[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 17846-17849]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                        REALITIES OF THE BUDGET

  Mr. HOLLINGS. I certainly appreciate it. I really appreciate the 
significance of and the emphasis the distinguished Senator from 
Illinois and the distinguished Senator from California are exchanging 
on the floor about the realities of the budget.
  Mr. President, some years ago, there was this debate between Walter 
Lippmann and the famous educator, John Dewey, with relation to how to 
build a strong democracy. Mr. Lippmann contended the way to have and 
maintain a strong democracy was to get the best of minds in the various 
disciplines countrywide--whether in education, housing, foreign 
relations, financial and fiscal policy, or otherwise--and let them meet 
around the table and determine the needs of the Nation and the policy 
thereof; take care of those needs, give it to the politicians, give it 
to the Congress, and let them enact it. It was John Dewey's 
contention--no, he said, what we need is the free press to tell the 
American people the truth. These truths would be reflected through 
their Representatives on the floor of the national Congress, and the 
democracy would continue strong.
  For 200-some years now, we have had that free press reporting those 
truths. But, unfortunately, until this morning--until this morning, Mr. 
President--they have been coconspirators, so to speak, in that they 
have joined in calling spending increases spending cuts, and calling 
deficits surpluses. Eureka. I picked up the Washington Post this 
morning, and on the front page, the right-hand headline, they talk 
about the shenanigans of emergency spending and calling up the CBO with 
different economic assumptions--finding $10 billion. Just go to the 
phone if you are Chairman of the Budget Committee, call up Mr. Crippen 
over at CBO and say: Wait a minute. Those economic assumptions we used 
in the budget resolution--I have different ones. Therefore, give me $10 
billion more. It is similar to calling up a rich uncle.
  That is now being exposed in the Wall Street Journal. Of all things, 
they are talking in the front middle section about national and 
international news headlines and talking about double accounting and 
how they give them credit for saving the money and spending it at the 
same time. There is a whole column by our friend David Rogers on page 
24. So, eureka, I found it. We are now breaking through and beginning 
to speak the truth.
  I know the distinguished Chair is very much interested in actual and 
accurate accounting, and the actual fact is we are running a deficit, 
the Congressional Budget Office says, of $103 billion this year, which 
ends with August and September--just 2 more months after this July, and 
we will have spent $103 billion more than we take in; namely, on the 
deficit.
  So, Mr. President, when you hear all of this jargon and plans about 
surpluses and how they find them and whatever else, you go to the books 
and you turn to their reports and you say: Wait a minute now. The 
President came out in his document here, the CBO report--and I hold in 
my hand the midsession review, which came out 10 days ago and I said: 
Wait a minute. Let me find out where they find this surplus.
  On the contrary, on page 42, under the heading ``Total Gross Federal 
Debt''--Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that this page be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

