[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3249]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




CONGRESS SHOULD TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO GET THE NATION'S FISCAL HOUSE 
                                IN ORDER

  (Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, economists and the Congressional 
Budget Office agree: We have a budget surplus starting in the year 
2001, which will grow to $164 billion by the end of the year 2009.
  Let me tell my colleagues when I talk to people in Oregon what they 
say about the budget. First of all, Oregonians believe we need to keep 
our budget balanced, we need to pay off the huge national debt, and we 
need to make sure our future generations are not left holding the bag 
for our generation's party.
  Leaving behind a debt that we did not have the moral fortitude to pay 
off is simply wrong. Reducing the national debt now, economists 
predict, will result in a further decline in interest rates. Now, let 
me tell my colleagues, lower interest rates are good for the homeowner, 
they are good for the businessperson, they are good for the farmer, and 
they are good for the student in the classroom.
  Mr. Speaker, last year we spent, listen to this number, $243 billion, 
billion, of Federal taxpayers' money on the interest. That is four 
times what we spent on education. Four times. As a member of the House 
Committee on the Budget, I want to take this opportunity to get our 
fiscal house in order.

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