[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 113 (Friday, July 24, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1955]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  STATUTORY PAY-AS-YOU-GO ACT OF 2009

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                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 22, 2009

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 
2920, the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2009, which re-commits the 
Congress to the fiscal restraint and deficit reduction that produced 
budget surpluses and shared prosperity during the 1990s.
  The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act, or ``PAYGO,'' requires Congress to 
offset the costs of tax cuts or increases in entitlement spending with 
savings elsewhere in the budget. This proposal is enforceable and it is 
realistic because it allows Congress to maintain a select number of 
policies without offsets such as Medicare physician payments and the 
Alternative Minimum Tax that Congress votes overwhelmingly to extend 
every year.
  H.R. 2920 is similar to the PAYGO law Democrats enacted under 
President Clinton to reverse the huge deficits created by the Reagan 
and George H.W. Bush Administrations. Unfortunately, another President 
Bush and a Republican-controlled Congress allowed these rules to expire 
in 2002 with devastating results. Reckless tax cuts for the wealthy and 
an Iraq war financed with deficit spending transformed a projected 
budget surplus of $5.6 trillion into a projected deficit of $4.5 
trillion in only a few short years. The Bush Administration's 
uncontrolled deficit spending and total failure to regulate the 
financial sector produced an economic meltdown that pushed the U.S. 
economy to the brink of collapse by early 2009.
  Thankfully, responsibility is again in fashion in Washington. 
President Obama and the Democratic Congress are focused on economic 
recovery and modernization. Statutory PAYGO is a crucial step to 
restore fiscal discipline, force difficult choices on taxes and 
spending, and begin reducing the deep deficits left by the previous 
Administration. As a member of the House Budget and Appropriations 
Committees, I know that deficit reduction will enable the Congress to 
make needed investments in priorities such as health care, education, 
and clean energy in the coming years.
  I urge my colleagues to vote with me to pass the Statutory Pay-As-
You-Go Act and make the Congress live with the same reality every 
Minnesota family faces: you cannot spend money you do not have.

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