          TABLE 21.--FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FINANCING AND DEBT WITH SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE REFORM \1\
                                            [In billions of dollars]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                            Estimates
                                        1998   -----------------------------------------------------------------
                                       Actual      1999       2000       2001       2002       2003       2004
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Financing:
    Surplus or deficit(-)..........       69.2       98.8      137.4      144.1      154.2      165.1      175.0
        (On-budget)................      -29.9      -24.8  .........  .........  .........  .........  .........
        (Off-budget)...............       99.2      123.6      137.4      144.1      154.2      165.1      175.0
    Means of financing other than
     borrowing from the public:
        Medicare solvency transfers  .........  .........        4.8        0.3       12.3        5.2        6.9
        Changes in:\2\
            Treasury operating cash        4.7       -6.1  .........  .........  .........  .........  .........
             balance...............
            Checks outstanding,          -10.5       -1.6       -1.2  .........  .........  .........  .........
             etc.\3\...............
            Deposit fund balances..       -0.8       -1.7  .........  .........  .........  .........  .........
        Seigniorage on coins.......        0.6        1.0        1.0        1.0        1.0        1.0        1.0
        Less: Net financing
         disbursements:
            Direct loan financing        -11.5      -25.2      -21.2      -20.1      -19.6      -19.2      -17.7
             accounts..............
            Guaranteed loan               -0.5        1.6        0.9        1.8        1.8        1.8        2.0
             financing accounts....
                                    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Total, means of          -18.0      -32.0      -15.8      -17.0       -4.4      -11.2       -7.8
                 financing other
                 than borrowing
                 from the public...
                                    ============================================================================
                    Total,                51.3       66.8      121.6      127.1      149.8      154.0      167.2
                 repayment of the
                 debt held by the
                 public............
    Change in debt held by the           -51.3      -66.8     -121.6     -127.1     -149.8     -154.0     -167.2
     public........................
Debt Outstanding, End of Year:
    Gross Federal debt:
        Debt issued by Treasury....    5,449.3    5,586.7    5,675.9    5,754.3    5,840.5    5,924.1    6,006.8
        Debt issued by other              29.4       28.6       27.7       26.7       25.7       24.3       23.0
         agencies..................
                                    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Total, gross Federal       5,478.7    5,615.3    5,703.6    5,781.0    5,866.1    5,948.4    6,029.8
             debt..................
    Held by:
        Government accounts........    1,758.8    1,962.2    2,172.2    2,376.6    2,611.6    2,847.9    3,096.5
        The public.................    3,719.9    3,653.0    3,531.4    3,404.4    3,254.5    3,100.5    2,933.3
            Federal Reserve Banks        458.1  .........  .........  .........  .........  .........  .........
             \4\...................
            Other..................    3,261.7  .........  .........  .........  .........  .........  .........
Debt Subject to Statutory
 Limitation, End of Year:
    Debt issued by Treasury........    5,449.3    5,586.7    5,675.9    5,754.3    5,840.5    5,924.1    6,006.8
    Less: Treasury debt not subject      -15.5      -15.5      -15.5      -15.5      -15.5      -15.5      -15.5
     to limitation \5\.............
    Agency debt subject to                 0.2        0.1        0.1        0.1        0.1        0.1        0.1
     limitation....................
    Adjustment for discount and            5.5        5.5        5.5        5.5        5.5        5.5        5.5
     premium \6\...................
                                    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Total, debt subject to         5,439.4    5,576.7    5,665.9    5,744.3    5,830.5    5,914.1   5,996.8
         statutory limitation \7\..
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Treasury securities held by the public and zero-coupon bonds held by Government accounts are almost entirely
  measured at sales price plus amortized discount or less amortized premium. Agency debt is almost entirely
  measured at face value. Treasury securities in the Government account series are measured at face value less
  unrealized discount (if any).
\2\ A decrease in the Treasury operating cash balance (which is an asset) is a means of financing the deficit
  and therefore has a positive sign. An increase in checks outstanding or deposit fund balances (which are
  liabilities) would also be a means of financing the deficit and therefore would also have a positive sign.
\3\ Besides checks outstanding, includes accrued interest payable on Treasury debt, miscellaneous liability
  accounts, allocations of special drawing rights, and as an offset, cash and monetary assets other than the
  Treasury operating cash balance, miscellaneous asset accounts, and profit on sale of gold.
\4\ Debt held by the Federal Reserve Banks is not estimated for future years.
\5\ Consists primarily of Federal Financing Bank debt.
\6\ Consists of unamortized discount (less premium) on public issues of Treasury notes and bonds and unrealized
  discount on Government account series securities, except, in both cases, for zero-coupon bonds.
\7\ The statutory debt limits is $5,950 billion.


[[Page 17847]]

