[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 6201]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET--FISCAL YEAR 2000

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. HAROLD E. FORD, JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 25, 1999

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the concurrent resolution 
     (H. Con. Res. 68) establishing the congressional budget for 
     the United States Government for fiscal year 2000 and setting 
     forth appropriate budgetary levels for each of fiscal years 
     2001 through 2009:

  Mr. FORD. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the Spratt 
substitute, and in strong opposition to this unfair procedure and this 
sham Republican budget.
  It is unfair that the majority is only permitting 40 minutes of 
debate on viable budget alternatives; why are we telling the American 
people that this important resolution deserves such limited debate?
  The Republican budget resolution fails in many important areas: it 
fails to protect Social Security; unrealistically slashes domestic 
spending; and contains huge tax cuts that will be targeted towards the 
wealthy and will explode in future years.
  I am supportive of the Spratt Alternative for a number of reasons: 
First, it saves 100% of the Social Security surplus while extending the 
solvency of the program; it also extends the solvency of the Medicare 
Trust Fund until 2020. Finally, it provides increases to programs that 
are a prirotiy for me: class size reduction, child care, Welfare-to-
Work, and Urban Empowerment Zones.
  The Spratt Alternative also pays down $146 billion more in public 
debt over 10 years than the Republican resolution.
  Let's put this in real terms:
  Paying down the debt is the best way to put more money in our 
taxpayer's pockets. If we pay down the debt, interest rates drop. What 
does this mean?
  A 2% dip in interest rates drops the mortgage payment on a $115,000 
home from $844 to $689--a decrease of $155 each month!
  For a small business that takes out a five-year, $200,000 loan would 
save $2,256 per year, and $11,280 over the life of the loan.
  This, my friends, is REAL monty and will make a difference to each of 
our constituents.
  In 1998, we spent 14% of our budget on interest payments on our 
national debt. That money could instead be used to cut taxes, or invest 
in education.
  Let's continue to do the hard work now to secure our future.
  Vote ``no'' on the Republican budget, and support the Spratt 
alternative.

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