[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Page 22658]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                              A WISE MOVE

  Mr. JOHNSON. Madam President, first I will speak in response to what 
I regard as the commonsense statesmanship demonstrated on the part of 
the President with his veto of the Republican tax bill. There is an 
acknowledgment that there is around $1 trillion that could come into 
the Treasury over the next 10 years, over and above that required for 
Social Security.
  It was wise on the President's part to say, first of all, we ought to 
be very prudent about whether that trillion dollars will actually 
materialize or not. It is based on assumptions that may or may not come 
true. If they do come true, we should prolong the life of Medicare and 
pay down existing debt.
  Everywhere I go in South Dakota people of both political stripes tell 
me: Pay down the debt, keep interest rates down, make our economy grow, 
and if you still have dollars left, make key investments in education, 
in economic development, child care and health care, and then if there 
are some resources remaining, do give some tax relief.
  The President has submitted a request for $250 million targeted to 
middle-class and working families, the families that need it most. I 
believe that veto is a wise move. We ought to go on to a negotiated end 
to this budget dilemma that will be bipartisan in nature and will be 
much more deliberative, much more thoughtful, and much wiser about how 
to use $1 trillion that may or may not materialize.

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