  Mr. HOLLINGS. Then you see the total gross Federal debt, and you see 
for the 5-year projection--from the years 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 
2004--it goes from a debt of $5.7036 trillion to $6.298 trillion. That 
shows the debt going up. And everybody is talking ``surplus.''
  Then I turn over to page 43. This is the President's projection. You 
can see over the 15 years--not 5 years.
  I ask unanimous consent that page 43 be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                                TABLE 22.--FEDERAL DEBT WITH SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE REFORM
                                                                                    [In billions of dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                   Estimates                                                         Projections
                                                          --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             2000     2001     2002     2003     2004     2005     2006     2007     2008     2009     2010     2011     2012     2013     2014
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Debt held by the public:
    Debt held by the public, beginning of period.........    3,653    3,531    3,404    3,255    3,101    2,933    2,744    2,525    2,262    1,964    1,625    1,249      944      637      335
    Debt reduction from:
        Off-budget surplus:
        Surplus pending Social Security and Medicare          -137     -144     -154     -165     -175     -193     -202     -215     -225     -233     -243     -246     -248     -246     -241
         reform..........................................
            Social Security solvency transfers...........        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0     -107     -125     -145     -166
            Returns on investment of transfers \1\.......        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0       -3      -14      -27      -43
        Medicare solvency transfers......................       -5       -0      -12       -5       -7      -10      -29      -59      -83     -113     -142      -67      -68      -65      -58
    Less purchase of equities by Social Security trust           0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0      110      139      172      209
     fund \1\............................................
    Other financing requirements \2\.....................       21       17       17       16       15       13       12       11        9        8        8        8        8        9        9
                                                          --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Total changes................................     -122     -127     -150     -154     -167     -189     -219     -263     -298     -339     -376     -305     -307     -302     -291
                                                          --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Debt held by the public, end of period...............    3,531    3,404    3,255    3,101    2,933    2,744    2,525    2,262    1,964    1,625    1,249      944      637      335       44
    Less market value of equities........................        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0     -110     -248     -420     -629
    Debt held by the public, less equity holdings, end of    3,531    3,404    3,255    3,101    2,933    2,744    2,525    2,262    1,964    1,625    1,249      834      388      -85     -585
     period..............................................
Debt held by Government accounts:
    Debt held by Government accounts, beginning of period    1,962    2,172    2,377    2,612    2,848    3,096    3,363    3,667    4,012    4,394    4,823    5,299    5,822    6,374    6,949
    Increase prior to Social Security reform.............      205      204      222      230      240      254      271      280      289      299      310      315      318      317      314
    Social Security and Medicare solvency transfers......        5        0       12        5        7       10       29       59       83      113      142      173      193      210      224
    Earnings on solvency transfers invested in Treasury          0        0        1        1        2        2        3        6       11       17       25       35       42       48       55
     securities..........................................
    Less purchase of equities by Social Security trust           0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0     -110     -139     -172     -209
     fund \1\............................................
                                                          --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Total changes................................      210      204      235      236      249      266      304      345      382      429      476      523      552      575      593
                                                          --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Debt held by Government accounts, end of period......    2,172    2,377    2,612    2,848    3,096    3,363    3,667    4,012    4,394    4,823    5,299    5,822    6,374    6,949    7,543
    Plus market value of equities........................        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0      110      248      420      629
                                                          --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Debt and equities held by Government accounts, end of    2,172    2,377    2,612    2,848    3,096    3,363    3,667    4.012    4,394    4,823    5,299    5,932    6,623    7,369    8,172
     period..............................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Includes accrued capital gains.
\2\ Primarily credit programs.
Note: Projections for 2010 through 2014 are an OMB extension of detailed agency budget estimates through 2009.

  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, you see the debt held by government 
accounts, end of period, $7.543 trillion, plus up there at the end of 
the period, the little 44, making an increase of debt to $7.587 
trillion. There is the debt going up from $5.6 trillion to $7.6 
trillion, an increase of $2 trillion in the debt.
  Everybody is talking ``surplus.'' I wonder where in the world do they 
get the surplus. We are beginning to see it in the double accounting in 
the Wall Street Journal and otherwise.
  Let's go to the Congressional Budget Office because my good friend, 
the distinguished Senator from Nebraska, talked about a $2.9 trillion 
surplus. He is right. In the rhetoric at the very beginning, they talk 
about a surplus here on page 2--cumulative onbudget surpluses of 
projected and total, nearly $1 trillion between 1999 and 2009. During 
that same period, cumulative off-budget surpluses will total slightly 
more than $2 trillion. That is where he finds, I take it, the $2.9 
trillion.
  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record from the 
Congressional Budget Office report of July 1, page 19.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                         TABLE 10.--CBO BASELINE PROJECTIONS OF INTEREST COSTS AND FEDERAL DEBT
                                                                    [By fiscal year]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               Actual
                                                1998     1999     2000     2001     2002     2003     2004     2005     2006     2007     2008     2009
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                                                       NET INTEREST OUTLAYS (BILLIONS OF DOLLARS)
 
