[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 113 (Friday, July 24, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1928]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  STATUTORY PAY-AS-YOU-GO ACT OF 2009

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 22, 2009

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of our Nation's fiscal 
future and for the passage of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2009, 
H.R. 2920.
  During my time in Congress, I have always strived to be a good 
steward of taxpayer money. In fact during a previous session of 
Congress, the Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog group, 
presented me with its Fiscal Responsibility Award for my votes to 
maintain fiscal discipline, reject irresponsible tax cuts, and 
eliminate corporate welfare.
  In 2007, I was pleased that the House of Representatives restored the 
``pay-as-you-go'' principle in the House rules when Democrats regained 
control of the House in the 110th Congress. This simple rule ensures 
that every new dollar of spending is offset and will not worsen the 
deficit. The House's pay-go rule requires that legislation affecting 
direct spending or revenues must not increase the deficit (or reduce 
the surplus) over a six-year or eleven-year period. I strongly 
supported these efforts. While a PAYGO rule is a good first step, H.R. 
2920 goes further by applying automatically to legislation and provides 
an automatic enforcement mechanism to ensure Congress follows fiscal 
discipline.
  Fiscal discipline served us well in the past. In the 1990's with pay-
as-you-go as the law, we turned the massive deficits of the 1980's into 
a record surplus under President Clinton. When President Bush came into 
office in 2001, he inherited a projected ten-year, $5.6 trillion budget 
surplus. Over the first six years of the Bush administration, however, 
the President and Republican-controlled Congress turned that surplus 
into a projected ten-year, $2 trillion deficit and allowed the 
statutory PAYGO requirement to lapse in 2002. This was followed by 6 
years of unrestrained spending under President Bush and the federal 
debt held by the public doubled.
  The most instructive gauge of the federal deficit is the federal debt 
as a percentage of our total economy or Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 
According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the budget 
surpluses and fiscal discipline of the 1990's reduced the debt from 
49.4 percent of GDP to 33 percent of GDP by 2001. During President 
Bush's two terms, that figure rose back to 41 percent of GDP.
  PAYGO is only one tool, but it is a strong one to return our Nation 
back to fiscal stability. The PAYGO rule forces Congress to identify 
inefficient or ineffective programs whose funding can be cut to fund 
higher priorities, such as health care, education, and clean energy. 
This rule also sends a message to the American people that the 
government is committed to putting the country back on stable economic 
footing. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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