[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 18, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H3531]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         BUSH BUDGET LEGACY--DEEP DEFICITS AND ECONOMIC DECLINE

  (Ms. WATSON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, in January, 2001, President Bush inherited a 
fiscal situation stronger than any in half a century. When President 
Clinton left office, the Federal budget was on track to retire all debt 
for the first time since 1835 and add $3 trillion in net national 
savings. But Republican trickle-down economic policies changed all 
that--squandering the entire budget surplus and instead creating 
deficits in the trillions.
  Republicans let budget rules lapse. They increased spending, they cut 
revenue, and enacted expensive tax cuts for those who needed them the 
least. On President Bush's watch, the debt held by the public grew from 
$3.4 to $6.3 trillion. The gross Federal debt doubled, and foreign-held 
debt more than tripled.
  Mr. Speaker, the healthy fiscal forecast the Bush administration 
inherited 8 years ago has now been replaced by record budget deficits 
as far as the eye can see and an economy in a tailspin. This is the 
unfortunate situation that President Bush left President Obama. It 
stands in stark contrast to what President Bush inherited in 2001 and 
demonstrates the harmful effects of Republican economic policies.

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