[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 23347]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                     REPUBLICANS CANNOT HAVE IT ALL

  (Mr. MENENDEZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, crafting a responsible budget is about 
choices. It is about priorities. We Democrats want to use the surplus 
to save Social Security and Medicare, pay down the debt, and educate 
our kids; but Republicans want to use the surplus to fund their risky 
$800 billion tax giveaway.

  Now we Democrats stand by our priorities because we know that they 
are the priorities of the American people, but Republicans cannot seem 
to figure out what they stand for. One minute they are for a huge tax 
cut for the wealthy. Then they claim their number one priority is 
saving Social Security. Then they are the party of education. Then it 
is paying down the debt. Republicans have yet to accept the 
responsibility of leadership because they cannot have it all.

  Right now, their own Congressional Budget Office says their plan 
breaks the spending caps. It busts the budget. If we are going to save 
Social Security and Medicare and pay down our debt, then they cannot 
have an $800 billion tax giveaway. Democrats know that. The President 
knows that, and the American people know that.

  Apparently, with one day left in the fiscal year, Republicans have 
their heads buried in the sand and their priorities all mixed up.

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