[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 21013]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                        SQUANDERED OPPORTUNITIES

  (Mr. Pitts asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, Governor George W. Bush has rightly pointed 
out that this boom economy is an opportunity we should not squander. It 
is an opportunity to get our fiscal house in order to shore up programs 
like Social Security and Medicare for the next generation.
  Unfortunately, the opposition does not seem to see it that way. This 
is the fourth year in a row that the Republican Congress will pay down 
the public debt. That will bring us to half a trillion dollars in paid-
back debt, and we will do it while preserving the Social Security and 
Medicare trust funds 100 percent intact.
  Mr. Speaker, 22 days ago we sent a letter to the President asking him 
to join us in this effort, but he has refused to respond.
  The only thing we have heard on the matter is what the President said 
to the newspapers: ``It depends on what our spending commitments are.''
  In other words, he would rather add billions of dollars in new 
spending than pay down the debt, and that is what Governor Bush means 
when he talks about squandered opportunities.

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