[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 20666]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



 PAYING OFF DEBT PRESERVES THE POLITICAL AND SPIRITUAL HERITAGE OF OUR 
                             GRANDCHILDREN

  (Mr. SCHAFFER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, nearly 40 years ago, President Dwight D. 
Eisenhower warned ``we cannot mortgage the material assets of our 
grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and 
spiritual heritage.
  ``We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not 
become the insolvent phantom for tomorrow.''
  This Congress has a chance to tear off a piece of that mortgage 
placed on our children and our grandchildren and all of our future 
generations by paying off America's debt. We can start this year. We 
can start by committing 90 percent of the surplus to paying off 
America's debt.
  Democrats say it cannot be done, and they are wrong. Just a couple of 
years ago when we Republicans promised we would stop Bill Clinton's 
raid on Social Security, Democrats said that could not be done. But 
once again, they were wrong.
  Paying off the debt should be our top priority. It frees up money 
currently spent on interest and allows us to pay for other top 
priorities such as prescription drug benefits, saving Social Security, 
and preserving the political and spiritual heritage of our 
grandchildren.

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