[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2690]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           PHONEY POLITICAL DEFINITION OF ``BALANCED BUDGET''

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 19, 1999, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Metcalf) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. METCALF. Mr. Speaker, we have all heard that we have now done it. 
We have balanced the budget. We have solved the deficit problem. Lots 
of talk. No more deficits. Now we have a surplus. Lot of talk. How 
should we spend it? How should we spend it? Well, we could have tax 
cuts. We could beef up Social Security. We could beef up existing 
programs. Several things.
  Let us get back to reality, back to the cruel facts. We have a 
surplus only by using a political definition of ``a balanced budget.'' 
This definition was designed by the Democrats when they were in the 
majority to mask the size of the deficit. To our discredit, when we 
took over control of the Congress, we continued to use a phoney 
political definition of when the deficit is balanced. And the 
Republicans continued it, and that is wrong.
  From September 30th, 1997, to September 30th, 1998, that is the last 
fiscal year, the 1998 fiscal year, an honest report showed that that 
was the first year we said we had a balanced budget. But an honest 
record shows that we had a $22 billion deficit in that first year that 
we balanced the budget. Well, we cannot do both. In fact, the balanced 
budget was a political definition; and we still do have a deficit.
  However, we are on target to balance the budget. Maybe this year. I 
hope we make it. I am not sure we will. But certainly we are on target 
for the near future.
  Now, as people are lining up now as to how to spend the surplus, 
whenever it happens, there are several things. Safe Social Security is 
topmost on the list. But any major talk of the surplus that we will 
have in a few years must include pay down the debt. We must pay down 
the debt.
  We are paying huge amounts of interest every year on that huge debt. 
In fact, it amounts right now to about $270 billion a year in interest. 
If we can start paying down that debt, then we can lower the interest 
payments, which gives us more money to pay down the debt, which lowers 
the interest payments further, and soon we could have enough money to 
do the job we are supposed to do properly without the kind of things 
that we see happening now.
  So all I am saying, the point of my talk is, this is the time to pay 
down the debt just as soon as possible. Start paying on it, just a 
little bit.
  As I mentioned, the fiscal year that we first said we balanced the 
budget we went further in the hole $22 billion. I called up the 
Treasury Department and I said, how much does the United States owe on 
that particular day, September 30, 1997? And they told me. And I said, 
how much did we owe on September 30, 1998? And they told me. And I used 
to be a math teacher and I can subtract, even if they are big numbers 
up in the billions. We over spent by $22 billion in the first year that 
we claimed to have balanced the budget.
  Let us have honest accounting and let us be careful to get into the 
position of a surplus and then pay down the debt.

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