Interest on Public Debt (Gross interest)\1\.      364      356      358      358      350      345      342      338      333      328      323      316
Interest Received by Trust Funds:
    Social Security.........................      -47      -53      -59      -67      -74      -82      -91     -100     -110     -121     -132     -144
    Other trust funds \2\...................      -67      -68      -70      -73      -74      -76      -79      -81      -84      -87      -89      -92
                                             -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Subtotal............................     -114     -120     -129     -140     -148     -159     -170     -182     -194     -208     -222     -236
Other Interest \3\..........................       -7       -7       -6       -7       -7       -7       -8       -8       -8       -8       -8       -9
            Total...........................      243      229      222      212      194      179      164      148      131      112       92       71
 
                                                FEDERAL DEBT AT THE END OF THE YEAR (BILLIONS OF DOLLARS)
 
Gross Federal Debt..........................    5,479    5,582    5,664    5,721    5,737    5,760    5,770    5,770    5,732    5,675    5,600    5,500
Debt Held by Government Accounts:
    Social Security.........................      730      856    1,003    1,157    1,321    1,493    1,675    1,869    2,075    2,292    2,520    2,755
    Other accounts \2\......................    1,029    1,107    1,188    1,267    1,350    1,431    1,510    1,589    1,666    1,743    1,813    1,880
                                             -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Subtotal............................    1,759    1,963    2,190    2,425    2,670    2,925    3,185    3,458    3,741    4,035    4,333    4,635
Debt Held by the Public.....................    3,720    3,618    3,473    3,297    3,066    2,835    2,584    2,312    1,992    1,640    1,267      865
Debt Subject to Limit \4\...................    5,439    5,543    5,626    5,684    5,700    5,724    5,734    5,736    5,699    5,643    5,568    5,469
 
                                                 FEDERAL DEBT AS A PERCENTAGE OF GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTS
 
Debt Held by the Public.....................     44.3     40.9     37.5     34.2     30.5     27.1     23.7     20.3     16.8     13.2      9.8      6.4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Excludes interest costs of debt issued by agencies other than the Treasury (primarily the Tennessee Valley Authority).
\2\ Mainly Civil Service retirement, Military Retirement, Medicare, unemployment insurance, and the Airport and Airway Trust Fund.
\3\ Mainly interest on loans to the public.
\4\ Differs from the gross federal debt primarily because most debt issued by agencies other than the Treasury is excluded from the debt limit. The
  current debt limit is $5,950 billion.
 
Source: Congressional Budget Office.
Note: Projections of interest and debt assume that discretionary spending will equal the statutory caps on such spending through 2002 and will grow at
  the rate of inflation thereafter.


[[Page 17848]]

