[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 25164]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                              {time}  1030

               WE HAVE REACHED THE PROMISED LAND, FOR NOW

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, we have reached the promised land for now. 
The Federal Government, for the first time, the first time since 1960, 
balanced its budget in the just-ended year without tapping Social 
Security. The Congressional Budget Office reported that yesterday.
  Now, this is very, very important. Those people who paid their money 
into Social Security in the form of taxes now can realize that they are 
protected, they are secure. Quote, ``We stopped the raid on Social 
Security. There is no going back,'' end quote. That is what our leader, 
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey), said. And this is what Robert 
Reischauer of the Brookings Institution said, ``In a sense what we have 
done is we have reached the promised land and it will become an issue 
of who lost the promised land.''
  Republicans are committed. Stop the raid on Social Security.

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