[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 27857]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



  REPUBLICAN BUDGET PLAN SHOULD BE RENAMED PORK PROTECTION ACT OF 1999

  (Mr. EDWARDS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. EDWARDS. Madam Speaker, Al Capone can claim he is a crime 
fighter, but it does not make it so. Republicans can claim they are 
really trying to protect Social Security, but it does not make it so.
  Here we are the second day of the second month of the new fiscal 
year, and the majority party, months late, has just passed its final 
appropriations bill, albeit with no effort to be bipartisan.
  There are just a few problems with this gimmickry Republican budget 
plan. First, the plan does not add one year, not one month, not one 
week, not one day, not even one hour to the Social Security or the 
Medicare trust funds.
  Second problem with their plan. It hurts, in some ways, every 
American family. Head Start, cut; college loans, cuts; defense 
readiness, cut below the President's request. Even worse, the 
Republican budget has rules crafted in a way that actually cuts bone 
marrow in order to protect pork. Perhaps the Republican budget plan 
should be renamed the 1999 Pork Protection Act.
  Third problem they have is their numbers do not add up. Their plan 
shows more gimmickry than a French chef. We should reject their plan.

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