  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I have given the American people, as 
John Dewey said, ``the truth,'' because you look from 2000 right on 
through where they talk about the gross Federal debt, and the gross 
Federal debt starts up from the year 2000 and increases to the year 
2004 from $5.664 trillion to $6.029 trillion. It is the same for 2004 
and 2005.
  Yes. I will agree that the Congressional Budget Office shows a 
diminution, a reduction, in the deficit from the year 2005 to 2009 over 
the 4-year period. There is a saving or reduction in 2006 of $38 
billion; a reduction in the year 2007 of $57 billion; a reduction in 
the year 2008 of $75 billion; and a reduction in the year 2009 of $100 
billion. So it is a cumulative reduction of $270 billion.
  They talk about a $2.9 trillion surplus? At best they could talk, 
under the Congressional Budget Office, about $270 billion.
  The reason they even can find the $270 billion is the most favorable 
of circumstances. The most favorable of circumstances is, one, current 
policy, as they say on one of the pages here. It says that it assumes 
discretionary spending will equal the statutory caps on such spending 
through 2002, and will grow at the rate of inflation thereafter.
  That is the most favorable circumstance--no increases; just cap the 
spending, and adjust inflation thereafter for the first 5 years and 
inflation thereafter for the next 5 years. It assumes no emergency 
spending.
  We have already seen that they are calling, as the distinguished 
Senator from Illinois was pointing out, the census an emergency. They 
have veterans' benefits as an emergency and they have everything else 
as an emergency. It assumes also that there is no tax cut and that the 
interest rate stays the same. You have all of these favorable 
assumptions, and at best, under the Congressional Budget Office, a 
saving of $270 billion rather than $2.9 trillion.
  I have been trying my best to get a time to get on this floor. I 
thank everybody for the simple reason that the best of circumstances 
here are that, yes, inflation is low; interest rates are down; 
unemployment is down; employment figures are up. We have the best of 
circumstances, to President Clinton's credit. Yes, the deficits have 
been coming down.
  Having said that, as Alan Greenspan said earlier in the year, let's 
stay the course. Let's stay the course and make sure we continue this, 
if there is ever a time to pay down the bill--I am glad the Senator 
from Illinois touched on this--the interest costs.
  I was a member of the Grace Commission against waste, fraud, and 
abuse. We created during the 1980s the biggest waste in the world by 
voting a 25-percent across-the-board tax cut. Here we are about to 
repeat the crime. That is a crime against common sense. It is a crime 
against future generations. There isn't any question about it.
  But everybody is talking about a tax cut. Republicans are talking one 
tax cut. The Democrats are talking, the White House is talking, and 
everybody is talking tax cut when in reality we don't have any taxes to 
cut. We don't have any revenues to lose. Everybody knows that. We 
created the biggest waste in that year. The interest costs are 
practically $1 billion a day on the national debt.
  On the same page as we have included in the Record, page 19, you will 
see in the 10-year period, from 2000 through 2009, we spend on interest 
costs--total waste--$3.4441 trillion for nothing over the 10-year 
period.
  They are talking about fanciful surpluses out of the atmosphere that 
do not exist, and otherwise not talking about the tremendous waste for 
the crass hypocrisy of this monkeyshine of politics that we have to 
somehow neutralize the Republican tax cut with our tax cut. Come on. 
Can't we neutralize ourselves with the truth for a change? We are 
spending $3.4 trillion.
  I see my distinguished colleague, the Senator from North Dakota, 
looking. I must have already used up my time.
  I yield to the distinguished Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, will the Senator yield for a question?
  Mr. HOLLINGS. Yes.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, yesterday on NPR's ``Morning Edition,'' 
Kevin Phillips, a Republican author and commentator, had some 
interesting comments, and I wonder if the Senator from South Carolina 
had an opportunity to hear this Republican commentator discussing the 
House of Representatives tax cut.

       Tax bills often deal with Pie in the Sky. The mind boggling 
     ten-year cuts passed late last week by the House of 
     Representatives however deserve a new term: Pie in 
     Stratosphere.

  He points out that the top 1 percent would get 33 percent of the tax 
cuts; the bottom 60 percent get only 7 percent of the tax cuts.
  I thought the last paragraph of this Republican commentator was 
interesting:

       We can fairly call the House legislation the most 
     outrageous tax package in 50 years. It's worse than the 1981 
     excesses, you have to go back to 1948, when the Republican 
     80th Congress sent a kindred bill to President Harry Truman. 
     Truman vetoed it, calling the Republicans bloodsuckers, with 
     offices in Wall Street. Not only did he win reelection, but 
     the Democrats recaptured Congress. We'll see if Bill Clinton 
     and Albert Gore have anything resembling Truman's guts.

