[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 24314]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



              TO DETERMINE CREDIBILITY, LOOK TO THE RECORD

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, sometimes it is difficult for people to 
tell who is being straight with them and who is being misleading or 
disingenuous. One way to help decide who ought to be believed and who 
not is to look at the record and the credibility of those making 
various claims.
  Take Social Security, for example. The record will show that the 
other party controlled this House for 40 years, along with its 
appropriations process, and not only failed to put aside one dime of 
the Social Security surplus; but 30 years ago they began the annual 
practice of raiding the Social Security Trust Fund to pay for things 
other than Social Security and left us with a huge Federal debt.
  Just a few months ago, the other party turned their backs on the 
President's own Commission on Social Security because bipartisan Social 
Security reform would take away their ability to scare seniors on the 
issue in the next election process.
  Republicans, on the other hand, have passed Social Security lockbox 
legislation that locks away 100 percent of Social Security taxes for 
Social Security and Medicare, and they have been reserving H.R. 1 even 
to this day for the President's proposal on Social Security reform.
  So in judging credibility, look at the record, not just rhetoric.

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