[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15653]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



           REPUBLICAN INITIATIVES BENEFIT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

  (Mr. ROYCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, Republicans want to preserve and protect 
social security and the Medicare trust fund, and we have. We have set 
aside 100 percent of the trust fund revenues for social security and 
for Medicare. We have ended the process that existed in the past before 
the Republicans became the majority of borrowing out of those trust 
funds.
  In addition, we have given workers the right to invest their money in 
the retirement plan of their choice, because yesterday we passed the 
IRA and the 401(k) expansion plan, we increased the contribution limits 
now to IRAs from $2,000 to $5,000 a year, and the 401(k) salary 
contribution to $15,000.
  This is going to help our economy. This is going to help job 
creation. We have paid down close to $300 billion in public debt, and 
under our budget, we will pay off the $3.5 trillion public debt even 
while eliminating penalties on the American people, like the marriage 
tax, and bringing more dollars to the classroom for our children's 
education. We increase that education budget by 10 percent.
  Mr. Speaker, this Republican Congress has taken the initiative on 
securing America's future, and should be proud of what it has 
accomplished.

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