  This is from a Republican commentator. He points out the amount of 
these tax cuts extending 10 years into the future, by economists who 
predict these surpluses; economists who can't remember their phone 
numbers and their home addresses are telling Americans that in 3, 5, 10 
years in the future we will have big surpluses. What do we do? The 
House of Representatives says: Give most of the surpluses back to 1 
percent of the people.
  A Republican columnist, Kevin Phillips, says it is the most 
outrageous tax package in the last 50 years.
  Can the Senator from South Carolina comment?
  Mr. HOLLINGS. I will comment, too, on what the Senator from Illinois 
discussed about the lockbox and why we can't talk. We couldn't talk 
about lockbox, and we couldn't get cloture for the simple reason they 
would not allow my amendments. I gave them notice. I sent a ``Dear 
Colleague'' letter to all Senators. I said, No. 1, I will put in a true 
lockbox. It was worked out with the Social Security Administration. Ken 
Apfel, who used to work with me when I was chairman of the Budget 
Committee, is now the Social Security Administrator. The only way to 
get a true lockbox is to not double the counting and say, I saved it, 
but then spend it. On the contrary, actually require the Secretary of 
the Treasury to deposit those amounts each month, place the Treasury 
bills you have to issue for the debt of Social Security back into the 
Social Security trust fund.
  Somebody says: Wait; what are you going to do with that money? Do 
exactly what all pension reserves and insurance companies do: Keep it 
there--what we did for 35 years, from 1935 to 1968, until this changed 
in 1969. I was going to put a cap on the debt. They think it is a 
surplus. Say whatever the debt is as of September 30th, in 2 months' 
time, cap it off. Say that can't be exceeded. Put that limit there and 
find out who is telling the truth.
  They are talking surpluses. I am saying it is deficits. It is debt 
increases.
  Also, cut out the monkeyshine. The distinguished Senator from New 
Mexico and I had challenged the late Senator Chiles when he was 
chairman of the Budget Committee and he started using different 
economic assumptions. We lost on appeal of the ruling of the Chair, but 
we came around with 301(g) and wrote in the Budget Act that you 
couldn't have the new economic assumptions different from those in each 
particular budget resolution. These are the things we wanted to put in 
with respect to getting truth in budgeting when we passed Gramm-Rudman-
Hollings back in 1985.
  We have gone totally astray--the White House, Republican and 
Democrat, the news media--until this morning. That is my point. I thank 
the Wall Street Journal, I thank the Washington Post for finally 
reporting some of the truths out here. If we can't level with the 
American people, no wonder they are talking about ``what kind'' of

[[Page 17849]]

tax cut. They all want to pay down the debt. When they use the 
expression, ``pay down the debt'' or the ``public debt,'' it doesn't 
pay any debt at all.
  Those T bills come due during the next 10 years and are not renewed. 
In the meantime, while they are not being renewed, the debt is 
transferred over to Social Security and other trust funds, so we owe 
Social Security this very minute $857 billion; by the year 2009, we 
will owe Social Security $2.7 trillion. Then they talk not only of 
surpluses but saving Social Security, how we have extended the life of 
Social Security, when we have actually bankrupted the blooming program.
  Mr. President, $2.7 trillion by 2009; we get to 2013, when they 
really need the money, and it will be over $3 trillion. What Congress 
will find $3 trillion to start paying the benefits? This is serious 
business.
  I see the distinguished Senator from Wyoming.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I have one question.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time has expired.
  Mrs. BOXER. I ask unanimous consent for 2 additional minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. ENZI. Reserving the right to object, our side hasn't had 1 minute 
of debate on this; the other side has used up 45 minutes.
  Mrs. BOXER. I ask for 2 additional minutes so that the senior Senator 
may answer a question.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. BOXER. Has the Senator heard from his people that they are 
clamoring for the tax cuts? Has he heard from his people who are 
earning in the high dollar amounts, and who will benefit from this, 
that they want the tax cuts?
  Someone earning $800,000 a year is going to get back $22,000 a year, 
and someone earning $30,000 gets back $100 bucks. Are the phones in his 
office ringing off the hook with people asking for these tax cuts and 
to forget about Social Security and Medicare?
  Mr. HOLLINGS. I thank the distinguished Senator and will limit my 
time so the Senator from Wyoming can take the floor.
  The answer is, no, the phone is not ringing off the hook. I had this 
in the campaign for reelection last year. I put in a value-added tax in 
order to retire the deficit and the debt. Of course, I was called 
``High Tax Hollings.'' I said, rather than tax cuts, we ought to get 
rid of the national debt and the waste of interest costs of $1 billion 
a day. I was reelected.
  We have the most Republican of all States. South Carolina is the most 
conservative of all States.
  Somehow the truth is coming around to the American people, or at 
least to the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal as of this 
morning. I thank them for that.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.

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