[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19458]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 19458]]

     WE NEED TO BEHAVE RESPONSIBLY WITH FEDERAL BUDGET AND SURPLUS

  (Mr. HINCHEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HINCHEY. Mr. Speaker, in 1981, then President Reagan pushed 
through the Congress and then signed a tax cut bill that, in the words 
of then budget director Dick Stockman, gave us budget deficits as far 
as the eye could see. Those budget deficits in 1993 approached $300 
billion a year and a national debt approaching $5 trillion a year.
  The Clinton budget resolution of 1993 corrected all of that. We are 
now moving into a situation of budget surpluses, and we have begun to 
pay down the national debt. Now, because of that, the Republicans are 
again proposing another tax cut similar to the one in 1981 which would 
duplicate that process all over again. It is a serious error which we 
need to ensure does not take place.
  With this tax cut, if it passes and it were to be signed, there would 
be no money for education, no money for social security, no money for 
Medicare. Let us make sure we behave in a responsible way with this 
Federal budget and ensure the future of our children and the security 
of our parents and grandparents.

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