandchildren may wake up in a dismal scene. These scenarios only 
scratch the surface on how concerned we should be about America's 
future.
  The ramifications of out-of-control spending reach far beyond our 
shores. I have always believed in the biblical admonition that to whom 
much is given, much is required, and have supported efforts, as have 
many in this Congress, to fight global hunger and poverty and disease. 
For example, U.S. Government funding for global HIV/AIDS, TB and 
malaria was nearly $20 billion over the last 5 years. The recent 5-year 
reauthorization commits $50 billion.
  While that is good news for millions hurting around the world, it 
places America in the position of fulfilling a moral obligation to keep 
these vulnerable populations alive. Yet where will the money come from 
if America's foreign assistance dollars continue to shrink because the 
mandatory spending is taking a growing piece of the pie?
  Ecclesiastes 5:5 says, ``It is better not to vow than to make a vow 
and not fulfill it.'' I fear, Madam Speaker, that the vow will not be 
able to be fulfilled because of the deficit spending that we have no 
way to deal with.
  The economic stimulus being shaped by the administration offers an 
opportunity, and Jim Cooper and I have a bipartisan bill, eight 
Republicans and eight Democrats, that puts all spending on the table 
and forces, and forces the Congress to act.
  Many Members of the Congress go home and love to give the speeches at 
the Rotary Clubs talking about how bad the deficit is, but yet when 
they come back to Washington they do nothing about it. So next week, 
Madam Speaker, I will offer an amendment in the appropriations bill to 
put the Cooper-Wolf language into law whereby we can get control of 
this runaway spending.

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