[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14720]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 14720]]

                    PUT OUR FINANCIAL HOUSE IN ORDER

  (Mr. SHIMKUS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, ask a liberal what he would do to get rid 
of the budget deficit, and he or she will say: Raise taxes. Ask a 
conservative the same question, and he or she will say: Cut spending. 
That in a nutshell is how we got from a huge budget deficit to the 
current budget surplus we now enjoy. President Clinton choose the 
liberal way when he raised taxes in 1993, the largest tax increase in 
history. Republicans took over the majority in Congress in 1995 and 
have tried to cut spending and limit the amount of new big government 
spending programs proposed by the liberals. Two different visions, two 
different paths to achieve the common goal of a balanced budget.
  Republicans forced the President to submit a balanced budget after 
his first two budgets contained $200 billion deficits as far as the eye 
can see. We are grateful that the President finally agreed to work with 
Republicans to put our financial house in order. Lower mortgage 
interest rates, lower credit card payments and more job creation have 
resulted from the change from budget deficits to budget surplus. Good 
fiscal discipline will help save Social Security and Medicare.

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