[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 25369-25370]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



  TRIBUTE TO THE HONORABLE JOHN KASICH ON HIS RETIREMENT FROM CONGRESS

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. DAVID L. HOBSON

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 26, 2000

  Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to my fellow 
Ohioan and good friend, John Kasich. I used to serve with my

[[Page 25370]]

colleague from Ohio on the Budget Committee, and I know how difficult 
it is to put together a budget that moves the country forward in a 
positive direction and remains responsible to the American taxpayer.
  I want to take a minute to go back a few years and look at where we 
have been, and how far we have come under the leadership of the 
Chairman of the Budget Committee. After 30 years of Congress recklessly 
spending more than we take in, American voters demanded a change. In 
1995, the Republican majority came to Congress to restore discipline to 
the budget process.
  But before he became Chairman in 1995, the Congressman from Ohio was 
writing his own balanced budget every year. Back then some of the 
people who had been in Washington for a while, called it tilting at 
windmills. But what really was going on was he was building a 
groundwork for the budget discipline the American people would demand, 
and Republicans would bring to Congress after we became the majority.
  In 1991, Mr. Kasich's balanced budget received 114 votes, and the 
other 303 votes were for a budget that continued to raid Social 
Security and pile up debt for our children and grandchildren.
  In 1993, he was able to win another 21 votes and his balanced budget 
received 135 votes, and the other 295 votes were for a budget that 
continued to raid Social Security and pile up debt for our children and 
grandchildren.
  In 1994, he added 30 more votes, and his balanced budget received 165 
votes, and the other 243 were for a budget that continued to raid 
Social Security and pile up debt for our children and grandchildren.
  In 1995, the gentleman from Ohio as Budget Chairman passed a 
Republican budget by a vote of 238-193.
  And in 1997, this Congress and the Administration came together in a 
bipartisan to write the Balanced Budget Act--which once and for all, 
ended the raid on Social Security, which ended once and for all, the 
reckless practice of spending more than we take in, and which finally 
balanced the budget, and put our country's books in order.
  I want to thank the Budget Chairman, on behalf of myself and my 
colleagues and the constituents in my district and across the country 
for his service to his country. We are going to miss your expertise, 
your tenacity, your endless optimism, and your vision of a better 
America now that you have completed your final budget in the House.
  As Ohio's Seventh District Representative to the Congress of the 
United States, I take this opportunity to join with members of the Ohio 
delegation and members of the Budget Committee to honor the efforts and 
the many outstanding achievements of Representative John Kasich. His 
many contributions as a member of the House of Representatives and 
leadership as a valued Committee Chairman will be remembered.

                          ____________________