[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 22354]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                             DEBT REDUCTION

  (Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, 30 days have passed and there 
still has been no response or commitment from the Clinton-Gore 
administration to lock away 100 percent of the Social Security and 
Medicare surpluses and to dedicate at least 90 percent of next year's 
surplus to paying off the debt.
  We now have a real chance to do just that and President Clinton has 
failed to embrace it. Worse, almost every day the administration 
introduces a new last-minute spending request, further complicating 
debt reduction. The truth of the matter is that President Clinton is 
not part of the spending problem. He is the spending problem. It is 
time the President recognized that the surplus is not the Government's 
money; it is the people's money.
  Mr. Speaker, we have paid off approximately $354 billion in debt 
since taking majority control in Congress. The Republican Congress made 
tough choices necessary to get our Nation's book on track. The winners 
are the hard-working American people. Interest rates are low and the 
economy is booming. With continued discipline, things will only get 
better.
  It is time President Clinton stops playing politics by accusing 
Republicans of engaging in a spending spree and sign our letter calling 
on him to dedicate at least 90 percent of next year's surplus to paying 
off the debt while locking away 100 percent of the Social Security and 
Medicare surpluses.

                          ____________________