[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1637]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 GOOD NEWS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

  (Ms. NORTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I have good news about my city and yours. 
This morning's paper reports that the District of Columbia has a $450 
million surplus and a clean audit. Yes, this is the same city that 
needed a control board three years ago and clearly does not need one 
now.
  The District will not even have to use the authority Congress gave it 
to borrow and eliminate an operating deficit. The city will pay down 
that large deficit from its own revenue. The surplus is by no means all 
a matter of a good economy. Cuts in government redundancy and waste and 
improved tax collections have had a lot to do with it.
  The District has a new mayor and a reinvigorated city council. A 
quiet revolution is in progress in the city where this House lives, 
right under our noses. Look for me to come to the floor often to tell 
my colleagues what they need to know and, I am sure, what they want to 
hear about a Nation's Capital where all can be proud.

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